Free Republic

As Americans, there is a disconnect between our professed regard for liberty and this tendency to seek for ourselves gods among men. On the surface, we love to wrap ourselves in the rhetoric of equality, freedom, and the populist sentiments underlying representative government. On the other, we crave, demand, and ultimately crown royalty. A friend recently told me in reference to President Obama, “The way he speaks, you can just tell he’s intelligent. He’s so intelligent. And you want that in your president, someone intelligent.” The unspoken implication which I find echoed in criticisms of Sarah Palin is we want...

Obama is all about idol worship. He has a slew of idols he bows down to and prays before. Obama believes if an idol is good enough for him, it is also good enough for our entire nation. He is forcing his idols down the throats of all Americans, come hell or high water. God took the Children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. Egypt was a nation dedicate to idolatry and was the first Kingdom mentioned in Revelation 17:10. "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet coms." Egypt was...

An Italian scientist says he has reproduced the Shroud of Turin, a feat that he says proves definitively that the linen some Christians revere as Jesus Christ's burial cloth is a medieval fake. The shroud, measuring 14 feet, 4 inches by 3 feet, 7 inches bears the image, eerily reversed like a photographic negative, of a crucified man some believers say is Christ. "We have shown that is possible to reproduce something which has the same characteristics as the Shroud," Luigi Garlaschelli, who is due to illustrate the results at a conference on the para-normal this weekend in northern Italy,...

An important update about the creepy video we posted yesterday. The Burlington Township School District, to which B. Bernice Youngs Elementary School belongs, posted the following Letter to Parents this morning. Dear Burlington Township Families: Today we became aware of a video that was placed on the internet which has been reported in the media. The video is of a class of students singing a song about President Obama. The activity took place during Black History Month in 2009, which is recognized each February to honor the contributions of African Americans to our country. Our curriculum studies, honors and recognizes...

WASHINGTON -- The White House plans to host a discussion on immigration on Thursday with advocates, faith-based groups, businesses and law enforcement officials. An administration official says that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will lead the discussion. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting is not public. Last week President Barack Obama said immigration reform is important but that other priorities such as his health care overhaul and financial regulation are going to come first. Obama said he expects to see draft legislation for an immigration overhaul by the end of the year, with changing the system...

What does it mean to be an idolater? Idolatry may seem like a sin that modern people do not commit. But idolatry is not just bowing down to idols; it is trusting in what one has made, and therefore, in one’s own power as creator or sustainer. If we say we worship God but put our trust in bank accounts, homes, businesses, and organizations, then we are idolaters “Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result,...

A shameful reflection on what's considered important in today's world.

One of the prominent and rising archbishops in the Catholic Church is warning against a "spirit of adulation" towards President Obama, who was portrayed repeatedly during his campaign with messianic images. WND reported during the campaign on a website called Obamamessiah which still holds images portraying the president in a "transfiguration" pose, with various haloes around his head, and the cover of a book, "Barack Obama, Son of Promise, Child of Hope." But in a message at St. Basil's Church in Toronto recently, Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput warned against following blindly. "President Obama is a man of intelligence and some...

A parent in the Clark County School District of Las Vegas, Henderson area reported today that his son, who is in 1st grade, came home yesterday saying that he didn't want to go back to school anymore. When asked why, the boy said that during the Pledge of Allegiance the teacher put up a large image of Obama next to the flag. Thinking that the boy might be exaggerating, the man asked his son if he was sure, and suggested that by "large" he might mean an 8x10 photo of the president. The boy apparently said "No, it is a...

Rowntree Public School is grooving to a reggae-infused hip-hop beat; Grade 4 boys are breakdancing beside Ms. Boudreau's desk while Grade 1 kids bop tentatively in a room down the hall. From the speakers blasts Michael Franti and Spearhead's uplifting "Obama song": "Building blocks of a new vow/ A million stops and a new route ...""We listen to classical music every day, but this week we're listening to Barack," says fast-talking, fast-walking principal Kyra Kristensen-Irvine, "Mrs. K.I." to the kids.In past years, the 800 students at this Brampton school have studied Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Terry Fox. Now...

Mary Worship Still Alive in Catholicism10/21/2008 - Tur8infan Benedict XVI is reported (link to report) as recently praying to Mary: "We implore you to have pity today on the nations that have gone astray, on all Europe, on the whole world, that they might repent and return to your heart," the text of the prayer reads. This is a prayer that is openly idolatrous. Mankind needs to turn, not to the heart of Mary, but to the Son of Mary, Jesus Christ the Righteous. The true and proper object of worship is God alone. Matthew 4:10 Then saith Jesus...

