Free Republic

1st Amendment: Catholic bishops on Sunday issued a response to ObamaCare's mandates on providing contraception in violation of conscience and religious freedom. The message was simple: We will not comply. It was hardly a profile in courage when the Obama administration, hoping to kick the issue down the road past the November election, announced last Friday that Catholic hospitals and other religious institutions will have an extra year to comply with a new requirement that most health plans provide contraceptive benefits at no cost to their members. On Sunday, America's Catholic bishops in an open letter to their parishioners and...

Wednesday the United States Supreme Court delivered a knockout blow to the White House in the cause of religious liberty. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for a unanimous court swatted away the government’s claim that the Lutheran Church did not have the right to fire a “minister of religion” who, after six years of Lutheran religious training had been commissioned as a minister, upon election by her congregation. The fired minister -- who also taught secular subjects -- claimed discrimination in employment. The Obama administration, always looking for opportunities to undermine the bedrock of First Amendment religious liberty, eagerly agreed....

The conference has formed a new “religious liberty” committee, the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty and is hiring another attorney and lobbyist to address “religious liberty and marriage issues” on Capitol Hill. The Committee is also planning to lobby against a Congressional repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and the military’s repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Sadly, as part of this change in focus, the term “religious liberty” is being redefined away from protecting the rights to speak, believe, and practice religion. Instead, “religious liberty” is apparently the right to receive government money without restrictions. And we...

When Shehlla Khan's husband became ill, it fell on her to take their three children to the pool. But for Khan, who is Muslim, the task was difficult. The Columbia resident said she was concerned about people watching her swim in the conservative, cover-all dress required by Islamic dress codes, and thinking: "What's wrong? Why can't you take it off?" So Khan, 39, brought the issue up with members of her Dar Al-Taqwa mosque in Ellicott City. The mosque, along with members of a faith-based county group, People Acting Together in Howard, met with the Columbia Association to create a...

Part I – The Origin of Liberty The United States became a nation through a grand self-declaration of independence on July 4, 1776. The American colonialists-turned-revolutionaries fought a valiant and victorious battle against Great Britain to back up the audacious claim made in their Declaration of Independence. In 1788 the Constitution of the United States was ratified. A new nation was born that would stand as the bastion of liberty for centuries to come because of its religious influence. Ironically, many citizens of this very same nation today writhe at the suggestion that religion is, or could be, responsible for...

(Reuters) - U.S. officials have met members of the Muslim Brotherhood's political party, a U.S. diplomat said, after Washington announced it would have direct contacts with Egypt's biggest Islamist group whose role has grown since U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak was ousted.

I have some friends who tell me that I don’t make sense when it comes to my position on separation of church and state. You see, some would call me a “fundamentalist” Christian. For example, I believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God and try to live my life by its teachings. I believe that God created the world in seven, literal, twenty-four hour days and rested on the seventh day. I believe in the virgin birth of Jesus Christ and that He is the divine Son of God. I also believe that marriage between a man...

There are vertical prayers and horizontal prayers. Vertical prayers are directed heavenward. Horizontal prayers are directed sideways at others. It fills me with misgivings when a possible Presidential candidate warms up by running a "prayer rally" in a Texas sports stadium. A prayer "rally?" I can think of words like gathering and meeting that might more perfectly evoke the spirit. Prayer rallies make me think of pep rallies. Their purpose is to jack up the spirits of the home team and alarm the other side. Of course the other side has its own pep rallies, presumably leaving it to God...

A federal appeals court ruling this week could significantly diminish public university religious groups' ability to restrict membership and leadership to students who agree with their teachings. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday (Aug. 2) that San Diego State University (SDSU)'s nondiscrimination policy for officially recognized campus groups is constitutional and does not violate the rights of two Christian groups. The policy is based on a nondiscrimination policy used at all the schools in the California State University system. The two Christian groups, sorority Alpha Delta Chi and fraternity Alpha Gamma Omega, had sued SDSU in 2005, alleging...

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...

