Free Republic

Steve Schmidt, one of the founders of the notoriously anti-Trump Lincoln Project, is a registered member of an ultraconservative political party, voting records show — just weeks after he claimed he was becoming a Democrat. In a post-election interview on Dec. 15, the longtime GOP strategist who former President Donald Trump once denounced as a “blathering idiot,” announced he was registering as a member of the Democratic Party after almost three decades as a Republican. “I spent 29 years as a Republican, I’ve spent two and a half as an independent, and later this afternoon I will register as a...

We usually assume that inbreeding is bad and should be avoided under all circumstances. But new research performed by researchers at Stockholm University, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, shows that there is little support for this assumption. The idea that animals should avoid mating with relatives has been the starting point for hundreds of scientific studies performed among many species. But it turns out the picture is more complicated. “People assume that animals should avoid mating with a relative when given the chance,” says Raïssa de Boer, researcher in zoology at Stockholm University. “But evolutionary theory has been telling...

I take my child to be my lawfully wedded spouse … A New Yorker who wants to marry their own adult offspring is suing to overturn laws barring the incestuous practice, calling it a matter of “individual autonomy.” The pining parent seeks to remain anonymous because their request is “an action that a large segment of society views as morally, socially and biologically repugnant,” according to court papers. “Through the enduring bond of marriage, two persons, whatever relationship they might otherwise have with one another, can find a greater level of expression, intimacy and spirituality,” the parent argues in the...

Most everyone in America was and is in favor of marriage equality. Most everyone was and is in favor of marriage equality because most everyone wants the law to treat all marriages equally. The debate in the United States in the decade and a half before Obergefell v. Hodges wasn’t about equality. It was about marriage. We disagreed about what marriage is. Of course, “marriage equality” was a great slogan. It fit on a bumper sticker. You could make a red equal sign your Facebook profile picture. It was a wonderful piece of advertising. And yet it’s completely vacuous. It...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of requests by men to bring in child and adolescent brides to live in the United States were approved over the past decade, according to government data obtained by The Associated Press. In one case, a 49-year-old man applied for admission for a 15-year-old girl. The approvals are legal: The Immigration and Nationality Act does not set minimum age requirements. And in weighing petitions for spouses or fiancees, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services goes by whether the marriage is legal in the home country and then whether the marriage would be legal in the state where...

Below is an excerpt by one of my favorite authors, Steven D. Smith, from his book The Disenchantment of Secular Discourse In this excerpt, Dr. Smith reveals how loaded terms and ideas are often used in modern social-political discourse to "smuggle in" substantive ideas without having to acknowledge their sources or argue for them substantively. He examines briefly the concepts of "freedom," "equality," and "reciprocity" (the idea that we should treat others as we would like to be treated) and points out how they can be used and often are used to "smuggle."

In his Second Inaugural Address, President Obama declared that “if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.” Headlines and blogs around the country proclaim that the Supreme Court is ready to tackle the issue of “marriage equality.” If that’s the issue—“marriage equality”—then the correct outcome seems irresistible, doesn’t it? But is “marriage equality” really the issue? To see how, think for a moment about the meaning—and the rhetorical uses and abuses—of equality and inequality. Do we treat blind people unequally by denying them drivers’ licenses when others are...

Donald Trump would "strongly consider" appointing Supreme Court justices as president to overturn same-sex marriage, the Republican presidential front-runner said Sunday. Courting evangelical voters in Iowa, Trump told "Fox News Sunday" he disagreed with last year's landmark ruling that legalized same-sex marriage because states should decide. "If I'm elected I would be very strong on putting certain judges on the bench that I think maybe could change things, but they have a long way to go," Trump said....

A family made famous by the reality show "Sister Wives" is calling on a Utah appeals court to uphold a ruling that essentially decriminalized polygamy, saying the state's historic ban on the practice raises constitutional issues about freedom of religion, association, and privacy rights of consenting adults. Kody Brown and his four wives - Meri, Jangle, Christine and Robyn - who began appearing on the TLC reality show in 2010, filed suit against the state of Utah challenging the state's ban.

Former President George H.W. Bush has moderated his views on same-sex marriage since seeking the White House, according to a new biography. Bush said in his audio diary before his 1988 presidential campaign that Americans "didn't want same-sex marriage codified," according to The New York Times. But after he served as an official witness at a 2013 same-sex wedding, he sent his biographer, Jon Meacham, a note to clarify that his views had changed....