In the spring of 1916 Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta, had their first encounter with a heavenly messenger. Writing in her memoirs, composed under obedience to the Bishop, Lucia tells of that first meeting. We went on that occasion to my parents' property, which is at the bottom of the Cabeco, facing east. It is called Chousa Velha.About the middle of the morning it began to drizzle and we climbed up the hill, followed by our sheep, in search of a rock that would shelter us. And so it was that we entered for the first time into that blessed place....

Obama's luck token charms Indians —Laurie Goering 8:13 AM CDT, June 29, 2008 NEW DELHI — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, already running ahead of his Republican rival John McCain in international popularity, has won a host of new fans in India since a photo published earlier this month revealed that he carries a tiny brass monkey king among his handful of good-luck charms. In India the charm is presumed to be an image of Hanuman, Hinduism's popular monkey god. So on Tuesday, a delighted Brij Mohan Bhama, a politician associated with India's ruling party and a devotee of Hanuman,...

NEW DELHI: With Democrat senator Barack Obama busy in the run-up to the US presidential polls, a group of well-wishers in the capital have decided to send him a symbol of his lucky charm, Lord Hanuman, to help him emerge victorious. Obama's representative Carolyn Sauvage-Mar on Tuesday received a gold-plated two-feet-high idol which she will pass it on to the Obama after it is sanctified. The idol is being presented to Obama as he is reported to be a Lord Hanuman devotee and carries with him a locket of the monkey god along with other good luck charms. An hour-long...

It is my opinion that we need to pray for our leaders this election. Many Conservative are disappointed with the selection of Senator John S. McCain. But in one sense, he is the true conservative in values -- he has fought for campaign finance reform -- getting big money out of politics. This should allow the little guy (or gal) more voice in what this country is doing. In some religions, it is part of the church service to pray for the leaders of a country (Ukrainian Catholic, for example). We must pray for our leaders and pray that the...

"...nvolve your congregation in Earth Ministry. Ask them to support us by taking our Membership Challenge, and maybe you will win a special workshop for your congregation. And what better day to support our work by taking a special collection or shared plate offering? These congregational gifts are a significant source of support for our work. The enclosed Celebration resource package gives you all you need to get started. As you celebrate Earth Day 2008, rejoice in the knowledge that you do so in spiritual community committed to the interdependent web of all existence. In Faith, Claudia Kern for the...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) ― Danish police said Tuesday they have arrested three people suspected of plotting to kill one of the 12 cartoonists behind the Prophet Muhammad drawings that sparked a deadly uproar in the Muslim world two years ago. Two Tunisians and a Dane of Moroccan origin were arrested in pre-dawn raids in western Denmark, the police intelligence agency said. The Dane was suspected of violating Danish terror laws but likely would be released after questioning as the investigation continues, said Jakob Scharf, the head of the PET intelligence service. The two Tunisians would be expelled from Denmark, he...

When Curtis Williams took the field for the Huskies' 2000 season opener, the University of Washington's media guide described him like this: Senior, strong safety, 5-foot-10, 200 pounds. Named, in 1999, the team's best hitter. Led team in solo tackles. Went to high school in Fresno, Calif., where he was a top recruit. The seventh of eight kids. Pursuing a degree in American ethnic studies. Here's what the media guide didn't say: When Williams played against Idaho, he had a warrant out for his arrest. He'd been arrested every year he was here: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000. He was...

Yoga Cred by: Deborah Lambert, January 29, 2008 Although students at Needham (Mass) High School may have felt a lot less stressed after principal Paul Richards stopped publishing the list of honor roll recipients last year, it seems the relaxation guru was just getting started, according to Michelle Malkin, who noted that his latest idea was for the school to sponsor “in-school yoga classes.” “It’s not that I’m trying to turn the culture upside down,” Richards told the New York Times, explaining that his goal was simply to bring “the culture to a healthier place.” These health concerns not only...

Lesson 34: The First Commandment "Come let us praise the Lord with joy:  let us joyfully sing to God our savior.  Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to Him with psalms.  For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.  For in His hand are all the ends of the earth:  and the heights of the mountains are His.  For the sea is His, and He made it:  and His hands formed the dry land.  Come let us adore and fall down:  and weep before the Lord that...

