Free Republic

As the debate over First Amendment Freedom of Religion laws raged back in May with Republican Governors backing down under business pressure in Indiana and Arkansas, the Republican governor of North Carolina, Pat McCrory, said his state didn't need such a law. The legislature has been acting, though, the House passing a bill to allow government officials to object to gay marriage, the bill now in the Senate as Senate Bill 2. But today Governor McCrory says he will veto the bill. A news release describing it is headlined "Governor McCrory defends Constitution". McCrory speaks of 'sincerely held religious beliefs...

RUSH: A new Gallup poll out. Headline: "Americans Continue to Shift Left on Key Moral Issues." Now, before you go off getting depressed about this, let me tell you what the reason for this is, after we give you the details. "Americans are more likely now than in the early 2000s to find a variety of behaviors morally acceptable, including gay and lesbian relations, having a baby outside of marriage and sex between an unmarried man and woman. Moral acceptability of many of these issues is now at a record-high level." It's a subtle message to the Republican Party, and...

Author and conservative firebrand Ann Coulter was not invited to speak at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference, marking the first time in several years that she was not scheduled to attend in an official capacity.Coulter is usually a popular speaker at the annual conference -- it's the largest gathering of conservatives in the U.S. held this weekend just outside of Washington, D.C. -- where she has delivered well-received speeches and signed her books for fans."I wasn't invited," Coulter confirmed in an email Thursday to the Washington Examiner media desk. "I might just show up anyway just to piss them...

Happy National Hate Week! Today, we're all hating on Indiana. Who will be the left's Emmanuel Goldstein next week? Evidently, the sole function of the media these days is to subject the public to a steady stream of manufactured events: "Hands Up, Don't Shoot"; nuclear power kills; Lena Dunham's rape by a college conservative at Oberlin; the "mattress girl" raped at Columbia University; Jon Stewart is funny; a fraternity gang-rape at the University of Virginia; and a law protecting religious freedom will lead to separate water fountains for gays in Indiana. Happy National Hate Week! Today, we're all hating on...

Pro-adoption organizations should have the same speech rights as any other organization, said the attorney representing a group whose pro-life license plate has been denied for the past 13 or 14 years in New York. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday reversed a lower court ruling ordering the state to let an adoption advocacy group put the words "Choose Life" on its own plates. By a 2-1 vote, the court said the commissioner of the state Department of Motor Vehicles had "broad discretion" to decide which plates to permit, and did not violate the First Amendment free speech rights...

A United States Marine was convicted at a court-martial for refusing to remove a Bible verse on her computer – a verse of Scripture the military determined “could easily be seen as contrary to good order and discipline.” The plight of Lance Corporal Monifa Sterling seems unbelievable – a member of the Armed Forces criminally prosecuted for displaying a slightly altered passage of Scripture from the Old Testament: “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.” Sterling, who represented herself at trial, was convicted February 1, 2014 in a court-martial at Camp Lejune, North Carolina after she refused to obey orders...

Sometimes conservatives seem to be misery junkies. It's like we get a psychic thrill from telling each other that the end of the world is at hand. Admittedly, everything isn't coming up roses. That scent in the air isn't from flowers. But there's still more cause for comfort than despair. "Let not your heart be troubled." Here are seven reasons to hope for America. 1. There's an explosion of conservative activism – According to the latest Gallup poll, 38% of Americans are self-identified conservatives, against only 24% who call themselves liberals, and 34% moderates. Even after six and a half...

Barack Obama has been putting his new Twitter account to good use, using it to support a little girl’s ideas on gay marriage. Five-year-old Yasmeen Faruqui wrote a letter to the President with a list of insightful requests, and was amazed when she received a reply. ‘Please stop war for our world, instead have a meeting’, Yasmeen said in the handwritten note. ‘Please give a speech to tell everyone they can marry who they want.’

A reporter in Texas recently asked GOP presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz this question: “Do you have a personal animosity against gay Americans?” Why would a reporter ask a Republican, running for president, such a question? I don’t know the reporter so I can’t say with certainty, but it wouldn’t shock me if he were trying to start trouble; if he were trying to trip up the senator into saying something negative about gays and getting some national publicity for himself in the process. But there’s another reason, I think, for the question. There’s no hiding the fact that some...

Before we get into the meat of this story from the National Journal, let me just note that this – “One of the most underappreciated stories in recent years is the deterioration of the Democratic bench under President Obama’s tenure in office” – has always been properly appreciated by me. I noticed this issue a while back. Sorry, but I felt the need to establish that. Moving on… …less attention has been paid to how the shrinking number of Democratic officeholders in the House and in statewide offices is affecting the party’s Senate races. It’s awfully unusual to see how...

