Free Republic

Pastor Nancy Petty, the lesbian spiritual leader at Pullen Memorial Baptist church in Raleigh, N.C., has a message for her state: Legalize same-sex marriage — or else. Until gay unions are legislatively permitted, Petty plans to no longer sign marriage licenses — an action that will potentially have a profound impact on her congregation. In addressing same-sex marriage, Petty said the following to her congregation: “Do we, Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, want to continue to participate in offering religious ceremonies that carry with them civil and human rights that are not afforded to all people? Or will it be our...

NEW YORK, July 8, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - American Christians may one day find themselves facing legal penalties simply for believing marriage can only exist between a man and a woman, a fate already suffered by believers in other countries, said the leader of America’s most influential Catholic pulpit this week. Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York reflected on his blog Thursday on the recent legalization of gay “marriage” in New York, and what repercussions true marriage supporters can expect in the future. He called it “haunting� that the marriage bill became law on the day Catholics celebrate the feast of...

(Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates bluntly told Marines on Sunday that they won't be able to opt out of their enlistment just because they disagree with a government decision to end a ban on gays serving openly in the military. Gates, who is on a tour of Afghanistan to bid farewell to the troops before stepping down at the end of the month, was quizzed by a Marine sergeant about the controversial policy during a question and answer session at a base in southwestern Helmand Province.

Washington D.C., May 12, 2011 / 12:39 am (CNA).- The Presbyterian Church USA has voted to remove clergy requirements of marital fidelity or single chastity, thus allowing the ordination of ministers and lay leaders who are openly homosexual or living in unmarried relationships.“This is a lonely day for Presbyterians who believe what the Bible and the Church have consistently taught: that God’s will is that we be faithful in marriage or chaste in singleness. Now we belong to a denomination that is no longer sure it believes that teaching,” said Allan Wisdom, a director of Presbyterian Action at the...

If a Marine spots two men in his battalion kissing off-duty at a shopping mall, he should react as if he were seeing a man and woman. If he turns on the television news to see a fellow Marine dressed as a civilian and marching in a parade with a banner that reads, "Support Gays and Lesbians in the Military!" he should accept it as a free right of expression. Prescriptions for those possible scenarios are being played out at Marine bases as the military prepares to allow gays to openly serve, ending a 17-year-old policy commonly known as "don't...

Budweiser’s new ad seems to be the latest in controversial commercials. The company’s promotion features a soldier returning home to his… boyfriend? “Hey man, it’s me. I’m coming home,” the soldier anxiously reports to his phone pal. While the young soldier prepares for his return home, his friends and family prepare a surprise celebration, complete with Budweiser beer, obviously. When the soldier arrives, he immediately embraces his telephone pal. He then hugs a young woman before greeting his parents. LINK TO YOUTUBE OF AD So who is the man awaiting the soldier’s homecoming? Is it the soldier’s significant other? Is...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people would be added to the lengthy list of social and ethnic groups that public schools must include in social studies lessons under a landmark bill passed Thursday by the California Senate. If the bill is adopted by the state Assembly and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, California would become the first state to require the teaching of gay history. Supporters say the move is needed to counter anti-gay stereotypes and beliefs that make children in those groups vulnerable to bullying and suicide. Opponents counter that such instruction would further burden an...

Sue Nami Crowned Miss Gay Maryland 2009 By Dimitria ! Published April 29, 2009 L to R: Tatiyanna Voche (Miss Gay Maryland 2008), Sue Nami (Miss Gay Maryland 2009), Chi Chi Ray Colby (First Alternate Miss Gay Maryland 2009). (Photo: Andy Liu) After three nights and nine contestants vying for the title, Tatiyanna Voche, Miss Gay Maryland 2008, crowned Baltimore’s own Sue Nami Miss Gay Maryland 2009 on Monday, April 20. Both Sue Nami and first alternate Chi Chi Ray Colby will advance to compete in Miss Gay America. Sue Nami sat down with Dimitria to talk about how it...

