Free Republic

When I look at the world of today, I am appalled. Luckily enough, I'm also a Lutheran and know what cure there is. I'll tell you about it. My grandfather was rather "well off". Rich enough to hire people to take care of his summer houses in different parts of the country (Sweden), but instead he chose to work on those estates whenever having a little of time off, not out of a miser's love for money, but because the love of how it feels to be truly independent. Church attendence in my part of the world isn't something you'd...

Sarah Palin haters will stoop to just about anything to malign the woman they most fear – including lying. That's what Huffington Puffington Post columnist Max Blumenthal did Sunday when he claimed the former vice presidential candidate cited an "urban legend" in a speech when she said the Treasury Department had moved the phrase "In God We Trust" from presidential coins. Blumenthal and his pseudo-news organization characterized Palin's statement as a "rumor" that "most likely originated with a 2006 story on the far-right website WorldNetDaily." Actually, it wasn't "a rumor." It was, what we call in the news business, a...

The appointment of Herman Van Rompuy as “President of Europe” is a gift to conspiracy theorists who fear the re-emergence of a Europe dominated by Rome. The wellspring of the Belgian’s Eurofederalism, like that of the EU’s founders, is his Catholic faith. He makes monthly retreats to a Benedictine monastery; even his wife is overawed by “the force he can find in his faith”. I can already see the words “Holy Roman Empire” forming on the lips of Eurosceptics whose mistrust of the EU draws on a dislike of Catholicism. And perhaps there is just a grain of truth in...

(Reuters) - Here are some facts about Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, who on Thursday became the European Union's president. Van Rompuy, 62, emerged as the strongest centre-right candidate. Although he has been prime minister for less than a year, after coming to power following a banking crisis, he has proved a steady hand running a difficult coalition. * RISE TO POWER: -- Van Rompuy helped calm the linguistically divided country after taking charge in December 2008 after 18 months of turmoil under predecessor and fellow Christian Democrat Yves Leterme. -- He had been president of the lower house...

The Vatican has just completed a five day conference on astrobiology where scientists convened to discuss the detection and implications of extraterrestrial life. A major driving force behind the conference was the Director of the Vatican Observatory, the Jesuit priest Father Jose Gabriel Funes. In May 2008, Funes gave an interview to the Vatican’s L’Osservatore Romano newspaper saying that the existence of intelligent extraterrestrials posed no problems to Catholic theology. The conference itself was officially convened by the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences, chaired by its religious leader Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, and was held on private Vatican grounds from...

The Church of Scientology faces the prospect of a police investigation in Australia after being accused of torture and embezzlement and of forcing employees to have abortions. Nick Xenophon, an independent senator, presented letters to the Australian Parliament from seven former Scientologists which he said showed that the secretive church was a front for physical violence, intimidation and blackmail. “I am deeply concerned about this organisation and the devastating impact it can have on its followers,” he told the Australian Senate in Canberra. He called for a Senate inquiry. The State Crime Command of New South Wales police yesterday confirmed...

Lawmaker decries U.S. demand to halt Jewish construction - JERUSALEM – A member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party today slammed as "racist" President Obama's longstanding demand for a halt to Jewish construction in the strategic West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem. "President Obama should not interfere with the rights of the Jewish people to live in Jerusalem," said Likud Knesset Member Danny Danon. "This ... is a racist demand, saying that Jews cannot live in Jerusalem, only Arabs." Danon continued: "Our duty is to the nation that chose to deepen the settlement across Judea and Samaria, and...

Ever wonder about the final straw that will bring down western civilization? A British judge may have created it. On November 3rd, Mr Justice Michael Burton, the same judge that allowed continued showing of An Inconvenient Truth to children in British schools even while recognizing it to be a dishonest political propaganda film decided that: "A belief in man-made climate change, and the alleged resulting moral imperatives, is capable if genuinely held, of being a philosophical belief for the purpose of the 2003 Religion and Belief Regulations." The ruling means that an employment tribunal will decide whether Al Gore should...

In her new book Sarah Palin writes that one summer at Bible Camp she "put my life in my creator's hands and trust Him as I sought my life's path." For Palin, this grand divine plan was "a natural progression." She writes. And later, "I don't believe in coincidences." Which leads me to ask: What does she believe is God's plan for her? Does she have any free will or is everything preordained. Can she see something coming and change her mind despite God's plans for her? Did God plan for her to become Governor of Alaska. If so, did...

