Free Republic

The people who write for the Virginian Pilot have faith that their readers are as stupid and bigoted as they are. In their latest assault on reason and morals they claim – and I’m not making this up – “Insurance companies don't mind [giving free birth control pills, condoms, tubal ligation and abortion pills], because contraception is far less expensive than what it prevents.” What the editorial’s writers want you to believe is that insurance companies are happy to spend billions of dollars paying for condoms, birth control pills, tubal ligations and abortion pills because that way they won’t be...

...JoanWalsh at Salon writes that she was raised Catholic, but has since turned into "a secularfeministliberaldemocrat." Last Friday evening, when Obama's supporters were still clinging to their belief that his announcement of a compromise would steal all the wind out of the bishops' sails, she asked this: Why did we spend 10 days listening to prominent Catholics, including even some liberals and Democrats, insist that the White House had overreached and trampled on "religious freedom" - in this case, the "freedom" of the Catholic hierarchy to impose rules that even most Catholics don't live by? ("Catholic tribalism and the contraceptive...

A retired US Marine officer with whom I corresponded asked, "What type of crisis do you think will cause the intellectual right to form a critical mass - if that is even possible?" I wrote back, "Lincoln's Second Inaugural is chiseled on the wall of his monument, and he said all that needs to be said. If they won't take it from Lincoln, why would they take it from us?" But it's Lincoln's birthday, and it's time for another try. Abraham Lincoln is America's least popular president. It seems odd to say this given the near-deification of a man who...

A political party in Belgium has started a campaign, called "Women against Islamisation", with a logo in which a young woman appears in a burqa and a bikini. An-Sofie holding the logo on the right The campaign was launched by the rightwing Vlaams Belang party. Featured in the campaign logo is An-Sofie Dewinter, the gorgeous teenage daughter of Philip Dewinter, leader the of Vlaams Belang party. The burqa covers An-Sofie’s head and face while the rest of it falls behind her back. The bikini covers her breast and crotch. The burka and bikini logo is meant for the "Freedom or...

The phenom explains his favorite musical acts to Fuse…

I belong to a women's club (bit like Junior League AKA sorority for grown-ups) in our area where we raise money for various charities. We have normally given to the Komen Foundation in the past. Today, the President of the club said that we now are going to give to "Relay for Life" because of the controversy (thank God!) Does anyone know about this organization? Do they also contribute to the destruction of life? Someone in the meeting said they are tied to the American Cancer Society and that it was "OK"....but reading online.....not so much. Any insight, greatly appreciated.

MOUNT RAINIER, MARYLAND, February 15, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Valentine’s Day, a priest and a nun penned an op-ed in The Washington Post entitled, “A Catholic Case for Same-Sex Marriage.” Sister Jeannine Gramick and Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry in Mt. Rainier, Maryland, wrote, “Many Catholics…understand that lesbian and gay love is as natural as heterosexual love.” “As Catholics who are involved in lesbian and gay ministry and outreach, we are aware that many people, some of them Catholics, believe that Catholics cannot faithfully disobey the public policies of the church’s hierarchy. But this is not the case,” they...

After getting into a 170 comment Facebook argument with one of my lovely friends from school about a status I posted with a joke about Atheism, people came up to me in the following days and questioned my reasoning for doing something like that. People advised me to keep all political and religious ideas off of Facebook, to avoid conflict. This incident made me realize how much people hate conflict. But on another level, this advice bothered me. People will forgo any talk about religious or political views just to avoid a conflict or to make sure they don't offend...

The controversy over the Obama administration’s contraception mandate is at a boiling point, as many Catholic leaders continue to view the president’s so-called “accommodation” as a failure to protect religious liberty. Now, Glenn Beck is coming forward with a new movement called “We Are All Catholics Now.” The main goal of the initiative is to ask Americans to reach out to Congressional leaders (at the moment, Senators) to encourage the passage of legislation that would protect religious groups’ conscience rights. Watch Beck discuss the effort on his radio show this morning: The main push, Beck says, is to support the...

