http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/culturewars/ en-us Fri, 1 Jan 2010 14:42:47 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418936/posts ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.--Religious liberty suffered a setback in the U.S. but won a victory in Canada in December in two closely watched cases involving the legal tug-of-war between religious rights and "gay rights." Both cases are seen by American conservative groups as indicators of what could be in the nation's future if laws protecting homosexuality continue to pass and if "gay marriage" spreads to all 50 states. In the U.S. case, a New Mexico judge ruled that a husband- and wife-owned photography company violated state anti-discrimination laws when they refused to take pictures of a lesbian commitment ceremony. The ruling --... Church Executive http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418936/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 14:42:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418888/posts It was a year in which the dominant cultural story was the sad but eerily almost-predictable drug-addled death of Michael Jackson. But there were a few good moments sprinkled in with the outrageous and the tawdry in 2009. My choices for cultural winners and losers this year: Winner: Farrah Fawcett. Unlike Jackson, she fought and ultimately lost her battle with cancer with extraordinary grace, faith and dignity. Winner: "Up." The elite and the people agree that Pixar films are sublimely entertaining. The eight-minute montage near the beginning of this film sweetly chronicling a loving marriage moved millions to tears from... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418888/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 12:08:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417531/posts You probably don't need a long synopsis of James Cameron's half-billion-dollar epic "Avatar," in part because even if you haven't seen it, you've seen it. As many reviewers have noted, Cameron rips off Hollywood cliches to the point you could cut and paste dialogue from "Pocahontas" or "Dances With Wolves" into "Avatar" without appreciably changing the story. In short, "Avatar" tells the tale of a disabled Marine, Jake Sully, who occupies the body of a 10-foot-tall alien so he can live among the mystical forest denizens of the moon world Pandora. Sully is sent in mufti, like a futuristic Lawrence... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417531/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:08:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415206/posts Mariah Jordat, 8, was reading her Bible during quiet time at Madison Park Elementary School in Oldbridge, N.J., when her teacher told her to put the book away. Mariah put her Bible under her desk, but that wasn't away enough. The teacher banished the book to the student's backpack. The persecution hurt her feelings and confused her, said Michelle Jordat, the little girl's mother. "Why would my teacher say that I can't read the Bible when I'm not bothering anybody else?" It's ridiculous for a school to forbid a child, let alone one at such an impressionable age, to read... The Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415206/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 05:43:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2414722/posts I am not inclined to sign manifestos or petitions. While believing strongly and passionately about many causes, I am not usually impressed with the effectiveness of such statements and I am generally concerned about how such statements might be used or construed by others. I am not reluctant to speak for myself and from my own Christian convictions and consequent judgments. Furthermore, the constant exchange of opposing statements on this or that issue merely crowds the public square as opposing viewpoints compete for attention. So, for reasons perhaps both admirable and not so admirable, I prefer to stand on my... albertmohler.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2414722/posts#comment Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:06:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412743/posts Are you as annoyed as I am by that nauseatingly amorphous phrase “Happy Holidays?” You may be interested to know that the mindset behind the term precedes America’s postmodern love affair with political correctness, tracing back to good ole’ fashioned Cold War Communism (PC’s uglier big sister). Indeed, today’s secularist war on Christmas (yes, the one that, like God, many liberals deny exists) was waged, in large part, when Communists began attempting to supplant the deity of Christ (and His associated Judeo-Christian principles) with the false deity of the State. Ronald Reagan once spoke to this noteworthy historical factoid during... Canada Free Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412743/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:23:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2412366/posts On a September afternoon, about 60 prominent Christians assembled in the library of the Metropolitan Club on the east side of Central Park. It was a gathering of unusual diversity and power. Many in attendance were conservative evangelicals like the born-again Watergate felon Chuck Colson, who helped initiate the meeting. Metropolitan Jonah, the primate of the Orthodox Church in America, was there as well. And so were more than half a dozen of this country’s most influential Roman Catholic bishops, including Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, Archbishop John Myers of Newark and Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia. At the... The New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2412366/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:27:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410398/posts At a time of year when faith is celebrated by most Americans, it may surprise some to learn that many students of faith and history believe we are living in a post-Christian age. It is not apparent at the local malls now so festively decorated, but it can be seen in some telltale cultural indicators. One of those is the number of attacks on people of faith, particularly Jews. Throughout much of the world today, where Christianity is in decline attacks on Jews are on the rise. In post-Christian Europe, Jews are often victims of a deeply entrenched anti-Semitism. Synagogues... Human Events http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410398/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:12:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406703/posts From Rush Limbaugh to President Obama, Ayn Rand and her book 'Atlas Shrugged' are recalibrating America.From Fox News to the passenger sitting next to you reading “Atlas Shrugged” on your commute to