Free Republic

Conservatives often find themselves at odds with the libertarian crowd. However, is that anger really warranted? As President Reagan once said, “If you analyze it, I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism.” True conservatives and libertarians, let’s not pretend there aren’t fakers on both side, all agree on the fundamentals: limited government, personal responsibility, and economic freedom. Neither group wants the government interfering in our daily lives and telling us what we can and cannot do. Now there may be slight disagreements on how that plays out in the policy arena, but we should not allow...

(CNN)Ted Cruz is first out the gate. The first-term senator from Texas announced early Monday he is running for president. Cruz announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in a 30-second video message in a tweet shortly after midnight Monday. Later in the day, he will appear at Virginia's Liberty University, the largest Christian university in the world, where he will make his in-person declaration. "I'm running for President and I hope to earn your support!" Cruz said in his tweet.Cruz, 44, will be the first candidate to formally throw his hat in the ring for what's expected...

Southern Oregon marijuana growers want to ban industrial hemp production from the region out of fear that hemp may pollinate their crops and render them worthless. Some outdoor marijuana growers want industrial hemp cultivation to be limited to eastern Oregon - far from their lucrative marijuana crops. At the very least, they don't want hemp in Josephine, Jackson and Douglas counties. Compared to Oregon's marijuana legalization movement, the effort to launch an industrial hemp industry in Oregon has been an understated one propelled by a small but passionate group of advocates. When one of them, Edgar Winters, of Eagle Point,...

The Texan spent the last months before his presidential campaign showing off his knack for articulating the most conservative position on numerous issues.Sen. Ted Cruz will reportedly launch his 2016 presidential campaign during a speech Monday, the Houston Chronicle wrote Saturday night. The Texas Republican has been laying the groundwork for a run for months—visiting early primary states, meeting with Republican activists, and hiring political strategists to manage his campaign—and has chosen the evangelical Liberty University in Virginia as the site of his official announcement. Though Cruz is not considered a favorite to win the GOP nomination, he will undoubtedly...

Days after America's largest Presbyterian denomination approved an amendment to its constitution changing its definition of marriage to include same-sex couples, a lesbian couple will be ordained as ministers Sunday at First & Central Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware. Kaci Clark-Porter and Holly, who married three years ago, will be the first-ever same-sex couple to be jointly ordained, according to USA Today, which says the denomination couldn't point to other examples. Last year, Presbyterian Church (USA) approved a vote on an amendment to change their official definition of marriage from "a man and a woman" to "two people, traditionally a...

<p>A first-of-its-kind Gallup survey confirmed Friday what many people have long assumed — that the San Francisco area has the nation’s highest concentration of men and women who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.</p> <p>Few other areas come close.</p>

Traditional parenting is being drowned out by “gay rights sharia”, the respected journalist Charles Moore has said. Commenting on the recent spat between fashion designers Dolce and Gabbana and Elton John over the rights of gay parents to have children, Mr Moore opined that the holding of socially conservative views is now “teetering on the edge of criminality”.Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana hit international headlines last week when, during a magazine interview, they described children born via IVF treatment as “chemical” children and said that, despite being gay themselves, they supported traditional families. “We oppose gay adoptions,” they said. “The only family...

The nation's largest Presbyterian denomination has rewritten its definition of marriage and has authorized same-sex weddings nationwide. By Tuesday evening, a majority of presbyteries or regional governing bodies had voted to ratify an amendment to the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), allowing but not requiring its pastors to perform same-sex weddings and its churches to host such rites.

This week, a federal court in Minnesota issued a preliminary ruling in a case concluding that discrimination against an individual because of his gender identity is prohibited under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). In June of 2013, Jakob Tiarnan Rumble, a transgender man, sought treatment at Fairview Southdale Hospital, just outside of Minneapolis. He had a high fever and severe pain in his genitals. During his first day in the Emergency Room and subsequent six days in the hospital, Rumble alleges that he was subject to numerous forms of mistreatment because of his gender identity, including:

Heather Barwick, who was raised by her mother and her mother's lesbian partner, wrote in an essay this week that same-sex "marriage" is not the same as normal marriage between a man and a woman, that the traditional family is best, and that while growing up she "ached every day for a dad." Heather Barwick, who was raised by her mother and her mother's lesbian partner, says "gay marriage" not only redefines marriage but also parenting and that "as a little girl, I so desperately wanted a daddy." (Photo: The Federalist.) Barwick, who is 31 now, married, and has four...

