Free Republic

595—Mahomet was without authority. His reasons, then, should have been very strong, having only their own force. What does he say, then, that we must believe him? 596—The Psalms are chanted throughout the whole world. Who renders testimony to Mahomet? Himself. Jesus Christ desires His own testimony to be as nothing. The quality of witnesses necessitates their existence always and everywhere; and he, miserable creature, is alone. 597—Against Mahomet.--The Koran is not more of Mahomet than the Gospel is of Saint Matthew, for it is cited by many authors from age to age. Even its very enemies, Celsus and Porphyry,...

Religious groups that refuse abortion counseling no longer can get grants to help trafficking victims unless they ensure the counseling is provided by a third party, under new guidelines by the Department of Health and Human Services. In guidance quietly posted online in June, the agency said groups competing for grants must offer "the full range of legally permissible gynecological and obstetric care," which includes abortion counseling and referrals. If groups don't offer the services, they must propose an alternative approach to remain competitive for a grant. That has at least one anti-abortion advocate contending the new policy may violate...

...Of course I have no idea whether the recent decision presages an upswing in hostility to Christians of traditional faith, much less a persecution of them. But even if it does, and doomsday scenarios are proved prescient, and dark times come, there is still no reason for panic or to rush around proclaiming that the sky is falling. All it will mean for us is a return to the catacombs. We were fine down there then, and we will be fine now. America has for some time regarded itself as being a Christian nation, with a Constitution and a judiciary...

Genesis 15:1 "I Am your Shield, Your Very Great Reward."

...While we reaffirm today, as we have always done, the unchanging reality of repentance as a path open to all, without qualification, and abhor those who would react to any sin, or any sinner, other than in love and with the promise of new life that true repentance may bring, we nonetheless shall not succumb to the prevalent social trend of our day, which equates recognition and acceptance of sin with love. For the legalisation of sin is precisely what this judicial act accomplishes, whatever may otherwise be its aims or intentions. Marriage has been from creation, is now and...

It may be 70 years since he worked at Auschwitz, and his occupation may have been no more than clerkly; he may even, as he claims, have have protested against what was happening and attempted to extricate himself from it; but it is thoroughly and totally right that an old man should be tried, sentenced, and punished for his involvement in the monstrous horrors of the National Socialist holocaust. If is true that his actions, according to the perverted legal code in place in Germany at that time, were not illegal when he performed them, that makes not one iota...

It’s by design. As I, and others, have repeatedly warned, the establishment of so-called “gay marriage” as a newfangled federal “right,” and the free exercise of religion as guaranteed by the First Amendment simply cannot coexist in harmony. Things diametrically at odds cannot possibly occupy, with any coherence, the same time and space. The secular left is tripping over itself right now to prove my point. In the wake of last month’s Obergefell v. Hodges opinion – an opinion that somehow divined a top secret “constitutional right” for Patrick Henry to “marry” Henry Patrick – liberals are now demanding, as...

Los Angeles (CNN)—Catholics in the nation's largest archdiocese will hold a special prayer this weekend about immigrants at a time when Donald Trump has put the issue on center stage. Specifically, their prayers will counter anti-immigration views as the Los Angeles archdiocese holds a special cathedral Mass to affirm the humanity and plight of immigrants. The annual service was planned before the presidential candidate made incendiary remarks about illegal immigration, and the Mass in recognition of immigrants won't address Trump's remarks. Still, the service comes as Archbishop José H. Gómez of Los Angeles took exception with Trump, who described Mexicans...

That's not the purpose of FR and not the purpose of our Religion forum. Trashing religion is not debate. Those who cannot live with this are welcome to post elsewhere.

One news event that may have passed most people by last week was the election of Tim Farron as leader of the Liberal Democrats.The party, which was once Britain’s third largest, was decimated in May’s General Election, losing all but eight of its 57 seats, completing a brutal period of decline while it was in government alongside the Conservatives. The inquisition began the morning after Farron’s election when the BBC’s John Humphreys asked him if he would “seek advice from God when it came to making important policy decisions”. Farron accused Humphreys of focusing on “the shocking revelation that a...

