Free Republic

GRIMES, IA, August 12, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Christian couple is facing a state complaint, business cancellations, and vulgar, harassing, and threatening e-mail messages after refusing to rent out a business facility for a gay “wedding.” Dick and Betty Odgaard said they could not in good conscience allow a homosexual couple to use their business, the Görtz Haus Gallery, to conduct the ceremony itself. Betty Odgaard Betty Odgaard “To us, [marriage] is a sacrament,” Betty Odgaard said, that exists only “between a man and woman.” She told Billy Hallowell of The Blaze their rejection was “totally a faith-based issue,” adding...

We encounter an incredible diversity of cultures, lifestyles, and faiths. Unfortunately our conflicting identities and beliefs often exclude others. Is there truth to real acceptance and inclusion? Join in discussion with renowned international speaker and Christian philosopher Ravi Zacharias. Extended Q&A following the dialogue with Dr. Zacharias and Michael Ramsden, speaker and Director at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University.

Most U.S. Catholic bishops stand "in solidarity with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and its many statements of the past decade in support of comprehensive immigration reform." Perhaps the bishops hope that whatever influence they have among Catholics, they can use it to further another law that runs more than 1,200 pages. Evidently, the bishops did not have enough betrayal with health care reform. Here are five reasons why the U.S. bishops ought to change their mind about support for immigration reform. ONE: The bishops have misled Catholics scripturally about immigration. There are many passages in the Bible...

As a child, L.A. Archbishop Jose Horacio Gomez traveled back and forth across the border from his home in Monterrey, Mexico, to his uncle's in San Antonio, Texas. He made the trip so often that he hardly distinguished between Mexico and the United States. "It was easy to cross in those times," said Gomez, now 61, who became a citizen in his mid-40s. "I guess my first impression was that people could live in both countries at the same time." When he talks about the border, he slips into the Spanish slang of his childhood. He uses migra for U.S....

U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama sent their warmest greetings to Muslims celebrating Eid al-Fitr around the world, calling it "part of a great tapestry of America's many traditions." "Michelle and I send our warmest greetings to Muslims celebrating Eid-al-Fitr in the United States and around the world," Obama said in his message. "For millions of Americans, Eid is part of a great tapestry of America's many traditions, and I wish all Muslims a blessed and joyful celebration. Eid Mubarak," Obama said. Eid is being celebrated on Thursday in the Arab world and most of the East...

The nation is engaged in a conversation on immigration and, therefore, our congregations should be too. After all, this is not just an abstract philosophical topic — this cuts straight to the core of who we are as Americans and, ultimately, who we are as people of faith. Those of us who claim one of the Abrahamic traditions know that we have been called to care for the immigrant among us. It is a biblical mandate. And any of us living on this side of the border knows (or at least should know) we are all immigrants. Our human journey...

Here's a question I was thinking about. Whenever someone who is believed to have salvation dies, we're always told "they're in a better place now". Whenever a person who doesn't seem to have salvation, we always seem assume they're in hell at that time. But the Bible talks about judgement day, and how some will enter heaven and some will enter the Lake of Fire. Catholic and Lutheran (and probably others) recite "I believe He shall come to judge the living and the dead" So, my question, when is judgement for the dead? Are the dead in heaven just thinking...