Free Republic

A coalition that represents fundamentalist Mormons has issued a statement objecting to the LDS Church's attempts to deny their claim to a shared Mormon heritage. The Principle Voices Coalition, based in Salt Lake City, said that members "strenuously object to any efforts to deprive us and others of the freedom to name and describe ourselves by terms of our own choosing." Two weeks ago, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints launched a media campaign aimed at distinguishing itself from the breakaway sects. The church said its effort was primarily aimed at clarifying the difference between the LDS Church...

Last week I received the following e-mail, and I felt it would be best to share my response here on the blog. Dear Mr. White, For someone considering converting to Catholicism, what questions would you put to them in order to discern whether or not they have examined their situation sufficiently? Say, a Top 10 list. Thanks. When I posted this question in our chat channel a number of folks commented that it was in fact a great question, and we started to throw out some possible answers. Here is my "Top Ten List" in response to this fine inquiry....

No matter who becomes the next president of the United States, the American people have already won a great victory -- with the total disintegration of the once all-powerful Religious Right.... Today, the religious right has splintered into as many different factions as O.J. Simpson has alibis. Unable to find one candidate who fits the bill of being both true-blue on the issues and electable, America's ayatohlahs have divided their loyalties. Indeed, in some cases, they've even declared war against each other. The National Right to Life League has endorsed Fred Thompson, even though he opposes a constitutional amendment to...

Bush apologizes to Wiccan widow Published: Sept 2, 2007 at 10:16 AM WASHINGTON, Sept 1 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush apologized to a Nevada Wiccan who was left out of a presidential meeting with relatives of soldiers killed in combat. Rebecca Stewart, who sued to have the Wiccan symbol placed on her husband’s grave marker in a military cemetery, told The Washington Post the president called her to apologize. She said she explained to Bush the faith she and her husband shared. Sgt. Patrick Stewart was killed in Afghanistan in 2005. Stewart said she heard about the private meeting...

A U.S. defense analyst and author says Americans should be very concerned about some radical Muslim paramilitary compounds that have sprung up around the country and that are surrounded with "No Trespassing" signs. Hear This Report Greg Copley, president of the International Strategic Studies Association (ISSA), says the compounds are often populated with former U.S. convicts who were converted to Islam in prison. These convicts, he contends, are connected to a Pakistani organization. "Islamberg in New York, Ahmedabad in Virginia, and Holy Islamville in South Carolina, and so on are places which have been formed largely by Jamaat ul-Fuqra," Copley...

Rudolph W. Giuliani's first inauguration as mayor here was a family affair. His 7-year-old son, Andrew, mugged for the cameras as Papa Rudy toasted his television hostess wife, Donna, as "my partner, my inspiration and my lover." Then daughter Caroline, 4, hid behind her hat as the couple kissed that Jan. 2, 1994. Thirteen years later, that familial unit is nowhere to be seen in the Giuliani presidential campaign. The once rambunctious Andrew, now a burly Duke sophomore, has indicated that he has no plans to stump for his father — he's too busy working on his golf game. Neither...

Good Fundamentalism Bad Fundamentalism   At the age of semantics meaning a lot, it is evident that this term is reserved very selectively. I dare the MSM on fundamentalists such as: secularists, or anti-warriors.   1) "Anti War" warriors beat up ordinary innocent passers by in France (2003).   2) Radical secularists are on an all out war on religion in America, via ACLU and other.   3) Hatred towards practicing Christians in liberal Europe, the anti-Bush bashing manifesting in denigrating his Christianity is part of it.   4) A minority within a minority, radical gays in a secular minority...

Dr. Tawfik Hamid doesn't tell people where he lives. Not the street, not the city, not even the country. It's safer that way. It's only the letters of testimony from some of the highest intelligence officers in the Western world that enable him to move freely. This medical doctor, author and activist once was a member of Egypt's Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (Arabic for "the Islamic Group"), a banned terrorist organization. He was trained under Ayman al-Zawahiri, the bearded jihadi who appears in Bin Laden's videos, telling the world that Islamic violence will stop only once we all become Muslims. He's a...

Demise of multiculturalism can help root out terrorism Jonathan Alter - For the Journal-Constitution Wednesday, June 28, 2006 Multiculturalism, rest in peace. There may have been no obituary for the notion that every group and every belief in a multiethnic society is deserving of mutual respect and tolerance. But thanks to jihadism, multiculturalism and moral relativism --- its necessary counterpart --- are now 6 feet under. Signs of multiculturalism's demise first began to appear in Holland, a nation that officially embraced its precepts in 1983. In theory, the Minderhedennota, or minorities policy, extended the Dutch tradition of tolerance to a...

