Free Republic

Supporters of Proposition 8, which would ban same-sex marriage in California, are running their first television ad.The commercial features San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom making a celebratory speech. The state Supreme Court had just invalidated a law overwhelmingly passed by voters in 2000 that declared "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Following is a text of the ad and an analysis by Aurelio Rojas of The Bee's Capitol Bureau: The ad Newsom: This door's wide open now. It's going to happen whether you like it or not.Narrator: Four judges ignored 4 million...

The YouTube controversy involving Hate Speech against Catholics continues with the the apparent reposting of sacriligious, blasphemous videos of a student desecrating the Blessed Sacrament. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines sacrilege with these words: "2120 Sacrilege consists in profaning or treating unworthily the sacraments and other liturgical actions, as well as persons, things, or places consecrated to God. Sacrilege is a grave sin especially when committed against the Eucharist, for in this sacrament the true Body of Christ is made substantially present for us." The Catholic League is the nation's largest Catholic civil rights organization. The Catholic League...

Bill Maher's Anti-Religion Movie “Religion is detrimental to the progress of society.” That’s my favorite quote from Bill Maher’s often brilliant, but often unfocused “documentary,” called “Religulous.” It opens in early October right after its debut at the Toronto Film Festival. The articulate, quick-witted comedian sets out in this film — which was supposed to have been released last Easter — to prove that line is true. Directed by Larry Charles, the man who put "Borat" together so skillfully, "Religulous" is blatant about Maher’s feelings: religion is bad. All religions are bad. They are ruining everything. If you go for...

As some of you may know, a man named Jim David Adkisson, an unemployed truck driver went berserk and shot up a Unitarian Universalist church in Knoxville Tennessee. He murdered 2 people and injured about 5 others while they were performing a musical called Little orphan Annie. Adkisson claimed he did it because he was angered by liberalism and in particular, homosexuality. According to a sworn affidavit by one of the officers; "During the interview Adkisson stated that he had targeted the church because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were...

August 28, 2008 Natalie Dagenais Canadian “Human Rights” Commission 344 Slater Street Ottawa, ON K1A 1E1 Dear Natalie, Re: Rob Wells v. Ezra Levant I received your letter dated August 8, 2008. At first I wasn’t sure it was yours, because you didn’t write your name on it, and your signature was illegible. I can understand your shyness. It has become an embarrassment to publicly admit to being a “human rights investigator” in Canada, because Canadians have caught on to what you really do: you don’t actually protect human rights, you violate them. At least you didn’t sign it as...

Jimmy Carter, ladies and gentlemen, last night on PBS special coverage. The anchor Jim Lehrer said, "And do you think that if it happens that Obama is elected, or even just being nominated, will send positive ripple effects throughout the country on the race issue?" CARTER: It already has sent a wave of approbation and admiration in many countries around the world just knowing that this black boy who grew up with just a loving mother and -- and grandparents and that was about all he had to start with, has now had a chance to become the nominee of...

DHP Review: Religulous Posted by Dirty Harry on Thursday, August 21st, 2008 While more entertaining and better paced, director Larry Charles‘ Religulous can’t help but remind of Morgan Spurlock’s dreadful Where In The World Is Osama bin Laden?, especially at the end where both films are undone by their attempts to close on serious points the preceding 90 minutes of antics simply can’t sustain. It’s surprising Charles let this one get away from him. After all, he also directed Borat, and one of the few saving graces of that humiliation-fest was that it never lost sight of the fact that...

This is the Apocalypse of St. Bill the Stoned. Though funny, smart and often profane, Religulous doesn't want to send you out of the theater with a smile on your lips. The final moments of the film aren't laugh out loud funny, but a parade of images of death and destruction. This, Bill Maher says, is what humanity is in for if it doesn't get rid of the nuerological disorder that is religion. You probably know my bias going into this film. I believe that religion is not just irrational but anti-rational, a Bronze Age worldview that should have been...

Obama's favorite rapper Ludacris is supporting his boy, Barack. Last November they met and discussed lighting the way for the nation's youth. And, today Ludacris is doing just that with a boomin' beat! "I'm back on it like I just signed my record deal yeah the best is here, the Bentley Coup paint is dripping wet, it got sex appeal never should have hated you never should've doubted him with a slot in the president's iPod Obama shattered 'em Said I handled his biz and I'm one of his favorite rappers Well give Luda a special pardon if I'm ever...

