Free Republic

Those of you who know me here on Free Republic are aware that I am a Puerto Rican, and as part of the island's cultural tradition, I have inherited strong Catholic beliefs from my parents.  I have raised my own two children as Catholics, hoping that they too could share in my culture and religion. Both were baptized and confirmed. I had hoped both would learn to love God as I had. Up until last weekend, I thought I had done a pretty good job. I am a lot less confident in my parenting now. On Saturday, my son called...

Episcopalians overwhelmingly favor tossing a previously approved resolution that bans ordaining openly gay bishops. In discussions that began Thursday afternoon and continued Friday morning during The Episcopal Church's triennial General Convention, Episcopalians spoke frankly, testifying passionately either for throwing out the ban or against rescinding it. "Gays and lesbians are asked to make sacrifices the rest of us are not asked to make," said the Rev. J. Frederick Barber of Fort Worth, according to the Episcopal News Service. Debate centered on resolution B033, which was approved by the General Convention in 2006. It calls for restraint in ordaining bishops "whose...

I am in the middle of a debate with a leftist who is demanding that people are born gay. I showed them evidence of the APA dropping its "gay gene" claim and said the fact that there is no evidence that anyone is born gay, proves my point that homosexuals are not born gay. The person I am debating claims no evidence does not prove my point, yet liberals do that all the time and I want to nail this b#s*ard. So if someone can help me now to prove this idiot wrong, I would appreciate it much.

A new report in this month's issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Human Sexuality finds that sexual orientation can be changed — and that psychological care for individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions is generally beneficial and that research has not found significant risk of harm. The study, conducted by the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), examined more than 100 years of professional and scientific literature from 600-plus studies and reports from clinicians, researchers and former clients principally published in professional and peer-reviewed journals. "This research is a significant milestone when it comes to the scientific debate...

The Queen, who is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, has also wished them well with today's launch in London of a new alliance of evangelical and Anglo-Catholic parishes in Britain and Ireland. She told the heads of the traditionalist group, formed in response to the liberal direction of some parts of the Anglican Communion, that she “understood their concerns” about the future of the 80 million-strong global church. The Queen, who is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, has also wished them well with today’s launch in London of a new alliance of evangelical and...

A senior Church of England bishop has angered gay-rights campaigners by saying homosexuals should repent. Archbishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper that the Bible defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman. He said the church welcomed gay people, "but we want them to repent and be changed." Nazir-Ali is a leading member of the conservative wing of the global Anglican Communion, which is riven by divisions over homosexuality and the ordination of women. Gay groups condemned the bishop's remarks. Campaigner Peter Tatchell said Nazir-Ali's view "goes against Christ's gospel of love and...

A senior Church of England bishop has angered gay-rights campaigners by saying homosexuals should repent. Archbishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper that the Bible defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman. He said the church welcomed gay people, "but we want them to repent and be changed." Nazir-Ali is a leading member of the conservative wing of the global Anglican Communion, which is riven by divisions over homosexuality and the ordination of women. Gay groups condemned the bishop's remarks. Campaigner Peter Tatchell said Nazir-Ali's view "goes against Christ's gospel of love and...

Below is a list of serial killers who were homosexuals. This list is intended for reference purposes only and does not imply a causal relationship between homosexuality and serial killing. Although incidents of serial killing are widely reported in the media because of the heinous and unusual nature of these crimes, there are actually very few serial killers relative to the general population. Research into this phenomenon is ongoing, and a small industry has sprung up around the practice of "profiling" serial killers in order to assist in their apprehension. But, law enforcement officials agree that each serial killer is...

In a historic judgement, the Delhi High Court on Thursday decriminalized homosexuality by reading down section 377 of the Indian Gay activists celebrate the high court ruling decriminalizing gay sex, in New Delhi. (AFP Photo) More Pictures Penal Code. ( Watch ) The Section 377 of the IPC as far as it criminalizes gay sex among consenting adults is violation of fundamental rights, said the high court. However, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalizes homosexuality, will continue for non-consensual and non-vaginal sex. Full text of Delhi HC judgment (PDF) Any kind of discrimination is anti-thesis of right...

Posted: Jul 02, 2009 at 1326 hrs IST New Delhi: Certain religious leaders on Thursday strongly disapproved of the Delhi High Court judgement which legalised gay sex among consenting adults. "This is absolutely wrong to legalise homosexuality. We will not accept any such law," Jama Masjid Imam Ahmed Bukhari said. He also critcised the government for trying to amend the Indian Penal Code to scrap section 377 that criminalizes homosexuality. "If the government makes such attempt to scrap the Section 377, we will oppose it strongly," Bukhari said. All India Muslim Personal Law Board member Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahli...

