Free Republic

Italian regulators have pulled a “blasphemous” television advert in which nuns are offered crisps instead of consecrated hosts during a Mass. The advert for Amica Chips provoked a huge backlash within the Catholic nation, with claims that it “debased” and “vilified” Jesus Christ. The Institute of Advertising Self-Discipline, Italy’s advertising standards authority, has now upheld complaints against the advert and ordered it off the airwaves. In the 30-second advertisement, a group of young nuns are seen filing through a cloister into a chapel while another nun prepares for Mass but fills a ciborum with crisps instead of communion wafers. A...

Notable Evangelical pastor, author and radio personality Chuck Swindoll is stepping down as senior pastor of Stonebriar Community Church, a Texas megachurch based in Frisco, but he will continue to preach on Sundays. The 89-year-old pastor, who has held the position since 1998, will take on the role of founding pastor effective May 1, according to a statement from the elders of Stonebriar. Jonathan Murphy, the chair and professor of Pastoral Ministries at Dallas Theological Seminary, will become the church's new senior pastor. "Pastor Chuck will continue to preach God's Word at the pulpit on Sundays, while Jonathan will shepherd...

Eighty-six House Republicans on Friday voted against an amendment to require a warrant for surveillance of Americans’ communications. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) proposed an amendment to the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), a bill that would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Section 702 is a law that is meant to target foreign adversaries, but often surveils Americans’ private communications without a warrant. The amendment tied at 212-212 in the House; a tie in the House means that the measure fails. Although Biggs’s amendment did receive support from a majority of Republicans, 86 House...

his is the innocent 68-year-old grandmother who was punched in the face and pushed down the stairs outside a Queens church during a robbery that saw her sixteen-year-old attacker take off with her car. Irene Tahliambouris suffered a fractured skull, black eye, and numerous bruises from the vicious assault that took place outside of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church on 152 Street in Briarwood around 8.20 on Sunday. Her attacker Jayvaun Prince, 16, was taken into custody today in a gurney after suffering an unknown medical episode. He was taken to the hospital with a police escort after suffering an...

If there has been a more blatant example of Matthew 19:24 being played out in modern times than the Furtick family, I’ve not seen it. Jesus’s words were clear, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” It’s one thing to cover your expenses, and there’s nothing wrong with earning a living in ministry. But this isn’t ministry, it’s charlatanry, and when you’re bilking your followers for millions of dollars by preaching a false, ear-tickling gospel, one must ask who are what you...

A ban on nearly all abortions in Arizona doesn´t sit well with the Republican former governor whose expansion of the state Supreme Court allowed him to appoint the four conservative justices whose ruling cleared the way for it. Doug Ducey is among Republicans in several states who are wrestling with the consequences of their opposition to abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. He expanded the state court in 2016, but thinks its ruling this week went too far. After the Arizona court ruled 4-2 on Monday to revive an 1864 law that criminalizes abortion...

PBS/CNN’s Christiane Amanpour joined CBS’s Stephen Colbert for her second late night comedy show appearance of the week on the Wednesday installment of The Late Show. The duo freaked out over the possibility of a second Donald Trump term and that the rest of the democratic world is similarly freaked out and over the same issues, such as American pro-lifers allegedly being comparable to Iran and the Taliban. Amanpour informed Colbert that the rest of the world is “watching your election very, very closely because that is really preoccupying them. Having had a collective nervous breakdown the last time. They...

The calendar might say 2024, but for MSNBC’s Joy Reid, it is still 2012. On Tuesday’s installment of The ReidOut, the eponymous host declared that it was “grotesque” for pro-lifers to quote Abraham Lincoln while also demanding women “wake up” because “the Republican Party has openly declared war on women.” In recent times, the Heritage Foundation and their Project 2025 have become Reid’s boogeymen. Heritage’s vice president of domestic policy is a man named Roger Severino, and Reid warned that “this man, according to the New York Times, has been crafting a plan in the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 that...

Joe Biden is running new television ads promoting abortions up to birth on the heels of a ruling by the Arizona Supreme Court protecting babies from abortions. The seven-figure ad buy highlights former President Donald Trump’s record on abortion and says he is responsible for it because he nominated Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe and allowed states to protect babies from abortion. Trump has taken credit for the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022. Biden’s 30-second commercial will air on MSNBC and appear online. Here’s more on the commercial: “Your body and your decisions belong to...

California's first transgender mayor has said she has to watch her back as 'bullies' are staging a recall to oust her. Calemexico Mayor Raul Ureña, 26, identifies as a transgender woman and prefers she/they pronouns. Ureña, the first transgender mayor along the entire US/Mexico border, told DailyMail.com that she recalls feeling 'so good' whilst wearing a dress at the age of 10. However, Ureña has claimed that her gender identity has been used against her throughout the elected official's political career. The mayor said that as a transgender person, you always have to watch your back - but says that...

