Free Republic

The Constitution of the United States of America is for all in America to enjoy, that is unless....you belong to a Christian oriented organization. I wrote a while back how the Christian Church should be allowed to endorse candidates & become politically involved, -- well after a recent trend of disturbing anti-first amendment Church related incidents & blacklisting, I have decided to write once more on the subject. The IRS is telling a pro-life Christian organization that they cannot be approved for tax-exemption until they stop protesting an abortion providing, pretty much destroying the First amendment for this organization, one...

Homelessness is an epidemic. As Americans, it is our right and privilege to help reach the needy. As Christians, it is our duty. What are the real problems and real solutions? "How do we reclaim our park benches back from the homeless?" I listened to a city official ask a group of business men and women last Tuesday. Sound heartless?

Proving once again, that one need not rely on The Onion for their daily, news-based comic relief—there is just nothing better than the ridiculous things that people actually do. Scouring headlines, I often find myself asking, "Seriously? That actually happened?" In honor of this reaction, I have begun a new series, tentatively and appropriate titled, "Seriously?" It is difficult to understand how, in a time of unprecedented information-sharing, an individual could escape learning that the earth is roughly 5 billion years old. It would seem, as a public official, one would have to go out of their way to harbor...

An Idaho community had secured an Air Force flyover for its local festival every year for more than 40 years, organizers say, but this year, the Air Force turned the request down over the festival's religious focus. The God and Country Family Festival in Nampa, Idaho, applied to the Pentagon for the flyover but was denied in an e-mail, board member Patti Syme told KTBV. Syme said the e-mail from a defense official informed her the Pentagon prohibited support of special interest groups. "I called him immediately and just said, you know hey we've been doing this for 42 years,...

Santa Rosa County, FL – Liberty Counsel filed a motion to intervene on behalf of Christian Educators Association International (CEAI) in a lawsuit filed earlier this year by the ACLU against the Santa Rosa County School District. The ACLU filed suit, claiming some of the teachers and administration endorsed religion. The School District attempted to settle the suit by joining with the ACLU and presenting the court with a Consent Order, which essentially bans all employees from engaging in prayer or religious activities, whether before, during, or after school hours. Without any legal argument or briefing, the judge signed the...

An Idaho community had secured an Air Force flyover for its local festival every year for more than 40 years, organizers say, but this year, the Air Force turned the request down over the festival's religious focus. The God and Country Family Festival in Nampa, Idaho, applied to the Pentagon for the flyover but was denied in an e-mail, board member Patti Syme told KTBV. Syme said the e-mail from a defense official informed her the Pentagon prohibited support of special interest groups. "I called him immediately and just said, you know hey we've been doing this for 42 years,...

Muslim suicides surpassed by Protestant and Jewish suicides Protestants and Jews offer radical Muslims lessons of authentic suicide By Julio SeveroA suicide-bomber, who kills many people by exploding cars in an effort to draw attention, is also called a terrorist suicide. Radical Islam holds the monopoly of that strange suicide that, instead of murdering and destroying exclusively the author and other similar terrorists, kills the innocent.Muslim terrorists prefer to target Jews and “Christians”. Even when a bomb blows up and kills some Muslims, the goal is eventually to hit the US and Israel. But if they were authentic suicides, they...

Geert Wilders’ Speech in CopenhagenGates of Vienna, 15 June 2009...The problem is that the injunctions in the Koran are not restricted to time or place. Rather, they apply to all Muslims, in any period. Another problem is that Muslims also regard the Koran as the word of Allah. Which means that the Koran is immune from criticism.Apart from the Koran, there is also the life of Muhammad, who fought in dozens of wars and was in the habit of decapitating Jews with his own sword. The problem here is that, to Muslims, Muhammad is ‘the perfect man’, whose life is...

Kendra Plans To Be Strict Christian Mother, Reveals Baby Names Now that Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett are officially husband and wife the reality show duo is focusing on the next important phase - parenthood. While Hugh Hefner’s 23-year-old former flame has led a pretty wild life (besides being Hugh Hefner's girlfriend, the number of times she's revealed her assets in public is well into the double digits), and said earlier this year that Baskett was helping her find God for the first time, she is determined to be a strict religious mama.

