Free Republic

I am on a debate on another forum-- my question is, to what extent are attitudes of American Christians and/or American Evangelicals towards the Israeli/Palestine issue fueled by religious beliefs? The other guy presented this Pew Forum on Religion survey indicating that religious beliefs are a large influence. Is the Pew group (related to Pew Charitable Trusts) fairly balanced, or does it lean fairly left? Can anyone provide me with information to contest or to supplement this conclusion? Thanks. Here is the Pew information: American Evangelicals and Israel Recent surveys by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life demonstrate...

I am an Episcopalian, baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal church. This coming year I am planning to travel quite a lot, probably spending a lot of time in places where there is no Episcopal church. Can I take communion in a Catholic church? Thanks for any info!

I only came to faith a couple of years ago, so my knowledge of the bible is still very lacking, which is why I'm asking these questions. My question is, is there any biblical indication that certain sexual practices (for example, oral sex) are forbidden between a married couple? What does the bible say about sex within marriage? It would help me a lot if folks responding could cite chapter and verse. Thanks!

I'm pretty sure that the "Golden Rule" originated in the New Testament but I can't find it. Can anyone point me to the verse(s)? Also, am I right in believing that it formed no part of any other religion or ethical system prior to Christianity? Thanks so much!!

What do the Presbyterian Church and the Syrian Baathist dictatorship have in common? They have both pledged themselves to cutting off ties with American firms doing business with Israel. Syria started its economic warfare against Israel soon after the Jewish state gained independence. As a leading member of the Arab League, it implemented a boycott that extended to third-country firms having dealings with Israel. The effort has been run by the Central Boycott Office, headquartered in Damascus. Just last month, it moved to add Caterpillar, the large Peoria-based construction-equipment company, to its blacklist of firms trading with the enemy. Recently,...

When I open FR I am now getting pop-up ads opening up. Is this something different about FR or is it something wrong with my system? Thanks.

Wall Street's enthusiasm for US President George W. Bush appears to have cooled as the presidential race tightens and concerns grow about foreign policy and fiscal deficits. Some leading fundraisers of Mr Bush's re-election bid have stopped active campaigning and others privately voice reservations. The New York financial community is expected to give the Republicans a lavish welcome when the president's party arrives for its national convention next week. Wall Street has been a big contributor to Mr Bush's record-breaking re-election fund. But one senior Wall Street figure, once talked of as a possible Bush cabinet member, said that he...

So Much for Free Speech By Robert J. Samuelson Wednesday, August 25, 2004; Page A17 The presidential campaign has confirmed that, under the guise of "campaign finance reform," Congress and the Supreme Court have repealed large parts of the First Amendment. They have simply discarded what were once considered constitutional rights of free speech and political association. It is not that these rights have vanished. But they are no longer constitutional guarantees. They're governed by limits and qualifications imposed by Congress, the courts, state legislatures, regulatory agencies -- and lawyers' interpretations of all of the above. We have entered an...

I was recently given a bible that is designated as the "New Living Translation". It's much more readable than my King James, but I don't know anything about the reliability of the translation. I would like to hear opinions from anyone who knows anything about this. Thanks!

Like most Christians, I study the world around me and try to figure out where we're going, and what my responsibility as a Christian is in this world. Specifically, I see the ominous trend towards acceptance of homosexual marriage, homosexual parenting, pornography of all sorts, legalization of various drugs, etc. and it doesn't appear to me as though Christians are going to be able to stop the relentless march towards an almost completely libertarian society. The truth is that we can't even stop the moral slide downhill within our own churches and it is looking more and more likely that...

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the fifth and final installment in a series of excerpts from The Right Nation, by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge. This is the second half of Chapter 13: "Right From the Beginning." IN GOD'S NAME Why are Americans so religious? The obvious reason is that religion played such a prominent role in both the creation and shaping of the country. The earliest American colonies were settled by Puritans, dissenters who saw the new land as an opportunity to escape from religious persecution and practice their religious faith as vigorously as they could. The constitution's First Amendment...