Seems like a lot of folks present old Thomas Jefferson as not being a Christian, not being religious, being a Deist, and just different from the other fifty-five signers of the Constitution. It seems folks just like to shoot off their mouth to prove a point without making sure what their shooting is good ammunition. I especially like the use of Mr. Jefferson statement of the “wall between church and state” to denote “the separation of church and state.” It sounds so good but was that what he meant? Mr. Jefferson, are you are Christian? “(My views on Christianity) are...

Via Daily CallerIn an effort to get closer to the local population, American female soldiers stationed in Afghanistan are being encouraged to wear a Muslim headscarf when interacting with civilians. But some question whether the practice constitutes cultural sensitivity or a form of appeasement that is degrading to U.S. soldiers. Major Kyndra Rotunda, executive director of the Military Law and Policy Institute and AMVETS Legal Clinic, told The Daily Caller that while the women are not being ordered to wear the head scarf, encouragement is tantamount to a demand[...] Retired Col. Martha McSally, whose grievance about being forced to wear...

There is a fundamental incoherence in federal policy, which limits the rights of the states to regulate or even influence norms of sexual behavior while at the same time assigns to itself the right to spend billions of taxpayer dollars to influence those norms at the state, local, and individual lev...

In August, the small town just north of Kansas City passed the so-called “driveway tax,” a controversial charge, in addition to property taxes, for residents and businesses based on the number of times their driveway is used. A big box store like Target can pay over $60,000 annually, while residents pay a flat rate of $72 dollars a year The purpose of the “Transportation Utility Fee” is to raise money for public works projects in Mission like street construction and road repair It’s unpopular among residents, some of whom have put up protest signs on their yards. But it’s particularly...

In music, as everybody knows, the blues were born in the Mississippi Delta and traveled up the river and the railroads from New Orleans to Memphis, St. Louis and on to Chicago. In politics, the blues were born farther north: in the Puritan commonwealth of 17th century New England centered around Boston. For the Puritans, the construction of a godly society was the first order of business. The state was not the enemy of liberty; the state was society’s moral agent. Today’s libertarians sometimes like to call their blue model liberal opponents “unamerican”. Nothing could be farther from the truth:...

United States District Court, D. Hawaii. February 21, 1979. THE HAWAII LAW ON NAMES The basic statute in Hawaii on names was adopted in 1860. Until 1967, it was required that all children born in wedlock shall have their father's name as a "family name" and ". . . a Christian name suitable to their sex."

People often turn to their faith to ease their minds. Now first lady Michelle Obama is hoping people will turn to churches, temples and synagogues to lose weight as well. The first lady launched a new addition to her Let's Move! campaign. Things might be changing at local services. Starting Monday, faith-based organizations of all kinds will begin a new crusade to end childhood obesity in a generation. It's called Let's Move: Faith and Communities, and the First AME Church of Los Angeles is leading the charge....

Developers of the controversial Park51 Islamic community center and mosque located two blocks from Ground Zero earlier this month applied for roughly $5 million in federal grant money set aside for the redevelopment of lower Manhattan after the attacks of September 11th, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The audacious move stands to reignite the embers of a divisive debate that dominated headlines surrounding the ninth anniversary of the attacks this fall, say people vested in the issue. The application was submitted under a “community and cultural enhancement” grant program administered by the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment...

(Batesville, MS 11/15/2010) -- The traditional pre-game prayer was replaced by a moment of silence before the South Panola High School Football game Friday. But many in the crowd decided not to remain silent, instead they recited the Lord's Prayer out loud. Superintendent Dr. Keith Shaffer, who made the decision to replace the prayer, was glad the crowd prayed. "I was proud," he says. "My community is what I worry about. I have to abide by what the law says and what the Federal Courts tell me, but when my community steps forward and asserts itself, I'm fine with that."...

“Spread the Recovery” Labor Sec: Keeping People on Unemployment for Almost Two Years is Gov Moral Obligation http://www.theblaze.com/stories/%e2%80%9cspread-the-recovery%e2%80%9d-labor-sec-keeping-people-on-unemployment-for-almost-two-years-is-gov-moral-obligation/

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma Muslim has filed a federal lawsuit against a state ballot measure that prohibits state courts from considering international law or Islamic law when deciding cases. Muneer Awad, head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Oklahoma, filed the lawsuit Thursday, saying it is unconstitutional. The ballot question was approved in Tuesday's election with 70 percent of the vote. The lawsuit seeks a temporary retraining order to block the results of the election from being certified on Nov. 9. Joseph Thai, of the University of Oklahoma College of Law, says there is no danger of...

