Free Republic

Beijing - The son of American evangelist Billy Graham said Friday he is opposed to missionary work at this summer's Beijing Olympic Games. Franklin Graham, also an evangelist, was speaking to reporters Friday during a visit to Beijing for meetings with the Communist Party-controlled Protestant church movement. He said he wanted to encourage authorities to resolve conflicts with the church, but would not criticize policies that critics say limit the church's independence and religious rights. While some Christian groups have said they plan to proselytize during the August games, Graham said he was against that because Chinese law does not...

Gallup says only 7 percent of the world's Muslims are political radicals. Yet 36 percent think the 9/11 attacks were in some way justified.On the inside back cover of books published by Gallup Press there is the following breathtaking statement: Gallup Press exists to educate and inform the people who govern, manage, teach and lead the world's six billion citizens. Each book meets Gallup's requirements of integrity, trust and independence and is based on a Gallup-approved science and research. Don't be distracted by the bad grammar. Focus instead on Gallup's "requirements of integrity, trust and independence." Thanks to a remarkable...

Words matter, and in the global war on terror we are losing the battle of words, in a self-inflicted defeat. The consequences could not be more profound. Recent government policy memoranda, circulating through the national counter-terrorism and diplomatic community, establishes a new "speech code" for the lexicon in the war on terror, as reported by the Associated Press and now available in the public domain . These new "speech codes" recommended that analysts and policy makers avoid the terms jihad or jihadist or mujhadid or "al-Qaida movement" and replace them with "extremists" and by extension other non-specific terms. The use...

LOS ANGELES—When May Day protesters take to the streets downtown to call for immigration reform, police will be using new tactics and technology in hopes of overcoming the memory of last year's event. LAPD officers pummeled demonstrators and reporters with batons and opened fire with rubber bullets last May Day, rekindling accusations of excessive force that have dogged the LAPD for decades. Police brass have spent the past year trying to undo the damage done during those few minutes at MacArthur Park. Chief William Bratton promised things would be different Thursday and made a point of meeting with organizers beforehand....

Imagine that following the bombing of Peal Harbor in December 1941, that FDR had prohibiting the use of the terms "Nazi" or "Japanese Imperialism" due to pressure brought to bear by German and Japanese-American lobbying groups. Or at the height of the Cold War that the US government had determined to ban the use of "Soviet" or "communism" for fear of offending the sensibilities of Russian-Americans or European socialists. Yet that is precisely what has happened following the revelation last week by the Associated Press that the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security has issued guidelines banning the...

War On Terror: Caving to Muslim pressure groups, the Bush administration has banned the term "jihadist" to define the enemy. Islamic terrorists will now be known as "violent extremists." Our war on radical Islam has been hamstrung by political correctness from the start. First, we couldn't call the campaign to strike back at al-Qaida a "crusade" because Muslims found it historically offensive. Then we couldn't define the enemy as "Islamic terrorists" because it insulted Islam — even though it accurately described the Muslims committing murder and mayhem in the name of Islam. To appease critics, we narrowed the terminology, confining...

A reliable source has informed me that Condoleeza Rice has approved a new lexicon for State Department usage, absolutely forbidding the use of the terms "jihad" and "jihadist" by any State Department official. The argument, of course, is the old Streusand/Guirard claim that by using the word jihad, we're validating the jihadist claim to be waging jihad. Of course, it's ridiculous to think that the U.S. State Department carries any validating authority within the Islamic world to determine what is Islam and what isn't. This would be the first time that unbelievers have set the meaning of Islamic theology for...

PARIS (Reuters) - French former film star Brigitte Bardot went on trial on Tuesday for insulting Muslims, the fifth time she has faced the charge of "inciting racial hatred" over her controversial remarks about Islam and its followers. Prosecutors asked that the Paris court hand the 73-year-old former sex symbol a two-month suspended prison sentence and fine her 15,000 euros ($23,760) for saying the Muslim community was "destroying our country and imposing its acts." Since retiring from the film industry in the 1970s, Bardot has become a prominent animal rights activist but she has also courted controversy by denouncing Muslim...