A black evangelical Christian pastor and former NFL linebacker says there was "absolutely no truth in anything" President Obama said in his speech to homosexuals in the East Room of the White House Monday. Ken Hutcherson, senior pastor of Antioch Bible Church in Washington state, says it is "a shame" that the president is "supporting what destroys the family." "There's absolutely no truth in anything he said, from beginning to the end," says Pastor Hutcherson. "There is no such thing as [a] biblical stance for homosexuality, if you use the Bible. If you want to use any other denomination, feel...

Near the Ross Sea, Antarctica - Scientists studying wildlife here on the antarctic ice shelf were overjoyed recently at what many believe to be the discovery of a new breed of penguin. FULL ARTICLE: http://bunnynewsnetwork.wordpress.com/2009/06/30/scientists-elated-fearful-over-discovery-of-new-species/

The chief counsel with the Pacific Justice Institute is fighting for the rights of parents to opt out of a controversial curriculum. San Francisco Bay-area Alameda Unified School District has approved a "lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender" (LGBT) curriculum for use with kindergarten through fifth-grade students. The curriculum is intended to deal with issues such as bullying and harassment. Kevin Snider with the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) says the board passed the curriculum despite the objection of 73 percent of the speakers from the community who attended the board meeting. "The fundamental problem with the curriculum is it gives a...

Unrepentant, and convinced that Muslims across the world are the victims of American oppression, the mind of Richard Reid, the attempted shoe bomber from South London, was shown today in a letter published in a Scottish legal magazine. The letter, written by Reid from his prison cell in America on October 24, 2002, and published by The Firm magazine today, was sent to the magazine's US correspondent instead of an interview. In the letter, Reid, now 31, gave a rambling but cogent reply to a note sent to him by Noel Young, The Firm's journalist, who offered Reid the chance...

A Catholic psychologist who specializes in reparative therapy with homosexuals says it's possible for those with same-sex attractions to change, despite agenda-driven ideologies that state the opposite. Joseph Nicolosi, founder and director of the Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic in Encino, California spoke with ZENIT about his experience as a clinical psychologist and the former president of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). NARTH, a "scientific, non-religious and non-political" organization, recently put out an article about the little known revision of the American Psychological Association's (APA) statement on homosexuality, which was highlighted last month in a WorldNetDaily...

NEW DELHI: Two years after the gay rights movement kicked off around the world, India did the first review in 1971 of its colonial-vintage law criminalising "carnal intercourse against the order of nature." Now, when a gay march is due to be held this Sunday in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bhubaneswar to mark the 40th anniversary of the global movement, the Delhi HC is in the process of delivering its much-awaited verdict on whether section 377 of the Indian Penal Code should be "read down" to decriminalise private, consensual sex between adults. While making a case last year before the...

I believe my gay marriage was one of the happiest marriages any couple has ever had, even though we faced great adversities together. Separately, those challenges would have destroyed each of us. I am alive because I had my life partner to live for until I finally got the right diagnosis and treatment at the very brink of death. And she had a much longer life with multiple sclerosis, paralysis, and then quadriplegia, than she would have had without me. For both of us, those 20-plus years were the happiest of our lives. I met Margaret Ardussi on June 30,...

Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre has publicly confronted Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi after the latter announced his support of homosexual marriage in a New York Times opinion piece. Mr. Suozzi “certainly admits that he knows he is contradicting some basic moral teachings of his own faith,” Bishop Murphy writes. “This is not the first time he has done this. He has already placed himself publicly in the category of ‘pro choice’ on abortion. While homosexual orientation is a neutral reality on a moral level, homosexual acts are not morally neutral. They are wrong and they are sinful. Abortion...

The Hate Crimes Prevention Act has gotten a thumbs-down from members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, in the form of a letter to Senate leaders saying the proposed legislation "will do little good and a great deal of harm." "We regard the broad federalization of crime as a menace to civil liberties," the commissioners wrote. "There is no better place to draw the line on that process than with a bill that purports to protect civil rights." The commission, not known for being on the side of social conservatives on policy issues, has an ally in Sen. Jim...