In the American Conservative yesterday, Rod Dreher related the following story: So, a Canadian Christian jeweler custom-made a pair of engagement rings for a lesbian couple, Nicole White and Pam Renouf, at their request. Later, when they found out that the jeweler personally opposes same-sex marriage, they went to pieces and demanded their money back. The couple now believes the rings they ordered will have been tainted by having been fashioned by jeweler Esau Jardon’s hands, given what impure thoughts he holds in his mind. One could be forgiven for wondering how we are all supposed to keep up. Last...

A couple learns a new language to welcome a new addition to their family. See how Wells Fargo is always there to help you prepare financially for life’s biggest moments.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal issued new protections for businesses that refuse to serve same-sex marriages, embracing the "religious freedom" cause dear to conservative Christians even though it's stung other Republican politicians. Jindal, a prospect for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, issued an executive order on Tuesday after saying he was disappointed that a Statehouse committee had earlier in the day voted down a bill that would have accomplished the same goal. That panel's concern: that Louisiana would look much like Indiana, where concerns that a new "religious freedom" law would lead to discrimination against gays and lesbians triggered such a...

Gov. Bobby Jindal issued a statement Tuesday (May 19) saying he plans to issue an executive order to enforce the intent of a religious freedom bill that effectively died about two hours earlier, in the House Civil Law and Procedure Committee. Read the full statement below: "We are disappointed by the committee's action to return the Louisiana Marriage and Conscience Act to the calendar. We will be issuing an Executive Order shortly that will accomplish the intent of HB 707 to prevent the state from discriminating against persons or entities with deeply held religious beliefs that marriage is between one...

MASON CITY, Iowa — Hillary Rodham Clinton’s appearance here Monday at the home of Dean Genth and Gary Swenson — one of the first gay couples to marry in Iowa — spoke volumes about the political pitch and style of her nascent presidential campaign. Even as a global celebrity and the overwhelming Democratic front-runner, Clinton is doggedly focused at this early stage on highlighting her progressive values and on what she called “people-to-people connections” — aggressive organizing in the state where she placed a disappointing third in the 2008 caucuses. The event — the first of Clinton’s two-day visit —...

Original Title:Hillary Clinton to Visit Home of Iowa Gay Married Couple Today, Hillary Clinton visited two longtime HRC members in Iowa. Clinton will visit Dean Genth and Gary Swenson, who were one of the first same-sex couples to marry in Iowa, at their home in Mason City with other Democratic activists, Last month, Hillary Clinton made history when her presidential campaign launched with a video featuring same-sex couples and marriage equality. A few days later, a Clinton spokesperson announced that the presidential candidate urges the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor marriage equality, citing the constitution's clear guarantee of...

With oral arguments at the Supreme Court concluded in Obergefell v. Hodges, 2016 candidates are starting to weigh in on how they would handle a potential Supreme Court ruling that leads to nationwide marriage equality. This week, Republican Carly Fiorina said that she would not fight a ruling in favor of marriage equality. Fiorina joins Lindsey Graham, another potential 2016 candidate, who issued a similar statement. On the other side, Ted Cruz, who has been a consistent opponent of LGBT equality, has said he will introduce a constitutional amendment to fight marriage if the Supreme Court rules in favor of...

Let’s assume, as I do, that the Supreme Court finds a constitutional right to same-sex marriage when it decides Obergefell v. Hodges sometime next month. What happens next? It may be a morning-after landscape of more confusion than clarity, with some rain falling on the victory parades. Conservative Christians, claiming victimization by the onrushing tide of marriage equality, aren’t like to be deterred in their quest for the right to withhold goods and services from same-sex couples. Indiana’s retreat last month, under pressure from some leading corporations, from a law that would have given businesses a religious excuse for discriminating...

According to the Washington Post, Hillary Clinton told a group of her fundraisers that she will have a litmus test for her nominees to the Supreme Court (if she should win the presidency): they will have to agree with her that the 2010 Citizens United ruling must be overturned.  In that ruling the Supreme Court held that corporations have First Amendment rights to engage in political speech and to spend money on such speech.  In making her pledge, Mrs. Clinton follows Bernie Sanders, who is also running for president.If Republican critics of Mrs. Clinton wanted to be demagogues about it,...

Alexandria, VA -- Today, the Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF) announced its endorsement of U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) for the U.S. Senate in Indiana where U.S. Senator Dan Coats (R-IN) is retiring. SCF President Ken Cuccinelli made the following statement: "We're proud to support Congressman Marlin Stutzman for the U.S. Senate in Indiana. He's a proven conservative who believes in limited government, a strong national defense, and traditional values. During his time in Congress, Stutzman has worked to repeal Obamacare, balance the budget, and stop the president’s executive amnesty. He showed great wisdom and courage in opposing the food stamp...