Free Republic

On Thursday’s All Things Considered, National Public Radio offered leftist Sister Simone Campbell a megaphone to  disagree with (and lecture) the Pope and the Catholic bishops for being clueless. “It was like a sock in the stomach,� she said about the Vatican’s attempt to hold women’s Catholic religious orders to Catholic orthodoxy. Just on human terms, this is odd – not just to suggest the bishops are bullying, but that a process that’s been going on for four years is suddenly shocking. Campbell told anchor Melissa Block that the religious sisters had the superiority of “experience� of faith all over...

A federal judge on Friday rejected Sgt. Gary Stein's injunction to halt a military tribunal's recommendation that he receive the discharge following anti-Obama comments he made on a private Facebook page in March, according to court documents. Stein, 26, has maintained a webpage for the last two years about the armed forces tea party group he founded, including a disclaimer that the views were his own and didn't reflect those of his employer. But according to his attorney, Stein never ran into any trouble until last month, when he wrote: "Screw Obama. I will not follow all orders from him."

LifeSiteNews is reporting that the Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Schönborn , received a letter from the Vatican demanding action, after ten months of "discussion" between the Cardinal and the dissent group calling itself the "Austrian Priests' Initiative." The dissent group issued a manifesto last year demanding that the Church change her teachings on the ordination of women and married clergy and the reception of Communion by non-Catholics and divorced and remarried persons, and calling on their fellow clergy to disobey the Vatican. LifeSiteNews is reporting that, "the Cardinal himself has also publicly called for the Church to acquiesce to...

Writing for the Associated Press, Nicole Winfield is reporting that, "Pope Benedict XVI issued a blistering denunciation Thursday of priests who have questioned church teaching on celibacy and ordaining women, saying they were being selfish in disobeying his authority. Benedict made the rare and explicit criticism from the altar of St. Peter's Basilica in his homily on Holy Thursday, when priests recall the promises they made when ordained...In his homily, Benedict said the dissidents claim to be motivated by concern for the church. But he suggested that in reality they were just making 'a desperate push to do something to...

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/03/29/20120329texas-sovereign-citizens-continue-year-standoff.html

Terence Weldon, the radical homosexual activist who authors the "Queering the Church" Blog and who serves as an Extraordinary Minister at the infamous Soho Masses in England - the same disturbed individual who has blasphemously suggested that Our Lord Jesus had a homosexual inclination - is once again challenging the authoritative teaching of the Catholic Church regarding the homosexual inclination. He writes, "In the CDF Hallowe’en Letter [here he is sarcastically and irreverently refering to the October 1, 1986 document entitled "Letter on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons" published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith], possibly...

The Visitation Report into the Church in Ireland, ordered by Pope Benedict XVI, the full text of which may be found here, says "It must be stressed that dissent from the fundamental teachings of the Church is not the authentic path towards renewal." The sexual abuse crisis which exploded throughout the Catholic Church in Ireland [and elsewhere] has its origin in a Culture of Dissent. For, as Father Vincent Miceli has reminded us, "falsity is the heart of immorality." Betrayal arises in man's heart and is soon manifested in his actions which often culminate in criminal violence. But, as Fr....

Writing from the UK, my good friend Deacon Nick Donnelly of Protect the Pope reports that: Archbishop Nichols has re-affirmed the Archdiocese of Westminster’s provision of pastoral care to homosexuals through the so called Soho Masses, while at the same time announcing that he is undertaking a review of the current provision to ensure these Masses are not occasions for opposition to the Church’s teaching on sexuality: ‘At the present time consideration is being given to the circumstances in which these Masses are celebrated to ensure that their purpose is respected and that they are not occasions for confusion or...

Here we see again! The nature of an Obama supporter. DISSENT IS PATRIOTIC!Unless your a gun owner or patriot.

White House works to quell Dem dissentBy Alexander Bolton - 09/15/11 05:03 PM ET Senior administration officials met with Senate Democrats for an hour and a half on Thursday to answer their complaints about President Obama’s jobs bill. Democratic lawmakers voiced objections to several of the president’s proposals to pay for the $447 billion stimulus package, including an elimination of tax breaks for the oil-and-gas industry. David Plouffe, a senior adviser to the president, acknowledged after a marathon meeting in the Senate's Mansfield Room that not all Democrats are sold on the plan. Plouffe said officials hope to “convince the...

Episode 5 of how socialized medicine and weapons bans will lead to the end of our liberty and freedom. This features footage of soviet gulags and mental hospitals used to isolate and torture dissidents and opponents of liberal policy as well as a special guest appearence by Actor and Former president Ronald Reagan, warning us on the dangers of Universal healthcare.