New poll finds only 33 percent of Americans favor, a 9-point drop since April The number of Americans who support same-sex marriage has plunged over the last few months, according to a new poll. The CBS News/New York Times study found that 33 percent of respondents favor same-sex marriage. That represents a 9 percent drop since April. Everett Rice, legislative coordinator for the California Family Council, said he has a theory about the decrease. "People really recognize their core and their values, their heritage," he said. "When people want to go in and redefine that, it really goes against everybody's...

Proponents of the current “hate crimes” bill before the U.S. Senate argue that it is a lie that this bill will abridge in any way free speech protections for those who publicly express opposition to homosexual practice without causing, or attempting to cause, bodily harm. This claim is both irrelevant and inaccurate.... Once the Trojan Horse is within the city walls, the rest of the task is relatively easy. If “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are special civil rights categories in federal law, then many other “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” laws must be passed if society is going to...

The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics rejected a proposal to allow voters to decide on whether the District should recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Monday's ruling against a referendum irked pastors and traditional marriage supporters who want the people to be able to decide on the critical moral and social issue. "The real human rights issue at stake in this decision is whether the people of D.C. will be given their right to vote," Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md., told The Washington Post. "We are not going to sit still for allowing an unelected...

As more states-like Iowa-approve same-sex “marriage,” conservatives are claiming that freedom of religion is in peril. Same-sex “marriage” supporters accuse them of engaging in hysterical gay-bating. Who’s telling the truth? Let me share some stories with you from an excellent news broadcast produced by National Public Radio. Then you decide. Two women decided to hold their civil union ceremony at a New Jersey pavilion owned by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association. This Methodist group told the women they could not “marry” in any building used for religious purposes. The Rev. Scott Hoffman said a theological principle-that marriage can only...

DOMA is the federal statute that says state X, which prohibits gay marriage, can’t be forced to recognize a gay marriage performed in state Y. As Tapper reminds us, candidate Obama opposed it in 2007. Two years later, Change has come to America. Question: Why does the president hate gay people? Justice spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said that President Obama “has said he wants to see a legislative repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act because it prevents LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) couples from being granted equal rights and benefits,” she said. “However, until Congress passes legislation repealing the law,...

June 6th at precisely 1:45AM will go down in history as one of the most important points in the Obama Presidency. It is the moment that Barack Obama signed an executive order. Some are saying it is the most important piece of legislation since the "Emancipation Proclamation" of 1863 in which Abraham Lincoln, with the stroke of a pen freed the slaves. In the same way, Barack Obama will forever be known as the President who gave our country the "Proclamation of Gender Equity", and in so doing guaranteed Americans would once and for all be truly equal. Paving the...

Lawyers for a Catholic advocacy group that sued San Francisco for condemning the Vatican's policy on same-sex adoptions are comparing the city's supervisors to Nazis laying the groundwork for the slaughter of Jews. "It is not a stretch to compare the San Francisco board's actions to that of the Nazi Germany policy of Gleichschaltung, vilifying Jews as an auxiliary to and laying the groundwork for more repressive policies, including the final solution of extermination."

This is a video from The Daly Buzz that attempts to shed light on Crist's sexual preference. What are your thoughts?

The Alameda, Calif., public schools are adopting a curriculum that will require first graders to read literature that equates same-sex unions with a family made up of a mother, father and child. Parents will not be allowed to opt their first graders out of the curriculum. Members of the Alameda United School District (AUSD) school board voted 3 to 2 last week to implement the “Safe Schools” curriculum, which supporters say is aimed at stopping anti-homosexual bullying in schools. The program includes a between one and four lessons each year between grades 1 and 5 to introduce students to “LGBT”...

One of the Evangelical Lutheran Church's regional synods voted on Saturday to uphold the denomination's policy banning non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy. The South Dakota Synod voted 362-233 during its annual assembly against changing the ELCA's current ordination policy and social statements on sexuality. The vote is a recommendation to the denomination's highest governing body which will consider proposals on homosexuality at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August. Earlier this year, the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality released a long-awaited report acknowledging that there is neither a consensus nor an emerging one in the denomination on homosexuality while...

President Obama has declared June as national homosexuality and transgender month. Is this change we've been looking for? Sex change? 30 years ago, the Left lobbied doctors to take homosexuality out of the diagnostic manual as a mental illness. Today, Obama lobbies to take trannies out of the category of mental illness...from the White House with a press release/proclamation.

In a historic first for a sitting US President, Barack Obama has just released the following proclamation: --------------------------------------------------------------------- BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION: Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans. LGBT Americans have...

