Free Republic

Anger greets Dutch queen's Christmas message Published on 27 December 2009 - 12:08pm Many media experts and internet users have fiercely criticised Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands following her 2009 Christmas message. The queen tackled subjects including virtual communication which she said actually divided people rather than bringing them closer together. Although no names were given, she was taken to be referring to social networks such as Hyves, Facebook, Twitter and to text messaging in general. Internet expert Vincent Everts has told Radio Netherlands Worldwide that the queen doesn't know what she's talking about. He argues the opposite of what...

On Platform One at Bolton station a mob of around 100 men punch the air in unison. The chant goes up: 'Muslim bombers, off our streets, Muslim bombers off our streets...' Their voices echo loudly and more men suddenly appear; startled passengers move aside. The group march forward waving St George Cross flags and holding up placards. The throng of men around me applaud. A train heading for Glasgow draws up on the opposite platform and the men turn as one, bursting into song: 'Engelaand, Engelaand, Engelaand.' The gathering is remarkable, as on a match day these men would be...

A 60-year-old Church of Sweden pastor faces a remand hearing this Friday for the alleged sexual abuse of two children during an overseas trip with a group of candidates for confirmation. The pastor is suspected of three sex offences carried out over the course of the confirmation group's trip to a major European city in October. Friday's remand hearing at Varberg district court will determine whether the public prosecutor's case is sufficiently strong to warrant detaining the cleric in custody for one charge of child rape and two of child sexual abuse. As of Thursday, the pastor remained active at...

A Christian teacher fears she may never work again after she was sacked for offering to pray for a sick pupil. Olive Jones, 54, said she had been made to feel like a criminal, and claimed that Christians were being persecuted due to 'political correctness'. Mrs Jones, who taught children not well enough to attend school, said that after she raised the topic of prayer during a visit to a 12-year-old's house, the girl's mother lodged a complaint. Just hours later, said Mrs Jones, her boss told her she would no longer be working for Oak Hill Short Stay School...

Life is full of ironies. Europe’s immigration revolution was caused by two major developments, and both had hugely ironic results. Europe’s Holocaust complex and sense of self-hatred following the Nazi horror led to a reactive obsession with racism as the ultimate evil, which led, ironically, to large-scale immigration from among the most anti-Semitic countries on earth, widespread “anti-Zionism” in Europe, and an increase in hate crimes against Jews across the continent. The second factor was the sexual revolution, the decline of church attendance, the invention of the Pill, the 1967 Abortion Act and the increase in female employment, which caused...

THE IRISH Catholic Church faces major reorganisation following yesterday’s meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and senior church figures. Following his meeting in the Vatican with Ireland’s Catholic Primate Cardinal Seán Brady and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, a statement from Pope Benedict said “the Holy See takes very seriously the central issues raised by the [Murphy] report, including questions concerning the governance of local church leaders with ultimate responsibility for the pastoral care of children.” Pope Benedict would be issuing a pastoral letter “to the faithful of Ireland” in which he will “clearly indicate the initiatives that are to be...

WESTPHALIA, Germany, December 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - At least eight Russo-German families in Salzkotten, Germany, have suffered heavy fines and now their fathers have been sentenced to prison, because they have refused to send their elementary school-age children to mandatory sexual education classes. The International Human Rights Group, a Christian legal defense organization that defends religious liberty and the right to homeschool in Europe, reports that in addition to refusing to allow their children to attend sex-ed classes, the families also resisted having their children enlisted in a theatre production of "Mein Körper gehört mir" or "My Body Belongs to...

Conservative Anglo-Catholics, your time is up. As my colleague Jonathan Wynne-Jones reports, the General Synod committee charged with looking after opponents of women bishops has ruled out the idea of dedicated male bishops to safeguard traditionalists.The logic of the decision makes perfect sense to me. The C of E has the legal authority to decide whether to ordain women priests and bishops. Having acquired that authority, it voted to ordain women priests in 1992 and will now take the obvious step of raising women to the episcopate. Anglo-Catholics lost the battle to stop this happening 18 years ago; for a...

Poland Defends Right to Keep Crucifixes in Schools Friday, November 13, 2009 WARSAW, Poland — Heavily Catholic Poland has joined the Vatican in criticizing a European court ruling against the display of crucifixes in Italian schools. Polish President Lech Kaczynski said his country will never agree to remove crosses from its schools. The Nov. 3 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights does not require that Poland remove the crosses that hang in most public schools. It could, however, eventually force a review of the use of religious symbols in government-run school across Europe. The decision touched a nerve...

Glasgow, United Kingdom, Nov 9, 2009 / 09:54 pm (CNA).- The Archbishop of Glasgow has denounced a publicly funded play which portrays Jesus as a transsexual, saying it is a “provocative and offensive abuse” of Christian beliefs. He suggested the event is part of an agenda to “mock Christianity.”The play “Queen of Heaven” is being staged in the Tron Theatre as part of the publicly funded “Glasgay!” arts festival, which describes itself as “Scotland’s Annual celebration of queer culture,” the BBC reports. Some 300 people held a candlelight protest of the play outside the theatre.Festival producer Steven Thomson described...