Barack Obama, who became the first US president to personally celebrate Diwali in the historic East Room in 2009, wanted to "specifically" celebrate the festival of lights with Indians, the White House has said. "He (Obama) specifically wanted to have an opportunity to celebrate Diwali and to do so with the Indian people, getting beyond simply his official business,"

Rocco Landesman is the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Boy, does he know how to spin the official line on offensive art. In a recent interview in Cincinnati, he was asked vaguely about controversy. "The best art taps into deep feelings, sometimes to comfort and sometimes to confront. Art can be very uncomfortable," Landesman said. "That can lead to strong reactions. For some of us, it draws us into the arts over our lifetimes and careers. For others, it creates strong negative feelings." Landesman wasn't being asked specifically about negative feelings over the Loveland Museum Gallery in...

KING, N.C. – The Christian flag is everywhere in the small city of King: flying in front of barbecue joints and hair salons, stuck to the bumpers of trucks, hanging in windows and emblazoned on T-shirts. The relatively obscure emblem has become omnipresent because of one place it can't appear: flying above a war memorial in a public park. The city council decided last month to remove the flag from above the monument in Central Park after a resident complained, and after city leaders got letters from the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for the Separation of Church...

Press Release $1,000 REWARD OFFERED BY CHRISTINE O'DONNELL'S 2008 CAMPAIGN MANAGER FOR ANYONE WHO CAN FIND THE PHRASE "SEPARATION OF CHURCH & STATE" In the US Constitution Contact : Jonathon Moseley (703) 656-1230 FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA (October 21, 2010) -- $1,000 is being offered -- including as a donation to CHRIS COONS' U.S. Senate Campaign in Delaware -- for any one who can find the exact phrase "Separation of Church and State" anywhere in the United States Constitution, by Virginia attorney Jonathon Moseley. Moseley was the 2008 primary campaign manager for national Cinderella candidate CHRISTINE O'DONNELL. http://www.SupportChristine.com/reward.html In a US Senate...

Levin unpacks this ‘O’Donnell vs Separation of Church and State’ issue being raised by the Left and exposes their ignorance of the Constitution.

Hmm. Well this is odd. It’s like the state-run media is intentionally hiding this report to protect democrat Chris Coons. Certainly they wouldn’t stoop that low, would they? Chris Coons was sued three times in 2007 for retaliating against public employees for their political views. While the state-run media was out smearing conservative Christine O’Donnell in Delaware they forgot to get around to this.

O'Donnell Right About 'Separation of Church and State' By John R. Guardiano on 10.19.10 @ 1:02PM The political and pundit class is in a tizzy because Delaware Senate Christine O'Donnell had the effrontery to question Supreme Court jurisprudence that has established a "wall of separation between Church and State." But while O'Donnell may not have been as articulate as she should have been, she's nonetheless right: The phrase "separation of church and state" appears nowhere in the Constitution. It was penned, instead, by President Thomas Jefferson in a letter that Jefferson sent to the Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut. And,...

A Montana woman accused of destroying a piece of art some say depicted Jesus Christ committing a sex act pleaded not guilty this morning to a charge of criminal mischief, a Class 4 felony. Kathleen Folden waived her right to a preliminary hearing and is scheduled for a three-day trial in January. Folden's appearance was brief. In her arrest affidavit, Folden admitted to visiting the Loveland Museum/Gallery on Oct. 6 for the sole purpose of destroying the print of Enrique Chagoya's "The Misadventures of Romantic Cannibals."...

Last Updated: Wed, 10/06/2010 - 3:40pmStill tainted by a major scandal involving officials who view pornography on taxpayer time, the federal agency that funds science research and education has awarded a New York theater company $700,000 to finance a show about climate change. The perplexing arts grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) was first reported in a brief that appeared in the Sunday Arts section of the New York Times. The one-paragraph announcement even mentions that the grant is a rare gift to an arts organization from a federal agency that pays for science, engineering and mathematics research and...