Minnesota taxpayers are footing the bill for a charter school that reportedly violates the law by promoting religion — Islam. Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA) in Inver Grove Heights regularly holds prayer sessions and includes study of the Koran in its curriculum, even though charter schools are public schools and must not endorse or promote religion, according to columnist Katherine Kersten of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune. She writes: “TIZA has many characteristics that suggest a religious school. It shares the headquarters building of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, whose mission is ‘establishing Islam in Minnesota.’ The building also...

Cultural MarxismBy Linda Kimball There are two misconceptions held by many Americans.  The first is that communism ceased to be a threat when the Soviet Union imploded.  The second is that the New Left of the Sixties collapsed and disappeared as well.  "The Sixties are dead," wrote columnist George Will ("Slamming the Doors," Newsweek, Mar. 25, 1991) Because the New Left lacked cohesion it fell apart as a political movement.  However, its revolutionaries reorganized themselves into a multitude of single issue groups.  Thus we now have for example, radical feminists, black extremists, anti-war ‘peace' activists, animal rights groups, radical environmentalists,...

Funny how the "liberals" in the Church have developed this fondness for banning things. First they banned their own modern Alternative Service Book after only 20 years in use. Now, the Very Reverend Colin Slee, the Dean of Southwark, has banned the hymn Jerusalem from his cathedral because it is "not in the glory of God" and is too nationalistic. But surely there is the radiance of divinity in "And was the Holy Lamb of God on England's pleasant pastures seen"? The pseudo-scholarly clergy don't like that line because they deny the Glastonbury legend about Jesus coming to England with...

It's important for Muslims to keep reminding us that there is absolutely, positively no relationship between Islam and violence. Otherwise it's easy to forget. The latest excuse for Islamic bonhomie is the documentary "Fitna" by Geert Wilders. In the 15-minute film, showing on YouTube and other Internet sites, the Dutch MP says that far from getting Islam wrong, terrorists understand their religion only too well. "Fitna" (Arabic for "upheaval" or "ordeal") has verses from the Koran -- which Wilders calls a "fascist book" -- artfully interspersed with scenes of carnage from 9/11 and the March, 2004 Madrid train bombing, as...

Talk about a civics lesson: A high-school senior has raised questions about political bias in a popular textbook on U.S. government, and legal scholars and top scientists say the teen's criticism is well-founded. They say "American Government" by conservatives James Wilson and John Dilulio presents a skewed view of topics from global warming to separation of church and state. The publisher now says it will review the book, as will the College Board, which oversees college-level Advanced Placement courses used in high schools. Student Matthew LaClair of Kearny, N.J., recently brought his concerns to the attention of the Center for...

WASHINGTON — Talk about a civics lesson: A high-school senior has raised questions about political bias in a popular textbook on U.S. government, and legal scholars and top scientists say the teen's criticism is well-founded. They say "American Government" by conservatives James Wilson and John Dilulio presents a skewed view of topics from global warming to separation of church and state. The publisher now says it will review the book, as will the College Board, which oversees college-level Advanced Placement courses used in high schools.

Manhattan grand jury has subpoenaed the university records of the controversial black Columbia Teachers College professor who found a noose hanging from her office door - signaling that the investigation is broadening to examine possible links between the teacher, her closest friends and the racially charged incident, The Post has learned. According to sources, the subpoenas obtained recently by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force and prosecutors demanded the college hand over a laundry list of records pertaining to embattled professor Madonna Constantine, whose colleague found a 4-foot hangman's noose on her office doorknob last October. The incident happened at...

"Hate crimes" laws were defeated in Congress just a few months ago. Just a few weeks ago, Frank Wright of the National Religious Broadcasters Association warned, "We must be one in Christ to face the days ahead" because "hate crimes" laws would create untold new liability for Christians. Now a major Christian ministry has confirmed that such "hate crimes" laws already are setting limits on what it can broadcast. The issue is "hate crimes" laws in Canada, and they are affecting U.S. Christian ministries that broadcast into that nation. WND reported just a week ago on a Christian ministry based...