LISTEN TO THE REAL REVEREND JESSE ON THE INTERNET OR A RADIO STATION IN YOUR AREA......BOND Action, Inc...Educating, Motivating and Rallying Americans! The Jesse Lee Peterson Radio Show Streamed live online from 6-9 a.m. PST / 9-12 a.m. EST. Call in the same times usually. For Live Questions or Comments Call 1-888-77-JESSE(5-3773) You can email comments and questions to radio@bondaction.org For more information on getting The Jesse Lee Peterson Show picked up on a station in your local area call Ermias Alemayehu at 1-877-WE ACT77 (932-2877)

Individuals wearing rainbow-colored sashes at the Cathedral of St. Paul on Pentecost Sunday May 31 will not be allowed to receive Communion, according to a statement released by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Statement from the archdiocese The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has released the following statement. The archdiocese has received word that a group dissenting from the church’s teaching on sexuality will be wearing signs of protest (rainbow sashes) at the Cathedral of St. Paul on Pentecost Sunday during the noon Mass. Those wearing such sashes will not be allowed to receive Holy Communion, since...

Article 1 Section 7.5 of the California constitution states that "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." (see story) This amendment was voted on and passed by the people of California and confirmed by the California State Supreme Court on Tuesday May 26, 2009 it is the law. But nothing is enough for homosexuals short of getting what they want no matter what. And in the process homosexuals have disrespected the California voters...

On Tuesday -- in a 6 to 1 ruling -- the California Supreme court upheld Proposition 8, the amendment to the California constitution approved by referendum which limits marriage to a man and a woman in their state. Only five states now allow same sex marriage -- Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont (in September) and the only state not on the East Coast, Iowa. Next on the road to legalizing gay marriage -- New York, New Hampshire and New Jersey -- despite the fact that the majority of Americans continue to oppose gay marriage according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll....

LONDON - The Church of Scotland has approved the appointment of an openly homosexual minister - the latest case of tensions over sexuality to prompt division in the Anglican Communion. The church's ruling body voted Saturday by 326 to 267 to support the appointment of the Rev. Scott Rennie, 37, who was previously married to a woman and is now in a relationship with a man. Rennie was first appointed as a minister 10 years ago, but has faced opposition from some critics since he moved to a church in Aberdeen, Scotland, last year. The case threatens to divide Scottish...

To All Shelby County, TN Freepers, please refer to the following URL (http://agendapub.shelbycountytn.gov/sirepub/view.aspx?cabinet=PUBLISHED_MEETINGS&fileid=55753. This document represents and amendment to Chapter 12 of the Shelby County Code of Ordinances. This amendment contains in part what is listed below. This is scheduled to be voted on this Wednesday, 5/27 by the Shelby County Commission. This is another attempt to justify and promote immoral sexual behavior. Ultimately, this amendment will allow homosexuals, bisexuals, transsexuals, transvestites, etc.. to enter our schools as teachers with no means to stop it. Please call your Shelby County commissioner immediately and tell them to vote NO on this...

Postmodern Prof Whistles Dixie by: Malcolm A. Kline, May 18, 2009 From the people who like to paint critics of higher education as anti-intellectual comes a new tome that shows how cerebral the pursuits of the academic publishing world are. The University of Virginia Press has just released Cotton’s Queer Relations: Same-Sex Intimacy and the Literature of the Southern Plantation, 1936-1968, by Michael P. Bibler. Bibler is an assistant professor of English at Mary Washington. His self-proclaimed areas of expertise are: Gay and Lesbian Studies; Postmodernism; and The Southern Plantation, in that order. “He has had articles published in Mississippi...

Same-sex Semantics by: Malcolm A. Kline, May 18, 2009 A constitutional law professor at the University of California at Davis argues that “Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty” are “Coexistent Rights.” “What is most tragic about Proposition 8 is that it will make it even harder for people to understand that instead of being seen as inconsistent values, religious liberty and gay and lesbian rights should be understood to reinforce each other,” Alan Brownstein writes in the June 2009 issue of Liberty, which is published by the Seventh Day Adventists. “Certainly many religious people believe that homosexual relationships violate the tenets...

Americans across the country opposed to giving marital status to homosexual couples, one would think that the same sex-marriage debate would have faded away. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. Every week we hear of another state either passing laws that allow gay marriages, or judges of those states ruling by fiat to force it upon society. As a logical Christian, I look at the many prophecies God has given us throughout the Scriptures, and I can see the writing on the wall. In the near future we will be living in a society that not only allows same-sex...