work, Ayn Rand seems to be everywhere. Since the economic collapse of 2008, the controversial novelist and philosopher has emerged as a leading intellectual on the right – and she’s been dead for nearly 30 years. Rush Limbaugh touts Rand as a prophet of sorts. “Ayn Rand, she wrote ‘Atlas Shrugged,’ ” he told his listeners. “The sequel, ‘Atlas Puked,’ we’re in the middle of it.” At the... Christian Science Monitor http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406703/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 19:18:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401064/posts Sales of religious Christmas cards are soaring as shoppers rediscover the real meaning of the season. Church officials and retailers believe that the trend has been fuelled by the global economic downturn, which they say has encouraged people to rethink their values. And the pattern on the high street has been mirrored by an increase in the number of people attending church. More parents are also choosing to name their children after biblical figures, with Thomas, Daniel, Joshua and James all appearing in this year's top ten baby boys' names. Selfridges revealed that sales of traditional cards are up 30... Daily Mail http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401064/posts#comment Sat, 5 Dec 2009 18:25:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2400907/posts Marriage is one of society’s foremost incubators of virtue — those attitudes and habits of behavior that promote health and well-being in the individual and all those with whom he or she interacts. Despite all the derogatory jokes about the oppressive, irksome nature of marriage, the data clearly show that married couples are healthier, happier, and live longer than those who remain unmarried. Social scientists try to parse out whether this association is the result of happy, healthy, positive people tending to marry with higher frequency or whether being married tends to make people happier, healthier, and more positive in... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2400907/posts#comment Sat, 5 Dec 2009 13:43:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2399962/posts A while back in (December, 1906) prominent members of New York's Jewish community organized a strike against Christmas exercises in the city's public schools. In light of state laws prohibiting the teaching of "religious doctrines or tenets of any particular Christian or other religious sect," they asked the Board of Education to bar school-based festivities that had in the past included such elements as religious hymns, pictures of the Madonna, holly, mistletoe, and Christmas trees. (They also maintained that any "symbols of Judaism, Mohammedanism, or infidelism" should be banned as well.) When the Board of Education failed to respond to... reason magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2399962/posts#comment Fri, 4 Dec 2009 05:22:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2398929/posts CHRISTMAS IN JAPAN can be a little lonely and isolated for the Westerner here. What with the distance from “home” and cultural differences. Little things, here and there. Missing some of the usual things from back home, especially for people like one particular 'American in Tokyo'. This year 2009 is again no different. However, in many respects I must say there is nevertheless one little thing that is so refreshing about being stuck in Japan during Christmas—after a few years—and for the occasions one cannot make it back "home". It is almost like the clock has been refreshingly and... AmericanInTokyo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2398929/posts#comment Thu, 3 Dec 2009 01:54:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2396972/posts Could same-sex "marriage" spell the end of religious liberty as we know it? Here is the chilling answer. As more states-like Iowa-approve same-sex “marriage,” conservatives are claiming that freedom of religion is in peril. Same-sex “marriage” supporters accuse them of engaging in hysterical gay-bating. Who’s telling the truth? Let me share some stories with you from an excellent news broadcast produced by National Public Radio. Then you decide. Two women decided to hold their civil union ceremony at a New Jersey pavilion owned by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association. This Methodist group told the women they could not “marry”... Christian Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2396972/posts#comment Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:49:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2394702/posts Adam Lambert Furor Spreads to Gay Community REUTERS November 25, 2009 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "American Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert on Wednesday admitted he got carried away during his racy American Music Awards performance, as furor over his singing and dancing stoked a wider controversy in the U.S. gay community. More than 14 million people watched the gay, glam rocker close the live AMA telecast on Sunday with a performance that included Lambert kissing a male keyboard player and pushing the head of another performer into his crotch. Complaints poured in to the ABC TV network that aired the show,... ReutersNYTimes http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2394702/posts#comment Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:05:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2220757/posts Julia Roberts is getting $15 million to make Eat, Pray, Love, but Scarlett Johansson was only offered $250,000 for Iron Man 2. Kim Masters on the tactics Hollywood is using to slash salaries. You’re Scarlett Johansson. You’re pretty and you’re pretty famous, too. And you’ve just been offered the part of the Black Widow in Iron Man 2! That’s got to be some payday, right? How about $250,000, which is what Marvel Studios offered Johansson and Mickey Rourke to be in the film? The stars negotiated the number up to something over $400,000. Still, it’s not hard to imagine that... The Daily Beast http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2220757/posts#comment Thu, 2 Apr 2009 16:25:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2392068/posts The Manhattan Declaration is a 4,732-word statement signed by a movement of Orthodox, Catholic and evangelical Christian leaders who are collaborating around moral issues of great concern. Its 125+ signers affirm the sanctity of human life, marriage as defined by the union of one man and one woman, and religious liberty and freedom of conscience. The Manhattan Declaration endorses civil disobedience under certain circumstances. The Manhattan Declaration will be publicly released at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington on Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. Manhattan Declaration