FARGO, N.D. (AP) - North Dakota State University is investigating complaints about a campus skit in which a white student in blackface portrayed Barack Obama receiving a lap dance. The same skit, part of a charity fundraiser held at a campus theater, also featured a depiction of cowboys having sex with each other, witnesses told The Forum newspaper, which first reported the backlash Friday. "We're trying to find out the right approaches for accountability, but at the same time try to heal wounds that have occurred and allow the campus to move ahead," Janna Stoskopf, NDSU's dean of students, told...

While many on the left are super-sensitive when it comes to any inference of voter disenfranchisement or coercion, their thin skins have emerged when it comes to the ongoing charge of liberal indoctrination in academia, demonstrated by the current rise of all things Obamanation. How else to debunk a conspiracy theory on liberal indoctrination in schools? Try a survey conducted by academics. According to the Associated Press, “The research, to be published later this year in the journal PS: Political Science and Politics, analyzes separate surveys on the attitudes of about 6,800 students at 38 universities and how they changed...

DOVER, Del. - A Delaware state human relations commission is investigating allegations that a fifth-grade teacher told her class she wouldn’t vote for Barack Obama because he is "scary" and a Muslim. The mother of a 10-year-old student complained, saying her daughter’s teacher made the comments during a mock primary on Super Tuesday last month at a southeastern Delaware elementary school. The student is a Muslim. The Democratic presidential candidate is a Christian, but he’s had to fight against false Internet rumors suggesting he’s really a Muslim intent on destroying the United States. The Indian River School District says it...

PROVIDENCE — A new initiative borne of a recent incident between a Providence storeowner and two Spanish-speaking customers is asking all Rhode Islanders to help stop hate speech and violence directed at “immigrants and communities of color.” The “We Can Stop the Hate” campaign was announced at the University of Rhode Island’s downtown campus, a week after published reports about a March 1 encounter between two Dominican natives who are also U.S. citizens, and David C. Richardson, owner of Rhode Island Refrigeration. The incident provoked accusations against Richardson of racial profiling and committing a hate crime. The “stop the hate”...

Many heads turned in Ringgold Wednesday when they saw an African-American man dressed in a Confederate soldier's uniform, carrying a Confederate flag. It wasn't a joke. H.K. Edgerton came to Ringgold to make a bold statement - he opposes city leader's removing the Confederate flag from the city's flag pole. Edgerton says the Confederate flag is misunderstood, feared and hated because people are trying to be politically correct - which he says desecrates the honor and real meaning of the Civil War era emblem. "I'm here because your town council climbed into bed with all the politically correct folks who...

The ongoing saga of the McCain Campaign’s effort to keep the political discourse respectful added another chapter today. As reported by Jon Martin, the campaign has suspended a junior staffer, Soren Dayton, a conservative blogger/consultant who worked in McCain’s political department. His crime: Distributing, via Twitter, a smarmy Youtube video that mashes together the words of Barack Obama, Jeremiah Wright, a photograph of the 1968 Olympics black power salute and a Public Enemy song, among other things. The video suggests, in a rather crude fashion, what conservative commentators have long held: That Wright’s inflammatory rhetoric is a key clue into...

Did anyone else watch the LAW & ORDER episode on Wednesday night? I managed to catch last 30 minutes of it. Jason is accused of stoning his mother to death because she was having an affair. He is a student of a pastor who runs a Christian camp for children. DA people play a videotape of the pastor's sermon...The pastor tells the children that we are in a "war" with Islamic fanatics. He speaks out against "hypocrites". Prosecutors shake their heads...The deputy prosecutor states that one doesn't have to go to Middle East to find a school for extremists. Jason...

Geraldine Ferraro’s impolitic commentary regarding Barack Obama has been widely covered and discussed. But in the rush to examine the really juicy part of her monologue, you know – the stuff about race – something else the 72 year old former congresswoman said is being lost. Toward the end of her recent, now infamous, interview, one that has apparently cost her that highly coveted role of “Honorary New York Leadership Council Chair�, the woman who broke political ice twenty-four years ago as the Democratic nominee for Vice President, talked about the big bad wolf of PARTISANSHIP. I’m referring to the...