Today many in the United States are crying out to President Obama and Government to do more and more to fix our social ills. The notion that Big Government has all our answers and the solutions we need in this very chaotic and unstable world is fairy tale. It is one that is rooted in the personal belief that Fallen Man through and by the efforts of Big Government or "Socialism" can bring security and comfort to it's inhabitants. There is no man made ideology or system that can ever usher in a world Utopia of perfection and bliss. These...

James Galyean wrote a post on Friday afternoon that I think we probably ought to focus on a bit more. The left is celebrating Barack Obama’s decision to send Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to New York City for a criminal trial in a civilian court. In fact, since Friday I have gotten a lot of hate mail from leftists saying I must not trust our due process system. The problem, however, is just the opposite. I very much trust our due process system to be exceedingly fair to a terrorist who will put great value in his opening statement. But, that...

The Left opposes the Catholic Church's opposition to abortion provisions in healthcare reform. So why doesn't it oppose the YWCA, United Methodist Church, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis for favoring abortion? Getting Nancy Pelosi to accept a health care bill that bans federal funds for abortion was the greatest victory scored by U.S. bishops in a generation. It also unleashed an unprecedented attempt to censor them. Their latest enemy is Geoffrey Stone writing in the Huffington Post. Stone finds it troubling that the bishops are so vocal. He yearns for a time when JFK was president, a time...

* What can we all do, every day, to make sure we are ready to prevent fraud in the Iowa Caucus in 2012? PLEASE take this seriously. A massive effort was launched on Dr. Utopia’s behalf from Chicago to game the Iowa Caucus. A good portion of Chicago rolled across the Illinois border to vote in Dubuque, Waterloo, Des Moines,you name it to ensure Dr. Utopia won that Caucus in 2008. The caucus centers are chaos hatcheries. Dr. Utopia’s goons, most of whom certainly appeared to be ACORN or SEIU, marched in, took over, and told anyone who wouldn’t stand...

Contrary to a popular fallacy that science and religion are at odds with each other, it's quite the opposite. Science and religion are the best of friends. And like good friends, they complement each other and produce beautiful music together. Take the recent incident of the young woman in Bryan, Texas – the director of the Planned Parenthood abortion mill down there – who had a change of heart and quit her job when she saw, for the first time, an unborn child on an ultrasound screen. As Abby Johnson related her story to Bill O'Reilly, "What I saw on...

When Rupert Dickinson, the chief executive of one of Britain's biggest property firms, left his BlackBerry behind in London while on a business trip to Ireland, he simply ordered one of his staff to get on a plane and deliver the device to him. For Dickinson's then head of sustainability, Tim Nicholson, the errand was much more than an executive indulgence: it embodied the contempt with which his boss treated his deep philosophical beliefs about climate change. In a significant decision today , a judge found Nicholson's views on the environment were so deeply held that they were entitled to...

NASA scientists studying the origin of life have reproduced uracil, a key component of our hereditary material, in the laboratory. They discovered that an ice sample containing pyrimidine exposed to ultraviolet radiation under space-like conditions produces this essential ingredient of life. Pyrimidine is a ring-shaped molecule made up of carbon and nitrogen and is the basic structure for uracil, part of a genetic code found in ribonucleic acid (RNA). RNA is central to protein synthesis, but has many other roles. "We have demonstrated for the first time that we can make uracil, a component of RNA, non-biologically in a laboratory...

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama signed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law Oct. 28. It expands the 1969 hate-crimes law to include crimes against people committed because of gender, sexual orientation or disability. The president said the law would “help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray.”Religious leaders, in particular, objected to the bill’s original language because they worried that it would not protect First Amendment rights and religious freedom. Some felt that the law might restrict clergy and others’ ability to speak out on issues of morality, such...

Ibn WarraqTu Quoque On Islam and the Crusades Autumn 2009 Often, when I am criticizing crimes inspired by Islamic extremism, I am interrupted by the remark that Christianity was once culpable of similar abuses. That Christianity may have been intolerant in the past, however, does not make criticisms of Islam’s present-day intolerance any less valid. Also, Islamic intolerance is an immediate danger, whereas Christian intolerance is generally a historical phenomenon and no longer a threat to civilization. And Christendom’s crimes were recorded by Christians themselves—a stark contrast to our politically correct climate, in which many, especially Muslims, are reluctant...

Evolutionary philosophy is a bottom-up storytelling project: particles, planets, people. Naturalists (those who say nature is all there is) believe they can invent explanations that are free of miracles, but in practice, miracles pop up everywhere in their stories. This was satirized by Sidney Harris years ago in a cartoon that showed a grad student filling a blackboard with equations. His adviser called attention to one step that needed some elaboration: It said, "Then a miracle happens." Examples of miracles in evolutionary philosophy include the sudden appearance of the universe without cause or explanation, the origin of life, the origin...

