Free Republic

A months-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling quickly weakened the ability of taxpayers to sue government for violating the separation of church and state, legal experts say. The court ruled in June that taxpayers could not sue over executive branch spending that allegedly promoted religion. The 5-4 decision dismissed a lawsuit by the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation that challenged President Bush's faith-based initiative.Taxpayers only have the standing to sue when Congress specifically authorizes money for religious purposes, Justice Samuel Alito wrote. Otherwise, courts would be clogged with cases complaining about the day-to-day activities of government employees, he wrote. At the...

The political fashions that begin in Britain tend to find their way to Canada extremely quickly, especially when they come from the left side of the body politic. A new report from the think-tank of the governing Labour Party states that, "Britain is no longer a Christian nation and Christmas should be downgraded in favour of festivals from other religions to improve race relations." The report goes on to call for a new form of "birth ceremony," at which the state and parents would agree to "work in partnership" to raise babies. It demands action to "ensure access" for ethnic...

NEW YORK — A week into the cross-country launch of a radio talk show for "Godless infidels," the son of the late former President Ronald Reagan will be a guest. Ron Reagan will speak this weekend on Freethought Radio, which Air America Radio is now broadcasting nationally, about his own atheism.

In a time when modern science and scholarship have begun to cast doubts on traditional faith, many on the left, right, and center are increasingly abandoning traditional religion. While most such people on the center-right are content simply not to believe, many on the left continue to cling to the salvationist ethos. In the past, that impulse was satiated with communistic reveries. If religion was the opiate of the masses, socialism was the heroin of the secular leftist. That no longer seems, at least outwardly, to be the case. With a worldwide record of abject failure, socialism lost its claim...

Joe Biden Says Democrats Have Been Too Fearful to Discuss Religion Monday , August 13, 2007 ADVERTISEMENT NASHUA, N.H. — White House hopeful Joe Biden said Monday that Democrats lost the last two presidential elections in part because they let themselves be portrayed as anti-God. Democrats have been too afraid to talk about faith, Biden said at a Rotary Club luncheon. But what voters really want to know is whether a president believes in something bigger than themselves and whether he or she respects the faith of others, he said.

Jack Kinsella - Commentary The Omega Letter Hating Christ . . . I was reading the comments posted by readers of the Huffington Post in response to a column posted by Max Blumenthal about the "Christians United For Israel Tour" Washington summit meeting, hosted by San Antonio pastor John Hagee... The column was entitled, "Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United For Israel Tour." Blumenthal's column fairly dripped with hate for Christians in particular, but reserving some for Jews who collaborate with them. "CUFI has added the grassroots muscle of the Christian right to the already potent Israel lobby. Hagee and...

Not surprisingly, the Bible Belt region lives up to its name with states like Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and West Virginia containing the highest percentage of those who believe the Bible is literally true. Alabama and Arkansas came out on top as 75% say they believe the Bible is literally true. West Virginia (70%) and Tennessee (68%) are close behind. The northeast region of our map represents the other extreme. In Vermont and Massachusetts, only 22% of those respondents believe the Bible is literally true—the lowest percentages in all states surveyed. Earlier this summer, a national survey found that 54% of...

Godless: The Church of Liberalism by Ann Coulter Coultergeist A Review by Jerry Coyne H. L. Mencken once responded to a question asked by many of his readers: "If you find so much that is unworthy of reverence in the United States, then why do you live here?" His answer was, "Why do men go to zoos?" Sadly, Mencken is not here to ogle the newest creature in the American Zoo: the Bleached Flamingo, otherwise known as Ann Coulter. This beast draws crowds by its frequent, raucous calls, eerily resembling a human voice, and its unearthly appearance, scrawny and pallid....

Spare us from the God-haters By MICHAEL COREN Toronto Sun July 22, 2006 In West Virginia local activists are trying to remove a picture of Jesus that has hung on the wall of a local school for many years. Various so-called civil liberties groups claim that such a portrait is an infringement of basic human rights. Elsewhere in the United States assorted opponents of organized religion have been fighting for decades to ban prayer in schools, to force teachers to take down copies of The Ten Commandments from classrooms and to eliminate all mentions of God from public halls...

The title and theme of a book which received one the largest advance paid to a conservative author can now be revealed: Ann Coulter's GODLESS is set for release on 6/6/06. The book -- which condemns what Coulter calls "The Church of Liberalism" -- will have a startling first printing of 500,000 copies, a publishing source tells the DRUDGE REPORT. With chapter titles such as ON THE SEVENTH DAY GOD RESTED AND LIBERALS SCHEMED, and THE HOLIEST SACRAMENT: ABORTION, controversialist Coulter ups the ante in her fourth book for CROWN FORUM.