First, he came for the General Motors bondholders, but the religious leaders were not GM bondholders, so they did not speak up. Then he came for the oil companies, but they were not oil company executives, and again they did not speak up. Next, he came for control of the nation’s health care system, and again they saw no threat — in fact, many of them supported his plan. We were told we had to pass the plan to could find out what was in it. Then he came for our freedom of religion, and we found out what was...

February 14, 2012 (PriestsforLife.org) - Many have asked me whether I think that the President’s announced “accommodation” regarding the HHS mandate for health insurance coverage of abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives, and sterilization is acceptable. Absolutely not. As many Catholics and non-Catholics point out, the principal problem is that the mandate is still in place. The President’s February 10 announcement changed none of that. What remains is that all employers — not just religious ones — have to provide health insurance for their employees, and all health insurance plans have to cover abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives, and sterilization. It’s a fiction to say...

.....First they came for Rush Limbaugh and Lou Dobbs. And the Catholic bishops did not speak out. Now they are coming for the Catholic bishops. Who will speak out now? Not, alas, the United Church of Christ. Let's go back into recent history -- 2009 to be exact. It was a story that involved the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in a blatant, full-on attack on the right of free speech and a free press -- the First Amendment. As I wrote here, here, here, here, here, and here three years ago, the Catholic bishops had managed to get their...

We showed President Obama’s health care mandate to be the intrusion into the free exercise of religion that it was, and we showed that his “compromise” was no compromise at all, but a wolf in compromise clothing. So, how did the president’s magnanimous gesture of healing go over through the weekend? Predictably, it flopped. At least among those serious about their faith...

You have to hand it to Barack Obama. He has unmasked in the most thoroughgoing way the despotic propensities of the administrative entitlements state and of the Democratic Party. And now he has done something similar to the hierarchy of the American Catholic Church.

The president's phony contraception compromise might be enough to convince Catholics their rights aren't being trampled. But what about the rest of us, who face more rights violations in the name of ObamaCare?... Until ObamaCare is pulled out root and branch, however, there will be no end to the rights-wrecking mischief out of Washington.

(Video with working link in second comment) Nicki Minaj showed up to the Grammy's dressed in a Little Red Riding Hoodesque outfit with a man dressed as the Pope by her side: This outfit later made sense upon seeing Minaj's performance. Host LL Cool J said that the performance would be one that would be talked about. I wondered what kind of performance would be so great. Merely expecting just good singing, dancing, and stage affects was too naive of me. Minaj decided to go for shock value. The favorite way for the Hollywood set to do this is to...

Religious controversy burns Obama againBy Niall Stanage and Amie Parnes - 02/11/12 07:05 AM ET Chalk up yet another religious controversy on President Obama’s record. The furor over contraception that consumed much of this week is just one more instance of the president having been put onto the back foot at the intersection of faith and politics. It’s a problem that previously has popped up in controversies over Israel, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and even Obama’s 2008 comments about people holding on to “guns and religion.” “It almost appears that every time he tries to steer clear of [the intersection...

This is likely to be the first of many commentaries on this matter, but I feel compelled to address specific points that have been made to support President Obama's unconstitutional mandate upon Catholic affiliated institutions. Firstly, supporters of the mandate defend the proposition because as they say most Catholics do not agree with the Church on the matter of artificial birth control. Jehmu Green, on Fox News no less cited polling that 98% of Catholics oppose the Church and have used contraception. Juan Williams, also on FOX, cited a FOX NEWS poll that showed 61% of all Americans agreed with...

Should religious institutions be able to rent public property just like any other community group? If you’re New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the answer is a resounding no, a decision that has angered local communities and is poised to kick out dozens churches from meeting in New York City public schools even though other groups, including labor unions, are granted full access. “Houses of worship throughout the city consider this policy to be nothing short of discrimination, and we will make that known,� said Fernando Cabrera, a Democratic city councilman representing the Bronx. “Evicting [churches] hurts people and neighborhoods...

Yesterday's announcement by President Obama (headlined at the White House's website as "Remarks by the President on Preventive Care") of planned revisions to an ObamaCare-driven rule which, in the President's words, "if a woman’s employer is a charity or a hospital that has a religious objection to providing contraceptive services as part of their health plan, the insurance company -– not the hospital, not the charity -– will be required to reach out and offer the woman contraceptive care free of charge, without co-pays and without hassles." Showing just how out of touch the establishment press is with reality, an...

