Free Republic

The Trump administration has always been an advocate for religious liberty, and on Friday they reaffirmed that commitment by proposing rolling back an Obama-era rule that denied federal funding to foster care and adoption groups that exclude LGBT parents—which would be a huge win for faith-based organizations and the First Amendment. The White House says the rule from the Department of Health and Human Services is needed to remove barriers that prevent some nonprofits from helping vulnerable people in their communities. It would apply to a broad range of organizations that receive federal support, such as those that get...

"This whole concept of political correctness ... it's going to destroy our nation." That was the no-nonsense response of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson to Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) earlier this week. Wexton was trying for a "gotcha" moment in a congressional hearing when she asked Dr. Carson if he would "apologize" for being quoted for expressing concern over "big, hairy men" trying to gain entry into an Alaska women's homeless shelter. I could not have said it better. On yesterday's edition of Washington Watch, Dr. Carson – or Dr. Politically Incorrect as I've called him -...

Thanks to the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the federal government clarified that it is free to work with whichever organization is best able to achieve the government’s goals, providing optimal services to those in need. The guidelines, recently issued by the DOL, explain that under current law the federal government may not discriminate against religious contractors or subcontractors. Instead, all contractors, religious and non-religious, must be permitted to compete for federal contracts on an equal playing field. A wide variety of charitable work across the country is done through government contracts with various...

The Trump administration has issued a directive to protect the rights of faith-based federal contractors who have religious objections to same-sex marriage and homosexuality. On Friday, the Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs issued the directive to "incorporate recent developments in the law regarding religion-exercising organizations and individuals." Specifically, the directive cites three recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings and executive orders on religious freedom issued by President Donald Trump. The agency suggests that while discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity are still not permitted under Executive Order 11246 (as amended by former President Barack Obama...

The faith-based film "I Can Only Imagine" brought in $17.1 million at the domestic box office during its opening weekend, going far beyond early expectations and ranking third, behind "Tomb Raider" and "Black Panther." Based on the true-story of Christian artist Bart Millard's life, the family drama opened at 1,629 locations in the United States and received an A+ CinemaScore with an audience that was 67 percent female and 80 percent over 35. This is the distributor Roadside Attractions' highest grossing opening ever. "We felt that the film's inspiring story of hope and forgiveness made for a very compelling collaboration,"...

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Pro-life pregnancy centers went to court Friday to try to overturn a new law that they argue requires them to publicly post abortion referrals. During a hearing before U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson, attorneys for Calvary Chapel Pearl Harbor and the Aloha Pregnancy Care and Counseling Center argued that the law violates their right to free speech and religion because it forces them to post signs that interfere with their faith. "It compels even non-medical pregnancy centers to recite what amounts to a government-scripted advertisement for abortion," said Kevin Connelly, Calvary's attorney. "It forces a church, Calvary...

The Obama administration has appointed a transgender individual to the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-based Neighborhood Partnerships, selecting Barbara Satin for a post along with two representatives of minority faiths. Satin, who was born a man but identifies as a woman, is an Air Force veteran, a member of the United Church of Christ and currently works with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, according to CBN News.“Given the current political climate, I believe it’s important that a voice of faith representing the transgender and gender non-conforming community — as well as a person of my years, nearly 82...

Faith-based films with an overt Christian message have been making inroads in the nation's box offices. The film industry is responding to audiences who want Christian themes in their entertainment, and even more films that are Christian are coming to theaters in 2016. To date, most of the Christian films released to date have been low budget, independent affairs. This year sees a new faith-based film from America's leading film director, Martin Scorsese and a lavish Biblical picture about the resurrection, "Risen." According to Ryan Duncan on the Crosswalk blog, these five Christian films coming to theaters in 2016 are...

WASHINGTON DC, May 28, 2015 (C-Fam.org) -- A source within the federal government has informed the Friday Fax that the White House is quietly moving forward with a policy change that will require charitable humanitarian groups to accept LGBT applicants in order to qualify for government funding, even those religious groups that might have religious objections.The policy change is linked to an executive order President Obama issued last July that prohibits federal contractors from discriminatory hiring practices based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Faith-based groups were already wrestling with that order.Things are about to get exponentially worse for faith-based groups who...

MARIETTA, Ga. – Faced with the rising cost of insuring their family of five, Lisa and Jonathan Adams canceled their high-deductible health insurance policy and put their faith in Medi-Share, a Christian organization whose members help pay one another's major medical expenses. Five days later, their 7-year-old daughter fell out of a bunk bed and broke her arm. Medi-Share covered nearly the entire cost of her surgery and rehab therapy and provided something the Adamses had never received from an insurance company -- prayer. "When I called to let them know that Jordan had broken her arm, the last thing...