What does the enlightened, freedom-loving, tolerant and inclusive West have in common with fundamental Islam? Both are overwhelmingly repressive in what they consider to be "acceptable" speech. The latest evidence of this is the conviction and sentencing of Clifford Irving, whose denial of the Holocaust earned him three years in an Austrian jail

Last May, I had the pleasure of participating in the Kansas State Board of Education’s “evolution” hearings. Readers may recall that I contributed an essay, “Darwin or Lose,” to the “Darwin’s Last Stand?” issue (July/August 2004), in which I discussed how the use of courtroom-style litigation tactics by spokesmen for “mainstream science” has deformed the scientific debate over the origin of life and its diversification into the vast array of different species we see today. The hearings gave me an opportunity to see first-hand the use of such tactics. High-Profile Hearings The teaching of evolution became a high-profile issue in...

Rabbi gives his take on Christian Exodus http://goupstate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050907/NEWS/509070349/1051 Rabbi Yossi Liebowitz will discuss the expansion of Christian Exodus into South Carolina tonight on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show.." Rabbi gives his take on Christian Exodus DUDLEY BROWN, Staff WriterSpartanburg Rabbi Yossi Liebowitz expects to be on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" tonight for a conversation about some of South Carolina's newest citizens.He's a bit nervous. Liebowitz will appear with a Baptist minister and a member of Christian Exodus on the 30-minute show, which is known for its satire and exaggeration. "I've got fear and trepidation about it because it's...

Boys from Africa are being murdered as human sacrif ices in London churches. They are brought into the capital to be offered up in rituals by fundamentalist Christian sects, according to a shocking report by Scotland Yard. [snip]

Both believed in the Bible, but one group wanted to separate from modern culture while the other wanted to engage it Excerpted from Beliefnet's new book, "The Beliefnet Guide to Evangelical Christianity." In the early 1940s, a distinct split grew between evangelicals and fundamentalists over how to apply the “fundamentals” of faith to the modern world. In 1941 Rev. Carl McIntire founded the American Council of Christian Churches, an extreme group that favored separatism from hostile cultural forces. Some went so far as to refuse contact with anyone who did interact with the culture. Not all “fundamentalists” (that is, those...

OPEN FORUM With God on their side Frank Schaeffer Sunday, May 22, 2005 It is perhaps not coincidental that Cardinal Ratzinger, the most fundamentalist Roman Catholic cardinal, was chosen as the new pope. Fundamentalism is the big story of the 21st century. Ask anyone trying to teach evolution in a public school. Consider the 50 million copies sold of the "Left Behind" series about the second coming of Christ. Or listen to mullahs earnestly explain how to apply seventh-century religious law to so-called modern life -- say, why women should not be allowed to vote. Or watch Tom DeLay and...

June 17, 2005 has been announced as the date for Iran's presidential election, which the conservatives seem likely to win. Although many candidates are planning to run for Iran’s presidency, the majority will be from the conservative ranks, consolidating their power in an already “reformist-frail” government. A tight competition is likely between Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a conservative-leaning pragmatist and Ali Larijani, former head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, who is preferred by the conservative alliance.

[World News]: Moscow, 29 January : Describing Russia as a key player in the search for peace in the Middle East, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said Moscow was a key ally of his people and had an important role in the 'Quartet' which devised the peace roadmap for the region. "Russia is the first foreign country I will be visiting after my election. This indicates that Russia is a key ally of Palestinians and has been playing a significant role in the Middle East 'quartet' (US, Russia, EU and UN)" Abbas said in an interview to semi-official NTV...

A recently passed German immigration law makes it easier for federal and state governments to deport suspected Islamic terrorists and fundamentalists. For the first time, officials can deport people if they have evidence to support fears the suspect may commit a terrorist act in the future. Hundreds could now face deportation, including a Hamburg al-Qaida terror suspect.

Evangelist Billy James Hargis Dies; Spread Anti-Communist Message By Adam Bernstein Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, November 30, 2004; Page B06 The Rev. Billy James Hargis, 79, who died Nov. 27 at a nursing home in Tulsa, was a "bawl and jump" broadcast evangelist whose anti-communist message helped him flourish during the Cold War. He was ordained at 17 in the Disciples of Christ denomination, studied at an unaccredited Bible college in Bentonville, Ark., and later received a theology degree from Burton College and Seminary in Colorado. Increasingly, he politicized his pulpit and in 1962 urged attendees of the Anti-Communist...