Justin Griffin of Columbia started losing his vision as a senior in high school, the same year he professed his faith in the Lord. “My plans for me in high school were to graduate, join the military and become a professional soldier,” he said. “I had no love of God. I had no love of people. “Basically, I was my own God.” A victim of retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary disease of the retina of the eye, Griffin said he didn’t view his failing vision as a curse. “When the blindness came, I looked on it as a blessing,” said the...

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Hundreds of people have flocked to a remote village in eastern Nepal to see a "sweating" idol of a Hindu god, a sign of impending turmoil or natural disaster for the devoutly religious nation. Witnesses said that sweat seeped out of the idol of the Bhimeshwor god at a temple in Dolakha, a few hours drive from Kathmandu, during evening prayers at the weekend.

GREENSBORO — Episcopalians meeting in Greensboro this week gave strong preliminary support for a resolution apologizing to gays and lesbians for how they’ve been treated by Christians. The resolution, which is expected to go before the full Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina this morning, would also affirm homosexuals as "children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance and pastoral concern and care of the Church." A similar resolution was passed this past summer by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, which has been racked with division since the affirmation...

The defeat of same-sex marriage in referenda across the country earlier this month left some gays gloomy, but those high-profile fights may have obscured changes in Congress that have, for the first time, put the gay community within reach of victory on its legislative agenda. After languishing for 12 years, a bill to ban employment discrimination against homosexuals is likely to be passed by the House and Senate next year and sent on to President Bush, supporters and opponents of the legislation said yesterday.

In the battle over gay rights and same-sex marriage, those who oppose both often cite Biblical passages which, they believe, clearly state that homosexuality is wrong. Trying to rebut this view is a movement led by people who are both gay and Christian who say that the Bible is on their side. "Most people think that the attitude of gay Christians is, 'Who cares what the Bible says?' when in reality, we care deeply what the Bible says," said the Rev. Jeff Miner , pastor of the Jesus Metropolitan Community Church , a gay-friendly congregation in Indianapolis. He led a...

A talking Jesus doll has been turned down by the Marine Reserves' Toys for Tots program. A suburban Los Angeles company offered to donate 4,000 of the foot-tall dolls, which quote Bible verses, for distribution to needy children this holiday season. The battery-powered Jesus is one of several dolls based on Biblical figures and manufactured by one-2-believe, a division of the Valencia-based Beverly Hills Teddy Bear Company. The charity balked because of the dolls' religious nature. Vice President Bill Grein of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation says toys are donated to kids based on financial need and the...

Mar 27 2003 - Andrew, Amy and Anna DiMaggio We have heard from so many people world wide about the picture, we still can't believe it. The story about the picture goes like this, my wife took Anna outside to take some pictures of her in her new dress. As she began to take the pictures, the batteries in our digital camera died. They came in and Amy said that they could only get one picture because of the batteries. I told her that we have lots of batteries and replaced them for her while they went back outside....

His [Mohammed's] many and cruel executions, his craftiness in planning and allowing assassinations, his treachery, in his attacks on the unarmed during the sacred months, his insatiable hatred towards Jews and Christians, his raids and highway robberies, distinguish him among the most notorious brigands, and make him a tyrant of no mean degree. His unimaginable cruelty as well as the debauchery of his private life, go to show in him a very great degree of moral degeneracy and height of self-delusion, which are scarcely compatible with the practical wisdom of many of his actions. We find him, after his early...

Open House announces cancellation of parade, which was scheduled for August 10, but says other gay pride events will take place as planned. ‘We are determined to fight for our right to march in Jerusalem this year,’ organization’s director says The Open House Organization announced Friday that the World Pride parade, which was scheduled to take place on August 10 in Jerusalem, has been called off due to the war in Lebanon. However, the other gay pride events will take place as scheduled, the group said in a statement.

At a small Catholic church south of Los Angeles, the pressing moral question comes to this: Does kneeling at the wrong time during worship make you a sinner?Kneeling ''is clearly rebellion, grave disobedience and mortal sin,'' Father Martin Tran, pastor at St. Mary's by the Sea, in Huntington Beach, Calif., told his flock in a recent church bulletin. The Diocese of Orange backs Tran's anti-kneeling edict.While told by the pastor and the archdiocese to stand during certain parts of the Sunday liturgy, a third of the congregation still kneels.`ACT OF ADORATION'''Kneeling is an act of adoration,'' said Judith M. Clark,...