The colorful attention-grabbing billboards of gay black men in a church and on the basketball court are creating a firestorm of controversy on an issue that continues to drive a wedge in segments of the African-American community. City Councilman Joseph Allen said Friday that he came in for both scorn and support after publicly expressing his displeasure this week that the billboards send the wrong message to impressionable youngsters, particularly those being raised by single mothers who may not have positive male role models. "This kind of billboard is putting the stamp of approval on a gay lifestyle," said Allen,...

No matter what one thinks of the homosexuality-affirming "It Gets Better" project, do we really want the president of the United States to be associated with radical sex columnist Dan Savage, the creator of this campaign? "It Gets Better" is the online video project that Chicago native Dan Savage created in which he seeks to end bullying by affirming homosexuality. Joining him in this effort are Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Kathleen Sebelius, Nancy Pelosi, and Hillary Clinton. Savage--the even more offensive doppelganger of our Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings--celebrates homosexuality in general and his own in particular. He has chosen...

Twenty years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that state laws that interfered with the free exercise of religion were constitutional provided their requirements applied equally to everyone. At the time, I and others warned that the Court’s ruling was a blow from which religious freedom might never recover. Twenty years later, I’m sad to say, we were right. The decision, Employment Division v. Smith, involved two Oregon drug counselors who were fired for using peyote during a Native American religious ceremony. While it makes intuitive sense that drug counselors should be fired for using illegal drugs, the majority decision, written...

Apparently no aspect of Western culture is impervious to the in-your-face tastelessness of the homosexual movement. Imagine dragging yourself through the grim task of selecting a casket for a lost loved one and being confronted with this: Funeral directors in Germany are bidding for the pink pound — by launching coffins specially designed for gay customers. The caskets feature homoerotic artwork on the outside and come with a series of tastefully luxurious plush designer interiors, say makers Mike Konigsfeld and Tom Brandl in Cologne, Germany. The designers — who have lived together for more than 10 years — say the...

Thursday October 28, 2010 South Bend Council Rejects Pro-Homosexual Employment Discrimination Bill By Peter J. SmithSOUTH BEND, Indiana, October 28, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The South Bend Common Council has decided to vote down a proposed bill which could have forced employers, especially those of faith-based companies, to hire homosexuals.The Council voted 6-3 to defeat Bill 30-10, which would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to the city’s employment non-discrimination code.The city’s Human Rights Commission unanimously supported the measure, which was sponsored by homosexual activists under the banner of South Bend Equality. Had Bill 30-10 passed, the Human Rights...

In light of voluminous evidence that pioneering sexologist Alfred Kinsey and his associates were guilty not only of scientific fraud but serious criminality – culminating this week with WND's exposé of one victim of Kinsey's notorious "child sexuality" studies conducted by pedophile "researchers" – Indiana legislators are calling for the defunding of the Kinsey Institute, located on the campus of state-subsidized Indiana University. State representatives Cindy Noe and Woody Burton emphasized that any effort to cut off the Kinsey Institute hinges on electing Republican majorities in the state legislature. "I don't think the Kinsey Institute is a proper use of...

New York, NY, October 12, 2010 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today criticized Carl Paladino for a series of anti-gay remarks, including his assertion that children should not be "brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid or successful option." Ron Meier, ADL New York Regional Director, issued the following statement: We are appalled by Carl Paladino's comments denigrating homosexuality and suggesting that a homosexual lifestyle is not "valid." His statements are an affront to all New Yorkers, and are particularly disturbing in light of several recent hate crimes targeting the LGBT community in the New York Metropolitan Area....

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A Facebook campaign launched in support of a Mormon church leader's sermon on same-sex relationships has drawn more than 4,500 responses. The "I support Boyd K. Packer" page was started Oct. 5, two days after the senior leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called homosexual attraction unnatural and said gays can and should change. By Monday afternoon, more than 4,500 people had joined the page as fans. Packer, 86, is the second-ranking leader in the church and next in line to be president of the 13.5 million-member faith. He was speaking...

