Free Republic

Too much is never enough, NATO ministers were told in Romania on Tuesday, as they met to drum up more support for Ukraine, including a direct U.S. call for increased deliveries of electrical components for the war-torn country’s decimated power transmission network. Military aid – lethal and non-lethal – is also on the shopping list alongside a rise in shipments of fuel, generators, medical supplies, winter equipment and drone-jamming devices. Ahead of the meeting, AP reports NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Russian President Vladimir Putin “is trying to use winter as a weapon of war against Ukraine” and that NATO’s...

Save all babies left vulnerable to the scourge and sin of abortion How many church goers filling Sunday pews at the United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Episcopal Church, Unitarian Universalist Association, Christian Church (Disciple of Christ) and Unity Church realize that their pastors publicly stated their support of the abortion chain Planned Parenthood twice in the past two years? How many parents still take their babies to these pastors for Holy Baptism?

Saudi authorities carried out a new wave of arrests targeting royals and former cabinet ministers, people familiar with the matter said, a move that appears intended to further consolidate power in the hands of the Saudi leadership at a time of political transition. At least 10 princes and more than two dozen former ministers were detained by Saudi authorities on Saturday night, according to people familiar with the matter. It was unclear if charges were filed. [snip]

A housing benefit that saves clergy $800 million a year in taxes has been deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge. Under the law, housing allowances paid as part of clergy salary can be subtracted from their taxable income. Religious freedom advocates fear the ruling could force many churches in poor areas to close.MADISON, Wisconsin - A federal judge in Wisconsin has struck down as unconstitutional a law that gives clergy tax-free housing allowances, in a ruling that could have far-reaching ramifications for religious leaders, who could be facing new taxes which will threaten their ministry. Under the federal law passed...

Theresa May is facing a growing Cabinet backlash over her decision to dismiss Nigel Farage despite him being the only British politician to meet with Donald Trump since his victory. The Daily Telegraph understands a number of members of the Cabinet and other Government ministers believe the Prime Minister’s allies have made a mistake by referring to Mr. Farage as an “irrelevance”. One Cabinet source also accused Downing Street of having “made no plan” for a Trump victory, despite Government claims that officials have for months been holding talks with members of his inner circle. Mrs. May has made clear...

On June 29, 1972, on the occasion of the ninth anniversary of his coronation, Pope Paul VI declared to the world, “From some fissure the smoke of Satan entered into the temple of God.” The pope was referencing the diabolical forces that had infiltrated the Church through the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Now a key objective of Vatican II was the empowerment of the laity, in keeping with its theme of “active participation of the faithful.” With the Council came the new definition of priesthood as The people of God. It saw the whole Church as one hierarchy or priesthood,...

The French Prime Minister is booed and jeered before and after a minute's silence to remember victims of Thursday's truck attack. Crowds jeered the French Prime Minister as he arrived for a minute's silence to remember victims of the attack in Nice. Boos rang out as it emerged that confidence in the government to combat terrorism had plummeted to an all-time low. Prime Minister Manuel Valls joined thousands packing the seafront, close to the scene of the Bastille Day carnage. With flowers in their hands, crowds stood on the rocky beach for a minute of silence in homage to the victims....

It is one of the tenets of the current movement toward gay marriage. They get to get married, Christians are forced to provide goods and services if they demand it, but — and this is the key caveat of it all — but Christian ministers will not be forced to wed gays because of their religious concerns.

The Saint of the First Red Cross St. Camillus of Lellis By: Louise PerrottaIf you’ve ever been tempted to think that you’re not cut out for sanctity, consider the case of Camillus of Lellis. Here is a saint—the patron of hospitals, health care workers, and the sick— whose burning love for God effected a widespread reform of patient care.“I’ll never forget the sight,” wrote one person who saw six-foot-six Camillus in action. “When he was attending a sick person, he looked like a hen with her chicks or like a mother at her child’s bedside.”And yet for the first...

Another top Israeli leader sharply criticized the Obama administration’s handling of the Ukrainian crisis, telling reporters, “Israel can no longer count on the United States… US foreign policy is collapsing all over the world.” When was the last time you heard this come out of the mouth of an Israeli official? The Jerusalem Post reported: Another senior minister in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s cabinet sharply criticized American foreign policy Tuesday, anonymously joining the open attack by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. Speaking to journalists in the Knesset, the minister said the Americans’ handling of the crisis in Ukraine proved that Israel...