A conservative black pastor and former NFL linebacker says he's highly offended that President Obama would compare the plight of homosexuals to that of blacks during the Civil Rights Era.On Monday, President Obama told a gathering of homosexuals at the White House that he is aware that many of them "don't believe progress has come fast enough," and compared their struggles to those of blacks during the Civil Rights Movement. Ken Hutcherson, the senior pastor of Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, Washington, says the comments are especially disturbing from an individual who is supposed to be familiar with "the black experience." "But I...

President Obama hosted a reception at the White House celebrating LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Pride month. Black Christians should take note and learn a few things about our black President. As they say, we are what we do. It tells us something that Mr. Obama had no time to host an event for the National Day of Prayer. Nor did he have time to accept the invitation to convey greetings and a few remarks to the couple hundred thousand who came to Washington, as they do every January, for the March for Life. However, the LGBT Pride event did...

German blogs, Jihad Watch & Atlas Shrugged are discussing the apparent Christian cross seen worn by Neda in an AP photo.

Contact: Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Christian Defense Coalition, 540-538-4741, 202-547-1735; Brandi Swindell, Director, Generation Life, 208-867-1307; Patti Syme, Director, The God and Country Rally, 208-573-9300 NAMPA, Idaho, July 3 /Christian Newswire/ -- This marks the first time in the 42 year history of the event that a flyover request was denied by the Pentagon. The event is held ever year to honor the spiritual foundations of our country with a special emphasis on the men and women who serve in the armed forces. In past years, the "God and Country Rally" has focused on honoring and paying tribute to those...

A new poll conducted by the Arab World for Research and Development found that a majority of Arabs in the Palestinian Authority would be opposed to granting rights to Christians and Jews in a "Palestinian" state. This should come as no surprise. Throughout history whenever Christians and Jews constituted the minority in a superior Muslim majority country, they have always been discriminated against and subjected to "dhimmitude" status.

Note: Photos included. Note: The following text is a quote: Thursday, July 2, 2009 Victims of June 30 Muslim violence continue to receive threats About 100 Christian homes and churches were set on fire By Dan Wooding and Sheraz Khurram Khan Special to ASSIST News Service KASUR, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- The Muslim anger over a blasphemy accusation against Christians has not apparently subsided, as Christian villagers from Bhamniwala, which is located in the district of Kasur in Punjab province, Pakistan, continue to face threats from radical Islamists. Christians of Bhamniwala village await justice The local Christians were attacked by 500...

What did the Christians cherish from the pagan traditions, and what did they change? How Christians elevated culture What did the Christians cherish from the pagan traditions, and what did they change? They raised the status of women. It's dogma in our public schools today that women in ancient times were oppressed, because women had no voting rights, women had not the same opportunities as men, and so forth. You will be mocked if you deny that this spells oppression. If you're a college professor and you deny it, get ready for the stake. But the charges are anachronistic and...

Father refuses to give al Shabaab extremists information about house church pastor. Islamic extremists have beheaded two young boys in Somalia because their Christian father refused to divulge information about a church leader, and the killers are searching Kenya’s refugee camps to do the same to the boys’ father. Before taking his Somali family to a Kenyan refugee camp in April, 55-year-old Musa Mohammed Yusuf himself was the leader of an underground church in Yonday village, 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Kismayo in Somalia. He had received instruction in the Christian faith from Salat Mberwa. Militants from the Islamic extremist...

Muslim Mob Burns Down 100 Christian Homes in PakistanJuly 1, 2009, 02:01:44 PMCountry:PakistanMuslim Mob Burns Down 100 Christian Homes in PakistanRiot Incited via Mosque Loudspeakers; Mob Throws Acid on Women and Children07/01/09 Pakistan (International Christian Concern) - This morning 100 Christian houses and churches were set on fire by local Muslims in the city of Kasur South, east ofLahore, Pakistan. The riots were incited by broadcasts from local mosques. This incident issimilar to a February 1997 attack when thousands of Christian houses and churches wereburned and hundreds of Christians were injured.ICC partners received the news this morning and went...

“In Nixon tapes, Billy Graham refers to ‘synagogue of Satan’” That headline, which appeared yesterday in USA Today, is the latest damaging revelation about the great evangelical leader to come out of his conversations with President Richard Nixon. In the Bible, the term “synagogue of Satan,” which appears in Revelation 3:9, referred to those “who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie.” But in contemporary times the phrase has been grifted by conspiracy theorists and anti-Semites to refer to a Jewish cabal hell-bent on, and only moments away from, world domination; a Google search for “synagogue of...

