Free Republic

Pope Francis urges Buddhists, Muslims, and Shamans to promote their religions during event in MongoliaSpeaking to Buddhist, Shinto, Shaman, Jewish, Muslim, and assorted Christian religious leaders, Pope Francis praised the assembled religions for being the continuation of 'ancient schools of wisdom.'Speaking as part of an ecumenical gathering during his trip to Mongolia, Pope Francis quoted from Buddhist texts while arguing that “every religious institution” has “the right to freely express what it is and what it believes.”He urged gathered non-Catholic religious leaders to promote their own religions, saying, “May it be so for us, as committed followers of our respective...

Texas Christian University is offering a course on the "Queer Art of Drag," where students will be taught about "drag performance as an outlet for social critique, pedagogy, and queer worldmaking." The course will be taught by Nino Testa, whose preferred pronouns are he/him when going by his name, but when wearing a dress and wig as the drag persona "Maria von Clapp" are she/her. "The gender binary is enforced through compulsory norms, harassment, and violence in service of a white-cis-heteropatriarchy," the syllabus for the spring 2023 course says, adding that "theatricalizing gender" can expand "the possible queer worlds that...

Moscow has said no “Christmas ceasefire” was on the cards after nearly 10 months of war in Ukraine, with fighting looking set to drag on through the winter. ...Zelenskiy had called on Russia this week to start withdrawing its troops by Christmas as the first step towards a peace deal, but Peskov said on Tuesday there would be no peace with Kyiv until Zelenskiy accepted the “realities” on the ground – referring to Russian control over parts of four Ukrainian regions it annexed in September following coercive and illegal “referendums”. After a series of lightning Ukrainian counteroffensives, Kyiv has regained...

Natalia Chorna had warned her more outspoken twin sister to be careful after Russian forces occupied their home town of Skadovsk near Kherson, southern Ukraine, in February. But Tetyana Mudryenko found it hard to keep her anger about the war to herself. Last month, Mudryenko paid the ultimate penalty for proclaiming Skadovsk Ukrainian territory. According to several witnesses, she was dragged into the street by the self-appointed pro-Moscow authorities and hanged in a public execution. “In occupied Skadovsk, you can’t have your own opinion,” said Chorna, 56. As Ukraine pursues its counteroffensive in Kherson and Russia forcibly relocates tens of...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced she will give up leadership of her center-right Christian Democrat Union (CDU) party after 18 years in the post, German media has reported. Merkel announced during a meeting with officials that she will not seek to run for re-election at the party's convention in December. But she made clear that she wanted to remain as chancellor, a position she has held since 2005, CNN affiliate RTL reported, citing party sources. Angela Merkel's Bavarian allies lose majority in crushing vote The announcement is a sign of Merkel's weakened power within her own party, and waning...

Polygraph tests taken in 2011 by Stormy Daniels and her ex-husband Michael Mosney support Daniels accounts that she had unprotected sex with President Trump in July 2006, according to a report Tuesday. A polygraph examiner specifically asked Daniels in 2011 if she had "unprotected sex" with Trump in July of 2006. According to records published by the Wall Street Journal, Daniels was truthful when she answered "yes." Before taking the lie-detector test in 2011, Life & Style Magazine allegedly offered Clifford $15,000 to share the story about her affair with Trump after Daniel's agent reached out to them, the WSJ...

A well-known evangelical pastor and spiritual mentor for President Donald Trump asserted Tuesday that God won’t mind if the president wipes North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un off the face of the earth. Southern Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress, who has close ties to the president, believes Trump has the moral authority to destroy Kim Jong-un. “When it comes to how we should deal with evil doers, the Bible, in the book of Romans, is very clear: God has endowed rulers full power to use whatever means necessary — including war — to stop evil,” Jeffress explained in a statement to CBN...

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is "not Christian" because of his views on immigration, Pope Francis said on his way back to Rome from Mexico. "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian," Francis said in answer to a specific question about Trump's views. "This is not in the gospel."

<p>Another prominent Republican has come out in support of same-sex marriage — or at least, in support of one particular same-sex marriage.</p> <p>Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara served as an official witnesses Saturday at the Maine wedding of Bonnie Clement and Helen Thorgalsen, co-owners of a Kennebunk general store. Thorgalsen posted a photo on Facebook of the 41st commander-in-chief signing a set of documents for them at an outdoor celebration: “Getting our marriage license witnessed!”</p>

US AMBASSADOR to Australia John Berry has married his long-term partner of 17 years in a private same-sex ceremony in Washington D.C. The 54-year-old former head of the Office of Personnel Management - which oversees the US public service - is the first openly gay US ambassador to serve in a Group of 20 nation and the highest ranking openly gay man in United States history. In a short statement, Mr Berry confirmed the nuptials, telling news.com.au, "John Berry and Curtis Yee, partners of 17 years, were formally married on Saturday August 10, at St Margaret's Episcopal Church in Washington...