Republican Carl Paladino, a tea party candidate for governor of New York, said Monday on NBC's "Today" show that he doesn't discriminate against homosexuals. On Sunday, in a discussion of gay marriage at a meeting with Brooklyn Hasidic Jewish leaders, Paladino said children were being "brainwashed" into accepting homosexuality as "valid."

Archbishop John Nienstedt announced Monday that every Catholic in the state will be mailed a DVD defending marriage as between one man and one woman, as he hopes to "rally the troops" around the Church's position on the divisive issue just six weeks before Election Day. Nienstedt appears at the beginning of the eight-minute video, which was prepared by the Knights of Columbus, and will be mailed to the state's Catholics on Wednesday, paid for by a large donation, the archbishop told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS Monday evening. The archdiocesan website lists the state's Catholic population at "approximately 800,000." "Our target...

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Continuing his makeover from Republican to independent U.S. Senate candidate, Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday affirmed his support for civil unions, adoption by same-sex couples, and doing away with the military's ban on openly gay soldiers. Equality Florida, the state's leading gay rights group, called Crist's statement on a range of gay issues "the most comprehensive, pro-LGBT equality stand of a sitting governor in Florida's history." Crist's Democratic opponent for Senate, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, called it "too little too late." He and the Republican nominee, Marco Rubio, noted the governor had backed a 2008 amendment to the state constitution...

Like putting a fox in charge of a chicken coop, Seton Hall University is allowing a pro-homosexual professor to give a course on “The Politics of Gay Marriage.” When plans for the anti-Catholic course were first announced at the diocesan university, the Most Reverend John J. Myers, Archbishop of Newark, responded. “This proposed course seeks to promote as legitimate a train of thought that is contrary to what the Church teaches. As a result, the course is not in synch with Catholic teaching,” he stated. However, despite the archbishop’s misgivings the course was not stopped. According to the New Jersey...

Conservative Lutherans began forging the new body just weeks after the ELCA gave the green light in 2009 for non-celibate gays and lesbians to serve as clergy. Over the last year, hundreds of congregations have moved toward severing ties with the ELCA, which is the largest Lutheran denomination in the country with 4.5 million members. The ELCA experienced its biggest-ever drop in membership last year, with 90,000 less members than the year before. The vote on Friday to forge a new body took place during the annual Convocation of Lutheran CORE, a renewal group that seeks the renewal of Lutheran...

Homosexual "weddings" should be celebrated in churches, a Government minister has said in defiance of religious teaching. Chris Bryant, who once posed in his underpants on a gay dating website, said he wanted clergy to be "much more open" to the idea of treating civil partnership ceremonies like traditional marriages. However, his suggestion goes directly against the rules of the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church, which state that only the union of a man and a woman can be celebrated by a priest in church It comes as the Government is pushing through an Equality Bill that...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court says a law school can legally deny recognition to a Christian student group that won't let gays join. The court on Monday turned away an appeal from the Christian Legal Society, which sued to get funding and recognition from the University of California's Hastings College of the Law.

VATICAN CITY, April 20, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando, Florida, to become the next metropolitan archbishop of Miami, which has gained a reputation as a "gay-friendly" diocese for hosting homosexualist events.Wenski will replace Archbishop John Favalora, whose resignation was accepted by the Vatican on Tuesday. Although Favalora will not turn 75, the usual age for requesting retirement, until this December, the Vatican did not give a reason for allowing the early resignation. He led the archdiocese for 16 years.Archbishop-elect Wenski, who speaks English, Spanish and Creole and will serve a large Cuban...