Revised White House contraception rule changes nothingSomeone should tell President Obama there’s no such thing as a free abortion pill. The White House is trying to douse a political wildfire sparked by an Obamacare mandate forcing religiously affiliated institutions to provide a full range of contraception measures for employees - including pills that induce abortions. Catholic and other religious leaders with principled objections cried foul, citing promises that they and their affiliates would be covered by a “conscience waiver” for any provisions of the law that created this kind of moral dilemma. On Friday Mr. Obama proposed a new rule...

There was great excitement in the North Georgia Mountains when I’d Climb the Highest Mountain was filmed in Georgia's red clay hills.

Shortly after noon today, President Barack Obama is expected to announce that religious employers will not have to cover birth control for their employees. His anticipated compromise solution may or may not quell the objections of those who considered the new requirement to be an attack on religious freedom. But regardless of the immediate concerns about this particular provision of the president's health care law, it is indisputable that any concession he might make is the result of a political backlash that threatened his chances at reelection. This begs the question once set free from concerns over his own job...

The Obama administration will attempt to accommodate religious groups that are unhappy with a new mandate that forces them to offer health insurance that covers contraceptive methods. With the White House under fire for its new rule requiring employers including religious organizations to offer health insurance that fully covers birth control coverage, ABC News has learned that later today the White House — possibly President Obama himself — will likely announce an attempt to accommodate these religious groups. The move, based on state models, will almost certainly not satisfy bishops and other religious leaders since it will preserve the goal...

Why are Pastors 'Laying Hands' on Rick Santorum in TX? Santorum may be capturing the attention of Christians and their leaders. WHY WERE PASTORS ‘LAYING HANDS’ ON RICK SANTORUM IN TX? (THE BLAZE) -- Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum stopped in McKinney, Texas, earlier today, where he met with evangelical faith leaders. During their time together, the pastors and congregants “laid hands on” the candidate and prayed for him, as can be seen in the below image: (see image at: http://content.clearchannel.com/cc-common/mlib/2135/02/2135_1328806795.jpg Pastors praying around GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum) The New York Times reports: Santorum, a Catholic, is said to...

IRONDALE, Ala. (Legal Newsline) -- The Catholic television network EWTN is suing the federal government over the requirement by the Department of Health and Human Services for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare. The act mandates that contraception, abortion and sterilization services have to be included in their health plans. "We had no other option but to take this to the courts," EWTN President and CEO Michael Warsaw said Feb. 9. "There is no question that this mandate ...

Full Article less graphics EWTN Sues Obama Admin EWTN SUES Obama Admin In a remarkable decision, EWTN is suing the Obama Administration over the Contraception Mandate. This extraordinary act, as well as near unanimous outcry from other Faiths, is sparking a Religious Liberty controversy that the Obama Administration, seemed willing to take on. "We had no other option but to take this to the courts," says EWTN President and CEO Michael P. Warsaw. "Under the HHS mandate, EWTN is being forced by the government to make a choice: either we provide employees coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs and...

Constitution: The Air Force removes a reference to God from its logo as the Army forbids Catholic chaplains from reading an archbishop's letter to those in uniform. What's next, the crosses at Arlington National Cemetery? 'It is a blow to a freedom that you have fought to defend and for which you have seen your buddies fall in battle," read the letter from Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who leads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services to the Catholic chaplains in the U.S. military. The letter that the Army's Office of the Chief of Chaplains kept from being read to...

Obama is creating the Potentate Presidency, whereby he creates onerous laws, then selectively rescinds them in order to rent loyalty. http://www.guysmith.org/blog/2012/02/09/waiving-goodbye/

WASHINGTON — "We don't need you, so shut up!" That's the message the Obama administration has sent loud and clear to America's Roman Catholics. And it's a message now being sent to U.S. military chaplains — to the detriment of our armed forces. During World War II, the War Department and the Department of the Navy urged — the operative word is "urged," not "ordered," mind you — U.S. military chaplains to encourage soldiers, sailors, airmen, guardsmen and Marines that God was on our side in the global battle against fascists, Nazis and the godless heathens running rampant across...