(NEW YORK - June 30, 2009) - This week's July 6, 2009, issue of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, on newsstands tomorrow, features Ed Thomas, head football coach at Aplington-Parkersburg (Iowa) High School, with the billing A GOOD MAN DOWN - TRAGEDY IN THE HEARTLAND: THE MURDER OF A BELOVED HIGH SCHOOL COACH. It was Thomas who had led the townspeople of Parkersburg out of the rubble of a tornado last year, showed them how to live a Christian life and brought honor to a football field he mowed himself. What they can't understand is why Thomas was gunned down by a former...

Brian and Doris Johnson have passed out free Bibles at the Twin Cities Pride Festival for 11 years, but this year their free gifts got them arrested. After being told they couldn't have a booth at this year's festival, the family came anyway and ended up behind bars for trespassing. The Pride Festival started Saturday in Loring Park and is considered the third-largest GLBT celebration in the nation. Since the festival rented out the entire park, police said they could choose which vendors to allow in the park. The Johnsons are born-again Christians and believe homosexuality is a sin. Pride...

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights - that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men” These words were contained within the birth certificate of the United States of America, the “Declaration of Independence.” They have informed our history as a free people. In a few short days we will pause and celebrate that Independence. Yet, as we look at the text we note something extremely important. Our forebears were...

A few days ago it was reported that an Ethiopian Patriarch was considering revealing the secret of the Lost Ark, and the Ark itself, and how his church has been holding it for thousands of years, and would likely do so on Friday in Italy. Turns out he preferred keeping the secret (or had nothing to show) and said nothing on Friday. He had not even scheduled a press conference. World Net Daily has the whole story. Nobody knows what is true and what is not, but it is definitely a fascinating story.... The agency had reported an announcement would...

Fear of massacre grips Christian village in Egypt Whenever Muslims are seen “dancing and chanting ‘Come to Jihad’ and the ‘Cross is the enemy of God” outside the homes of grossly outnumbered indigenous Christians, who are further oppressed by the state, massacres become very real possibilities. More on this story. “Fear of Massacre Grips Christian Village in Egypt; Crops Destroyed,” from AINA, June 24: (AINA) — Fears of an impending massacre has gripped the Christian Copts in the village of Ezbet Boshra, El Fashn, which was scene to Muslim mob attacks on Copts on Sunday (AINA 6-22-2009). Egyptian State Security...

Rome catacomb reveals "oldest" image of St Paul Sun Jun 28 ROME (Reuters) – Vatican archaeologists using laser technology have discovered what they believe is the oldest image in existence of St Paul the Apostle, dating from the late 4th century, on the walls of catacomb beneath Rome. Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano, revealing the find on Sunday, published a picture of a frescoed image of the face of a man with a pointed black beard on a red background, inside a bright yellow halo. The high forehead is furrowed. Experts of the Ponitifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology made the discovery...

Oldest known icon of St. Paul discovered! http://singinginthereign.blogspot.com/2009/06/oldest-icon-of-st-paul-discovered.html

No, not THAT Calvin — although maybe he has a birthday coming up, too. The rock star of the moment is John Calvin, the stereotypically dour theological chaperone of Geneva (his 500th birthday is July 10). A balanced, nicely-done story by Religion News Service writer Daniel Burke maps the lawyer’s influence on American evangelicals, particularly Southern Baptists. But why is Calvin becoming so, er, trendy? Well, it isn’t because of his clothes, his beard, or even the way he wanted to govern Geneva. It is, as Burke astutely notes in his lede, Calvin’s doctrine that is undergoing, excuse the expression,...

The letters are unfailingly polite, the carefully crafted correspondence of a man with too much time on his hands. There is no hint of aggression, nothing to suggest that they were penned by the same writer who once terrorized New York City with his missives filled with blood and darkness and death. In these letters, sent from a prison cell in upstate New York to an office in Houston's city hall annex, there is an effort to prove contrition for the homicides back then, an eagerness to put distance between the monster he once was and the person he says...

Christian families have long been complaining of intimidation and land theft by Muslims, especially those working for the Palestinian Authority. Many Christians in Bethlehem and the nearby [Christian] towns of Bet Sahour and Bet Jalla have repeatedly complained that Muslims have been seizing their lands either by force or through forged documents. In recent years, not only has the number of Christians continued to dwindle, but Bethlehem and its surroundings also became hotbeds for Hamas and Islamic Jihad supporters and members. Moreover, several Christian women living in these areas have complained about verbal and sexual assaults by Muslim men. .....

