Free Republic

In a wide-ranging, at points jaw-dropping interview with Aleteia, Archbishop Charles Palmer-Buckle of Accra, Ghana, signaled his openness to finding a way for remarried Catholics to be readmitted to Communion--and suggested the church might reinterpret Scripture to allow the "unbinding" of marriages. Palmer-Buckle, who is sixty-four years old, was selected by his brother bishops to represent Ghana at this October's Synod on the Family. Early in the interview, the archbishop makes it clear that he takes seriously Pope Francis's call for open discussion of the challenges facing Catholic families today. "There are people in polygamous relationships, who were involved in...

So clever of BuzzFeed to drop this today, with Bush set to sit down with Sean Hannity onstage at CPAC in 24 hours for Q&A. Think this story might come up? Think it’ll be talked about tonight at the local bars among conservatives already suspicious of Jeb’s ideological leanings? There’s more evidence here than I can fairly excerpt of how strongly Bush’s top advisors feel about this issue, so you’ll have to read the whole thing. Here’s the key bit, though: But inside Bush’s orbit, some believe his personal feelings on the subject may have evolved beyond his on-the-record statements....

Rob Bell is a progressive former mega-church pastor. He is also a heretic who, since giving up the mega-church pastoring gig, has been hanging out with the likes of Oprah Winfrey. Bell was part of the emergent church, which engaged in “conversations” and rejected historic Christianity. While the emergents like to pretend they’re new, hip and cool, the reality is they’re no different than the other progressive churches out there which have rejected historic Christianity. The difference between the emergent church and the pentecostal or baptist churches is only how they demonstrate their rejection of historic Christianity. Rather than rolling...

America’s morality evolves constantly — and the rapid acceptance of same-sex marriage is a stunning example. Only a few years ago, the notion seemed unthinkable. During the 2008 presidential campaign, all candidates opposed it. Democrat Barack Obama declared then: “I am not in favor of gay marriage.” The 2012 Republican national platform called homosexual wedlock “an assault on the foundations of our society,” and demanded a constitutional amendment to outlaw it. However, morality turned upside-down swiftly. The tide for marriage equality rolled like a tsunami. Alabama just became the 37th state to legalize it. West Virginia stands among “yes” states....

Since the U.S. Supreme Court rejected hearing Alabama’s appeal on gay marriage earlier this week, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has taken the firmest stance of all potential Republican presidential candidate on the issue. Cruz introduced the State Marriage Defense Act just two days after the high court’s decision, which would allow states to decide on how to define marriage, rather than federal judges. While Republicans have long been the party supporting only traditional marriage, media reports have recently stressed how slow likely Republican 2016 presidential have been to speak out on the Alabama matter. The Supreme Court opted not to...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is calling on his colleagues to pass a bill that would make same sex marriage a state issue. Cruz, along with 11 other Republican senators, re-introduced the State Marriage Defense Act on Tuesday, which aims to allow states to adopt their own definitions of marriage and would block the federal government from applying its own definition of marriage onto states. “Even though the Supreme Court made clear in United States v. Windsor that the federal government should defer to state ‘choices about who may be married,’ the Obama Administration has disregarded state marriage laws enacted by...

If there was any doubt left, Justice Clarence Thomas ended it on Monday morning. The United States Supreme Court will end discrimination against same-sex couples this June — and even justices who oppose the coming decision appear to know it’s going to happen. On Monday morning, Justice Clarence Thomas made explicit what had been growing apparent to observers for months: The court — at least a majority of the justices — has made up its mind on the issue of whether the U.S. Constitution bars states from treating same-sex couples differently than opposite-sex couples in marriage laws. In denying the...

Ted Cruz claims to be a “constitutionalist,” but expects us to believe that the issue of gay marriage should be left to “debate…in the legislative chambers.” In response to President Barack Obama’s comments about gay marriage in the State of the union, the Texas senator said: I think the proper place to debate those issues is in the legislative chambers. I’m a constitutionalist…From the beginning of this country, marriage has been a question of the states, and we should not have the federal government, or unelected judges, setting aside the policy judgment of the elected legislatures and imposing their own...

GOP presidential hopeful Ben Carson reportedly slammed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates at a Jan. 24 press conference following his speech at Congressman Steve King's Iowa Freedom Summit. Carson, a Fox News commentator and former Johns Hopkins University pediatric neurosurgeon, seemed to hint at a series of disputes that have erupted between same-sex couples hoping to tie the knot and bakeries and other wedding-related venues operated by opponents of same-sex marriage. "What I have a problem with is when people try to force people to act against their beliefs because they say, 'They’re discriminating against me,’" he...