The Hanukkah story could be the script for Mel Gibson's next biblical epic. Will it cause the religious tensions 'Passion' did?Anyone who took offense at Mel Gibson’s "The Passion of the Christ", with its depiction of Jewish leaders condemning Jesus, should get ready soon to be offended all over again. Gibson, it is reported, has his heart set on doing a movie version of the story commemorated by Hanukkah. His text will be the novel "My Glorious Brothers" by Howard Fast. Ironically, this book is a sentimental favorite with the older-generation Jewish audience that also tends to be the main...

The London Daily Mirror's headline following George W. Bush's re-election went directly to the core of the problem: How can 59,054,087 people be so dumb? You see, according to the Mirror and to Lefty luminaries such as Garry Wills, Bill Moyers, Gerry Ferraro, Jane (Bloodlust) Smiley, Teresa Heinz Kerry and an assortment of the professoriate of institutions like Berkeley and Harvard, anyone who voted for George Bush in preference to John Kerry is stupid. That's it. We're stupid. There's no other possibility for such gross error, certainly no reason to question whether John Forbes Kerry (who served in Vietnam) was...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

...There is no doubt that John Kerry showed great skill at embracing deeply contradictory positions, but that does not make him unusual; all politicians have mastered the art of self-contradiction. What was remarkable in this election is that one candidate, President Bush, never changed: He said what he meant and meant what he said. If the Democrats could not appeal to the moral values of people, that fact must have been lost on the 48% of the voters who supported Sen. Kerry.... I am just as mystified by Mr. Friedman's lament that "Christian fundamentalists" are ruining his America by fostering...

It Will Be the Death of Liberalism Written by Raymond Kraft Sunday, October 10, 2004 It Will Be the Death of Liberalism Sixty-three years ago, Nazi Germany had overrun almost all of Europe and hammered England to the verge of bankruptcy and defeat, and had sunk more than four hundred British ships in their convoys between England and America for food and war materials. Bushido Japan had overrun most of Asia, beginning in 1928, killing millions of civilians throughout China, and impressing millions more as slave labor. The United States was in an isolationist and pacifist mood, and most Americans...

AMERICA AT THE CROSS ROADS OF HISTORY When the terrorists attacked the United States on September 11th, 2001, it signaled that they were no longer satisfied to only attack US interests outside the United States. It signaled that they felt comfortable enough and were savvy enough to realize that the US is no longer a unified country, ethnically, socially, politically, or spiritually. Some may believe that it never was, and that comes from a lack of knowledge about the country. Of course, there were slaves, mostly black Africans, but there were also white slaves who bought passage to the New...

PROTESTANTS CLAIM VISIONS, PROPHETIC WORDS RESEMBLING THOSE OF CATHOLICS There are many Christian "denominations" -- by one count 34,000 that have identified themselves as Christian groups -- and often, of course, they're at odds with each other. This is especially true of "fundamentalist" Christians and Catholics. But they share some intriguing aspects. The charismatic branches of both major groups heal in a way that is similar (whereby the person prayed over often falls gently to the floor, known as "resting" or being "slain" in the Spirit); both pray in "tongues"; and many Christians receive alleged prophecy in the way of...

Pictures/Images of Christ* Exodus 20:4-6 -- Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth below, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. In this second...

Papers connect Iraqi spies to African terrorist group BAGHDAD--Saddam Hussein's regime was linked to an African Islamist terrorist group, according to intelligence papers. The documents provide the first hard evidence of ties between Iraq and religious terrorism. Secret dossiers detailing the group's discussions with the Iraqi Intelligence Service were found in the spies' Baghdad headquarters, among the detritus of shredding. The papers show how an Iraqi diplomat in Nairobi, Fallah Hassan Al Rubdie, was in discussion with the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan guerrilla group with ties to other anti-Western Islamist organizations. While the United States has long argued that...

<p>A Florida company has announced plans to develop a service that would allow consumers to pay for merchandise using microchips implanted under their skin.</p> <p>Applied Digital Solutions CEO Scott Silverman said he believes the company's VeriChip -- a subdermal microchip that uses radio frequency signals to broadcast an identification number to a scanner -- could someday replace credit cards. Under Silverman's plan, rather than swiping a bank card to make purchases, micro-chipped customers would scan themselves using special readers.</p>

How Prayers PollDebunking myths about the religious right. By Steven WaldmanPosted Friday, October 10, 2003, at 9:42 AM PT I heard about this guy who called himself "evangelical," said he lived a "Bible-centered life," had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ … and voted for Al Gore over George W. Bush.A confused, lonely, iconoclast? Actually, in 2000, at least 10 million white "evangelical Christians" voted for Gore.Many people, especially secular liberals, misunderstand the nature of religion in politics—which is, to be fair, ever shifting. To them, if it's not about Jerry Falwell or Joe Lieberman, it's kind of a blur. So,...