The Dutch priest who refused Communion on February 13th to his town's openly homosexual Carnival “prince” is now facing police complaints from homosexual activists.The complaints follow a protest by homosexualists at the Catholic parish in Reusel on Sunday, which was held in response to the decision of the pastor, Fr. Luc Buyens, to withhold Communion from Gijs Vermeulen, 24, at the town's traditional Carnival Mass.Fr. Buyens had alerted Vermeulen in advance, stating that he must refuse him Communion because the young man had made a public display of his active homosexuality leading up to the town's Carnival festivities.Anticipating the protest,...

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins was scheduled to give a devotional message Thursday at Andrews Air Force Base for the National Prayer Luncheon. However, CBN News White House Correspondent David Brody has learned that Perkin's invitation was rescinded. After Perkins spoke out against President Barack Obama's plans to lift restrictions on homosexuals serving in the military, Perkins received a letter from chaplain's office at the base. The letter referred to past statement by the council, and read the group is, "incompatible in our role as military members who serve our elected officials and our commander in chief." Perkins appeared...

Out of the Closet; Into the Church Homo McGreevey Finds Higher Calling thelastcrusade.org What does a gay governor do after he resigns from political office in disgrace? He becomes an Episcopalian and enters the priesthood. Jim McGreevey, the former New Jersey love gov, has gone from Turnpike truck stops to All Saints Church in Hoboken, where he is known as “Father Jim.” Last Sunday, the ex governor administered the sacrament of baptism to a bevy of babies, blessed the Eucharist, and carried the cross during the processional. In 2004, Mr. McGreevey resigned as Governor of New Jersey after revealing...

The calendar has been produced by the Madrid Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual collective COGAM Controversy in Madrid with the launch of a 2010 lay calendar which shows images of ‘transsexual virgins’ recreating religious scenes decorated with crowns, condoms and phallic symbols. The lay calendar takes the religion out of the dates of the year, so Christmas Day becomes the day you eat the traditional Spanish turron to mark International Democracy Day, for example. The images are all based on famous Catholic images and iconography. The Venezuelan photographer who assembled the calendar, Juan Antinoo, had been commissioned by COGAM, the...

"Gay" sex is morally good and is as "wonderful" as heterosexual relations, according to Chai Feldblum, President Obama's nominee to become commissioner for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. "Gay sex is morally good," she said. "Now you may think that might be a little crazy to go out there and say gay sex is good. But think a second. Society definitely believes that heterosexual sex is good. Right. Heterosexual sex within a certain framework – marriage – I mean, you can't get more dewy-eyed and romantic in this society about how wonderful that is."

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama plans to address the nation's largest gay rights group this weekend, a person familiar with his schedule said Monday, trying to mollify an uneasy Democratic constituency. Obama plans to address Saturday's Human Rights Campaign fundraising dinner gala, said the person, an individual familiar with the president's plans. This person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the White House had not yet announced Obama's plans. The dinner falls on the eve of the National Equality March, expected to draw thousands of gay and lesbian activists to the National Mall.

End of an Era I was four years old when Ted Kennedy’s brother, Senator John Kennedy was elected President…the first President I was really aware of. I was seven when President Kennedy was shot, a traumatizing event for our family and the whole country. The news reels of that assassination are burned into my brain. I remember Bobby Kennedy’s inspirational run for President and the shocking news, and news coverage, of his assassination. Ted Kennedy, entered the Senate when I was six and has been there for most of my life. Since I was born, one of the three Kennedy...

My philosophy on homosexuality is, love the sinner, not the sin. I don't have a single thread of negativity for those that proclaim themselves to be homosexual, it doesn't bother me at all. What bothers me, are the acts involved in homosexuality, and the idea being forced on us, that those acts are a human rights, morally ok, and we should all be accepting of it. I don't believe that gays should be discriminated against, but I also don't believe that homosexual activities should be accepted by society, and no, those two ideas are not mutually exclusive. It is...