Obama ominee claimed primary job is to 'write footnotes in the Constitution' - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced his plans to move forward as early as Monday with a confirmation vote on the pro-abortion appeals court nominee who ruled against praying "in Jesus name" on the floor of the Indiana Legislature. Reid said he plans to pursue a cloture process that would force a Senate vote on U.S. District Court Judge David Hamilton's nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit if 60 senators vote for cloture. Republicans have attempted to block a vote on...

If the United Nations has its way, Jesus won’t be found in church anymore. With the approval of pious priests and ministers, Jesus is being squeezed out of the House of God to make way for global warming/climate change proselytizing. Church bells around the world, which call Christians worldwide into church on Sundays, will join the din of drums and gongs to sound a UN ordered message 350 times on December 13 during the Copenhagen climate change summit. The church bells are a call to action on global warming...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I apologize up front for this vanity, but this photo is very telling. In the photo, we see our military rendering honors to the Veterans (both deceased and still with us). Why is it that this punk stands there with his hands folded? He makes it really obvious that he could really care less about America and our great Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, Sailors, Coast Guardsmen and Merchant Marines. Why does he fail to salute our Veterans and our great society?

In surveying the cultural carnage in the wake of the worst terrorist attack on a military installation in US history, it bears noting that there have been seismic shifts in America. When America was free of the shackles of Islam, say, fifty years ago, the current response to such an attack by an enemy faction would have been unthinkable. I have watched in abject horror the stunning reaction of elites in this country to this act of war. The denial, the submission, the excuses, the dodging, the self-flagellation, the shame, the deceiving of the American people by the media, the...

I am missing something here. After the attack and murder of 13 innocent people by an apparent imbedded radical Jihadist in the US Army, General Casey said on Meet The Press, "Our diversity, not only in our Army, but in our country, is a strength. And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that's worse." I have some questions for any military officer who swore an oath on several occasions to support and defend the Constitution. How many innocent Americans have to be murdered by someone who displayed every single modus operandi of...

We know absolutely no one in Bush family circles and have never met former President George W. Bush or his wife Laura. If you have been reading us for any length of time, you know that we used to make fun of “Dubya” nearly every day…parroting the same comedic bits we heard in our Democrat circles, where Bush is still, to this day, lampooned as a chimp, a bumbling idiot, and a poor, clumsy public speaker. Oh, how we RAILED against Bush in 2000…and how we RAILED against the surge in support Bush received post-9/11 when he went to Ground...

Recently on ABC television news, one of their videos showed a U.S. Marine hunkered down in Afghanistan complaining on camera that he was not allowed to shoot back when under fire. This situation resulted from Obama’s new rules of engagement from his new Afghanistan commander. General McChrystal explained it to BBC news that they are now advising troops to break off from firefights with the Taliban, "If you are in a situation where you are under fire from the enemy... if there is any chance of creating civilian casualties or if you don't know whether you will create civilian casualties,...

Via Michelle Malkin, a reminder that, in addition to killing 13 people and wounding 30 at Fort Hood last week, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan also murdered soldier Francheska Velez's baby. Velez's cousin told the Washington Post that Private Velez "was supposed to be coming very, very soon. Everyone’s devastated. Everyone’s at a loss for words. She was very young. She wasn't supposed to die the way she died.” Under the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, Hasan is "guilty of a separate offense" for causing "the death of, or bodily injury (as defined in section 1365) to, a child, who is...

Remember: Major Nidal Hasan was just a victim. ABC’s ‘World News’ portrays Nidal Hasan and the followers of Islam as the real victims: In the real world… Hate crimes against Muslims have steadily declined since 2001. Today there are more reported hate crimes against Christians in the United States than Muslims. Related… Bob Schieffer at CBS: “Christianity has nuts too.”

The God Concept Allie Winegar Duzett, November 11, 2009 Some cognitivists out there claim that the “God Concept” comes naturally to children. In their worldview, children come up with the concept of God to explain away things that just don’t make sense to their underdeveloped minds. However, as those with children understand, “the ‘God concept’ is often slow in coming.” These were the words of Dr. Marjorie Gunnoe, a professor of psychology at Calvin College, at a recent Heritage Foundation conference, Religious Practice and the Family: What the Research Says. She told a story about interacting with a five-year-old in...