Christian families have long been complaining of intimidation and land theft by Muslims, especially those working for the Palestinian Authority. Many Christians in Bethlehem and the nearby [Christian] towns of Bet Sahour and Bet Jalla have repeatedly complained that Muslims have been seizing their lands either by force or through forged documents. In recent years, not only has the number of Christians continued to dwindle, but Bethlehem and its surroundings also became hotbeds for Hamas and Islamic Jihad supporters and members. Moreover, several Christian women living in these areas have complained about verbal and sexual assaults by Muslim men. .....

Christian Organization Denied Free Speech Rights At Arab International Festival Restrictions requested by Dearborn police upheld in court Dear AMERICA, Imagine a large Christian festival being held on public streets in a major city. A Muslim organization dispatches volunteers to mix and mingle with festival attendees, handing out pro-Muslim leaflets. The local police, concerned about crowd control and possible violence, order the Muslim organization to confine its leafleting to a single street corner out of the way of most of the festival traffic. If this is hard to imagine it's because we all know that the outcry from the...

This is possibly the most powerful book on confronting the homosexual agenda! For the past ten years, while lecturing and consulting on pro-family strategies in more than 30 countries, Dr. Lively has been writing the world's first textbook that teaches pro-family advocates how to defeat the homosexual agenda and reestablish family-centered culture in their respective nations from a Christian perspective. This book is posted free to the public.

As we watch the horrors in Iran, it makes us wonder if anything like that could happen in America. In Iran, the mullahs control everything and feel justified in any injustice they commit because of a belief in the rightness of their own actions. Is there anyone like that here? In an answer to that question, Frank Schaeffer wrote a column for the Huffington Post entitled “The Real Lesson of Iran — Beware America’s Republican Mullahs.” Reading it and the comments to it, I came to a realization: people who think the religious right are just like Iranian mullahs are...

As we watch the horrors in Iran, it makes us wonder if anything like that could happen in America. In Iran, the mullahs control everything and feel justified in any injustice they commit because of a belief in the rightness of their own actions. Is there anyone like that here? In an answer to that question, Frank Schaeffer wrote a column for the Huffington Post entitled “The Real Lesson of Iran — Beware America’s Republican Mullahs.” Reading it and the comments to it, I came to a realization: people who think the religious right are just like Iranian mullahs are...

A Connecticut church posted a controversial video on YouTube that raised questions about the treatment of children by a leader of a gay and lesbian teen mentoring group among others The video features church elders performing what looks like an exorcism, of what they refer to in the video as "homosexual demons" The video shows leaders of the Manifested Glory Ministries in a frenetic scene, screaming, "Right now I command you to leave!" At the same time a teen writhing on the ground as the adults around him implore so called "homosexual demons" to get out. The leaders yell at...

A Texas pastor has discovered a unique way to help others in the sour economy. Toby Slough is pastor of Cross Timbers Community Church, in Argyle, Texas. Earlier this year, as the offering plate was circulated, Pastor Slough told the congregation to take money if they were suffering financially. That day, the church reported its largest offering ever. Since then, the non-denominational church has given out half a million dollars to members and non-members. Slough says the concept was tough at first, especially for those who needed the money. But now, he notes, the congregation has responded beyond all expectations....

A Christian group in Missouri will be allowed to freely distribute religious literature at “gay pride” event this weekend after a federal judge ruled in their favor. Another Christian group in Michigan, however, was not so fortunate in its quest for free distribution at a recent Arab festival but is still hopeful for a favorable conclusion. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds denied a motion from Calif.-based ministry Arabic Christian Perspective (ACP) for a temporary restraining order that would have prohibited the city of Dearborn, Mich., from restricting the group from handing out literature during the Arab International Festival,...

His hopes for a life with his family, lived in simplicity and fidelity to the Church, were short lived. The King, by now drunk on his own power, insisted that Thomas take the oath under the “Act of Succession”, thereby acknowledging the legitimacy of his “marriage” to Anne and his authority over the Church. Thomas would not do so because he refused to violate his truly formed conscience. So, the King had his former counselor imprisoned in the Tower of London. There he underwent intense tortures of both body and soul. These came not only from the henchmen of the...