A delegation from the Rabbinical Congress for Peace (RCP) met with Knesset ministers and MKs on Wednesday, urging them to prepare resignation letters to prevent land concessions in ongoing peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA). The meeting came as US Secretary of State John Kerry is in Israel for his tenth visit since taking office, reportedly launching a January diplomatic "offensive" to force Israeli withdrawals. RCP rabbis warned Tourism Minister Uzi Landau and Agriculture Minister Yair Shamir that they sense a complacency similar that prior to the "Disengagement" from Gush Katif. "It’s not enough to verbally oppose the current...

The Langevin Block, the building across from Parliament Hill that houses the Prime Minister’s Office, was evacuated Wednesday morning amid reports of a suspicious person and package in the area. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was not in the building. Police also closed Wellington Street, the street in front of the Parliament Buildings, for two blocks, and taped off roads in the area. RCMP officers were questioning a man who was put into a police cruiser. A joint RCMP-Ottawa police team that deals with potentially hazardous materials was called to the scene. The Conservative government’s throne speech was to be delivered...

In a stunning development, some military priests are facing arrest if they celebrate mass or practice their faith on military bases during the federal government shutdown. “With the government shutdown, many [government service] and contract priests who minister to Catholics on military bases worldwide are not permitted to work – not even to volunteer,” wrote John Schlageter, the general counsel for the Archdiocese for the Military Services USA, in an op-ed this week. “During the shutdown, it is illegal for them to minister on base and they risk being arrested if they attempt to do so.”

Supporters of traditional marriage often fear the free speech ramifications that could emerge as as result of increasing support for gay marriage in the United States. But are these worries really legitimate? In an interview with CBN’s David Brody, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican, joined in this chorus, warning that the push in favor of same-sex unions could, indeed, put First Amendment protections at risk. “If you look at other nations that have gone down the road towards gay marriage, that’s the next step of where it gets enforced,” he said of hate speech regulations that are in place...

A vacancy occurs within a church (as in the pastoral position), and let's say an interim pastor steps in for a certain amount of time until a replacement pastor is voted in. Let's say 4-5/6 licensed/ordained ministers within that denomination apply for the open position and thus for a chance to preach before the church - and the church members who will later hear those ministers will pray about which one they desire to be their pastor and eventually vote one in. Should the board get to toss any of those names from consideration, if those licensed/ordained ministers are in...

The Prime Minister's Bureau has contacted all ministers and deputy ministers and made clear that the government opposes the proposed Regulation Law that will come up for a vote Wednesday. The law would make it possible to compensate land owners who were wronged in construction of communities in Judea and Samaria, without having to hand over the land or tear down homes built upon it. Channel 2 News reported that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's men made clear to the ministers and deputies that if any of them vote in favor of the Regulation Law, they will be fired from the...

The nation’s changing views on same-sex marriage and new support from black leaders could put Maryland on track toward becoming the first state to cast a public vote in favor of gay marriage, according to a poll released Thursday. The survey from liberal-leaning Public Policy Polling showed 57 percent of Maryland voters would vote for gay marriage if it is put to referendum this fall and just 37 percent would vote against it — a stark departure from past polls by the firm and other groups that have shown Marylanders to be almost evenly divided on the issue. More than...

Last week, President Obama's Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to hear oral arguments in a case that pits religious protections against the courts' ordinary ability to intervene in a labor dispute to prevent discrimination.In the early 2000s, Cheryl Perich was a "called teacher" or "commissioned minister" at Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School in Redford, Mich. As such, she taught religious classes, led students in prayer and incorporated religious teachings into secular subjects like math, science, social studies and art.But in 2004, she was diagnosed with narcolepsy and became unable to teach the fall semester that year. When she...

Immediately after President Obama took office, his Hollywood benefactors clamored for the creation of a "Secretary of Culture." Tinseltown was disappointed with the administration's crony arts czar choice (Chicago lawyer Kareem Dale), but left-wing artists and entertainers have now been mollified. Instead of one government-supported arts czar, the White House has designated an entire herd of them. On Tuesday, as part of Obama's "Winning the Future" initiative, the president designated members of the liberal activist group Creative Coalition as official "America's Champions of Change for the Arts." This is the latest in a series of "public engagement" efforts overseen by...

David Cameron today defended the Government's plans to limit housing benefit, saying it was not fair for working people to see their taxes used to fund homes 'they couldn't even dream of'. The Prime Minister dismissed reports there could be a climbdown over the proposals, telling Labour leader Ed Miliband: 'We are going forward with all the proposals we put in the spending review and in the Budget'.