Senior members of the Church of Scotland voted Monday to let some congregations choose ministers who are in same-sex relationships — an important compromise that must still pass further hurdles before it can become church law. The church's General Assembly backed a motion affirming a traditional conservative view on homosexuality, but permitted liberal congregations to ordain openly gay men or women if they wish. The assembly's vote would require the approval of next year's General Assembly as well as votes by the church's regional presbyteries to become law. The process is complicated, and is expected to take at least two...

<p>Madonna has never been a stranger to controversy, and she once again dipped her toe into those waters at last night’s GLAAD Awards, where she was presenting an award to Anderson Cooper.</p> <p>Dressed in an oversized Boy Scout uniform, Madonna took the organization to task for its policy that bans gay people from joining. “I wanted to be a Boy Scout, but they wouldn’t let me join,” she said during a 10-minute speech. “I think that’s (messed) up. I know how to build a fire. I can pitch a tent … most importantly, I know how to scout for boys.”</p>

Bishop Thomas Tobin's Five Problems with Homosexual “Marriage” It’s a sure sign of spring, as predictable as the Red Sox at spring training, the swallows returning to Capistrano, and the flowing of green beer on St. Patrick’s Day. I’m referring of course to the public re-appearance of the determined proponents of homosexual marriage.It seems that each year at this time the left-leaning columnists, the organized advocates, and the lobbyists at the State House awaken from their hibernation to take-up their perennial campaign to redefine marriage in Rhode Island and impose their personal preferences upon the citizenry of our State.The public...

Franklin Graham, the evangelist and son of Billy Graham, gave sharply different answers Tuesday when asked whether he believed Rick Santorum and Barack Obama were Christians. Graham, the CEO and president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, also declined to say on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” whether he thought Mitt Romney was a Christian. He weighed in at length on the candidates and their faith: * ON OBAMA: “You have to ask him. I cannot answer that question for anybody. All I know is I’m a sinner, and God has forgiven me of my sins… You have to ask every person....

When I learned that Madonna – aka the Grand Priestess of the music industry – would be performing at the Superbowl halftime show, I thought: “This should be interesting”. And it was. While most were amazed by a woman in her fifties dancing around with LMFAO and others were annoyed at her lip-syncing, I was interested with something else: the flurry of symbolism flashed to billions of viewers worldwide. While most considered Madonna’s performance as an entertaining interlude to the most important football game of the year, those blessed with symbol-literacy will probably agree with the following statement: Madonna’s halftime...

This morning, in the middle of his campaign National Prayer Breakfast speech, President Obama delighted those of us who love irony by quoting C.S. Lewis. It was an interesting moment in a speech that put forth the notion that taxing the wealthy is right in line with the teachings of Jesus. I mean, Jesus did hang out with tax collectors, right? The idea that government welfare is somehow the fulfillment of Jesus’ teaching on charity is a common misconception that many people make, Christians included, and it’s the main reason that liberals believe conservatives are Christian hypocrites. Perhaps if the...

Delegates at the most recent national meeting of the United Church of Christ (UCC) agreed overwhelmingly July 4 to strike the term “heavenly Father” from the denomination’s constitutional definition of the local church. By a vote of 613 to 161, the delegates voted to change language in Article V of the church’s bylaws (see page 3) from describing a local church as composed of persons who believe in “God as heavenly Father” to those who believe in “the triune God” — thereby relieving UCC members of the responsibility of acknowledging God as masculine. Explaining the change, which reflects a trend...

Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket Hilliard school Tuesday, April 26, 2011 03:23 PM By Charlie Boss The Columbus Dispatch The Westboro Baptist Church, known for its anti-gay protests at schools and high-profile events, is making a pit stop at Hilliard Darby High School next month. Hilliard school officials sent an e-mail alert to parents today, alerting them of the group's protest scheduled from 7:10 to 7:40 a.m. on May 10. "While the group does have the right to gather in protest as well as free speech, they will NOT be exercising that right on school grounds," Hilliard Darby Principal...

This is the time of year for phase two of the Christian mythology. Phase one was Advent ending with Christmas. Now it’s Lent which ends with Easter. At least phase one is a happier time, even if the gift wasn’t quite what was expected. But then, neither was the “Messiah.” That disappointment needed a lot of explanation by the Doctor of Law, Saul, who changed his name to Paul, probably due to his notorious reputation among earlier followers of Jesus. He supposedly had a reawakening that had something to do with forgiveness and mercy without punishment for his past inhumane...

Click here to find out more! When asked about the significance of her daughter, Chelsea, marrying Marc Mezvinsky, who is Jewish, and thus being married in an interfaith union, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded, “Over the years, so many of the barriers that prevented people from getting married, crossing lines of faith or color or ethnicity have just disappeared.” True, the barriers have disappeared, but serious difficulties remain. While some scholars argue that mixed-faith unions “serve as a refiner’s fire” that make the relationships stronger, the statistical evidence indicates this is all too frequently not the outcome. The American...