Our Battle for the Soul of America By Rabbi Aryeh Spero People of faith look around our country at forms of behavior now accepted and wonder how is it possible that during their own lifetime things have so dramatically deteriorated. ----------------- The truth is the A.C.L.U. never believed in separation of church and state as much as using it as a hammer to dampen Christianity, its symbols, its values. The proof? In the last two years it has taken up the cause of defending Islamic “religious rights” – from wearing full-length burkas at community swimming pools to public school recitings...

Several years ago (1996-97), I was thinking about the term “religious right.” It seemed that there should be some contrasting term, but none came immediately to mind. So I had to make some up: agnostic right, atheist right, atheist left, etc. I had the benefit of a university’s library services at the time, so I asked for a count of the term “religious right” in American periodicals. The annual count was in the hundreds per year. Contrasting terms had a combined count of under twenty. I’d only heard the term religious right as an attack term back then. This seemed...

It's quite possibly the last special interest group to establish a voice in Washington. The Secular Coalition for America has hired Lori Lipman Brown as its congressional lobbyist and national voice. Brown's main job? To educate the public about mistaken notions regarding atheists while making sure religion doesn't get a ringside seat at issue debates. "My beef is with people who have taken [religion] out of the 'sacred' sphere and used it instead as a political tool," Brown told CBSNews.com. "Having done that denigrates religion." In today's climate of piety, when the president unabashedly uses religious imagery in his speeches...

 Early warning shots-- the War against Religion......developing:  The Left's 'Dominionist' Demons -- As near as I can tell, "Dominionism" is the Left's version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. A big lie used to justify bigotry and irrational hatred.    "Dominionist" Fantasies     Why I'm Rooting for the Religious Right -- The professional haters of the "religious right" are a bunch of narrow-minded, doctrinaire bigots     Scary Stuff: Venom Against Conservative Christians (Discussed on Rush Limbaugh) more-- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1395264/posts    The Rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party(Moonbat Warning!)  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1395231/posts    Dominionist Domination: The Left runs...

In certain precincts of a world encouraged to embrace differences, Christ is out. The terms "B.C." and "A.D." increasingly are shunned by certain scholars. Educators and historians say schools have been changing the terms "Before Christ," or B.C., to "Before Common Era," or B.C.E., and "anno Domini" (Latin for "in the year of the Lord") to "Common Era." In short, they're referred to as B.C.E. and C.E. The new terms were introduced by academics in the 1990s in public elementary and high school classrooms. Candace de Russy, a national writer on education and Catholic issues and a trustee for SUNY,...

In a world encouraged to embrace differences, B.C. and A.D. are increasingly finding themselves on the wrong end of the religious sensitivity meter. Educators and historians say schools from North America to Australia have been changing the terms Before Christ to Before Common Era and anno Domini (Latin for "year of the Lord") to Common Era. In short, they're referred to as B.C.E. and C.E. The change has stoked the ire of Christian conservatives and some religious leaders who view it as an attack on a social and political order that has been in place for centuries. Ironically, for more...

According to How Stuff Works: As the newly elected pope accepts his new role, it is tradition for him to select a new name. This papal tradition dates to 533 and the election of Pope John II, whose birth name was Mercurius, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. Good thing, because I don't think Pope Benedict XVI (formerly Cardinal John Ratzinger) would be too happy if that task were left to the Kos Kids. They've decided to call him "Ratf*****" Here are a few examples. I did see comments from a couple of dissenters. One seemed primarily concerned that calling the...

The Freedom from Religion Foundation issued a press release Sept. 13, 2001, calling the September 11 attacks by Islamist terrorists "the ultimate faith-based initiative." The release went on: "Religion is not the answer, it is probably the problem." And: "Prayer had its chance on September 11 and it failed." September 11 "should have clinched the idea this is a naturalistic universe," group leader Mr. Barker says. "To stand by and do nothing makes God an accomplice. If He exists, why are we worshipping this monster?" The fight against God and for abortion rights appear intertwined for Mr. Barker's mother-in-law, Mrs....

It takes planning to produce a classic chapter in television history. "We've rehearsed," Thom Bird, a Fox News producer, bragged to Variety before Pope John Paul II died. "We will pull out all the stops on this story." He wasn't kidding. On the same day that boast saw print, a Fox anchor, Shepard Smith, solemnly told the world that "facts are facts" and "it is now our understanding the pope has died." Unfortunately, this understanding was reached 26 hours before the pope actually did die, but as Mr. Smith would explain, he had been misled by "Italian reports." (Namely from...

I am a nonbeliever. But looking upon fellow nonbelievers, I much dislike what I see. They condemn religion as much as they condemn President Bush. I much prefer people who do believe. If war came, I'd grab a rifle for their side. Tom Wolfe sums up the animus well in his new novel, "I am Charlotte Simmons," which is about a lot more than getting drunk and doing it. In one scene, the school president meets with the basketball coach and a history professor who has caught the team's sole white starter in plagiarism. But that's not the best part....