The Alameda, Calif., public schools are adopting a curriculum that will require first graders to read literature that equates same-sex unions with a family made up of a mother, father and child. Parents will not be allowed to opt their first graders out of the curriculum. Members of the Alameda United School District (AUSD) school board voted 3 to 2 last week to implement the “Safe Schools” curriculum, which supporters say is aimed at stopping anti-homosexual bullying in schools. The program includes a between one and four lessons each year between grades 1 and 5 to introduce students to “LGBT”...

In spring 2002, as the scandal over sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests was escalating, the long career of Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland of Milwaukee, one of the church’s most venerable voices for change, went up in flames one May morning. On the ABC program “Good Morning America,” the archbishop watched a man he had fallen in love with 23 years earlier say in an interview that the Milwaukee archdiocese had paid him $450,000 years before to keep quiet about his affair with the archbishop — an affair the man was now calling date rape. The next day, the Vatican...

PHOENIX, Arizona, May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An openly homosexual Roman Catholic priest of the diocese of Phoenix, who once endorsed a pornographic film entitled "Naked Boys Singing" for a homosexualist paper, has been excommunicated by Bishop Thomas Olmsted.The excommunication of Fr. Chris Carpenter, who has long been publicly opposed to the Church's condemnation of active homosexuality, was issued last month but only made public on Monday.  After Bishop Olmsted repeatedly chastised him for his homosexual activism, Carpenter precipitated the excommunication by joining the "Reformed Catholic Church," an offshoot religious group that endorses homosexuality, homosexual priests, and women priests. While Carpenter...

Washington Post reporter Tim Craig relays that the D.C. Council has voted 13-0, without debate, to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. Watch D.C. Wire for updates.

Within just a few days this month, the push for gay marriage found a wave of fresh momentum. A unanimous state Supreme Court decision legalized the practice in Iowa. The state legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto and instituted the practice in Vermont. And Democratic Gov. David A. Paterson announced plans to push legislation that would open the door to the practice in New York. Beyond the political and legal arguments on the issue, however, are demographic shifts indicating that the controversy over same-sex unions may eventually fade altogether. Younger Americans are far more supportive of civil unions and gay marriage...

Miss North Carolina Kristen Dalton was crowned Miss USA on Sunday, but the big story to come out of the normally politics-free telecast was Miss California's comments regarding gay marriage. When asked by judge Perez Hilton, whether she believed in gay marriage, Miss California, Carrie Prejean, said "We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised...

Two days after the 1999 Soho pub bomb, monthly Masses were launched at a Catholic convent in London, welcoming lesbian and gay Catholics, their parents and families. Unable to find a central London Catholic church, after the convent's closure, LGBT Catholics found hospitality at Soho's Anglican parish church. Increasing numbers resulted in the Masses being held twice a month. While the Diocese of Westminster might have believed that the group would fade away, it recognised that real pastoral needs were being met, converts to Catholicism were being made, and a vibrant community could offer something to the local church. In...

The head of a conservative activist group says President Obama's appointment of a leading homosexual activist to his faith-based council is an ominous sign that he may enforce a "pro-homosexuality orthodoxy" on religious groups receiving federal funds, which is itself a form of bigotry. Barack Obama has appointed outspoken homosexual activist Harry Knox to the White House Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Knox, who is the director of the Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) Religion and Faith program, will serve a one-year term on the 25-member Council. Two years ago during an appearance on MSNBC, Knox argued that scientific...

PRINCETON, NJ -- Despite the Roman Catholic Church's official opposition to abortion and embryonic stem-cell research, a Gallup analysis finds almost no difference between rank-and-file American Catholics and American non-Catholics in terms of finding the two issues morally acceptable.