A Montana woman faces criminal charges after she used a crowbar to destroy a blasphemous exhibit at a gallery in Colorado. Kathleen Folden was arrested after she smashed an exhibit that depicted Jesus in a lewd act. The exhibit, by artist Enrique Chagoya of Stanford University, had caused outrage among Christians.

With nothing else working, President Barack Obama is asking religious leaders to help him sell the public on health care reform. POLITICO listened in to an Oval Office conference call Tuesday, where Obama, alongside other top administration officials, beseeched thousands of faith-based and community organizations to preach the gospel on new insurance reforms, chiefly the Patients’ Bill of Rights. “Get out there and spread the word,” Obama told leaders from across the religious spectrum on the conference call, organized by Health and Human Services Center for Faith-Based and Community Partnerships. “This is something that we’ll be able to look back...

A Massachusetts public school district allowed middle school students to participate in a Muslim prayer during a school sanctioned field trip to a Mosque. From the letter/permission slip sent out to parents: “During our visit, we will get a chance to hear from Islam from members of the Cultural Center, learn about the architecture of a Mosque and observe a midday prayer service.” A concerned parent did a bit of investigation into this Mosque and found out some interesting facts about this Mosque. It is called the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center and is run by the Muslim American...

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has expressed a willingness to ban protesters from burning the Koran as the modern day equivalent of shouting fire in a crowded theater.The Supreme Court has ruled burning the American flag in protest is protected speech under the First Amendment of the Constitution.Breyer spoke to George Stephanopoulos on ABC's Good Morning America today:But Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer told me on "GMA" that he's not prepared to conclude that -- in the internet age -- the First Amendment condones Koran burning.“Holmes said it doesn’t mean you can shout 'fire' in a crowded theater,” Breyer...

WASHINGTON (AP) - American taxpayers will pay the imam behind plans for a mosque near the Manhattan site of the Sept. 11 attacks $3,000 in fees for a three-nation outreach trip to the Middle East that will cost roughly $16,000, the State Department said Wednesday. The department said Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf will get a daily $200 honorarium for the 15-day tour to Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which is intended to promote religious tolerance. Airfare is included, as well as the standard federal government per diem for expenses and lodging in each of the cities he will...

Sometimes our south suburban landscape seems pretty bleak. Leaders of churches, cities, schools, businesses and community groups all over our region, all over the Chicago area, feel bowled over and knocked about by a bewildering array of social, economic and environmental concerns. Homelessness and hunger are on the rise. Guns are more widely available than ever. All of our president's efforts to create prosperity and jobs get crushed by a recalcitrant Congress. Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) recently told the SouthtownStar that today's crisis is caused by one political party dedicated to delaying, denying and obstructing all progress, growth...

Truth, even in the tightly controlled prison of the Obama media complex, occasionally bursts forth like a swordfish cavorting on the waves of a golden August afternoon. Newsweek, the Washington Post's former progressive stepchild, published an op-ed by Fareed Zakaria, the in-house lapdog for the Administration, extolling the virtues of building the Ground Zero Mosque. A couple of sentences demand a great deal more explanation. To that end, early in its tenure the Bush administration began a serious effort to seek out and support moderate Islam. Since then, Washington has funded mosques, schools, institutes, and community centers that are...

CNN has an interesting roundtable on the case of Jennifer Keeton, who has sued Augusta State University to keep from getting expelled for not repudiating her statements about homosexuality. Keeton expressed her biblical perspective on the subject in and out of class while working toward a degree in counseling, and the school mandated a “remediation plan� that appears to have required her to renounce her Christian doctrine in order to gain a diploma from the school. The school has responded that a bias against homosexuality would disqualify Keeton from certification, a position that would put most Christians in Keeton’s position.Does...

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...

GOD IN THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS The subject of God in the Constitution arises from time to time, and this site deals with the topic specificallyelsewhere. However, another question also arises: how is God referenced, if at all, in state constitutions? This list is not guaranteed to be exhaustive, but it attempts to be. Using the most recent version of each state's constitution, these words were searched for: God, Lord, Creator, Christ. Other variations were recorded when noted. Each instance is noted below, alphabetically by state name. Copied portions are excerpts only — only the sentence with the term in...