Bill Maher: Mel Gibson and Tom DeLay Are Anti-Semites Controversial TV talker Bill Maher attacked religious conservatives in an early morning interview on Wednesday, claiming that movie star Mel Gibson and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay were "anti-Semitic." "I do think Mel Gibson is anti-Semitic," Maher told radio host Don Imus. "So, by the way, is Tom DeLay. So, by the way, are all these Christian right people who pretend to be friends of Israel." Then Maher accused Christian fundamentalists of befriending Israel only because, ultimately, they'd like to see Jews die: "You know, this is the sickest thing. They...

September 22, 2003, 8:43 a.m. Dean and the Fundamentalists What the doctor gets away with. By John J. Pitney Jr. Imagine a major presidential candidate saying: "I want my country back! We want our country back! I am tired of being divided! I don't want to listen to the priests and rabbis anymore." Across the political spectrum, people would immediately denounce that candidate as a bigot. Pundits would draw comparisons to the Know-Nothings. There would be calls for an apology, if not a withdrawal from the race. And the words would haunt the candidate forever. Now substitute "fundamentalist preachers" for...

A court in the Moroccan city of Casablanca has sentenced ten Muslim fundamentalists to death. Eight men received life sentences; several others were sentenced to twenty years. The radical Muslims are members of the Salafia Jihadia, the movement held responsible for the suicide attacks in Casablanca on May 16th, in which 40 people were killed. The convicts were already in custody at the time of these attacks on charges of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and extortion. Immediately afterwards, the Moroccan authorities said they would crack down hard on all forms of terrorism.

NATO troops arrest former Bosnian Muslim commander in Srebrenica Friday April 11, 2003 SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) NATO-led peacekeepers in Bosnia have arrested Naser Oric, a Bosnian Muslim wanted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, NATO in Bosnia said Friday.Oric, 35, was the wartime army commander in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica, where the worst massacre of civilian Muslims during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war took place. He was arrested late Thursday.However, Oric, who was in charge of the defense of the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica from Bosnian Serb forces during the war, is accused of war crimes...

Only once did the audience assembled in the main sanctuary of the Lincoln Square Synagogue a week ago Saturday night break into applause. That moment was when Charles Krauthammer, the scholar-in-residence that weekend, told us that Jews had nothing to fear from the Christian right; on the contrary, those Christians were allies, lovers of Zion, our staunch support. My host, Tally Rand, a member of the congregation, nodded and smiled, acknowledging that this website had got that right from the start. Mr. Krauthammer dealt deftly with the oft-heard argument that the Christian right is pretending its affection and is interested...

Jason Burke investigates the network of Islamic radicals who found a haven in England and turned its capital city into Londonistan, the world HQ for jihad atrocities Mohammed was surfing the internet when he heard the shouting. He ran down the stairs from his cheap flat overlooking north London's Seven Sisters Road and out into the street. It was bitterly cold. Two friends were outside. 'The police are in the mosque,' they told him. From overhead a helicopter sent a powerful beam of light against Finsbury Park mosque - a modern brick building with dark windows and a minaret above....

Officials hope the banning of the alleged Islamic fundamentalist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir in Germany will hinder the work of what remains an active and dangerous scene. In an effort to shake up what experts fear is an active and dangerous Islamic fundamentalism scene in Germany, the government on Wednesday banned an organization it accused of spreading violent anti-Semitic and anti-American propaganda. Police raided homes and offices connected with the group Hizb ut-Tahrir, or Party of Liberation, in five different German states on Wednesday. The announcement concluded a two-month long investigation into the organization. "This organization promotes the use of violence...

Hundreds of Muslim youths have gone on the rampage in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, following Friday prayers. The BBC's Haruna Bahago in Abuja says people armed with sticks, daggers and knives set fire to vehicles and attacked anyone they suspected of being Christian. The northern city of Kaduna is now quiet after two days of rioting in protest at the Miss World beauty contest, which left at least 100 people dead, according to Red Cross officials. The protests began after a newspaper suggested that the Prophet Mohammed would have probably chosen to marry one of the Miss World contestants if he...