Two mainline denominations have announced decisions indicating a further move away from Bible-based Christianity. In Michigan, the new bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan is an ordained Zen Buddhist. Northern Michigan's Episcopal congregations and delegates overwhelmingly elected the Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester at their convention on Saturday. The diocesan website says Thew Forrester "has practiced Zen meditation for almost a decade," and the Buddhist community welcomed his commitment by granting him "lay ordination." The website also says Northern Michigan's new bishop "resonates deeply" with "his own interfaith dialogue with Buddhism and meditative practice." Meanwhile, Presbyterian Church (USA) representatives...

San Diego, Calif., Feb 19, 2009 / 09:45 pm (CNA).- A California jury found on Tuesday that four firefighters, who were ordered by their superiors to participate in the city’s “gay pride” parade were sexually harassed, and awarded them monetary damages from the city. The case dates back to July 2007 when four San Diego firefighters were informed by their superiors that they would be participating in San Diego’s annual “Gay Pride” parade.  Though the four men protested, they were ordered to dress up in full uniform and ride on the fire engine along the parade route. During the...

MAVERICK priest Father Peter Kennedy says he will lead a breakaway congregation if Brisbane's catholic Archbishop forces him to leave St Mary's Church. There are fears that exclusion from the historic South Brisbane property will be the final act in a long-running dispute that has reached the Vatican. Is Father Kennedy right? Have your say. The dispute has attracted national and international attention because it represents the battle between conservative and less traditional forces within the Catholic Church. There are more Roman Catholics in Australia than any other religious group. Each week, St Mary's attracts large congregations while many more...

Associated Press Concord, N.H. (AP) - The first openly gay Episcopal bishop will offer a prayer at the Lincoln Memorial at an inaugural event for President-elect Barack Obama. The selection of New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson for Sunday's event follows weeks of criticism from gay-rights groups over Obama's decision to have the Rev. Rick Warren give the invocation at his Jan. 20 inauguration. Warren backed the ban on same-sex marriage that passed in his home state of California on the November ballot. Robinson said last month the choice of Warren was like a slap in the face. In an...

Friday January 9, 2009 Vatican Nuncio to the Netherlands Called to Defend Church Teaching on Sexuality by Dutch Foreign Minister By Hilary White   AMSTERDAM, January 9, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Vatican envoy to the Netherlands has been called to a meeting to defend the Catholic teaching on sexuality and marriage by the Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister. At the request of homosexualist activist groups, Maxime Verhagen, a Christian Democrat, has demanded that the Papal Nuncio to the Netherlands, Monsignor François Bacqué, respond to accusations that the Church opposes “gay rights.”   Verhagen said, “The Netherlands is unpleasantly surprised by...

Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the only openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, has been asked to give the invocation at the first official inaugural activity, a welcome event with the president-elect on Sunday afternoon on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Robinson had been critical of president-elect Barack Obama for asking Rick Warren, the evangelical pastor who encouraged voters to overturn same-sex marriage in California, to deliver the invocation at the inauguration. Episcopal Cafe has an e-mail from Robinson: "I am writing to tell you that President-Elect Obama and the Inaugural Committee have invited me to...

The current Newsweek has an article by Lisa Miller pretending to take seriously the idea that the Bible looks favorably upon homosexual love and is properly used in support rather than rejection of same-sex marriage.  Here's the final paragraph. My friend the priest James Martin says his favorite Scripture relating to the question of homosexuality is Psalm 139, a song that praises the beauty and imperfection in all of us and that glorifies God’s knowledge of our most secret selves: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.� And then he adds that in his heart he believes that...

Donald E. Wildmon Founder and Chairman American Family Association December 8, 2008 Newsweek magazine has published a lengthy article (http://www.newsweek.com/id/172653) stating that the Bible supports homosexual marriage. The article was written by Lisa Miller, Newsweek religion editor. Miller's article is one of the most biased and distorted pieces concerning homosexual marriage ever published by any major news organization. The article is much too long for this e-mail. Dr. Albert Mohler has offered a response to the Newsweek article. I suggest you read Mohler’s article (http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2881) and then read Miller's Newsweek article. Mohler made a significant point in his response: "The...