IT was one of those quiet summer Sunday mornings when I knew the priest in a distant parish would be away and he would have a stand in for the holiday. I sneaked in to this famous citadel of Pre-Raphaelite beauty and, like most Anglicans, sat as far from the front as possible. The choir sang the opening of the Eucharist, the Gospel was read – Jesus walked on the water and the priest started to preach. Then followed a 20-minute thesis on why the Bible had it wrong. Jesus couldn't possibly walk on water – that would defy nature...

VATICAN CITY — Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans, will meet Pope Benedict XVI on November 21, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi confirmed Friday. Lombardi told AFP that Rowan's visit to the Vatican was "already planned" before the Vatican's October 20 announcement of a structure for welcoming Anglican converts into the Roman Catholic Church. Williams will be on hand for celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Johannes Willebrands, a Dutch cardinal who was a pioneer in Catholic ecumenism and who died in 2006. The Vatican announced last week that Pope Benedict XVI has...

Bishop John Broadhurst London, England, Oct 26, 2009 / 05:13 pm (CNA).-  Members of the traditionalist Anglican group Forward in Faith recently concluded their annual gathering, which was dedicated to discussing Pope Benedict's overture to Anglicans. The general impression left by the conference was the “Anglican experiment is over,” a mood that was reinforced by Bishop John Hind officially announcing he is ready to become Catholic.The 2009 National Assembly of Forward in Faith was held in the Emmanuel Centre, Westminster, London, October 23-24. The Assembly was originally scheduled before the Vatican announced its unprecedented move, but the issue dominated...

After witnessing a gay pride march, committed Christian Pauline Howe wrote to the council to complain that the event had been allowed to go ahead. But instead of a simple acknowledgement, she received a letter warning her she might be guilty of a hate crime and that the matter had been passed to police. Two officers later turned up at the frightened grandmother's home and lectured her about her choice of words before telling her she would not be prosecuted. Mrs Howe, 67, whose husband Peter is understood to be a Baptist minister, yesterday spoke of her shock at the...

Senior Anglican Bishop Reveals He Is Ready To Convert To Roman Catholicism The Rt Rev John Hind, the Bishop of Chichester, has announced he is considering becoming a Roman Catholic in a move that could spark an exodus of clergy. Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent 24 Oct 2009 Bishop Hind said he would be "happy" to be reordained as a Catholic priest and said that divisions in Anglicanism could make it impossible to stay in the church. He is the most senior Anglican to admit that he is prepared to accept the offer from the Pope, who shocked the Church...

Sweden Church Allows Gay Weddings Sweden's archbishop is broadly supportive of the move The Lutheran Church of Sweden - the country's largest - is to conduct same-sex marriages from next month. Around 70% of the church's 250-strong synod, or church board, voted to back the move, making it one of few global churches to allow gay marriage. Sweden's government introduced a new law in May allowing gay couples the same marriage rights as heterosexuals. Three-quarters of Swedes are members of the Lutheran church, though church attendance is low. The Lutheran Church says gay couples can now get married by any...

This is amazing. The wood alone would have cost him a fortune.     Man builds working replica of Noah's Ark (exact scale given in Bible) In Schagen , NetherlandsThe massive central door in the side of Noah's Ark was opened to the first crowd of curious townsfolk to behold the wonder. Of course, it's only a replica of the biblical Ark , built by Dutch creationist, Johan Huibers, as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible.The ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high an d 20 cubits wide. That's two-thirds the length of a...

A Christian couple in England is now at risk of losing their business after being prosecuted for debating Islam with a Muslim guest. Police arrested Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang, who run the Bounty House Hotel in Liverpool, after a Muslim woman complained that she was offended by comments made to her in March. Because the legal case is ongoing the couple cannot comment publicly. According to newspaper reports, the debate at the hotel involved discussion of whether Jesus was the son of God or just a minor prophet of Islam. Newspapers also reported the debate included comments that Mohammed was...

They praised the Lord by singing their hearts out and chanting prayers at packed services. But members of a congregation in north London have abandoned their church - because of a council noise ban. The Immanuel International Christian Centre was ordered to keep its amplified music and sermons quieter after a neighbour complained. But the church's pastor Dunni Odetoyinbo claimed Waltham Forest council had only told them to keep quiet so as not to offend the Muslim community. The church also argued the council had 'taken away its ability to praise God', and that congregation numbers had dwindled from 100...

Leading atheists are arguing that Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime were theist and specifically Christian. Christopher Hitchens in God Is Not Great depicts Hitler as a pagan polytheist -- not exactly a conventional theist but still a theist. Atheist websites routinely claim that Hitler was a Christian because he was born Catholic, he never publicly renounced his Catholicism, and he wrote in Mein Kampf, "By defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord." Atheist writer Sam Harris writes that "the Holocaust marked the culmination of...two hundred years of Christian fulminating against the Jews"...