It highlights the role of a nonprofit called “BCFS” which, according to Time, has received more than $280 million since December to operate temporary housing shelters for children who illegally cross the Mexican border into the U.S. On July 7, two days before [the charity head] met Obama in Dallas, the Department of Health and Human Services awarded BCFS $190,707,505 in a single grant. The Time article also brings attention to an ongoing theme under the Obama administration: its penchant to withhold public information of public interest. According to Time, “To shield vulnerable kids from angry opponents of immigration and...

Over the weekend, the religious film "Heaven is for Real" performed extremely well at the box office, earning $22.5 million. It's the largest Easter opening for a faith-based film, blowing past Johnny Depp's "Transcendence." It's also the fourth recent Christian film that has taken off at theaters, following "Son of God," "God's Not Dead," and Darren Aronofsky's "Noah." The success of the genre has spurred discussions about a Bible boom at the box office and whether 2014 is the year of the Christian film. But BoxOffice.com chief analyst Phil Contrino tells us we shouldn't be surprised by how well these...

[1]“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.” So wrote the great Christian apologist C.S. Lewis.By the same token, I can’t imagine God’s glory is increased any when we make movies about him, and so I don’t suppose the Lord is much interested in the latest box office news out of Hollywood. Nonetheless, that news is good for faith-based films. Not long after the indie film God’s Not Dead [2]was a “surprise hit,” (i.e., a...

On a sunny weekday morning just east of downtown Los Angeles, a crowd of about 75 people rallied outside the LA County/USC Medical Center. They toted signs with slogans like “Healthcare is a Human Right” and “Salud Para Todos” (“Health for All”). “How can we say we live in a just and humane society,” said one speaker, “without providing for the sickest and most vulnerable among us?” Los Angeles, with its massive low-income population and largest concentration of immigrants anywhere in the country, may be the epicenter of the continuing uninsured crisis in America. Somewhere around one million county residents...

Amazing screen performance: "God's Not Dead" Looks like God is doing his thing with a bit of help from film viewers, the Duck Commander, Willie Robertson, his great wife, Corie and the magnificent cast and production group led by Actor Kevin Sorbo, etc.!!! As Winston Churchill proclaimed to Herr Hitler after the Battle of Britain..."We are coming for you!!!" and then began sustained, night & day bombing of German Factories & Cities by the RAF & the AAF....we, the people, proclaim to anti-religion, Christian hater, POTUS, Obama, his Godless Academia lap dogs and his media Obamabots: "We, the God believers,...

Kevin Sorbo, star of God’s Not Dead told a reporter at Faith, Media & Culture that by simply voting for the best person, that, in itself, is enough to get me blacklisted in Hollywood. Marius Forte, who co-authored with Sam Sorbo, radio talk show host and wife of Kevin Sorbo, The Answer: Proof of God in Heaven notes: We all know that Hollywood leans left and is uncomfortable with a Christian based message. Left-wing Hollywood seems impervious to the fact that God’s Not Dead opened on only 780 screens yet the movie, without benefiting from a mega-media roll-out that often...

Questions are being raised about whether an Oscar nomination was rescinded because of the film’s faith-based message. The low-budget film “Alone Yet Not Alone” was nominated in the Best Song category, but then the song, also called “Alone Yet Not Alone,” was disqualified a few weeks later. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences pointed out that the song’s creator, Bruce Broughton, had improperly emailed 70 fellow Academy members to ask them to listen to the song. …

...Following in the footsteps of Ayatollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei tries to steal the charisma attached to Shiism’s magical imams and fuse it to the raw, coercive power of a twentieth-century totalitarian dictator. Like his predecessor as supreme leader, Khamenei sees Islam as under siege from the West, and especially the United States. “In the military, political, and economic wars, in every arena where there is a test of strength, you, the believer, must stand firm against the enemy [the United States], your will must overcome the determination of the enemy,” he told his militant audience...

Secretary of State John Kerry has announced the creation of the Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives, whose mission, he said, is “to engage more closely with faith communities around the world, with the belief that we need to partner with them to solve global challenges.” “There is common ground between the Abrahamic faiths, and, in fact, between the Abrahamic faiths and all religions and philosophies, whether you’re talking about Hindu or Confucianism or any other of the many of the world’s different approaches to our existence here on the planet and to our relationship with a supreme being,” said Kerry....

A national coalition, which includes people formerly associated with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) as well as several other partners, announced Tuesday the formation of a new youth organization for boys that is founded on Christian values and principles. "Our vision is to be the premier national character development organization for young men which produces godly and responsible husbands, fathers, and citizens," said Rob Green, the organization's interim executive director, during a press conference call Tuesday. He added, "The new program will be an exciting and motivating outdoor-based program focused on leadership and character development for boys, and founded...