SPAIN, July 25, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Spanish pro-family activist group, HazteOir, has filed charges against the organizers of the 2008 Madrid "Gay Pride" march for "hate speech," according to the group's website.HazteOir accuses the march organizers of making hateful statements against Catholics, pro-family organizations, and those politicians opposed to the Spanish Socialist Worker's Party (PSOE) .  The PSOE, which currently occupies the position of Prime Minister and holds a majority in the Spanish Parliament, supports special "rights" for homosexuals.Amongst numerous other things, "Gay Pride" marchers in Madrid held a banner depicting Pope Benedict XVI on fire and calling him...

In 2008, Sao Paulo, Brazil hosted the largest homosexual pride parade ever. A bill, already approved in Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies and currently being debated in the Senate, demonstrates the type of dictatorship the homosexual movement would like to impose on the Christian world. If this bill were to become law it would punish with imprisonment, anyone who criticizes homosexual ideology or practice. This would empower the homosexual movement worldwide, thus reinforcing their plans here in America. Similarly, it uncovers the true goals of the homosexual movement, and, is thus of pivotal importance to freedom-loving people aroung the globe. Religious...

Yes, the sad little cracker has met its undignified end, so stop pestering me. The cracker, the koran, and another surprise entry have been violated and are gone. You'll have to wait until tomorrow for the details, what little of them there are. I must quickly apologize to all you good Catholics who were hoping to attend Mass, since you can't anymore — I have been told many hundreds of times now that cracker abuse violates your right to practice your religion. I guess you'll have to adapt. Secular humanism is a good alternative, if you aren't already flocking to...

A Kansas church well-known for its protests at the funerals of fallen American soldiers plans to picket at this week's funeral of former Press Secretary Tony Snow, declaring that Snow is "a very bad monkey" who is "now burning in hell." "He had a platform, he was given some small talent by his Creator. He was an unfaithful steward, and is now residing in hell," says a schedule on the website of the Westboro Baptist Church. "Each opportunity he had to faithfully report what the servants at WBC had to tell this country/world, Tony Snow besmirched and vilified the words...

Maclean's magazine, Canada's Newsweek, was brought before the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal for running an excerpt from Mark Steyn's book America Alone. The California websites introduced as evidence were FreeRepublic and Catholic Answers. The claim was that their discussion boards proved that Maclean's inspire hate-speech toward Muslims. The Washington Times reports: "Numerous Canadians and Americans following the hearing denounced the case as absurd and that it is a threat to free speech that a provincial tribunal is asserting jurisdiction over the writings of a best-selling author residing in New Hampshire, based upon an out-of-province complainant offended by the response...

“Exercise of editorial control” makes Obama 100 percent responsible for his site’s hate speech against Jews, pro-Clinton Black people, and seniors We created our own blog at my.barackobama.com, which carries the following disclaimer: “Content on blogs in My.BarackObama represents the opinions of community members and in no way should be interpreted as endorsed or approved by the campaign.” By deleting our blog and disabling our account, the Obama campaign just blew its disclaimer and can now be held 100 percent responsible for the anti-Semitic, racist, misogynist, and ageist hate speech it allowed to stand (in some cases for more than...

SAN FRANCISCO: Reagan has his highways. Lincoln has his memorial. Washington has the capital, and a state, too. But President George W. Bush may soon be the sole president to have a memorial named after him that you can contribute to from the bathroom. prize-winning water-treatment plant on the shoreline to the George W. Bush Sewage Plant. Not surprisingly, those Republicans in a city that voted 83 percent Democratic in 2004 are not thrilled with the idea

Welcome to a world where criticism of militant Islam could land you in court or worse. In Vancouver, Canada's venerable Maclean's magazine awaits a hate-speech verdict from a human-rights tribunal for publishing a chapter from syndicated columnist Mark Steyn's best-selling book "America Alone." The accusers charge the author and publisher with "Islamophobia." Last week, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), warned a gathering in Kuala Lumpur that "mere condemnation or distancing from the acts of the perpetrators of Islamophobia" would not suffice. He recommended that Western countries restrict freedom of expression and demanded...

Four years ago, I wrote an article entitled "Thinly Disguised Totalitarianism" for the religious journal First Things, surveying the erosion of Canadian religious liberty under various regulatory bodies, professional associations and human rights tribunals. I wrote then that "there are no restrictions on freedom of worship in Canada today." That's no longer true. As Ezra Levant details below, the Stephen Boissoin case is an egregious assault on religious liberty, press freedom and freedom of speech. And for those of us who previously underestimated the threat to religious liberty, it serves as a rude correction. The judgment of the Alberta Human...