While speaking at a conference titled "U-Turn: A Conversation with Pastors on Society, Culture and Leadership," Sandy Rios, director of governmental affairs for the American Family Association and host of a daily radio program, said that Christians should prepare for martyrdom if the Supreme Court rules in favor of gay marriage, the Raw Story reported Friday. Worse yet, she said such a ruling could crush America.

“How can you call yourself a Christian, let alone a minister?!” I get asked that question frequently and the questioner is hostile more often than not. Still, I like to answer it if I believe the questioner is sincere. Though I self-identify as a Christian and I am an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), I raised eyebrows a few years ago when I posted an article on my website about how my personal beliefs don’t align with those of most Presbyterians. For example, I believe that: - Religion is a human construct - The symbols of faith are...

In The Headlong Rush For 'Rights’, Children Are An Afterthought Traditional views of parenthood are being drowned out by a form of gay rights sharia By Charles Moore 21 Mar 2015 It is a cunning feature of general elections, designed by the parties who compete in them, that most issues which matter cannot be discussed. Today I want to write about children. The word “children” – or, more likely, “kids” – is seldom off the lips of politicians (“our children’s future”, “We all want to do what’s best for our kids”). There are innumerable policies about child care, schools, child...

Russia Moves To Stop Same-Sex Spouses Receiving UN Staff Benefits Russia asks UN to put recognition of same-sex marriage for 43,000 staff worldwide to a vote, in attempt to thwart policy change Prior to the UN's recognition of same-sex marriages among its staff, workers’ personal status was determined by the laws of their country of nationality. Chris Johnston 21 March 2015 Russia is attempting to stop the United Nations extending staff benefits to same-sex spouses. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, announced in July 2014 it would recognise same-sex marriages among its 43,000 staff worldwide, allowing them to receive the...

California Attorney General Kamala Harris, an announced candidate for Barbara Boxer’s Senate seat in 2016, may have to prepare a title and 100-word summary of a ballot initiative titled the “Sodomite Suppression Act,” which calls for anyone participating in homosexual sexual acts to be shot to death by a bullet to the head.

California State Attorney Kamala Harris may be forced to let petitioners decide if gay people should be executed for having sexual relations. Because Matt McLaughlin, a licensed attorney in Huntington Beach, did everything right by state standards in proposing the “Sodomite Suppression Act,” Harris will likely follow state law and allow a ballot measure to be circulated. The policy would make the “monstrous evil” that is homosexuality a crime punishable by death with “bullets to the head” or whatever form of execution is most “convenient.” If the state fails to do its part in the mass killing of gay and...

DC political insiders believe that if President Barack Obama truly seeks compromise with Republicans, he should begin by ditching White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett. It goes without saying that Jarrett, the president's longtime trusted confidante, political ally, and family friend, is a divisive figure inside the beltway. Calls for her dismissal have been rampant since the president began his second term -- and even before then. It is a demand still ignored by the White House.

When some Idaho parents learned last week that a transgendered student was sharing the same bathroom with their teenage daughter, the news didn’t sit well with them. Jacob Smith and Pauline Adams approached the Boise school district, concerned for their daughter’s privacy and safety. According to KIVI-TV: “The Boise School District explains that under federal law, the district is required to provide access to public facilities consistent with the student’s gender identity.”

For years conservatives have been duped into believing the Chamber of Commerce was a conservative organization. This is not true. Consider the following:“The Chamber of Commerce has long been thought to be an ally of the GOP, by and large. They have made it clear during the course of the current fight for the soul of the GOP, however, that they are mostly an ally of crony capitalism and corporate welfare and those who enable it, and committed opponents of grassroots conservatives. The Chamber of Commerce pumped massive amounts of money into Mississippi on behalf of the execrable and race baiting...

This past week has seen the outrage generated by parents of donor and invitro-fertilization children following a now-infamous Panorama magazine interview conducted with the fashion designers Dolce & Gabbana, wherein Domenico Dolce proclaimed, “You are born to a mother and a father — or at least that’s how it should be. I call children of chemistry, synthetic children.” Immediately, Elton John advocated a boycott of the designers’ products in retaliation for the perceived offense against his two sons, who were conceived via an egg donor and surrogate mother. Speaking as two donor-conceived young women—alive because of reproductive technologies—we felt an...