WITH a tin can, some copper wire and a few dollars’ worth of nuts, bolts and other hardware, a do-it-yourselfer can build a makeshift directional antenna. A mobile phone, souped-up with such an antenna, can talk to a network tower that is dozens of kilometres beyond its normal range (about 5km, or 3 miles). As Gregory Rehm, the author of an online assembly guide for such things, puts it, homemade antennae are “as cool as the other side of the pillow on a hot night”. Of late, however, such antennae have proved much more than simply cool. According to Jeff...

Q. When did liberals rip those 'Dissent Is Patriotic' bumper stickers off their Priuses? A. January 20, 2009 Latest evidence: on his MSNBC show this evening, Cenk Uygur suggested that opposition to President Obama's Libya policy is "unpatriotic." For good measure, Dem congressman Gary Ackerman stated that opposing the president is "cheering for the wrong team." View video here.

There appears to be more fallout as a result of the recent remarks made by GoProud Chairman Chris Barron in which he referred to ACU Foundation Chairman Cleta Mitchell as a “nasty bigot.” Barron later apologized for the remark after raising the ire of newly selected ACU chair Al Cardenas who indicated the possibility that the organization may distance themselves from GoProud. Said Cardenas: “I have been disappointed with their website and their quotes in the media, taunting organizations that are respected in our movement and part of our movement, and that’s not acceptable. And that puts them in a...

Remember when Democrats opposed to the war in Iraq became furious when it was pointed out that they were encouraging the enemy? Remember when Harry Reid said "This war is lost"? "How dare you challenge my patriotism?" was the cry of outrage heard throughout the land. "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism" went the axiom. With Barack Obama in the Oval Office, suddenly things are different. In today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and former editorial page editor Cynthia Ticker blatant calls Republican opponents of the START Treaty unpatriotic:

he high ranking Church functionary of the Archdiocese of Vienna ignores Church teachings regarding the priesthood for women -- a few weeks ago, Landau was still on call as the Austrian Bishops conference's new Secretary. Vienna, (kath.net) The Viennese head of Caritas Michael Landau had set himself against Rome in an interview with Austrian Television regarding celibacy and the ordination of women. Landau said regarding celibacy: "That was introduced at some point in the history of the Church, and can also at the same time be abolished in the same manner." The high ranking Church functionary of the Archdiocese of...

Miss Calamity (our eleven year old daughter) stunned me the other day with an incredibly astute observation.  She informed me that ours is a family of Patriots.  Now that statement, in and of itself, may not seem earth shattering, but it got me thinking.  If we were patriots, what were the people who staunchly support the entrenched establishment?  After thinking long and hard, I came to the conclusion that the supporters of the status quo must be called "Loyalists". Looking up the definitions of both Loyalist and Patriot, I made a startling discovery.  The definition of a loyalist is:   One...

Sr. Jeannine Gramick Dallas, Texas, Aug 14, 2010 / 07:21 am (CNA).- Sr. Jeannine Gramick, founder of a dissenting outreach effort to homosexual persons, in an interview with a Dallas-area homosexual paper has claimed to see a disconnect between laity and the Catholic bishops. She also asserted that as many as 50 percent of Catholic priests are homosexual.Sr. Gramick co-founded New Ways Ministry in 1977. The organization describes itself as a “gay-positive ministry of advocacy and justice,” but the U.S. bishops have criticized its approach to Catholic moral teaching. She was has also faced disciplinary action from the Vatican.The...

The First Amendment is Dead I’m dead serious about this. No hyperbole. The First Amendment is truly dead. It has been on its last leg for many decades now, but it’s officially dead today. RIP 1A, 1791-2010.[Update: And if you think I'm being ridiculous and dramatic, read about today's ruling.] [Update: More bayonetting.]I’m not talking about what was discussed here on The Cliffs. The regulation of broadband is a big deal, but not the final blow. I’m not talking about the DISCLOSE Act, which is going to be up for vote again in the next 1-3 days. I’m not talking...

Looks like Keith Olbermann is getting defensive about his policy of prohibiting any guests on his show who disagree with him. An MSNBC Countdown promo features Olbermann making an absurd non sequitur of an argument in defending his echo-chamber approach. Keith claims he asks questions "to find out if I'm wildly incorrect about something," ignoring the obvious: that he's unlikely to find out if he's wrong if he hand picks guests who think he's right! View video here.

