Free Republic

America's Christophobes have been plenty busy lately. Maybe the Christmas season makes them especially nervous. A few weeks ago, Atlanta Fire Rescue Department Chief Kelvin Cochran was suspended for a month without pay for the unforgivable sin of self-publishing a Christian book in which he expressed his disapproving views about homosexual behavior, among other things. City spokeswoman Anne Torres said: "We understand that (Cochran) was distributing the book to other employees. We are still not sure yet what the circumstances surrounding that are. ... The bottom line is that the (Mayor Kasim) Reed administration does not tolerate discrimination of any...

An atheist invited to give the opening prayer at a Lake Worth, Florida, City Commission meeting recently called on the “wisdom of Satan” and declared “if almighty Thor is with us, who can ever be against us,” a perversion of a New Testament verse. It was not altogether surprising as people with nontraditional beliefs increasingly are demanding their place in the public square. But in this case, a number of city commissioners expressed their opinion of the “invocation” – without saying a word. They got up and walked out. See the incident:“Free speech works both ways,” Mayor Pam Triolo told...

In the closely watched Supreme Court case, EEOC v. Abercrombie, the Becket Fund a brief debunking Abercrombie's claim that a Muslim job applicant should have explained during her job interview that she was wearing a headscarf for religious reasons in order to be protected by anti-discrimination laws. "Abercrombie's claim is both an absurd and dangerous precedent for all people of faith seeking employment," said Eric Baxter, Senior Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. "Justice may be blind, but that doesn't mean employers can cover their eyes. A job applicant does not have to bring a 'Look at me...

Why is the West richer than other parts of the world? What creates wealth? The scientific journal Science Nordic reports that a new PhD thesis tries to find an answer to these questions, very topical in times of bailouts and double-dip recessions and very challenging for economists, in Medieval history. And it discovers that it was the Roman Catholic order of Cistercian Monks that left a long-lasting legacy of cultivation of the virtues which made the West prosperous. ...One of the clues the thesis follows begins in France in 1098, when a breakaway group of monks formed a new...

G.K. Chesterton had a knack for anticipating future trends but when, in his 1914 novel The Flying Inn, he anticipated the Islamization of England, it seemed so far out of the realm of possibility that it was difficult to take it as anything but a flight of fancy.True enough, the book has a whimsical, Pickwickian quality. It follows the rambling adventures of two British stalwarts, Patrick Dalroy and Humphrey Pump, as they try to stay one step ahead of the law, dispensing free liquor as they go in an England where alcohol has been banned. The “Flying Inn” is...

A new type of anti-immigration protest is sweeping across Germany, as thousands take to the streets against what they say is the growing “Islamisation” of the country. The new protests, which began in the city of Dresden in the former East Germany, feature no neo-Nazi slogans and have nothing to do with the traditional far right. Instead the demonstrators have adopted the old rallying call of the protests against the East German communist regime that brought down the Berlin Wall 25 years ago, “Wir sind das Volk”, or “We are the people”. They say they want to preserve Germany’s Judeo-Christian...

Gov. Mike Huckabee recently retraced the steps of Pope John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher, and Ronald Reagan with a group of ministers and faith leaders. After touring Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the Churchill War Rooms, he remarked that both Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill were heavily criticized and often dismissed yet they remained steadfast to name and fight evil. “During two periods of massive global change,” Huckabee argued, “if these world leaders had been ambiguous about evil the world would be quite different.” For Churchill, evil was Nazism and fascism. In 1936 he said of Stanley Baldwin’s government, “They go...

One of the greatest book titles of the twentieth century declares rather simply: Ideas Have Consequences. Theological ideas also have consequences. Good theological ideas have good consequences. Bad ones have bad consequences.It should come as no surprise, then, when we find that The State of Theology survey also reveals bad consequences in American culture and in American Christianity. The survey could have asked any number of questions on ethics. We asked one specific question regarding sex outside of marriage. Is sex outside of marriage a sin?Before we get to the survey results, consider a few other questions we asked. We asked...

“The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” – 1 John 2:17 It’s getting ugly out there. Indeed, the world is dying. Not in a false-alarmist, “OMG-global-warming-is-going-to-kill-us-all!” sort of way. Rather, this world is passing away in a Romans 1, “The-wrath-of-God-is-being-revealed-from-heaven” sort of way. How very unsettling and confusing this must all be for those absent “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (see Philippians 4:7). A spirit of death and devastation has blanketed our globe. The enemy knows that his time is short. While nobody can...