VANCOUVER, British Columbia: A couple of years ago, a Canadian magazine published an article arguing that the rise of Islam threatened Western values. The article's tone was mocking and biting, but it said nothing that conservative magazines and blogs in the United States did not say every day without fear of legal reprisal.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A couple of years ago, a Canadian magazine published an article arguing that the rise of Islam threatened Western values. The article’s tone was mocking and biting, but it said nothing that conservative magazines and blogs in the United States do not say every day without fear of legal reprisal. The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal will soon rule on whether the cover story of the October 23, 2006, issue of Maclean’s magazine violated a provincial hate speech law. Two members of the Canadian Islamic Congress say the magazine, Maclean’s, Canada’s leading newsweekly, violated a provincial...

He has a right to express his views,” Al Sharpton said last year in response to a racially charged remark by radio shock jock Don Imus. “This is ridiculous,” he said of the public outcry over the remark. “I think Don Imus has been totally distorted.” Actually, that wasn’t Sharpton’s response. In truth, Sharpton was one who successfully lobbied for Imus to be fired for his racial slur. The quotes above were made by Sharpton in March in defense of Barack Obama’s spiritual adviser for 20 years—the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Sharpton maintains that the media’s treatment of Wright’s bigoted diatribes...

The following press release (see below) just landed in my inbox: Apparently, the Canadian Islamic Congress is going to announce that it's seeking some kind of plea bargain with Maclean's magazine in regard to the human-rights complaint against Mark Steyn's famous 2006 article. One imagines it will be some variation on the CIC's previous demand that Maclean's publish a lengthy rebuttal by Muslim activists. Given that Maclean's editor Ken Whyte responded to that previous overture by stating that he would rather go bankrupt than publish an anti-Steyn manifesto, I would estimate the chances that the magazine accept this offer at...

Obama, speaking to a group of supporters in San Francisco, CA. , recently said: "You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment...

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....

Child Stabs President Bush to Death and Turns the White House into a Mosque in a Hamas TV Puppet Show Following is an excerpt from a puppet show, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on March 30, 2008. Bush: Who are you? What brings you to my home? How did they let you in, boy? My guards! My soldiers! Get this boy out of here. Child: Nobody will take me out of here. Bush: Who are you to come here and threaten me?! You are on my own turf, you little child, you! Get out. My dear, bring your father, your...

...when the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod canceled its popular, nationally syndicated radio program "Issues, Etc.," listeners were baffled. Billed as "talk radio for the thinking Christian," the show was known for its lively discussions analyzing cultural influences on the American church. It seemed like precisely the thing that the Missouri Synod, a 2.4-million-member denomination whose system of belief is firmly grounded in Scripture and an intellectually rigorous theology, would enthusiastically support. Despite the show's popularity, low cost and loyal donor base, Mr. Wilken and Jeff Schwarz, the producer of "Issues, Etc.," were dismissed without explanation on Tuesday of Holy Week. Within...

Obama’s Mentor Wright -- Not “Typical” Racist (vanity) Reverend Wright -- Senator Obama’s avowed mentor -- is not your “typical” racist. He’s an Afro-centric racist! Think “killer” Africanized bees vs. your everyday “typical” honey bee. Both can sting, but the Africanized killers bees are far more likely to attack than typical normal bees. Bees are interesting in that when they sting… they die! Like the strap-a-bomb-on terrorists that kill others by blowing themselves up! Apparently, the Africanized bees are far more likely to become martyrs for the colony than normal bees. Perhaps Africanized bees are more noble than normal bees....

Maybe, just maybe, it’s now worth at least asking whether Hillary Clinton might wind up as the Democratic candidate for vice president. When the chatter about a Democratic “dream ticket” began last year, it was easy to dismiss. Either Clinton or Obama would win a clear victory in the primaries and, after what inevitably would be a contentious campaign, each would want as little to do with the other as possible. Clinton, if she emerged victorious, would instead choose some kind of national security graybeard to her political right, a retired general perhaps, or maybe even a Republican. Likewise, Obama...

In some ways, Barack Obama's speech on race last week was as brilliant as it was nuanced. But for all its rhetorical beauty, it was also an enormous step backward and, in the end, a rather self-serving call for more discussion about racial grievance in a country that has already done way too much talking. Until last week, so much of Obama's appeal lay in the fact that he was not asking us to talk about the racial divide. Instead, he offered himself as a living and breathing symbol of racial reconciliation; his very origins pointed to the goal of...

It is a tribute to Hillary Clinton that even though, rationally, political soothsayers think she can no longer win, irrationally, they wonder how she will pull it off. It's impossible to imagine The Terminator, as a former aide calls her, giving up. Unless every circuit is out, she'll regenerate enough to claw her way out of the grave, crawl through the Rezko Memorial Lawn and up Obama's wall, hurl her torso into the house and brutally haunt his dreams. "It's like one of those movies where you think you know the end, but then you watch with your fingers over...