Fatherhood and Religion Allie Winegar Duzett, November 11, 2009 “Children benefit when fathers are involved in family life; religion encourages men to be more involved in family life,” Dr. Richard Petts said at the Heritage Foundation’s recent conference, Religious Practice and the Family: What the Research Says. Dr. Petts, an assistant professor of sociology at Ball State University, spoke on the impact of paternal religiosity on child development. Unfortunately, Dr. Petts noted at the conference, “No studies have yet examined how [the] father’s religiosity may affect the lives of young children.” Still, Dr. Petts finds it worthwhile to ask: Does...

In a blatant display of the partisan card stacking which routinely debases the intellectual and ethical currency of Congressional hearings on "immigration reform," Sen. Charles Schumer (D, NY) last month chaired a session of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security titled "Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Faith-Based Perspectives." Even a fig leaf of balance was missing; the minority wasn't allowed its fractional quotient of witnesses. Only supporters of "comprehensive immigration reform" were invited to testify. The hearing violated the spirit of open, oppositional discourse essential to the functioning and preservation of democratic institutions. The farce was also...

IsraelNN.com) U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns told the Middle East Institute in Washington on Tuesday that the U.S. recognizes the Iranian regime’s “right” to nuclear power, does not seek regime change and is ready for more talks with Iran. "We seek a relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran based upon mutual interest and mutual respect. We do not seek regime change. We have condemned terrorist attacks against Iran.

Exhorts Islamic faithful to target planes carrying '82nd Airborne' - A Council on American-Islamic Relations adviser and regular speaker at its events has suggested Islamic law permits Muslims to attack C-130 military transport planes carrying the 82nd Airborne out of Fort Bragg, N.C., according to a stunning new book exposing Washington-based CAIR's inner workings. Radical Islamic cleric Zaid Shakir, a frequent guest speaker at CAIR events, tells his Muslim audiences: "Jihad is physically fighting the enemies of Islam to protect and advance the religion of Islam. This is jihad." Acceptable targets of jihad, he says, include U.S. military aircraft. "Islam...

In most of our cities and towns, you’ll see memorials to brave Americans – some in uniforms of wars from long ago – who defended freedom. If you look down at their inscriptions, you’ll see that they were dedicated by the mothers, fathers, wives and orphans of the veterans who gave all for their country. In distant lands across the globe, you’ll find silent fields of white markers with the names of Americans who never came home, but who showed their dedication to their country by where they died. Today we honor those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice,...

Attorney General Eric Holder has agreed to give a keynote speech next week to a Michigan group which includes the local branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations even though the FBI has formally severed contacts with the controversial Muslim civil rights organization. On Nov. 19, Holder is scheduled to speak in Detroit to the first annual awards banquet of Advocates and Leaders for Police and Community Trust, a coalition of several dozen law enforcement and community groups. An online registration form for the event includes the Council on American Islamic Relations-Michigan on a list of “official & participating organizations.”...

This topic forces us to assess the relationship between science and spirituality: is the invisible spiritual realm generated from the material or should it be considered as having a separate existence? Is religion a phenomenon that can ultimately be explained by science in naturalistic ways, or does religion represent a dimension of reality that cannot be directly probed by the methodologies of science? In an essay in Science, Elizabeth Culotta writes: ...

I want to see the whole thing. Every American should demand to see the whole damned thing. And then you need to demand to know the names of every higher-ups in the military and the government who read or saw this thing and did nothing about it. I’m talking about the chilling slide presentation that Fort Hood jihadist Nidal Hasan gave at Walter Reed Hospital while a senior-year psych resident in June 2007. The Washington Post publishes details of the slide presentation, though not the original document itself. [Update: Good! WaPo publishes the full slide presentation here.] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2009/11/10/GA2009111000920.html Goodbye, “Do...

"Islamophobia" I looked it up in my Webster's dictionary and the word does not exist. I wonder if anyone has published a PC dictionary. But I digress as my main intent is to bring to light some facts that seem to have been ignored on this Terror attack on Fort Hood. Since the dirt bag maniac Islamic terrorist targeted specifically military citizens, it is technically an act of war!!! There is no ifs ands or buts it is an act of war. Now for some good news. He was shot by a heroin police officer who I can assure you...

PRESIDENT OBAMA: "Well, look, we -- we have seen, in the past, rampages of this sort. And in a country of 300 million people, there are going to be acts of violence that are inexplicable. Even within the extraordinary military that we have -- and I think everybody understands how outstanding the young men and women in uniform are under the most severe stress -- there are going to be instances in which an individual cracks. I think the questions that we're asking now and we don't have yet complete answers to is, is this an individual who's acting in...