US Entering Dangerous New Era in Religious Hostility By Paul Strand CBN News Washington Sr. Correspondent Wednesday, December 03, 2014 WASHINGTON -- A school tells a student that he can't attend because God's the most important thing in his life. A public health official gets fired for sermons he gave in his off-hours as a lay pastor. A congregation is told they may not be able to locate downtown just because - and only because - they're a church. These are all real examples of cases in the past several months showing your religion can get you in real trouble...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark., -- In an exclusive interview with FTMDaily's (http://ftmdaily.com/) Jerry Robinson, former Congressman Ron Paul discusses some of his core values as an American and as a human being. "On Faith and Family: A Conversation With Dr. Ron Paul" provides compelling insight on the problems facing the nation today, as well as reflections on Paul's three presidential campaigns. Paul explained that war and strong-arm diplomacy, both part of America's compulsion to police the world, are fundamentally unsound policies. Most disturbingly, he said, is that a vocal minority of the Christian Evangelical community is strongly in favor of such foreign...

Arguing and even rioting over racial controversies are among the most obsessive activities in our modern society. Where does it all end? A couple of years ago I came across an essay which explained racial differences in terms I’d never encountered before. The author’s basic message was that white Europeans were at one point about as savage and culturally undeveloped as Africans or so-called native Americans, but that they later achieved highly advanced civilization not through some kind of rapid evolution or manifesting some latent, inherent superiority — it was the advent and spread of Christianity throughout Europe, exponentially more...

Our guest writer Cassandra has written another article for this blog. ~~~~~~~~ The BBC reported that the Pope visited the Blue Mosque in Istanbul as part of a three-day visit to Turkey. According to the BBC reporter, the Pope offered a moment of “silent prayer...next to the Grand Mufti.” The BBC man said that it was, “a moment of rich symbolism in terms of the inter-faith dialogue” that the Pope is trying to promote. And it certainly was! For some reason the BBC didn't see fit to report on the Pope's visit to the Orthodox Christian basilica of Hagia...

An Oklahoma school district is reportedly walking back plans to begin offering students an elective course on the Bible after facing pressure from a major atheist group. The class, called “The Book: The Bible’s History, Narrative and Impact,” was developed, in part, by Hobby Lobby president Steve Green, and it was set to launch in Mustang Public Schools, Raw Story reported. The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) said on its website Tuesday that the district canceled the class after Hobby Lobby allegedly did not provide the district with the final curriculum for approval and did not “commit to providing legal...

This Sunday marks the beginning of Advent. It is the season that marks the expectation, the waiting and the preparation for Christmas, the celebration of Christ's birth. It also marks the beginning of the church year, when the readings and the rituals observed throughout the year start anew. However, what I like most about this season is the repetition of things past. Our family traditions include decorating the Christmas tree, making cookies and chocolate treats, cooking a breakfast strata for Christmas morning and Southern dressing for Christmas Day. It's also the time for family Christmas parties, Advent wreath making and...

Race hustler and “Reverend” Al Sharton, better known as “CI-7″ (Confidential Informant 7) to the FBI once upon a time, is in trouble again, though you wouldn’t know it by the dearth of mainstream media reportage. Seems the perennial race-baiter has plenty of time to gin up problems and incite violence in Ferguson, Missouri, following a decision by a St. Louis County grand jury that there was not enough evidence to indict police officer Darren Wilson over the Aug. 9 shooting death of Michael Brown, but no time to pay his “fair share” of federal taxes.

Do you feel lost? Does your mind reside within a state of chaos, confusion, disorder, and does it perhaps carry with it an anxiety over what the future may hold? In part 2 of our series on the soul, we will explore, and expose, some of the darkness that resides within us due to living in a fallen world. We will add discernment to the darkness as the path to restoration will require a connection and a decision by you. Find out how, on this edition of Making Sense with Rob Case. To access this podcast, please click HERE or...

Islamic supremacism is taught in American public schools, one of which is Porter Ridge High School in Union County, North Carolina. A ninth-grade world-history teacher assigned an in-class worksheet about Islam which the pupils had to fill in with the "correct" answers (the worksheet's first part is in the above picture). FALSITIES TAUGHT AT SCHOOL Some of those answers were that Islam is a peaceful religion, Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world and most Muslims' faith is stronger than the average Christian. Islamic Scriptures and history are testament to the fact that the exact opposite of the...

The Duck Dynasty family has made the news partially due to their politically incorrect statements, and Phil Robertson tends to be the largest contribute to soundbites. But now, Phil’s son has taken the stump and is declaring that it’s possible that America could collapse just like the Roman empire. In a related report by the Inquisitr, Phil Robertson believes that Bibles and guns are the answer to any American’s woes. The Duck Commander patriarch also had a dire warning for Sadie Robertson’s boyfriend, saying that if they do not keep it in their pants, then he would “break” them. Phil...

“Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.” – John 15:20 Christians, pastors, take heed. In case you haven’t noticed, times are a-changin’. Whether at home or abroad, if you follow God’s command to speak biblical truth in all things, most especially, it seems, on matters of sex and sexuality, you will be persecuted. “A servant is not greater than his master.” I don’t presume to compare my friend Scott Lively of Abiding Truth Ministries to...