After winning support for gay marriage through the image of the monogamous same-sex couple, a coalition of LGBT groups has released a joint statement in solidarity with Amnesty international's recent support for decriminalizing prostitution. Multiple United States-based LGBT groups released the joint statement Thursday in support of the recently approved resolution by Amnesty International championing the decriminalization of sex work. Signed by the Transgender Law Center, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), Lambda Legal, National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the National Center for Transgender Equality, the statement applauds prostitution as a survival skill for runaway gay youth. "For...

While American liberals are celebrating SCOTUS’ illegal decision forcing gay marriage upon all 50 states – and thereby nullifying the 10th Amendment – ISIS threw 4 gays from the roof of a building. PHOTO As always, a crowd had gathered to watch the brutal mass murder: PHOTO Now, I’ve got a question for my liberal friends: why is it that you pretend that gays are persecuted in the United States (which isn’t and wasn’t true at all, they’re able to live together, have relationships, and do whatever they please), while you – at the same time – ignore what’s going...

Over and over again we are told that we have lost the culture wars and that it’s time for us to throw in the towel and capitulate, especially as the Supreme Court’s decision on redefining marriage is about to be announced (or has even been announced by the time you read this article). I’m here to announce that no matter what the Supreme Court says, no matter what the President says, no matter what society says, we are not bowing down to anyone other than the Lord Himself. And with God’s help, there’s not a shred of a possibility that...

Everyone wants to know whether Jeb Bush can survive his support for Common Core and comprehensive immigration reform in today's Republican Party. One deal-breaker that might surprise people, though: His opposition to gay marriage. NBC News and Marist College are out with a batch of new 2016 primary polls. And as you might expect, Common Core, immigration reform, belief in man-made climate change and support for raising taxes on the wealthy are among those with the potential to alienate lots of conservatives. But according to the polls, so does opposition to gay marriage--an issue on which Bush agrees with basically...

(Bishop Schneider. Image Courtesy of Diane Korzeniewski) Editor’s Note: Following his strongly-worded interview with Polonia Christiana in the wake of the first part of the Extraordinary Synod on Marriage and Family, we reached out to Bishop Athanasius Schneider to seek his guidance on concrete actions Catholics can take during this time of turmoil within the Church. We specifically requested his advice on what the faithful could do to resist heterodoxy and address the errors (or at least obfuscations) that seem to be issuing forth from some of the highest prelates in the Church. Though his counsel is brief, it is deeply...

Why shouldn't this man be (or have been) allowed to marry his dolphin sweetheart? After all, it's only "love" that matters in holy matrimony, not building a family and a safe environment in which to raise kids. It's all to do with "feelings" these days, little else is important, and obviously we are here talking about the feelings of adults. (The feelings of children of anomalous families carry little weight.) Love in particular, however defined. For some people, like paedophile Oscar Wilde who was paying to have sex with working-class rent boys, the definition of love is lust. A...

Teenager Who Has Been Dating Her Father For Two Years Reveals The Pair Are Planning To Get Married - And Have Children An 18-year-old girl is revealing in a new interview that she has been dating her father for two years The pair were estranged for 12 years, but met up again when she was 16, having sex the week they were reunited They were soon dating and are now planning their wedding After their wedding they plan on moving to New Jersey and having children, were adult incest is legal By CHRIS SPARGO 16 January 2015 A young girl...

Prominent Democrat Terrence P. Bean has been indicted for sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy with his boyfriend in a hotel room. He was arrested at his home in southwest Portland on Wednesday and charged with two counts of third-degree sodomy and one count of third-degree sex abuse. Portland police tracked down the 15-year-old boy whose testimony helped lead to the sex abuse indictment against Bean and his former boyfriend, Kiah L. Lawson. Bean and Lawson allegedly set up an encounter with the teen through the iPhone app “Grindr”. The popular app is a mobile social network that helps gay men...

Three points need to be made about Monday's decision by the Supreme Court not to decide whether the equal protection clause of the Constitution grants people of the same sex the right to marry. Point 1: While the court's liberal wing probably wanted to accept cases banning same-sex marriage in five states that have been overturned by three different federal appeals courts in recent months, the conservative majority, along with swing Justice Anthony Kennedy, apparently wished to see states resolve the issue. Perhaps they sought to avoid another Roe vs. Wade in which a previous court overturned all state abortion...

Correction: This post initially stated that Judge Tonya Parker was “no longer” marrying straight couples. Judge Parker has never performed such marriage ceremonies. This version has been corrected. Catholic priests have refused to marry same-sex couples for years. Judge Tonya Parker (Dallas County) Now, a Texas judge has an answer to that, saying she will not marry straight couples until gay marriage is legal in the state. Judge Tonya Parker of Dallas County told the Dallas Voice that she respectfully tells couples why she can’t conduct their marriage ceremony: “I'm sorry. I don't perform marriage ceremonies because we are in...