In the twenties the Belfour declaration was signed by Britton allowing Jews to immigrate to Palastine. In 1939 the McDonald White declaration was a reversal of the Belfour declaration because the Britts were beholding to the 80 million islamists who rejected the immigration of Jews to Palastine. The extermination and persecution of Jews by Hitler had started and some were attempting to escape to the Holy land. Noteworthy is at that time there were 400.000 Arabs in Palastine and 80,000 Jews. Thanks to the Britts who blockaded the entries to Palastine, 6 million European Jews were slaughtered. All to appease...

Arif Alikhan, currently deputy mayor for the city of Los Angeles, was appointed as assistant secretary for the Office of Policy Development at the Department of Homeland Security. "Muslim Democrats welcome Alikhan’s appointment" At a banquet/fundraiser for the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California last weekend, the first speaker was Arif Alikhan (Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles - in charge of public safety for the city). He bid farewell, as he is going to take a post as Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security. Arif Alikhan is a devout Sunni and the son of Pakistani immigrants. Professor Agha...

This was a terrorist attack on America by a U.S. soldier. In a saner country in a saner time, "Major" Hassan would be immediately tried for treason and face a firing squad. ------ Definition of Treason: Main Entry: trea·son Pronunciation: \ˈtrē-zən\ Function: noun Etymology: Middle English tresoun, from Anglo-French traisun, from Latin tradition-, traditio act of handing over, from tradere to hand over, betray — more at traitor Date: 13th century 1 : the betrayal of a trust : treachery 2 : the offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender...

A radical Muslim group was videotaped condoning the massacre at Fort Hood by Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan because it was a military target. "America's chickens have come home to roost," shouted a representative of the group. A website run by Revolution Muslim is also honoring Hasan, the man accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas, as an "officer and a gentleman," saying his actions should not be denounced. VIDEO - The massacre, which also left more than two dozen injured, was called a "pre-emptive attack" by supporters of the group. Hasan, a Muslim psychiatrist who reportedly...

We are witnessing a national suicide. Fort Hood jihadist's coworkers saw warning signs, but said nothing for fear of seeming bigoted Jihadwatch Details here. So this is what it has come to -- this is the fruit of the long-term efforts by groups such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations and others, to stigmatize and demonize everyone who speaks honestly about the threat of jihad and Islamic supremacism. People are afraid to speak up about what they see, when they know it is wrong. And all it cost this week was 13 dead and 38 wounded.

Speculation could potentially heighten backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers and what happened at Fort Hood was a tragedy, but I believe it would be an even greater tragedy if our diversity becomes a casualty here. Diversity as a casualty would be an "even great tragedy" than the casualties of this act of war on American soil. I cannot believe what I am reading. It was not a tragedy, it was an terrorist attack. This is Obama's military command? Would Patton have recruited nazis into his army?,/u> I ask you. I warned Atlas readers that the dhimmi response to...

The Jihadis will return. We know this, in the same way that we know about death and taxes. Thanks in large part to the weakening of our defensive efforts under the new administration, there will be further attacks against this country's population, perhaps even worse than those of 9/11. (This week's attack by Nidal Malik Hasan serves to underline the threat.) When this attack occurs, we will see an end to all the nonsense. Our present drift regarding terror policy is occurring only because Americans have been encouraged to put unpleasant realities at a distance, to live in a dream...

No photo ops, no grandstanding, no comments--just a quiet comforting visit from former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura to Fort Hood, Texas. After traveling to the base, which is about 30 miles from their ranch, the former first couple spent about two hours visiting the wounded before slipping away as unobtrusively as they arrived, specifically telling the base commander no press coverage according to Bill Sammon of Fox News. A fine example to set. Except President Obama decided to take a break from passing health care reform and holiday at Camp David. The worst terrorist attack on...

This is a video of an American group PRAISING the Islamic Murders at Ft Hood This is happening in America! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhHYiWCm8Gs

Robert George says Obama didn't wait long after Tuesday's devastating elections to give critics another reason to question his leadership, but this time the subject matter was more grim than a pair of governorships. After news broke out of the shooting at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas, the nation watched in horror as the toll of dead and injured climbed. The White House was notified immediately and by late afternoon, word went out that Obama would speak about the incident prior to a previously scheduled appearance. At about 5 p.m., cable stations went to Obama. The situation called...

To the Editor: There is one religion that is not mentioned--or which is intentionally downplayed, if one of its adherents is involved in acts of violence and murder. Its members would never be called part of a vast conspiracy! There is one religion whose religious shrines were not shown being destroyed by the apocalyptic events in the movie "2012"--for fear of angering its followers. There is one religion whose symbols would never be displayed in a jar of urine and called "art." There is one religion whose names for its holy days have not been changed to innocuous sounding seasonal...