Free Republic

In the aftermath of Obergefell v. Hodges, pastors and church members are experiencing a wave of anxiety over what many of them deem the “nightmare scenario”: lawsuits or government action designed to force them to perform or recognize same-sex marriages. While there are — so far — no meaningful judicial precedents that would permit such dramatic interference with churches’ core First Amendment rights, lawsuits challenging church liberties are inevitable. Indeed, the Iowa Civil Rights Commission has declared that prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity “sometimes” apply to churches and has stated that a “church...

Thomas Jefferson once wrote, "If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it; he is obligated to do so." Without question, it was this principle that a coalition of religious leaders had in mind, when 16 days in advance of the U. S. Supreme Court's decision, they stated in a Washington Post advertisement that they would not abide by a ruling that gives homosexuals a constitutional right to marriage. The ad, which covered a full page, featured "key signers" such as David and Jason Benham, Ambassador Kenneth Blackwell, Alveda King, former U.S. House Speaker Tom...

Islam and Catholicism are the two religions that have seen rapid growth among the Chinese who are under 30 years old, according to a new study. Of the said age bracket, 22.4 percent are Muslims while Catholics follow very closely at 22 percent, according to the China Religion Survey 2015 as released by the National Survey Research Centre at Renmin University of China. "Islam tends to have a younger demographic," said Wei Dedong, a professor of Buddhist studies at the School of Philosophy at Renmin, who was part of the research. "Most believers of Islam belong to ethnic minority groups...

A family friend sent me a link to my ex husband's Facebook page telling me that I would not believe it. She was right. We split 25 years ago. While politics played no role in our issues, we were night and day in that arena. When we were married, he was a barely practicing Jew. His Facebook page shows a changed man. He is now quite vocal about issues affecting Isreal and has a good working understanding of who obama really is. And apparently omama gets all the credit for the transformation. I pray that many more see the light.

It’s easy to hide behind our online facades and interact in ways that we never would face-to-face. But Jesus wants to be the God of all areas of our lives, including how we communicate in the digital realm. By adopting His mindset, we are better able to live out online some of the qualities that are close to His heart . . . truthfulness, wisdom, gentleness, and love. Being Jesus Online: Biblical Wisdom for a Wired World offers some practical insights for digital discernment. DIRECT LINK TO THE PDF FILE FOR THIS BOOKLET

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hoping to put to rest one of the most difficult disputes over its health care law, the Obama administration Friday unveiled its latest plan to address employers' religious objections to providing free birth control for their female workers. The health care law requires most employers to cover birth control as preventive care, at no cost to women. While houses of worship are exempt, the requirement proved controversial with religious nonprofits and private businesses whose owners have deeply held beliefs. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that some private companies can avoid the requirement on religious grounds. The...

In the aftermath of Obergefell v. Hodges, pastors and church members are experiencing a wave of anxiety over what many of them deem the “nightmare scenario”: lawsuits or government action designed to force them to perform or recognize same-sex marriages. While there are — so far — no meaningful judicial precedents that would permit such dramatic interference with churches’ core First Amendment rights, lawsuits challenging church liberties are inevitable. Indeed, the Iowa Civil Rights Commission has declared that prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity “sometimes” apply to churches and has stated that a “church...

Several years ago as he suffered with terminal cancer, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago made this, now famous, statement: I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history. Anyone with fingers on the pulse of American culture can hardly be surprised at a prince of the Church predicting impending persecution. Since bloody martyrdom already devastates many countries in the world,...

"When the wise man points at the moon, the idiot looks at his finger"! What is the Affair of Canonical Jurisdiction over Qatar about? "When the wise man points at the moon, the idiot looks at his finger"! The famous Chinese proverb was completely right. This teaching attributed to Confucius is very appropriate in this case. Especially when we read, here and there, commentaries on the affair of canonical jurisdiction over Qatar. In the same sense as the Chinese lesson, as they say in my country France, "the tree must not hide the forest". Everyone is looking at this affair...

Catholic school on the outskirts of Philadelphia has come under heavy attack in recent days after firing an openly lesbian teacher in a same-sex civil marriage with her partner. Since 2007, Waldron Mercy Academy knew that teacher Margie Winters had been civilly married to her lesbian lover, but they kept her on as Director of Religious Education anyway for a total of eight years, under the advisement that she keep her relationship secret and not discuss it with students or parents. Though she kept the order, parents from the school eventually found out about Winters and complained to the school...