http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2392068/posts#comment Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:57:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2391758/posts Moral degeneration refers to the process of declining from a higher to a lower level of morality. The condition of moral degeneration is seen as concomitant with the decline of the quality of life, and the decline of nations. In the words of Judge Devlin, "an established morality is as necessary as good government to the welfare of society. Societies disintegrate from within more frequently than they are broken up by external pressures." The United States America is seen to be somewhat unique in the degree of moral foundation which was it founded upon, with a strong Biblically based influence,... Conservapedia http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2391758/posts#comment Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:50:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391657/posts Conservative Christian leaders unveiled a declaration Friday calling on Christians not to comply with rules and laws forcing them to accept abortion, same-sex marriage and other ideals that go against their religious doctrines. The declaration urges Christians to practice civil disobedience to defend their convictions, even though some signers of the document backed away from the strong language. The Catholic Archbishop of Washington, Donald W. Wuerl, was among the first signers of the Manhattan Declaration. He appeared at a news conference in the District on Friday to announce it, even as the Church was considering a city-proposed compromise on its... The Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391657/posts#comment Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:26:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2390703/posts www.catholicnewsagency.com Unprecedented coalition of religious leaders call Americans to stand for sanctity of life, marriage, and religious freedom Washington D.C., Nov 20, 2009 / 06:21 am (CNA).- An unprecedented coalition of prominent Christian clergy, ministry leaders, and scholars has crafted a 4,700-word declaration addressing the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty. The declaration issues “a clarion call” to Christians to adhere to their convictions and informs civil authorities that the signers will not “under any circumstance” abandon their Christian consciences. The statement,  called “the Manhattan Declaration,” has been signed by more than 125 Catholic, Evangelical Christian, and Orthodox... CNA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2390703/posts#comment Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:59:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391534/posts More than 150 leaders across a spectrum of conservative Christianity on Friday released a 4,700-word document vowing civil disobedience if they are forced to take part in "anti-life acts" or bless gay marriages. Called the "Manhattan Declaration," the six-page, single-spaced document was drafted by Prison Fellowship founder Charles Colson, an evangelical, and Princeton University professor Robert P. George, a Roman Catholic, and included a bevy of Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox bishops, archbishops and cardinals as signatories along with dozens of clergy and laity. Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391534/posts#comment Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:55:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391424/posts More than 150 leaders across a spectrum of conservative Christianity on Friday released a 4,700-word document vowing civil disobedience if they are forced to take part in "anti-life acts" or bless gay marriages. Called the "Manhattan Declaration," the six-page, single-spaced document was drafted by Prison Fellowship founder Charles Colson, an evangelical, and Princeton University professor Robert P. George, a Roman Catholic, and included a bevy of Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox bishops, archbishops and cardinals as signatories along with dozens of clergy and laity. Archbishop of Washington Donald W. Wuerl is one of the signatories. "Throughout the centuries, Christianity has taught... Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391424/posts#comment Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:12:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391223/posts A who's who of Christian right leaders, including Chuck Colson and Tony Perkins, have partnered with a handful of more moderate religious voices, including National Association of Evangelicals President Leith Anderson and New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, to release a document that reasserts the primacy of three culture war issues for Christians in the public square: abortion, marriage, and religious liberties. A handful of those who signed the document, called "The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience," gathered today at the National Press Club for the launch event. The declaration reads like a throwback to the culture wars of... US News & World Report http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391223/posts#comment Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2390566/posts Citing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to civil disobedience, 145 evangelical, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian leaders have signed a declaration saying they will not cooperate with laws that they say could be used to compel their institutions to participate in abortions, or to bless or in any way recognize same-sex couples. “We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence,” it says. The manifesto, to be released on Friday at the National Press Club in Washington, is an... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2390566/posts#comment Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:37:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2368036/posts WASHINGTON – Nicole Kidman conceded Wednesday that Hollywood has probably contributed to violence against women by portraying them as weak sex objects. The Oscar-winning actress said she is not interested in those kinds of demeaning roles, adding that the movie industry also has made an effort to contribute to solutions for ending the violence. Kidman testified before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee that is considering legislation to address violence against women overseas through humanitarian relief efforts and grants to local organizations working on the problem. Asked by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., if the movie industry has "played a bad role,"... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2368036/posts#comment Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:41:19 GMT