....Margaret Carlson appears to be following Rahm Emanuel's advice to "never let a good crisis go to waste". She used this crisis to attack her own Church. She also set the stage for Joe Scarborough, her Protestant enabler, to again display his ignorance of the Catholic Church. ... I have used this expression "anti-Catholic Catholics" in the past in reference to those Catholics in public life who take positions at odds with the teaching of the Church and the Natural Law. The most obvious example is those who reject the fundamental Right to Life and endorse the killing of our...

On CBS’s The Early Show, an interview between Obama fan and morning anchor Harry Smith focused on the issue of how polarized the country has become as a result of Obama’s push for a government power-grab. Shortly after the interview was aired this morning, it was posted on their website under the title, Obama: Extreme Right-Wing Shows "Troublesome.” The title demonstrates the “obvious and objective” balance of the story by the CBS news division. [Sarcasm ON] Reading through the article, the president seemed to be implying that it is “all sides” that are hurling “vitriol” to “demonize” the other side....

Timing on Hutaree Raid Troubling - Is this the long anticipated beginning of Obama stifling "right wing" dissent? March 29, 2010 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - In this administration nothing happens by accident, at least at the public relations level and DOJ's widely reported raid this last weekend on a group with extremely limited previous public visibility [the Hutaree, a tiny Michigan based group] might well be similarly tainted. The defendants, David Brian Stone, David Brian Stone Jr., Joshua Matthew Stone, Tina Mae Stone, Joshua John Clough, Michael David Meeks, Thomas William Piatek, Kristopher T. Sickes and Jacob...

Planned Parenthood head thanks religious sisters for ‘critical support’ of health care bill Washington D.C., Mar 27, 2010 / 07:28 am (CNA).- Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards has praised the Catholic religious sisters who endorsed the Senate health care bill, claiming they deserve gratitude for making “a critical demonstration of support” for a bill that significantly increased coverage of “reproductive health care.” Writing for the Huffington Post Wednesday in her capacity as president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Richards claimed that it was Catholic nuns who “most importantly broke with the bishops and the Vatican to announce their support...

There is no debate with the left- there is submission or opposition which must be submitted. This fact is not just in evidence when our leftist President speaks- Obama in his infamous health care speech said that there is no debate and that he will not tolerate any discussion on the issues. But it isn’t just the President- I think this is an inherent feature of a leftist liberal Democrat- that there is no debate with them, and this reminded me of a recent run in I had with another teacher. As you are aware, I’m a teacher at a...

(Editor’s note: The following is the full interview with Sister Joan Chittister who is to deliver a Lenten mission for the Canada’s National Catholic Broadcasting Council (NCBC), which airs the daily Mass on Vision TV.  LifeSiteNews reported on the upcoming on the mission here)LSN: It's been reported that you hold positions that are divergent from Catholic magisterial teaching.  Would you say that's correct?JC: Well, yes, I guess it is correct.  It's not an opposition position.  It is a position of query, of theological and scriptural commitment and search.  I'm asking the question, for instance, how do we understand God...

TORONTO, Ontario, February 12, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The National Catholic Broadcasting Council (NCBC), which airs the daily Mass on Vision TV, has announced that they will be hosting a religious sister on their annual televised Lenten mission. But the nun in question, Sr. Joan Chittister, is renowned for promoting positions contrary to Christian teaching, including on the issues of abortion, contraception and women's “ordination.”Sr. Joan Chittister will address this year's mission, which is set for March 29-30 on Vision TV with the theme “A God for All Seasons.”  Sr. Chittister told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) that her talk focuses on the “spirituality...

The Super Bowl is a cultural phenomenon. It's not only watched by godzillions of people worldwide, it's the only televised broadcast where the audience tunes in not just for the game, but for the commercials. The top-dollar, high-profile advertising space has led to some unforgettable commercials over the years. Sometimes, the ad is so remarkable it becomes a word-of-mouth sensation before it even airs, before anyone has even seen it. It's happened again this year. CBS has decided to accept an ad from a politically involved group and caused a firestorm with the radical Left because that group is proudly...

"Propaganda is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. If the means achieves the end then the means is good.........the new Ministry has no other aim than to unite the nation behind the ideal of the national revolution." Joseph Goebbels President Obama is a bully, he doesn't like being questioned or crossed. Like most of the bullying kind, if you disagree with him he will go after you with personal attacks full guns blaring. Just look at some examples of the people who have crossed the President and got smack down by the Bully-in-Chief or his...

Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas on Monday advised the Obama administration to stand down and avoid fighting with Fox News and its correspondents. In an interview with MSNBC, the columnist -- who is promoting her new book on presidents and their campaigns -- also stressed the White House ought to "stay out of these fights." "They can only take you down. You can't kill the messenger," said Thomas, who has covered every president from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama. Whether the White House takes her advice, however, is another story. Just this weekend, Senior Adviser David Axelrod charged...

Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas on Monday advised the Obama administration to stand down and avoid fighting with Fox News and its correspondents. In an interview with MSNBC, the columnist -- who is promoting her new book on presidents and their campaigns -- also stressed the White House ought to "stay out of these fights." "They can only take you down. You can't kill the messenger," said Thomas, who has covered every president from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama. Whether the White House takes her advice, however, is another story. Just this weekend, Senior Adviser David Axelrod charged...

The White House’s effort to target a news organization like Fox is vaguely Nixonian. The case put forward by the pro-Mao political theorist Anita Dunn is filled with errors and erroneous statements. (See Chris Wallace’s comments during this segment.) And the willingness of liberal commentators like Jacob Weisberg to act as an attack poodle on behalf of the Obama White House is both predictable and discrediting. Frankly, we’re seeing “progressives” explode in outrage at Fox not only because their previous media monopoly has ended but also because Fox is so enormously popular (it’s home to the top-10-rated cable-news programs in...

Late last week, the Canadian Bishops posted a news item on their website entitled “Professor Richard R. Gaillardetz responds to attacks“. The source of these “attacks” was a collection of credible critiques which I posted on Socon or Bust of Dr. Gaillardetz’s theological and moral positions at variance with Catholic teaching and pastoral practice. This theologian has been asked by the Cdn. Conf. of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) to speak at its plenary session this Oct.19-23. You can read the CCCB communication and Dr. Gaillardetz’s letter in response here: http://www.cccb.ca/site/content/view/2717/1217/lang,eng/ ...

Race and politics are a combustible combo that explodes into headlines when an ex-president lights the fuse, as Jimmy Carter did recently. President Obama during the 2008 campaign faced questions over race and politics. "When a radical fringe element of demonstrators and others begin to attack the president of the United States as an animal or as a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler or when they wave signs in the air that said we should have buried Obama with Kennedy, those kinds of things are beyond the bounds," the Democrat told students at Emory University on Wednesday. "I think people who...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A southern conservative lawmaker breaks decorum and hollers "You Lie," at the president in Congress. Protesters display guns at venues where the president is speaking. And a movement arises alleging that the president's birth certificate is forged. To some, it is clear that the burgeoning opposition to President Barack Obama is rooted in racism, driven by whites' discomfort with the fact that the United States is now led by an African-American president. A series of Democratic lawmakers and political columnists have pointed to the trends -- the heckling, the gun-toting, the preachers leading congregations in prayers that...

Perhaps we need to institute a timeout. Back in elementary school, when things got a little out of hand, the teacher would say we needed to take a timeout. Usually this followed a fight on the playground, an argument in homeroom or an unusually nasty prank. Kids need to learn the boundaries. It feels a lot like elementary school right now in our political arena. The players have expanded the boundaries way past what had been defined as acceptable. In just over a month we have seen the following: • Town-hall meetings being disrupted by yelling and shouting. Story continues...

NLPC has uncovered a plan by the White House New Media operation to hire a technology vendor to conduct a massive, secret effort to harvest personal information on millions of Americans from social networking websites. The information to be captured includes comments, tag lines, emails, audio, and video. The targeted sites include Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr and others – any space where the White House “maintains a presence.” In the course of investigating procurement by the White House New Media office, NLPC discovered a 51-page solicitation of bids that was filed on Friday, August 21, 2009. Filed as Solicitation...

Regardless of the outcome of ObamaCare, if past behavior signals the future, the Obama administration's next big push will be to mute its most successful critics. It will come as no surprise when ObamaCare proponents invoke the name of Ted Kennedy to promote passage of a healthcare reform bill when Congress reconvenes. "Let's win one for the Gipper" will become "Let's win one for ol' Teddy." But will that alone tip the balance in favor of healthcare reform as represented in the House's version? Not likely. Nor is it likely that the Obama administration will declare defeat and retreat from...

Legislation that would grant President Obama the authority to selectively shutdown Internet sites is advancing in the senate. The “Cybersecurity Act of 2009” would allow the President to “declare a cybersecurity emergency” relating to “non-governmental” computer networks and do whatever he feels is necessary to respond to the threat. Author of the bill, Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), declared that “recent events surrounding ‘town hall’ meetings on the President’s health care plan emphasize the need for this legislation. As we saw, access to the Internet enabled rightwing fanatics to quickly and inexpensively alert cadres of sympathizers who turned out to disrupt...

Latest dispatch from the "dissent is patriotic" front: if you oppose Pres. Obama in his health care initiative, you're "undermining the country." None less than the great Howard Dean said so on this evening's Rachel Maddow show. Alison Stewart was filling in for the eponymous host. View video here.