The fate of three of nine foreigners abducted in Yemen last week is known — their bodies were found, shot execution style. The whereabouts of the other six — including three children under the age of 6 — remain a mystery. But terrorism experts say their abductors and killers are almost certainly not a mystery. They say the crimes bear the mark of Al Qaeda, and they fear they are the handiwork of the international terror organization's No. 2 man in the Arabian Peninsula: Said Ali al-Shihri, an Islamic extremist who once was in American custody — but who was...

Just like the Christians in Indonesia are under attack, the Christians in the neighbouring Philippines are also. It is a worldwide problem that is not going away.

The Christian based Thomas More Law Center which is involved in the lawsuit against the US Government for bailing out AIG which in turn helps promote sharia banking is backing up Christians once again. This time Christians were told that they cannot walk around and pass out Christian literature during the annual Dearborn Arab International Festival. I cannot imagine who complained....

This shortened song video is accompanied with an autumn view, scenic sky, mountains and an animated perched juvenile red shoulder hawk. Singing is by the Church of Christ Choir!

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." - James 1:27 The Obama Administration and both houses of the US Congress are fast-tracking a number of programs designed to increase the size of what's commonly known as the Welfare State. And while Christian church leaders and members may wag their fingers at this socialist strategy of "forced charity," we must remember that in order to remove the specks from the eyes of liberal-left politicians, we must first remove the boards...

June 15, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - This article presents the Christian attitude toward abortion before the first ecumenical council, that is, until A.D. 325. Because the New Testament does not comment on the morality of abortion, this article considers the writings of the first generations of Christians after the apostles, for they indicate that opposition to abortion (1) was shared at a time when the writers — or Christians not many generations earlier — personally knew the apostles or their first disciples and thus benefited from their unwritten teachings and interpretations of Scripture, (2) comes from a date so early that...

Note: The following text is a quote: June 14, 2009 Taliban shoots 11 year-old Christian boy in head Meanwhile, the Pakistani embassy in D.C. considers such stories "exaggerated." "Pakistan: Christians ready to die for their faith," from Spero News, June 14: An 11-year-old boy was shot in the head while attending church near Karachi. Christians live in dread of the Taliban, which is demanding conversion to Islam or death. ‘I am sorry I could not speak to you then because we were just about to begin the funeral service for Irfan, an 11 year-old boy who was shot in the...

Note: The following text is a quote: June 13, 2009 Pakistan: Muslims attack pastor's home, beat women with rifle-butts While D.C. based Pakistani officials deny that there is any persecution of non-Muslims in Pakistan and that, even if there were, the police would be all over it, here's yet another tale, hot off the press, giving him the lie on both counts. More on such stories. "Pakistan: Muslims attack pastor's home, relatives," from Compass Direct News, June 12: After shooting into air, assailants strike mother, sister-in-law with rifle butts. LAHORE, Pakistan, June 12 (Compass Direct News) – In a growing...

Cairo (AINA) -- In another incident of abduction and forced Islamization of Coptic minor girls, 16-year old Nermeen Mitry was abducted by a Muslim man to coerce her into converting to Islam. She was successfully recovered on the same day by her family, who did their own investigation and search to locate her. Nermeen was abducted from El-Mahalla by Muslim Hossam Hamouda in conspiracy with his aunt Leila Attia; she was hidden away by a third person called Nasser Abu Deif from Assuit in Upper Egypt, at the home of one of his female relatives called Rasha Soliman in Zagazig....

There's an important article in the Politico titled, "Obama invokes Jesus more than Bush." President Barack Obama, says the article, has mentioned Jesus Christ "in a number of high-profile public speeches," more so than did President George W. Bush, and in much less "innocuous contexts." Obama has done so in order to promote certain policies, especially his economic policies, and "to connect with a broader base of supporters." He does this via various "targeted messages." Most remarkable, the article considers whether Obama is using the bully pulpit to pursue "an even larger goal" of resurrecting the Christian left, of appealing...

SNIPPET: ""Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued." -- Qur'an 9:29 "Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war...When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of...

Tami Farrell, the newly crowned beauty queen who is replacing the ousted Carrie Prejean as Miss California, apparently holds the same view as her predecessor, Carrie Prejean, and President Obama that marriage should be between a man and a woman. Fox News host Neil Cavuto asked Farrell, who is Christian, on his show today: "[Prejean] went out and said that a marriage is between a man and a woman. Do you share that view?" Farrell responded in the affirmative with a simple, "Uh huh." "You do, OK," said Cavuto. Farrell quickly added: "I don't think that I have the right...