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will not disavow controversial comments made by a high-profile supporter about Barack Obama’s race that his campaign says is part of an “insidious pattern� of attack. Former congresswoman and one-time vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro told a reporter for the California-based Daily Breeze, “If Obama were a white man, he would not be in this position.� “And if he was a woman he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept,� she added. Clinton told the Associated...

"If Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race," she said. Really. The cite is an April 15, 1988 Washington Post story (byline: Howard Kurtz), available only on Nexis. Here's the full context: Placid of demeanor but pointed in his rhetoric, Jackson struck out repeatedly today against those who suggest his race has been an asset in the campaign. President Reagan suggested Tuesday that people don't ask Jackson tough questions because of his race. And former representative Geraldine A. Ferraro (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that because of his "radical" views, "if Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't...

In California, your child's neighborhood bully is likely to be the state. And if the state government can't successfully mandate absolute allegiance to its dictates, then a judicial buddy can do the dirty work.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Iowa Congressman Steve King says terrorists would celebrate if Democratic candidate Barack Obama won the presidency. King, a Republican, bases his prediction on several criteria: Obama's pledge to pull troops out of Iraq, his Kenyan heritage and his middle name Hussein -- a reminder of Iraq's former leader. King, in an interview today with the Daily Reporter in Spencer, said al-Qaida would -- quote -- "be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11th." King says terrorists would declare victory in the war on terror because Obama would pull troops...

The FBI believes its agents still aren't sensitive enough to Muslims and their culture, so the bureau has extended by "a few weeks" its Islamic cultural "enrichment" training program, WND has learned. During a recent outreach event at a Washington-area mosque, FBI officials also reassured a large turnout of concerned Muslims that the bureau is not profiling Arabs and Muslims for terrorism, and has made investigating alleged "hate crimes" against them and other minorities "the second-highest priority in the criminal division of the FBI." Among the officials who attended the Feb. 8 "town hall meeting" at the large ADAMS Center...

Mary Ann Andree was drying her hair in the Rio Sport and Health Club in Gaithersburg, Maryland, last month when the door to the women’s locker room suddenly opened. In came a man, wearing a blue ruffled skirt and make-up. As Andree later told reporters, “I was very upset. There is a lot he could have seen.” Andree is far from alone. A lot of other women in Montgomery County, Maryland, are upset over a new law that demands co-ed locker rooms and bathrooms in all public accommodations. Montgomery County, adjacent to Washington, D.C., passed the law last November to...

Parents' fury after school's politically correct online newsletter covers up pupils' faces with 'cartoon smileys'Last updated at 15:49pm on 5th March 2008 Furious parents today attacked a "politically correct" primary school for covering pupils' faces on their website with "cartoon smileys" - to protect their identities.  Teachers took the bizarre decision after deciding mothers and fathers would not want their children being recognised on the internet. But parents described the decision as "PC gone mad" and demanded the "raver-style" faces be removed. Scroll down for more...Smiles all round: Cann Hall Primary deciced to cover pupils' faces online with 'smileys'  However,...

The controversial stars and bars of the Confederate Flag could soon find their way to Florida license plates. State Rep. Don Brown, R-DeFuniak Springs, has worked with the Sons of Confederate Veterans to sponsor a bill that would allow the group to create a non-profit license plate that bears the Dixie flag. The tag would cost roughly $25 from the Department of Motor Vehicles. SCV Executive Director Ben Sewell said his organization has been successful in the past at getting the license plates in numerous states and feels they’ve met the requirements in the state of Florida to acquire the...

Love with the perfect dictator In the liberal breast beats a strange passion for normalizing What's wrong with this picture? "Saying he is no longer healthy enough to hold office, Cuban leader Fidel Castro has announced he will not seek re-election after 49 years in power" — the Miami Herald. Hmm. Castro didn't really have to "seek" re-election, did he? He's a — what's the word? Oh, yeah — "dictator." If he "seeks" re-election, he's pretty much guaranteed to find it — assuming for the purposes of argument you can be "re-elected" if you've never been freely or fairly elected...

Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg Description: “Fascists,” “Brownshirts,” “jackbooted stormtroopers”—such are the insults typically hurled at conservatives by their liberal opponents. Calling someone a fascist is the fastest way to shut them up, defining their views as beyond the political pale. But who are the real fascists in our midst? Glenn's Comments: Fascism with a smiley face, it's already here. Mentioned: January 14, 2008

Having previously urged readers to vote in Hasbro's Monopoly Here and Now World Edition competition to select cities around the world for the World Edition game board, I must now follow up with that post to report that Hasbro has gone the way of political correctness or kowtowing to the arab lobby/boycott by removing "Israel" as the country in which Jerusalem is found.

Muslim woman: Wal-Mart cashier said 'Don't stick me up' Tuesday, February 19, 2008 6:45 PM CST RIVERDALE, Utah - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. apologized to a Muslim woman who said she was mocked because of her face veil. "Please don't stick me up," a cashier told the shopper on Feb. 2, according to The Council on American-Islamic Relations. Wal-Mart apologized Monday in a letter signed by Rolando Rodriquez, a vice president and regional general manager. It was released Tuesday by the council's Nevada chapter. "I can assure you that the associate in question was disciplined in accordance with our employment policies...

Slowly Strangling America's Golden Goose© 2006 J. Marvin HerndonTransdyne Corporation   Imagine: You wake up tomorrow and find that America’s judicial system has changed. Now, prosecutors can present secret witness testimony and only provide their own brief excerpts or summaries to the defense; judges are no longer independent, they have been replaced by the prosecutor’s boss. Your first thought, “Now, we will get much needed criminal convictions.” Then, “Ohmygosh! Are we in deep yogurt! We have seen all that before, in the Spanish Inquisition and in virtually every totalitarian regime on Earth, so we know what will happen. Soon...

I know that many people are extremely frustrated with politics these days and the current state of the Republican party. Many people are sad that their first-choice candidate dropped out, then their second-choice, and they keep having to compromise more and more until we get to the point where we feel pressured to vote for a liberal, open-borders, unconstitutional insider politician who we ordinarily would never dream of voting for. But have you asked yourself: how is it that we find ourselves in this predicament? And is there anything more to it than meets the eye? I know that anything...

The Government has drawn up a controversial phrasebook on the language of terrorism and is insisting civil servants no longer blame fanatical extremism on Islam, for fear of upsetting the Muslim community. The new counter-terrorism guidelines suggest that phrases such as "Islamic terrorist" and "jihadi fundamentalism" are too inflammatory and imply that all Muslims explicitly are responsible for extremism. Instead the leaked Home Office document advises Whitehall bosses that they refer to violent extremism and criminal murderers or thugs to avoid any link between Islam and terrorism. However, the war on terror handbook has provoked an unfavourable response from people...

Ecofeminist Perspectives by: Bethany Stotts, February 05, 2008 The readings presented by the panelists encompassed a strange synthesis of Marxism, feminism, environmentalism, and lesbianism, which they argued were in ideological continuity....Neocolonial Postnationalism “Land remains the common ground for all radical action. But land is more than the rocks and trees, the animal, and plantlife...For immigrant and native alike, land is also the factories where we work, the water our children drink, and the housing project where we live. For women, lesbians, and gay men, land is that physical mass called our bodies,” Professor LaRochelle read, quoting Moraga. Moraga also wrote...

Don't mention Islamic terrorists, says guide By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor Last Updated: 1:43pm GMT 04/02/2008 Whitehall officials have been issued with a guide on how to talk about Islamist terrorists without offending Muslims. One thing they should not do is call them Islamist terrorists but instead ministers and civil servants have been told to refer to them as "criminals". Now the language has been codified into a phrase-book issued to departments. It has been produced by the new Research, Information and Communication Unit, a "hearts and minds" outfit based in the Home Office. The RCU has been set...

Some Asians in the police and in Government jobs have been accused of blocking the crackdown against so-called honour killings. It is alleged they are not only failing to help desperate women trying to flee abuse and arranged marriages but are actively encouraging punishment for those they believe are breaking traditional taboos. Terrified victims who seek official help are even being tracked down by a network of Asian men working in Government departments and social services, according to a study written by the think-tank Social Cohesion. One woman was found by her family after she signed on at a Jobcentre...