<p>SAN ANTONIO — A federal judge blasted by Newt Gingrich and other conservatives for his ruling that prohibited prayer at a Texas high school graduation is firing back in accepting a settlement to the case.</p> <p>U.S. District Judge Fred Biery on Thursday admonished those who “demagogued this case for their own political goals.” He then added, “You should be ashamed of yourselves.”</p>

We’ve covered the hot debate raging between the Obama administration and the Catholic Church on this site. And we’ve covered plenty of arguments for and against the Obamacare mandate that businesses, through their insurers, offer free contraception. But we haven’t covered a defense quite like this. It goes like this: “Maybe the founders were wrong to guarantee free Exercise of religion,” but they did and the administration needs to respect that. Wait, what? That‘s what Washington Post editor Melinda Henneberger told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews last night while defending Catholics. Here’s the full quote: “Maybe the Founders were wrong to guarantee...

The philosophies embedded in public school curricula today encompass a very humanistic point of view where government is the center of the universe, and the nurturing and indoctrination of its children its most important function. The only morality comes not from God, but from the sacred collectivist view of conformity to group values.

A group of Republican lawmakers is protesting the removal a reference to God in the patch logo for the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO). ... The patch has a saying on it in Latin, which is common for military patches, that tranlates to: “Doing God’s Work with Other People’s Money.”

A Michigan pastor has opened a tattoo parlor inside his church. Rev. Steve Bentley says he’s doing everything he can to reach out to people who have never felt comfortable at a traditional house of worship.

Despite a nine to nothing Supreme Court ruling against the Obama Administration last month in which the court ruled that a church decides who its leaders should be and not a government gone wild, the Obama Administration is back at it. This time the administration is telling Catholics that in their various organizations they can't observe ancient church teachings on sexuality and procreation. That is bad. But it gets worse. They have sent out their apologists in government and media to convince Catholics that government teachings about CHURCH beliefs are correct, and that the Catholic Church is a bit out...

Can the combat-hardened OWS shock troops from the bankrupt Obamanation Universities defeat the Mighty Catholic Crusaders in the Spring of 2012? The battle lines are being quickly drawn in a frontal assault on the Robo-Built Fortress Walls of the Un-Constitutional Obama"care" that protects the despised, and cancerous Obamanation. Even now Bolshevik Chairman Obama has dictated that all US Military Chaplins be muzzled, and public discussion terminated as the distant sound of Cyber Bugles wafts through the despised Ditrict of Corruption. At 1600 Entitlement Plantation Avenue, only the token dog is not worried. Yeah, you guessed it, he is a Portuguese...

The bishops are right. It’s not about birth control, it’s about freedom. Religious freedom. The right to live your religion without being forced to violate it by the federal government. I’m talking about the letters read over Roman Catholic pulpits the last two Sundays. Written by the many Catholic bishops across the country, the letters have called on parishioners to stand up to the government. At issue is a recent dictate by the Obama Administration that says all employers must offer sterilization and birth-control services, to include the morning-after pill, as part of their health-insurance package. Further, the products and...

February 6, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Lisa Miller, an ex-lesbian who made national headlines during her battle to protect her daughter from a custody transfer to her former sex partner, is now telling the story of her struggle through a book by one of her attorneys, Rina Lindevaldsen. “Only One Mommy: A Woman’s Battle for Her Life, Her Daughter, and Her Freedom” (New Revolution Publishers, 2011), gives readers new insights into Miller’s inspiring odyssey from abused and neglected child, through the horrors of sexual and chemical addictions, to redemption through faith in Jesus Christ. Miller’s final act of bravery was her...

Photo ops, as they are called in political jargon, seal an image and a chunk of voters. Hence, basketball, softball, Little League, football, and soccer teams hosted at the White House by what should be an overwhelmed President BarackObama. Lots of sports fans vote. Kissing babies is a big win for the mothers. Lots of baby holding photo ops for Mitt Romney in Florida—and a huge chunk of voting support from married women—helped “thump” Newt Gingrich in the Florida primary. Sometimes, these photo ops prove embarrassing, and cost elections; i.e., Michael Dukakis driving a tank was supposed to shore up...