Gov. Jerry Brown will go to the Vatican later this month for a summit on climate change hosted by Pope Francis, who has sought to focus worldwide attention on environmental issues. The event, which includes a discussion on modern slavery, will draw an international collection of government officials and United Nations representatives. "This unprecedented gathering of global leaders is a wake-up call to face up to the common threats of climate change and human exploitation,” Brown said in a statement Thursday. “This is about the future of humanity and how we as human beings live and treat one another and...

Christian families driven from their village in India’s Jharkhand state have returned home with police help, but tribal people instigated by Hindu extremists are still bent on expelling them, sources said.Hindu extremists last month mobilized tribal groups to banish the Christian families from Kullu village in Chanho Block, Ranchi District, about 30 miles from the state capital, Ranchi, an area pastor said.“The Christians in the village have been discriminated and threatened for a long time, but the banishment started in the first week of June, when five Christian families were threatened and banished from the village,” said pastor Moosa Minj,...

As is our habit for July birthdays, my adult daughter and I go to a movie to celebrate. This is a decades long tradition for us and often the only movie we see at a theater all year. Now that she has children, they inevitably tag along for a fun family outing. We make a day of it – noon Mass at the Cathedral, lunch at a favorite restaurant, and then a movie. Our tastes are simple and tame, so it isn’t a problem for the kids to join us – usually that is.Although our birthdays fall on July...

I find it frustrating when I read or hear columnists, pundits, or journalists dismiss Christians as inconsistent because “they pick and choose which of the rules in the Bible to obey.” Most often I hear, “Christians ignore lots of Old Testament texts—about not eating raw meat or pork or shellfish, not executing people for breaking the Sabbath, not wearing garments woven with two kinds of material and so on. Then they condemn homosexuality. Aren’t you just picking and choosing what you want to believe from the Bible?” I don’t expect everyone to understand that the whole Bible is about Jesus...

The victory was brief. Last year’s Supreme Court victory for Hobby Lobby has little meaning today, because the Obama Administration has just circumvented the law to extend contraceptive benefits to all.And who’s paying for it? Why, you and I, of course, through our tax dollars! By Bryancalabro (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsThe case involving the Green family’s Hobby Lobby stores went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court; and last June, the Court ruled that some private companies can be exempted, on religious grounds, from an Affordable Care Act requirement that employer-sponsored health insurance policies must...

A Catholic school on the outskirts of Philadelphia has come under heavy attack in recent days after firing an openly lesbian teacher in a same-sex "marriage" with her partner. Since 2007, Waldron Mercy Academy knew that teacher Margie Winters had been "married" to her lesbian lover, and rather than firing her, they kept her on as Director of Religious Education for a total of eight years, under the advisement that she keep her gay relationship secret and not discuss it with students or parents. Though she kept the order, describing it to reporters as "hard," faithful Catholic parents eventually found...

Full title: Muslims Take Christian Girl And Tell Her To Deny Christ. She Refuses, And They Burry Her All The Way Up To Her Neck And And Crush Her To Death With Rocks. Her Father Then Declares: “I’m grateful that she didn’t change her religion. She trusted in God.” Muslims in Nigeria — all members of Boko Haram — kidnapped a young Christian girl and demanded that she deny Christ. She refused. They buried her up to her neck and crushed her to death with rocks. Her father, a local pastor named Nkeki Mutah, took pride in his daughter’s resilience,...

A prominent Cuban dissident group has asked to meet Pope Francis during his upcoming visit to Cuba in September, its leader said on Thursday. Cuba’s dissidents caution against assumptions and complacency The Ladies in White, made up of the wives and relatives of former political prisoners, visited the Vatican’s mission in Cuba to submit their request. Group leader Berta Soler said she has passed along information about human rights in Cuba to Vatican officials, including “evidence of ladies and activists who have been victims of repression in recent weeks”. She has also expressed concern that the government will prevent dissidents...

If you consider yourself a Bible-believing Christian, a follower of Jesus whose chief aim is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, there are important questions I hope you will consider before picking up your flag and cheering on the sexual revolution. These questions aren’t meant to be snarky or merely rhetorical. They are sincere, if pointed, questions that I hope will cause my brothers and sisters with the new rainbow themed avatars to slow down and think about the flag you’re flying.

In a change widely interpreted more in tone than impact, the world’s largest Baptist university has dropped its sometimes controversial ban on “homosexual acts.”Baptist-affiliated Baylor University has quietly removed a ban on “homosexual acts” from its sexual conduct code. In a change last May that went unreported until a story in the Waco Tribune-Herald July 2, Baylor’s board of regents amended the sexual conduct policy to read: “Baylor will be guided by the biblical understanding that human sexuality is a gift from God and that physical sexual intimacy is to be expressed in the context of marital fidelity. Thus, it...