Afghan fundamentalists raid girls' schools Classrooms are bombed and burned in warning to parents to keep daughters at home Luke Harding, south Asia correspondent Friday November 1, 2002 The Guardian The authorities in Afghanistan were last night investigating a series of well-coordinated attacks by suspected Taliban sympathisers against girls' schools in a central region near to Kabul. Four schools in Wardak province, a short drive from the Afghan capital, were attacked last week in a deliberate and systematic attempt to stop parents from sending their daughters to study. The attackers fired two rockets into school buildings in villages near the...

While religions like Judaism and Christianity may differ as to how strongly they condemn radical Islamism, one thing is clear - unlike radical Islam, most religions do not advocate violence. Just recently one of my favorite correspondents happened to send me a copy of a column by Rabbi Daniel Lapin in which he addressed Old Testament passage Deut. 27:26 and the duties of leaders to uphold the Truth. He then applied this duty to Evangelical Christian Pastor Franklin Graham. Reverend Graham, it seems, has a problem because he refuses to keep quiet about the prevalence of Islamic violence. Islam, he...

Egyptian authorities say police have arrested 34 suspected members of the country's outlawed fundamentalist group, the Muslim Brotherhood. Egyptian security sources are quoted as saying the 34 suspects, including two university professors and a lawyer, were arrested Saturday about 70 kilometers north of Cairo. They were charged with trying to revive a banned organization. Last week, Egyptian security forces arrested nearly 30 others suspected of belonging to the group. They were charged with attempting to plan a political demonstration at a Cairo mosque. Though illegal, the Muslim Brotherhood, which seeks to replace the Egyptian government with an Islamic state, is...

HAMBURG - Islamic fundamentalists may have succeeded for the first time to infiltrate the police in the German partstate Hamburg. This was reported by the German weekly magazine 'Der Spiegel'. A 41 year old Moroccan man, who holds contacts to radical muslims and who was arrested in a police raid on Wednesday, appears to be an informant with the police. He had acces to the police archives. The man went to the mosque that is known to have links to Mohammed Atta, one of the September 11 suicide pilots. Atta lived and studied in Hamburg prior to the September 11...

Pastor Steven Terry, of Deliverance Tabernacle in Chesapeake, believes Israel's survival is essential for Christianity. Photo by Vasna Wilson / The Virginian-Pilot. At Deliverance Tabernacle in Chesapeake, pastor Steven Terry regularly urges members to pray for Israel out of compassion -- and self-interest. Israel's survival, he believes, is essential for the fulfillment of biblical prophecies that culminate with the long-awaited return of Jesus Christ. Thus, when his congregation prays, Terry says, ``It's not just Israel's outcome that will be affected, but ours also.'' Israel's biggest block of friends in the United States are evangelical and fundamentalist Christians, ranging from...

Vil ha Norge som islamsk stat Av ROY FREDDY ANDERSEN Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad vil gjøre Norge til en islamsk stat, styrt etter sharia-lovene. Tips en venn om denne saken! - Se dagens mest populære tips! FUNDAMENTALIST: Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad styrer en ytterliggående islamsk organisasjon som har som mål å gjøre Norge til en islamsk stat. Foto: REUTERS Legg inn bildetekst Foto: Reuters DELTA I DISKUSJONEN! «Det er klart at man bør bekjempe fanatisme og fundamentalisme i all dets former, enten det er kristenfanatisme, jødisk fundamentalisme eller islamistisk fundamentalisme (...) Men da bør det gjøres innenfor demokratiets virkemidler, for...

Recently, a batch of comics have come to my attention.  A batch that stands out for a variety of reasons, but particularly because they seek to impose outdated and immoral morals on children.  Now, I'm all for teaching our children well, as David Crosby so eloquently stated in-between his massive drug binges and liver transplants.  But I have a problem with these particular books, and the organization behind them.You see, instead of teaching tolerance and values that actually contribute positively to our society, a group calling itself "The Truth For Youth" is distributing devoutly intolerant "Christian" comic books across...

<p>ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — A court has given death sentences to five of eight Somalis convicted of murder and accused of belonging to an armed Islamic organization, the Ethiopian News Agency reported Friday.</p> <p>The eight were convicted in the deaths of 36 people in attacks in Addis Ababa and a southeastern Ethiopian city six years ago.</p>

Language constantly changes. For instance, if you have ever seen a copy of the 1611 King James translation, you know that the English of that translation is completely incomprehensible to today's English reader. We preach and teach from the King James translation here at Bob Jones University, but it is the translation of 1769. Between 1611 and 1769, English changed drastically. It continues to change. Words take on new meanings and associations. Until the late 1940s, the strongest Bible believing Christians distinguished themselves from religious liberals by the term "Evangelicals." When the strongest Evangelical group of the day, the National...