Even though Barack Obama has "moved on" from the messy association that he has recently been forced to explain to man who had been his pastor for 20 years, it is clear - the voters haven't. There are legitimate questions being raised about a relationship that spans a generation and the beliefs of a man who has on multiple dozens of occasions issued some of the most vitriolic, bigoted, racism imaginable in America today. No doubt one of the most infamous video moments recently unearthed was Jeremiah Wright's use of what he cleverly believed to be a cute play on...

Watching the “Reverend” Jeremiah Wright gesticulate like a horny peacock and spew out ignorance, hatred, and bitterness towards America truly inspired my religious faith. Once Wright pointed out that he was “still in Bible country,” I began to “love the hell out of” rich, white people just as much as Wright does. How could so many people not understand that white people have caused all the world’s problems? As Wright pointed out to his congregation, the Bible says it’s so. I’m not sure what verse actually says that, but I’m now betting that rich, white people are responsible for my...

'You kids!" my mother ritually despaired in my childhood. "You're so - negative!" That line has been a standing joke between my brothers and me for decades, ruefully repeated at my mother's expense. But she had a point. We were a critical bunch. On into my middle age, much of my non-fiction commentary has continued to deplore this, to ridicule that. I am still "negative". Yet, like many of my American compatriots this week, I have been enjoying the unnerving experience of being for something. Of being encouraged. Of daring to believe that something in my country has improved. Of...

PROVIDENCE — A new initiative borne of a recent incident between a Providence storeowner and two Spanish-speaking customers is asking all Rhode Islanders to help stop hate speech and violence directed at “immigrants and communities of color.” The “We Can Stop the Hate” campaign was announced at the University of Rhode Island’s downtown campus, a week after published reports about a March 1 encounter between two Dominican natives who are also U.S. citizens, and David C. Richardson, owner of Rhode Island Refrigeration. The incident provoked accusations against Richardson of racial profiling and committing a hate crime. The “stop the hate”...

Some 50 delegates were reportedly poised to unite behind Barack Obama if he had won by even 1 point in Texas. He lost the popular vote by 100,000 ballots, and now we learn that 100,000 Republicans voted for Hillary Clinton, probably not because of some change in party allegiance but because they thought she would be the easier candidate to beat. This kind of strategic voting often backfires (think Ralph Nader). The Texas crossovers are winners. By helping to prolong the Democratic race, they can claim credit for weakening the eventual nominee, whoever it turns out to be. Obama has...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democrat Barack Obama suffered in the polls Thursday after a much-acclaimed speech on race that, pundits said, had failed to defuse voters' anger over rage-filled sermons by his former pastor. Waging an acrimonious battle against Hillary Clinton for the Democrats' White House nomination, Obama confessed to being bruised by the controversy surrounding his longtime Chicago preacher, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. "In some ways this controversy has actually shaken me up a little bit and gotten me back into remembering that, you know, the odds of me getting elected have always been lower than some of the other conventional...

The Early Show did its best this morning to help Barack Obama climb out of the hole he's dug for himself with his close association with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. In a set-up segment, CBS's Dean Reynolds rhetorically asked: "the question is whether the rhetoric is so remarkable, because in African-American churches pastors often seek to rouse their congregants to self-reliance by speaking harshly about the country's troubled racial past and the need to overcome it." Nice try, but how does accusing the US government of introducing AIDS and giving black people drugs equate to a call for self-reliance? Reynolds...

The eruption of outrage, shock and fear that is flowing over Barack Obama’s campaign like hot lava because his pastor has preached some strident sermons tells us one thing for certain: Many white people don’t know black people at all. If they did, they would know that Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Chicago is hardly the only black minister who uses the pulpit to rant against racial duplicity and injustice. The black church has always been the place for letting our hair down and speaking our peace -- a safe haven from the criminations outside. It’s how and why the black...

Let's see if I understand the rules. Blacks, African Americans, or whatever the politically correct nom du jour is, are free to rail against whites. But if a white dares to mention race, the consequences are dire. Geraldine Ferraro is the latest casualty in the ongoing race war, which, oddly enough, has only white casualties. Geraldine was forced to step down from Hillary's campaign because she dared exercise her second amendment right, suggesting Obama wouldn't be succeeding in the Democratic nomination battle if he weren't black. Whether or not her comment is valid will never be debated. For daring to...

A Markham firm has been sent hopping to yank a Valentine version of the Happy Bunny book series after a mother complained of its "disturbing" messages. Scholastic Canada Ltd. yesterday said it was responding to Tina Dale's objection after her daughter Emily, 8, brought home It's Happy Bunny: I (Love) Me Valentines, by Detroit author Jim Benton. Some of the 36 pull-out stickers include references to "floating face down in a river"; "Wow! You're icky! Would some candy make you feel better about that?"; "I think you're the best. (The best I can do for now.)"; "I know how you...