Police arrested a man this week for allegedly entering a North Carolina Planet Fitness women’s locker room and undressing. “Christopher Allan Miller, 38, was arrested after going into the women’s locker room Thursday at the Gastonia Planet Fitness on South New Hope Road,” WSOCTV reported. “Planet Fitness allows members to use the restroom and locker rooms they identify with as part of their no-judgmental motto. However, some members said they are worried and believe Miller misused the policy after hearing the allegations and the call for help,” it added. One woman called 911 upon reportedly seeing Miller enter the locker...

Furious BLM activists have clashed with cops outside a Chicago police station after a video was released showing a deadly officer-involved shooting of a black man. Dexter Reed, 26, was killed during a traffic stop which erupted into a huge shootout also injuring an officer and which cops say Reed started. On Tuesday, Chicago Police released footage of the March 21 encounter which showed them firing 96 shots at Reed, even as he lay motionless on the ground outside his vehicle. The aspiring broadcaster's death has reignited conversations around excessive police force against black people, though officers maintain Reed opened...

<p>SALEM, Mass. (AP) — Someone threw an explosive device onto the porch of The Satanic Temple in Massachusetts at a time when no one was inside, and the device and damage it caused were not found until nearly 12 hours later, police said. No injuries were reported.</p>

Horrifying footage shows a ten-year-old autistic boy being beaten by his teaching aide, who allegedly abused at least three children for months, leaving them with bruises and marks. Kiarra Jones, 29, has been charged with third-degree assault on an at-risk person last week and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on May 3. In the video provided by Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC Attorneys at Law, the firm representing three families, Jones can be seen repeatedly punching the child, who has severe autism and no verbal ability, while they sat together on the school bus. Heartbroken parents of children at the Joshua...

Scholastic is both a publisher and a distributor of books. It’s well-known for publishing educational material for schools, teachers, and parents, as well as books and resources for children. Scholastic’s publishing arm is responsible for producing a wide range of content, including books, magazines, and digital products and includes popular series and titles that cater to children and young adults. Scholastic is also well-known for its book fairs in schools where it children can attend and purchase books without direct parental supervision—and some of the stuff you might find at these book fairs is rather disturbing. So parents, beware. First...

You may also be familiar with Mike Cosper as the voice behind the popular podcast series, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, which was published in Russell Moore’s Christianity Today. But Cosper’s damage to the Evangelical Church is much deeper, and much older, than his podcast lambasting Mark Driscoll. Cosper, a former “music pastor” at a Louisville, KY church who is now the “director of podcasting” a Christianity Today is a functional Democrat (I don’t know what he’s registered as) and has been an avid promoter of leftist causes. You may also be familiar with Cosper as the man...

A little girl told her mother 'I love you’ in an attempt to stop the woman torturing her to death in a day-long church ‘exorcism’, newly released court documents reveal. Three-year-old Arely Proctor pleaded for her life and struggled to escape as she was battered and strangled by her mother Claudia Hernandez, 27, and her pastor relatives. Two years after her body was found by police on the altar of a Pentecostal church in San Jose, California, authorities have still to decide whether her killers will stand trial. ‘Over the course of approximately twenty hours Arely Doe fought for her...

At least 28 Planet Fitness locations have been targeted with bomb threats after the gym franchise sparked fury for banning a customer who shared a photo of a transgender woman shaving in the bathroom. From Florida to Alabama, dozens of locations in eleven different states reported hoax bomb threats following weeks of backlash against the chain's 'trans-inclusive' locker room policy and the decision to ban the member, as reported by Media Matters. Patricia Silva, 67, made headlines in March after she claimed to see a 'man with a penis' washing themselves in front of a 12-year-old girl in the women's...

The dramatic moment cops raced to save K9 Enzo who was stabbed in the line of duty by a violent murder suspect has been revealed in new bodycam footage. Three-year-old Belgian Malinois, Enzo, was stabbed multiple times by suspected murderer Thurman Lowe, 64, in downtown Las Vegas on March 29. The dog's Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department handler can be heard on bodycam reassuring him, 'you did so good, buddy. You're a good boy.' Enzo was rushed to a vets and then flown by helicopter to another hospital where he could receive more specialist care. He survived the attack and...

In Florida, a private Christian school's decision to cancel Autism Awareness Week after the school's pastor claimed such an event is "idolatry and demonic" has sparked backlash from parents vowing to pull their kids out. Trinity Christian Academy in the Lake Worth Beach area, affiliated with the Pentecostal Assemblies of God denomination, faced backlash after Pastor Matt Baker announced the cancellation of the week's activities in a March 30 email to families. Baker argued that these events led students to prioritize identities over their faith in Jesus Christ. The planned activities, similar to previous years, included themed dress-up days aimed...