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - The largest U.S. Presbyterian Church body approved a measure on Tuesday that would open the way for the ordination of gays and lesbians under certain circumstances. The new policy was approved on a vote of 57-43 percent among 500 church representatives at the biennial meeting of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. It gives local church organizations more leeway in deciding if gays can be ordained as lay deacons and elders as well as clergy, provided they are faithful to the church's core values. "It permits local governing bodies to examine candidates on a wider criterion than sexual...

Danforth: Ban on Gay Marriage a Silly Idea WASHINGTON — Former Sen. John Danforth says a conservative push to ban gay marriage through a constitutional amendment is silly, calling it the latest example of how the political influence of evangelical Christians is hurting the GOP. Danforth, a Missouri Republican and an Episcopal priest, made the comments in a speech Saturday night to the Log Cabin Republicans, which support gay rights. He said history has shown that attempts to regulate human behavior with constitutional amendments are misguided. "Once before, the Constitution was amended to try to deal with matters of human...

Over the past few weeks, rioting in Europe and the Middle East has been spawned by cartoons depicting Muhammad in an unpleasant, though possibly accurate, manner. Muslim extremists are outraged by this so-called blasphemous "idolatry" of others through caricatures, even though versions of the cartoons were published in Islamic media as well as those that appeared in the Danish press and in other European newspapers. A few questions immediately come to mind, however. If non-Muslims are "infidels," how can these extremists expect the rest of the world to act as if we were Muslim? How can the non-Muslim world be...

A couple in Ohio claims the image Jesus appeared to them after he whipped up a weekend breakfast of pancakes, according to a Local 6 News report. Mike Thompson said he was making flapjacks for his family over the weekend when an image caught his eye. Upon closer inspection, Thompson noticed what appeared to be the face of Jesus. He showed his wife, who agreed the image appeared to be Jesus. Thompson said he believes the image is a sign from above. The couple is selling the pancake on eBay with an opening bid of $500. Watch Local 6 News...

Cerebral scans for right and wrong "Can you name a scientific discovery that has ever added to our understanding of morality?" asked Discovery Institute senior fellow, Wesley Smith, over dinner after our recent debate with science reporter Chris Mooney in New York City. Fortunately, I could. Anyone who has ever taken an undergraduate course in moral philosophy will remember the moral dilemma posed in the "trolley problem": You are standing next to a switch in a trolley track and you notice that a runaway trolley is about to hit a group of five people who are unaware of their danger....

“Several news stories today are reporting on the decision by Comedy Central to pull a scheduled rerun of the ‘Bloody Mary’ episode that was  shown on ‘South Park’ on December 7-10.  The decision reflects what I asked for in our news release of December 8.  Therefore, I commend Comedy Central for finally making the right decision.  That it aired in the first place, however, does not speak well for the bigots responsible for creating it.   “In our December 8 news release, I also said, ‘Remember, they chose to insult Our Blessed Mother on the eve of the Immaculate Conception, and...

BETHEL — While controversy swirls over a substitute teacher who told first-graders that Santa Claus doesn’t exist, a local dairy farmer and church deacon has put the same message in a very public place. By erecting a sign along the eastbound side of I-78, between the Bethel and Grimes exits, Leonard H. Martin has taken it upon himself to shatter the myth of Santa Claus for any youngster able to read the message from the back seat of a car as their parents drive by. It marks the second consecutive year that Martin has posted what he termed a spiritual...

US celebrities and rights activists have lamented the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams at his funeral. Hundreds of mourners came to the violence-wracked area of Los Angeles where Williams founded the murderous Crips gang three decades ago. Under heavy police presence, a long line of people entered the 1,500-seat Bethel AME Church. Vendors sold T-shirts with Williams' picture, and a large TV set up in the parking lot allowed the overflow crowd to watch the service. Williams was executed on December 13 despite clemency pleas from celebrities and others who said he had rededicated his life to peace. "It's nine-fifteen...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Red stains are seen running from the left eye of a statue of the Virgin Mary at the Vietnamese Catholic Martyrs Church in Sacramento, Calif. According to Anthony Nguyen, a deacon at the Church, the stains first appeared more than a week ago, but they were wiped away. The stains reappeared a week later. Visitors have been flocking to the church to see what many call "a miracle." (11/28/05 AP photo)