‘The Church has got no mandate from the Lord to pronounce on scientific matters.’In that one sentence, Cardinal Pell puts his finger on what is wrong with Laudato Si‘, Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment. In that document, Francis waded into an argument about climate change and took sides. Moreover, he gave the impression that he was speaking for all Catholics when he did so; and, if by any chance he wasn’t, errant faithful should fall into line.In an interview in Thursday’s Financial Times, the Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy stepped out of line. See above. It was...

As a lifelong Catholic, I pray daily for the abolishment of abortion, and like many Catholics I have attended the rallies, marched in the rain, donated money, and from the sidewalks of Planned Parenthood worn the heckling as a badge of honor. In 2010 I was elected to the Iowa Senate as the first Republican to represent Sioux City in over 30 years, and I am proud to say that I am a Catholic, a husband, and a father who believes that abortion is murder, and that there is no such thing as an “exception” when it comes to the...

Group sought to convince Republicans that their rhetoric was pushing away atheist voters.AMES — As they arrived at an all-day cattle call of conservative presidential hopefuls, Christian conservatives were greeted by demonstrators from the Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers who sought to convince Republicans that the party’s rhetoric was pushing atheists away as voters. “They’re telling me they don’t want me in their party,” said John Fruetel, of Newton, who was part of a protest outside of Stephens Auditorium in Ames where more than 2,500 people were arriving to hear from the 2016 GOP candidates at the 2015 Family Leadership Summit....

From the Catholic News Agency, we read that this conference will occur next week, July 21-22. Ostensibly its purpose is to demonstrate a linkage between "climate change" and slavery. Well, I daresay other linkages are made even more manifest by this conference. The title of the conference is one indicator. "Modern Slavery and Climate Change: the Commitment of the Cities" is the title of the workshop in question that will be held during the conference entitled "Prosperity, People and Planet: Achieving Sustainable Development in Our Cities". The conference is sponsored by (surprise!) the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Let's focus on...

There is a certain kind of American who, when overseas or in the presence of foreigners—especially Western Europeans—goes out of his way to advertise that he’s not at all like his ignorant and reactionary countrymen. Usually he does this preemptively. A well-timed joke about George W. Bush could do the trick. So could an ostentatious roll of the eyes at the sight of the fat Yankee tourists in their obnoxious yellow pants, baseball hats, and windbreakers.The point of this signaling is to acknowledge the intense shame that goes along with being a default member of a detested class. There is...

A bombshell undercover video showing Planned Parenthood Federation of America Senior Director of Medical Services Dr. Deborah Nucatola talking about how the pro-abortion group sells the body parts of aborted fetuses over lunch has enraged even pro-choice advocates. But Franklin Graham has had some of the strongest words yet. The evangelist first states what at least most Christians believe: abortion is a sin and is clearly murder in God's eyes. Then he makes it personal. "The people who perform it have no conscience, so I'm not at all surprised that they would be selling organs, tissue and body parts from...

Using recent quoted from President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, this video makes the case that the change that liberals are really interested in is changing who you believe in and who you trust. The liberal idea of change is to get you to change your God. They want you to trust them with all of your life decisions.

If you’re a Catholic and you’re on Facebook, you’ve probably seen the sponsored posts. If you’re a person living in the DC Metro area, you’ve probably heard the radio ads, seen the posters at bus stops, or maybe even the full-page ad in the Washington Post. These ads, from a San Francisco-based non profit called the “Knights of St. Francis,” are showing up everywhere, and unless the space is being donated, at significant expense. I decided to dig a little deeper to find out who was behind the group, and I didn’t have to look too far.According the the group’s...

I wrote this piece weeks ago. It has just now been published online. I had no idea that the Center for Medical Progress was about to drop the bomb on Planned Parenthood and their participation in the market for aborted baby parts. In case you were wondering what some companies use aborted baby parts for, read my latest at the National Catholic Register: "It has been several years since the height of the stem-cell controversy, where every day debate raged over the destruction of embryos for embryonic stem cells. These human embryos, conceived in a lab by the hundreds of...

DENVER, Colorado - Four Christian Universities in Oklahoma lost a religious freedom case Tuesday in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. A district court temporarily stopped enforcement of the Obama administration's abortion-pill mandate after the universities objected to it in 2013. The appeals court overturned that ruling Tuesday saying it's the insurance companies that provide the contraception not the universities.