Two of the top news stories this past week have revolved around reproductive rights, though both raise far more troubling issues than a woman's right to contraception or abortion. The more compelling questions concern a person's or an institution's freedom of conscience and the right to act upon one's moral beliefs without fear of intimidation and/or government coercion. Both cases -- one involving the Catholic Church and the other, Susan G. Komen for the Cure -- deal with the ongoing conflict between the pro-life and pro-choice camps. And both are exposing the dangerous extent to which some pro-choice advocates, including...

“For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." (1 Thess. 5:2-3) There has been much wondering by the American people to the rocket that was mysteriously launched off the coast of California last year. The Pentagon stated that they were still trying to determine if a missile was launched and - if so - who had launched it? What ever the case may be,...

Tim Tebow is back in the news after cancelling an appearance with a group of pastors spouting the Prosperity Gospel. Apparently, Mr. Tebow agreed to speak before he realized whom he was supporting. The Prosperity Gospel reflects a new variant on an ancient apostasy presuming our material standing proportionate to our moral stature. Many of America's fastest growing churches feature this errant blending of theology with materialism. Megachurches espousing this feel good nonsense litter the landscape while televangelists have been catapulted into the public face of Christianity. It's compelling and easily misleads because it's intuitive. Those who serve God best...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Blending politics and religion, President Barack Obama said his Christian faith is a driving force behind his economic policies, from Wall Street reform to his calls for the wealthy to pay higher taxes.</p> <p>Obama's remarks Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast were his most explicit account of how his personal religious beliefs factor into his decision-making on the nation's pressing problems. The comments came amid election-year criticism from Catholic groups and some Republicans that the president is waging a war on religion following his decision to require church-affiliated institutions to cover free birth control for employees.</p>

1st Amendment: Catholic bishops on Sunday issued a response to ObamaCare's mandates on providing contraception in violation of conscience and religious freedom. The message was simple: We will not comply. It was hardly a profile in courage when the Obama administration, hoping to kick the issue down the road past the November election, announced last Friday that Catholic hospitals and other religious institutions will have an extra year to comply with a new requirement that most health plans provide contraceptive benefits at no cost to their members. On Sunday, America's Catholic bishops in an open letter to their parishioners and...

10News cameras captured exclusive video of 55-year-old Otis Holland being taken into custody by U.S. Marshals at the San Ysidro border. Federal authorities received a tip that he had been living at a church in downtown Tijuana. They are not sure how long he had been hiding out in Mexico, but they are looking into the possibility there could be more victims...The pastor has been the focus of an international manhunt since June 2010. He was the minister of a church that held services in a tax preparation building in Henderson, NevHolland is accused of molesting at least three girls...

Dear Mr. President, I am fully aware that these are days in which the federal government is — for all practical purposes — unlimited in its power. As it stands, you — sir — can detain any American citizen without due process simply because you suspect him of being a terrorist, you have magically managed to become the Chairman of the UN Security Council without the approval of Congress — despite that awkward Article 1.9 of the Constitution — and you — along with the FCC — seem to think the Internet is thine to regulate. Now I’m sure this...

Study of the New and Old Testament may be coming into public schools if the Arizona House Education Committee is able to convince the rest of the Legislature that The Bible and its Influence on Western Culture, will use Books of the Bible as part of literature and history courses.

Contemporary Puritans are synonymous with Christian conservatives and the Religious Right, and are not direct descendants of the original Puritans of New England. They can be of any faith so long as they adhere to certain precepts that contemporary Puritans believe their ideological ancestors would accept. These beliefs include endorsing Judeo-Christian ethics in legal matters and worship as part of public ceremonies. Contemporary Puritans see the United States as enmeshed in a period of moral decline. They point to abortion, gay rights, divorce, violent crime, drugs and other social ills as proof of their beliefs. Although they are active in...

The Catholic Church has taken a rather strong stand in opposing the Obama administration's requirement that the church provide contraceptive medicine and treatments as a required component of Obamacare. Apparently the administration is in accord with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in shrugging off concerns about the "conscience thing" that has forced the Catholic Church to denounce this policy from the pulpit during Mass on this past Sunday all over America. The government is requiring the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, and the congregants who are devout Catholics, to fund such contraceptive medicine for all lay employees of Catholic grammar...