Posted on Mon, May. 13, 2002 Homosexuals fear `witch hunt' in backlash of abuse scandal rocking Catholic ChurchGays defending faith and selvesSome say they've been `sacrificed' over sexual orientationBy Jim CarneyBeacon Journal staff writer A cloak of fear hangs over a part of the body of the Roman Catholic Church.``They are on a witch hunt,'' said a gay priest who says Mass for a group of gay Catholics called Dignity meeting at a Congregational Church in downtown Columbus two Sunday evenings a month.He has been a priest for 20 years. But he refuses to give his name over the...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Carrying rosary beads and cameras, the faithful have been coming in a steady stream to a church on the outskirts of Sacramento for a glimpse of what some are calling a miracle: A statue of the Virgin Mary they say has begun crying a substance that looks like blood. It was first noticed more than a week ago, when a priest at the Vietnamese Catholic Martyrs Church spotted a stain on the statue's face and wiped it away. Before mass on Nov. 20, people again noticed a reddish substance near the eyes of the white concrete statue...

What's the story on this anyone have a link on this?

A Contra Costa County school was educating seventh-graders about Islam, not indoctrinating them, in role-playing sessions in which students used Muslim names and recited language from prayers, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a lawsuit by two Christian students and their parents, who accused the Byron Union School District of unconstitutionally endorsing a religious practice. "The Islam program activities were not overt religious exercises that raise Establishment Clause concerns,'' the three-judge panel said, referring to the First Amendment ban on government sanctioning a religion. During the history course at Excelsior School in...

By 1 hour, 10 minutes ago OAKLAND, California (Reuters) - As U.S. gays and lesbians prepare to battle a raft of state constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage that will likely be on the ballot next fall, activists are recasting the issue as one that needs to be fought on moral rather than political grounds. That is the message Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the oldest and leading U.S. grass-roots gay and lesbian coalition, has taken to more than 2,500 gay rights organizers at its annual conference held in Oakland this week. "What I...

An Episcopal group has a doomsday plan that calls for ousting conservative bishops and seizing church property if they attempt to break from the denomination over its increasingly liberal position on homosexuality. The so-called "Day After" plan could kick in as early as June, when the Episcopal Church USA holds its General Convention in Columbus, Ohio, according to minutes from a closed steering committee meeting of the group Via Media. Joan Gunderson of Aspinwall, who served as recording secretary for committee meeting in late September, said nothing from the strategy session has been approved by the group's leadership. "The minutes...

Moscow, October 5, Interfax - The russian communists will organize mass protests if authorities go ahead with a decision to bury Lenin and tear down the Mausoleum near the Kremlin wall. "We will hold actions of civic disobedience and will not let such things happen," Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov said at a press conference. Zyuganov said that the communists are holding a referendum on the issue and have already gathered 4,5 Mln signatures. Zyuganov said that 26 public organizations back the Communists'' statement against any eventual burial of Lenin''s body. "We have enough wisdom and will to defend our history...

An Ellettsville family whose home is decorated for Halloween contacted police after someone placed on its porch a flier that suggests Halloween praises the devil. Dalene Gully told Indianapolis television station WRTV that she took offense to the flier, which was placed outside her home by the House of Prayer Church of Bloomington. "I started reading it, and I was very, very upset by it. I found it very accusatory and very threatening," Gully said. The church's pastor, Larry Mitchell, said the people who left the flier would have preferred to talk with Gully, but she wasn't there. Mitchell said...

... Whenever I am out with Margaret, I'm conscious that she represents a group whose ranks are shrinking because of the wide availability of prenatal testing and abortion. I don't know how many pregnancies are terminated because of prenatal diagnoses of Down syndrome, but some studies estimate 80 to 90 percent. Imagine. As Margaret bounces through life, especially out here in the land of the perfect body, I see the way people look at her: curious, surprised, sometimes wary, occasionally disapproving or alarmed. I know that most women of childbearing age that we may encounter have judged her and her...

A TIME magazine cover story and a recent pro-homosexual school event should leave no doubt that homosexual activists are recruiting kids into homosexual sex and a “gay” identity, using “tolerance” as a ruse. The TIME October 10 piece, “The Battle Over Gay Teens,” which includes not a single reference to the extremely dangerous medical consequences of homosexual behavior, especially for boys, includes these details: • A cocktail party in Manhattan with billionaire liquor magnate Edgar Bronfman, Sr. and Clinton political strategist David Mixner was held in May to raise money for the Point Foundation, a scholarship program to turn “gay”...