When it comes to health care reform, Obama doesn't believe reasonable people can disagreeIt's funny—I don't feel like a fearmongering naysayer. And I haven't gotten a check from a health insurance lobbyist in ages. Actually, come to think of it, I've never gotten a check from the insurance lobby. But Obama says that I am, along with (pick your poll) 30 to 60 percent of Americans who are not on board with massive government intervention in one of the biggest and fastest growing sectors of our economy. So it must be true. I do have all the hallmarks of the...

TO listen to the White House and its supporters in and out of the media, you'd think that opposition to "ObamaCare" is the hobgoblin of a few small minds on the right. Racists, fascists, Neanderthals, the whole "Star Wars" cantina of bogeymen and cranks stand opposed to much-needed reform. Left out of this fairly naked effort to demonize many with the actions of a few is the simple fact that ObamaCare -- however defined -- has been tanking in the polls for weeks. President Obama's handling of health care is unpopular with a majority of Americans and a majority of...

Quick game of What-Am-I? * A crowd of about 1,000 reciting the Pledge of Allegiance * Chants of “U.S.A! U.S.A!” * No posters depicting the president as (1) Hitler / a Nazi, (2) an imperialist, or (3) a terrorist * No posters bashing the U.S. troops by (1) calling them stupid and racist, (2) accusing them of raping and pillaging, or (3) suggesting soldiers frag their superior officers * No posters containing profanity or sexually or violently graphic pictures * No T-shirts, literature, or paraphernalia worshiping Che, Castro, or Chavez * No speakers making speeches laced with obscenities * No...

The face-off between the ruling party and the people continues to unfold, as Democrat politicians hold town hall meetings across the country to build support for the Obama administration's latest power grab, misleadingly labeled 'health care reform.' The faux outrage politicians manufacture on demand has been replaced by real outrage. Outrage at the American people for failing to understand the nuances, the broad outline of a 1,000 page plus bill that most politicians haven't even read. Hey, that's what staff is for, explained new Democrat, Arlen Spector. Peons from fly-over country are daring to challenge the carefully scripted and (deliberately?)...

The Audacity of Dissent  By: Gregory Gethard FrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, August 14, 2009   Call them community organizers. All across the country, Americans alarmed by the Obama administration’s proposed overhaul of health care have been coming together to vent their concerns in town-hall meetings and protests. Some are worried about the possible effects of ObamaCare on health care services, the cost of insurance, and the recovery of the economy; others are troubled by the intrusion of government into their lives. Given his background, one might expect President Obama to take seriously this vigorous grassroots reaction to his policies. Instead, aided...

Americans are finally getting a good look at the man in the White House. They've been thrilled by his speeches, love his kids, and almost desperately want to believe he was who they hoped he was when they elected him. It turns out, however, that he simply can't tolerate disagreement. In his view, those who disagree with him really ought to just shut up. His critics, after all, are the people responsible for the problems he was elected to solve, dupes and hirelings of those responsible, or dangerous kooks. The administration has moved to discredit those who oppose his health...

See this stunning video.

Living in liberal Los Angeles, I am surrounded by people -- and bumper stickers -- I do not agree with. One of the more popular liberal bumper stickers of the last decade tells us "Dissent is Patriotic." Now, as it happens, it is impossible to truly disagree with that phrase, not because it is self-evidently true, but because it is self-evidently meaningless. As are most left-wing bumper stickers. For example, another popular liberal bumper sticker proclaims, "War Is not the Answer." It, too, is completely meaningless. If the question is, "What is the square root of 8?" war is not...

“Fishing” for an Appropriate Response by Norma Zager “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it.” Edward R. Murrow Richard Nixon had an enemies list. Joe McCarthy gave a pass to those who turned in their communist neighbors and friends. The Nazis had the Hitler Youth who happily turned their traitorous family into the Gestapo for a new pair of black boots. In 2009 we have the “fishy” Chicago version of turn them in and we’ll take them out. In my last article, many responded they were...

The distributed denial-of-service attack that hampered access to social networking and blogging sites all went after one pro-Georgia blogger, according to security company reports. According to a post from F-Secure's Mikko Hypponen, the attacks focused on Cyxymu's accounts at Twitter, Youtube, Facebook and Livejournal, and also included a "Joe Job" spam campaign that was designed to look as if the unwanted messages had been sent by Cyxymu. McAfee offers a similar analysis with a post that ties the spam campaign to the same botnet that launched the DDoS attack, and says that a cyxymu account at Fotki.com was also targeted....