OTTAWA - Canada has withdrawn its support for a UN anti-racism conference slated to take place in South Africa next year, the federal government announced Wednesday. The so-called Durban II conference "has gone completely off the rails" and Canada wants no part of it, said Jason Kenney, secretary of state for multiculturalism and Canadian identity. "Canada is interested in combating racism, not promoting it," Kenney told The Canadian Press. "We'll attend any conference that is opposed to racism and intolerance, not those that actually promote racism and intolerance. "Our considered judgment, having participated in the preparatory meetings, was that we...

The race for the American mind By: Selwyn Duke | Submitted on: 01/17/08 EDITORIAL - Last year’s scamnesty bill had widespread support among the powers-that-be, with the president, the Democrat majority and mainstream media all singing its praises. Yet it went down to defeat, slain by a new-media coalition of talk radio and blogosphere warriors. Working tirelessly to expose the truth and rally the grassroots, they became a David who slew a Goliath. Forty-three years ago it was a different world. Ted Kennedy had co-authored the “Immigration Reform Act of 1965,” which created a situation wherein 85 percent of our...

Vienna - Remarks by a right-wing politician denouncing Islam and accusing the Prophet Mohammed of having been a paedophile provoked widespread outrage in Austria on Monday, with authorities investigating whether they constituted hate speech. Susanne Winter, a candidate for the Freedom Party in local elections in Graz in south-eastern Austria, said on Sunday that Mohammed's marriage to a 6-year-old girl would make the prophet a 'paedophile in today's system.' Speaking at a rally, Winter demanded that Islam should be 'thrown back where it came from, beyond the Mediterranean Sea.' Winter later justified her attacks. 'There is widespread child abuse by...

A coalition of MPs is hoping to halt a gay hate law which will stop Christians pronouncing their beliefs about marriage and family life. The Tory, Labour and Lib-Dem MPs are demanding an amendment be introduced to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill to make sure religious leaders are not prosecuted for criticising homosexual lifestyles. They are threatening to force a vote on an issue which has split Gordon Brown's Cabinet. If successful, they would embarrass the Premier and Justice Minister Jack Straw, who has attempted to drive through the provision despite opposition from ministers led by Attorney General Baroness...

"...Islamist rule over the UK may, alarmingly, be on its way. Today, the British police want to question and/or arrest the British blogger known as Lionheart. His crime? Turning his life around as a young school dropout and petty drug dealer and emerging as a believing Christian who opposes the drug plague in his hometown of Luton and who views the Pakistani Islamist and al-Qaeda control of the drug trade in Luton as both criminally and politically dangerous. For this, Lionheart has been charged with “stirring up racial hatred”—which is a crime in the UK. Yes, Luton—where the 7/7 suicide...

Closely allied with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), HHA was established for the singular purpose of trying to ban Mr. Savage, host of the daily program The Savage Nation, from the airwaves. Toward this end, it has sent letters urging the program’s sponsors to “stop supporting” the “hate speech” of a “hatemonger” and to “pull their advertising dollars” from Savage’s show. This campaign was ostensibly sparked by what HHA calls Savage’s “history of hateful and bigoted comments against minorities including African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Catholics, Jews, immigrants and women.” But clearly HHA’s chief concern is the broadcaster’s critical commentary...

After catching Harold Meyerson's latest Washington Post hatemongering against religion in general, Christians in particular, and Republicans especially, all I could say was just WOW! This thing is nearly unhinged and if you took the word Christian out and replaced it with any of the favored, protected minorities that the MSM guards like mother hens, it would be indistinguishable from the kind of pure bigotry that would result in Meyerson's utter ostracizing should it have been written about those protected classes. Calling Republicans/Christians torturers, abusers of immigrants, members of the KKK, bigots and even mean, Meyerson skipped only the Nazi...

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Republican loathing for Hillary Clinton used to be viewed as her Achilles' heel. But Tuesday night in Philadelphia, she wore Republican hate as a badge of honor, fending off her Democratic rivals' sharpest attacks yet by casting herself as a kind of partisan warrior queen. Barack Obama, pressed for weeks by his donors and by the media to take on Clinton more directly, came out swinging against her, moving from uncertainty to a more confident criticism. She parried an early blow from him, an accusation that she is too close to President Bush and his party on Iran. "I don’t...

"Hate speech is verbal communication that induces anger due to the listener’s inability to offer an intelligent response."