The Spartans worshipped many Gods. The Persians only one - Ahura Mazda. Zoroastranism a faith which led to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Spartans despised democracy. They fought for generations against the Athenians because of their devout hatred towards the concept. The Persians allowed democratic reign, freedom for Satrips and anyone within the empire. Cyrus the Great the founder of the Persian Empire is mentioned 23 times in the Bible and is the only figure dubbed the 'anointed' Cyrus is mentioned some 23 times in the literature of the Old Testament. Isaiah refers to Cyrus as Jehovah’s “shepherd,” the Lord’s...

Patriotism lessons would glorify Britain's morally dubious past, say teachersBy LAURA CLARK - More by this author » Last updated at 20:17pm on 31st January 2008 New study: Patriotism lessons could be introduced to foster nation pride but teachers think it could exclude non-British pupils "Moral failings" in Britain's past mean pupils should not be taught patriotism, teachers said in a survey.  Nearly 90 per cent opposed plans for history and citizenship lessons aimed at fostering national identity and pride. One of the 47 London teachers questioned said the lessons might encourage "BNP-"type thinking". Another said the idea "reeked of...

Latino group says 'hate speech' infiltrates immigration debate © 2008 The Associated Press WASHINGTON — A national Latino group says it's fighting back against what it considers hate speech in the national immigration debate and elections. National Council of La Raza president Janet Murguia said Thursday her group will pressure candidates and network executives to clamp down on the speech. The group has launched a Web site to counter the speech, http://www.wecanstopthehate.org Some of the phrases the Hispanic group identified include referring to immigrants as invaders and associating them with animals. The group claims immigrants are accused of bringing crime...

Jeremy Bernard thinks he has been sucked into a time warp. Only five months ago, he was sitting shoulder to shoulder with U.S. Senator Barack Obama in the back of a black SUV, speeding through West Hollywood on Santa Monica Boulevard, talking about the fine points of gay and lesbian federal legislation. An hour later, the Democratic presidential candidate was hitting every detail they had discussed in the car, but this time on network television. For Bernard, it was mind-blowing. The key fund-raiser for the Obama campaign was seeing his issues dramatically migrate from a personal chat to the national...

Suicide by toleranceLorne Gunter, National Post  Published: Monday, January 28, 2008 Walt Kelly, the cartoonist and satirist once had his famous character Pogo say, "We have met the enemy and he is us."In the clash between the West and Islam, that is increasingly true. We are our own worst enemy.Those of us who care about the survival of Western civilization occasionally rage about the way Muslim organizations feign outrage in the media at the tiniest slight. We grind out teeth when those organizations file human rights complaints against the writings of the likes of Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant. We...

January 26, 2008 10:00 AM First They Came for Piglet Excessive deference to Islam. By Mark Steyn My favorite headline of the year so far comes from The Daily Mail in Britain: “Government Renames Islamic Terrorism As ‘Anti-Islamic Activity’ To Woo Muslims.” Her Majesty’s government is not alone in feeling it’s not always helpful to link Islam and the, ah, various unpleasantnesses with suicide bombers and whatnot. Even in his cowboy Crusader heyday, President Bush liked to cool down the crowd with a lot of religion-of-peace stuff. But the British have now decided that kind of mealy-mouthed “respect” is no...

CHILDREN as young as three are being taught anti-racism lessons as part of the first State Government-funded program designed to stamp out bigotry from a young age. The program will be rolled out at a preschool in western NSW and youngsters will be given regular lessons in tolerance and multiculturalism.

A children’s story based on the tale of the Three Little Pigs was rejected for an award after judges became concerned that it would offend Muslims. The animated virtual book for primary school children, The Three Little Cowboy Builders, was also criticised for its potential to offend builders. The row centred on the Bett awards, which were supported by Becta, the Government’s technology agency for schools. The judges’ remarks, reported on the education technology website Merlin John Online, included: “Is it true that all builders are cowboys, builders get their work blown down, and builders are like pigs? “The idea...