The attempt to prove that homosexuality is determined biologically has been dealt a knockout punch. An American Psychological Association publication includes an admission that there's no homosexual "gene" -- meaning it's not likely that homosexuals are born that way. For decades, the APA has not considered homosexuality a psychological disorder, while other professionals in the field consider it to be a "gender-identity" problem. But the new statement, which appears in a brochure called "Answers to Your Questions for a Better Understanding of Sexual Orientation & Homosexuality," states the following: "There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that...

The Rev. Alberto Cutié, the Roman Catholic priest and international television and radio celebrity who was caught in tabloid photographs kissing a woman, said Monday that he was torn between two loves — the church and his girlfriend. In an interview on Monday with Maggie Rodriguez of the CBS “Early Show,” Father Cutié said he had been in a relationship for the last two years with the woman, identified in news reports as Ruhama Buni Canellis, 35, a divorced mother living in Miami Beach. But he said he had not decided whether to leave her or the priesthood. “I think...

The causes of homosexuality continue to both fascinate and divide people. Recently, in London, a conservative group of Anglicans, called the Anglican Mainstream hosted a conference to discuss the causes of homosexuality and promote change from gay to straight. Featured at the conference was American psychologist, Joseph Nicolosi. Dr. Nicolosi stirred much controversy when he said, without research support, that most of his clients show some degree of change in their sexual orientation. Nicolosi's views regarding causes of homosexuality are also controversial. In response to a question about the existence of a gay gene, Nicolosi said: In other words, that...

As for You and Your House, Will You Serve the Lord? America is at the cross roads of self destruction or revival By Pastor Phil Magnan San Diego, Ca. May 11th, 2009 America is at a crossroads and we must without reservation repent of the destructive course that we as a nation have pursued. Will we as a nation continue to avoid facing the horrific nature of legalized abortion in which thousands of small children are torn apart out of the comfort and protection of their mother’s womb? Will we as a nation continue to turn a blind eye to...

Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted has formally excommunicated a priest who left the diocese and took up residence in Southern California three years ago after resigning in a dispute over Church teaching on homosexuality. Bishop Olmstead informed Fr. Christopher Carpenter of his excommunication in an April 21 letter after Carpenter made it publicly known that he had joined the Reformed Catholic Church, which the Phoenix diocesan newspaper, the Catholic Sun, described as “a group that is not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.” Among other things, the Reformed Catholic Church supports the ordination of women, acceptance of homosexuality and...

Tabloid cinema sinks to a new low, with Kirby Dick's gay bashing documentary, Outrage. This gossip mongering doc, bolstered by that 'unidentified sources' school of sensationalistic journalism, salivates on screen in a crusade mounted to drag out of the closet suspect gay politicans, and ruin their lives and careers via multiplexes everywhere. Is the homophobic mass media the culprit here? Hardly. It's the self-righteous extremist elements of the gay community, in a rabid and tasteless, if you can't join them, beat them sexual orientation witch hunt. Fueled by a kind of catch more slandered self-hating gays with vinegar than honey...

I was surfing the cable channels one afternoon when I landed on an old black and white movie about a young man in his late twenties who agreed to go out on a blind date. The guy was very handsome and his prospective date was top model material. Their date started with a walk on the beach, followed by a formal diner, and then a movie. At the end of the first evening he dropped her off at her place and went home. A few days later they would repeat the process. On the third date they retreated to her...

John Gechter's story has been troubling me ever since I read it in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09128/968674-298.stm)on Friday, May 8th. Gechter was set to graduate from Grove City College, Grove City, Pennsylvania which is about 65 miles north of Pittsburgh. The college is situated in a rural area, and was founded in 1879 as a strict Christian institution, which it remains today. It prides itself as an authentic Christian institution. The college is also listed as one of the top ten conservative schools in the nation with very rigorous academics. Sex outside of marriage, heterosexual or gay is forbidden,...

Muslims in Britain have zero tolerance towards homosexuality compared to their counterparts in France and Germany, according to a survey published today . The Gallup poll features the results of telephone and face-to-face interviews with Muslims and non-Muslims in the UK, France and Germany and is designed to measure global attitudes towards people from different faith traditions. It shows that British Muslims hold more conservative opinions towards homosexual acts, abortion, viewing pornography, suicide and sex outside marriage than European Muslims, polling markedly lower when asked if they believed these things were morally acceptable. The most dramatic contrast was found in...

Giuseppe Povia's song "Luca era gay" (Luca was gay) about an ex-gay change to heterosexual life. In this video all lyrics are translated into english.