After oral arguments about Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas’ bans on marriages for same-sex couples, the 5th Circuit of Appeals looks likely to strike the laws down. NEW ORLEANS — After three hours of arguments, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals appeared poised to strike down bans on same-sex couples’ marriages in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas — joining all but one of the other appellate courts to consider the issue. If the court upholds the lower court decisions striking down the Mississippi and Texas bans and reverses the trial court decision upholding Louisiana’s ban, it could have the effect of bringing...

There has been no dearth of news stories, reports, and commentary over the past few months on the epidemic of racists, whether in law enforcement or the general population, either inflicting or attempting to inflict, punishment on African Americans for being African Americans. As noted here on Tuesday, “there are certain groups who are adamant that as superior human beings they have authority to mete out punishment for violations of their beliefs that are usually borne of religion.” Despite protections in the U.S. Constitution and federal and state laws, the past six years have seen an increase in religious fundamentalists...

JACKSON, Miss. — A federal judge has overturned Mississippi's ban on same-sex marriage, but he is putting his order on hold for two weeks so the state can appeal. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday. State attorneys have already said they will ask the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to block Reeves' order....

Add Procter & Gamble to the ever-growing list of companies to openly support marriage equality. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the Ohio-based consumer products giant has taken a public stand on same-sex marriage in what P&G's Chief Global Diversity Officer William Gipson describes as "statement of support for our employees." Added Chief Legal Officer Deborah P. Majoras: "We have always supported our employees and fostered a culture of inclusion and respect -- this includes the right to marry whomever they choose and to have that union legally recognized." This is the first time that P&G has gone on the record...

The marriage issue didn’t play a major role in the 2014 midterms, but activist courts overturning state laws and lawsuits threatening the rights of those who disagree with redefining marriage may very well make the issue a top one in 2016. Since 1998 and across the early 2000s, millions of Americans voted at the state level to define marriage as the union of a man and woman and more than 38 states have such laws on their books today. Yet with state and district courts overturning those laws across the country and the Supreme Court punting on the issue earlier...

The ruling on Thursday by the 6th United States Circuit Court of Appeals warns of changing the biological definition of marriage and thus opening the door to polygamy. The Denver Post reported, Breaking ranks with other federal courts around the country, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that states have the right to set rules for marriage and that changing a definition that dates to "the earliest days of human history" is better done through the political process, not the courts. "Surely the people should receive some deference in deciding when the time is ripe to move...

Evan Wolfson and Ted Olson aren't pleased with the Supreme Court's decision not to make marriage equality the law of the land, but they're ready to keep fighting. In the heat of the civil-rights fight, when told he shouldn't push too hard for racial equality because of political backlash, Lyndon Johnson famously shot back, "What the hell's the presidency for?" Ted Olson had a similar question for the Supreme Court Wednesday, pondering why the justices had opted not to take a single case on same-sex marriage this term. "I agonize over the court not making a decision," said Olson, an...

A ‘Christian’ wedding chapel—a private business—in Idaho is suing for the right not to marry gay couples. There is no such right. Yet.The first thing you need to know is that most “wedding chapels” are not actually chapels. They are private businesses, sometimes run by ordained ministers who are thus licensed to perform marriage ceremonies, but just as often run by Elvis impersonators. Thus, the question of how marriage-equality laws apply to private wedding chapels is ostensibly a question of under what circumstances the government can lawfully step on a for-profit company’s blue suede shoes. Ground zero for this debate...

On Tuesday, a federal judge in Puerto Rico bucked the trend towards marriage equality, upholding a ban on same-sex marriage. The commonwealth romantically defined marriage in a 1999 law as a “civil contract whereby a man and woman mutually agree to become husband and wife.” “Because no right to same-gender marriage emanates from the Constitution, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico should not be compelled to recognize such unions,” U.S. District Judge Juan Perez-Gimenez wrote in his opinion, which will now move to a federal appeals court. Adding his own two cents, Perez-Giminez concluded: “Traditional marriage is the fundamental unit of...

American attitudes to gay marriage have been turned on their head in the space of a single generation. After a US Supreme Court decision this month, 30 of America’s 50 states will have gay marriage laws, which is testament to the sudden shift in attitudes towards same-sex unions in the US. Two decades ago barely a quarter of Americans believed members of the LGBT community should enjoy equal marriage rights; now nearly two-thirds accept gay marriage. This quantum leap cannot be explained by what sociologists call generational shift – that is older, conservative folk dying off and younger, more liberal...

The life of a Supreme Court justice would be “a little bit too monastic” for President Obama, according to an interview he gave the New Yorker about his legal legacy. Obama also praised the Supreme Court’s recent decision not to review lower-court rulings that struck down state prohibitions on same-sex marriage, saying he believes that the Constitution provides gays the right to marry. And he said that 81-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg “gets to decide, not anybody else, when she chooses to go” into retirement. Obama made the remarks to the magazine’s legal correspondent, Jeffrey Toobin. Toobin noted that the...