The cry, "That violates the separation of church and state!" has been the centerpiece of the secularist drive to marginalize Christianity in the public sphere since the 1940s. The real -- and often neglected -- question is what precisely that separation means and how it should be interpreted and applied.The secularists' interpretation of the establishment clause -- the line of the First Amendment that reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" -- ultimately rests upon anti-Christian prejudice and involves cherry picking from certain founders' writings. In recent years, we...

…the point is clear and her position is ultimately that “of course, we know [the Word] means” and that she is defining the Word Biblically. Yet, she is then applying it to public/governmental policy and we know that this can mean anything/everything such as abortion, welfare, the social gospel, etc. So, what do the watchdogs/watchgods have to say about the fact that a Democrat, Barack Obama administration, House Speaker is stating that, “we have to give voice to…public policy that would be in keeping with the values of the Word….‘The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us’”? Dan Barker:...

DENVER -- As if travelers weren't already freaked out by a 32-foot tall blue stallion with fiery eyes, now a towering statue of the Egyptian god of the dead is welcoming fliers at Denver International Airport. Workers erected a 26-foot tall, seven-ton replica of Anubis, the jackal-headed god of the dead, on Wednesday. The blue and gold statue gazes into the main terminal to promote the King Tut exhibit that opens June 26 at the Denver Art Museum. Anubis stands not far from the rearing blue "Mustang," an often derided artwork branded "Bluecifer," "Satan's Steed" and "Blue Devil Horse" by...

Title truncated: Pelosi Says She Has a Duty to Pursue Policies in Keeping With The Values of Jesus, 'The Word Made Flesh' ------------------------- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says she believes she must pursue public policies "in keeping with the values" of Jesus Christ, "The Word made Flesh." Pelosi, who is a Catholic and who favors legalized abortion, voted against the ban on partial-birth abortion that was enacted into law in 2003. At a May 6 Catholic Community Conference on Capitol Hill, the speaker said: “They ask me all the time, ‘What is your favorite this? What is your favorite...

This will make every Conservative parent’s head spin! A student expressed her conservative beliefs during a conversation on the school bus about abortion, gay marriage and Barack Obama. The school bus driver, Betty Campbell, overhears the conversations and launches a full on attack at the child saying she was a, “stupid, little bigot!” “If you can’t believe in tolerance towards one another, you don’t belong here. You belong in a parochial church school!” http://www.kcci.com/video/23680243/index.html Later the bus driver dropped the children off at their homes and actually CAME BACK to the child’s home and took her onto her bus to...

Monday May 17, 2010 Charges Dropped against UK Preacher who Called Homosexual Acts a Sin By Hilary White  WORKINGTON, UK, May 17, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Charges have been dropped against Dale Mcalpine, an evangelical street preacher from Workington in Cumbria, who was arrested April 20 after he was denounced to police by a homosexualist police community support officer (PCSO). Mcalpine had, in a private conversation with a passer-by during his day of preaching, said that homosexual activity is a sin, in accordance with Biblical teaching.The Christian Institute reports that after reviewing the evidence, crown prosecutors decided to drop charges...

Barack Obama administration’s House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated, or admitted, The cardinals, the archbishops, the bishops that come to me and say, 'We want you to pass immigration reform,' and I said, 'I want you to speak about it from the pulpit. I want you to instruct your' -- whatever the communication is…The people, some (who) oppose immigration reform, are sitting in those pews, and you have to tell them that this is a manifestation of our living the gospels. Now, just what is Nancy Pelosi doing prescribing to cardinals, archbishops and bishops what they are to preach from their...

US President Barack Obama speaks at the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC. Obama has announced a string of new educational and entrepreneurial exchanges with Muslim nations, in a bid to honor his promise to forge a new beginning with Islam.

This is a strange day and time to be a member of the United States military. At a time when special interest groups beg a sympathetic President to allow gays in the military, the military is taking a hard line stance on Christian speakers. In the past two months the armed forces have rejected public speaking engagements featuring two of America's most prominent Christian leaders. First, Tony Perkins the president of the Family Research Council was dis-invited to speak at Andrews Air Force base. On the heels of that decision, the Pentagon dis-invited Franklin Graham to speak during the National...