New Army Brigade Plan is Dangerous Following his unprecedented and premature retirement of 47 U.S. Army generals and with his installation of hand-picked replacements to lead the U.S. Army nearly completed, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is on the verge of moving full bore to begin implementing long-planned reforms, including the complete elimination of the Army's division-based force structure. Rumsfeld and his hand-picked replacement as Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Peter Schoomaker, plan to replace it with a force structure based on dismounted infantry-centric mini-brigade units consisting of about 1,800 men - each of which will be more optimized to...

Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes just interviewed the new Episcopal bishop, Gene Robinson, famous for being a practicing homosexual man, whose consecration will be responsible for splitting the Anglican communion. Did anyone else see it? It turned my stomache. This man doesn't have a moment's doubt about what he has done, no matter the consequences, no matter how much division and strife he brings to however many honest and devout Episcopalians or Anglicans worldwide. He just doesn't care. "God is doing something new" through him. How is it possible that an adult person can be so completely self-involved? God save...

'Passion' fails to nail key point March 5, 2004 BY ANDREW GREELEY 'The Passion of the Christ'' is a celebration of the bloody suffering of Jesus, a fundamentalist interpretation by a man who rejects the Vatican Council. It is not, contrary to claims, a literal interpretation of St. John's Gospel but is based on the ''revelations'' of a 19th century mystic. It is a film about torture, legitimated because it is the torture of Jesus. ''Passion'' is a glorification of sado-masochism. For most of the first millennium of Christian history, the church spread a veil of modest discretion over the...

Is it possible for a man and a woman to get married in the Episcopal church as purely a religious sacrament, and not get legally married by the laws of the state? This is a serious question, not a joke, and the reasons aren't frivolous.

I am in a debate on another forum-- can anyone give me the total number of abortions in the U.S. since the legalization of abortion in 1973? Or, the total number over another long time period? Thanks.

Stations of the Crass By MAUREEN DOWD Published: February 26, 2004 Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Mel Gibson and George W. Bush are courting bigotry in the name of sanctity. The moviemaker wants to promote "The Passion of the Christ" and the president wants to prevent the passion of the gays. Opening on two screens: W.'s stigmatizing as political strategy and Mel's stigmata as marketing strategy. Mr. Gibson, who told Diane Sawyer that he was inspired to make the movie after suffering through addictions, found the ultimate 12-step program: the Stations of the Cross. I...

Watching "The Passion of the Christ," Mel Gibson's new movie, I kept thinking the following: it is Christians, not Jews, who should be shocked by this film. Mr. Gibson's raw images invade our religious comfort zone, which has long since been cleansed of the Gospels' harsher edges. Most Americans worship in churches where the bloodied body of Jesus is absent from sanctuary crosses or else styled in ways so abstract that there is no hint of suffering. In sermons, too, the emphasis all too often is on the smoothly therapeutic: what Jesus can do for me. More than 60 years...

<p>The effort to make permanent a temporary ban on Internet-access taxes has stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate. But don't blame the Democrats.</p> <p>Fault instead two GOP Senators, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and George Voinovich of Ohio. Both are using procedural legerdemain to prevent a vote on the Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act, a provision that not only keeps the taxman away from your AOL or EarthLink account but also bans "multiple or discriminatory" levies on electronic commerce. A temporary Internet tax moratorium, in place for the past five years, expired on November 1. If Congress doesn't act to extend it before winter recess, don't be surprised by a yuletide e-mail tax.</p>

I'm having a debate on another board regarding AIDS and the reasons for high infection rates. This was my post: Simple case, 2 coin tosses, heads=win: What are the odds of winning both times? Odds of winning first time is .5, odds of winning second time is .5, odds of winning both times is .5 x .5 = .5 to the 2nd power = .25, which is 25%. More complex, add 1 more coin toss for 3 total, heads=win: Odds of winning third time is still .5, odds of winning all 3 times is .25 x .5 = .5 to...