Free Republic

The new Daily Show host, criticised for tweeting unfunny jokes, has been defended by many, including his new employers Trevor Noah, the South African comic who was recently announced as Jon Stewart's replacement to host the satirical American talk show, The Daily Show, has been supported by his new employers after old, and distinctly unfunny, tweets from years before came to light. ... journalists have also supported Noah. Caitlin Dewey at The Washington Post wrote: "Six tweets, out of almost 9,000?! That’s not exactly a representative sample." Dewey and other writers cited Jon Ronson's recent, and much-acclaimed book, So You've...

No one, I think, would ever have denied that Maurice Bessinger was a man of faith. And he wasn’t particularly a “still, small voice” man either; he wanted everybody in earshot to know that slavery had been God’s will, that desegregation was Satan’s work, and the federal government was the Antichrist. God wanted only whites to eat at Bessinger’s six Piggie Park barbecue joints; so His servant Maurice took that fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1968 decided that his religious freedom argument was “patently frivolous.” Until the day he died, however, Bessinger insisted that...

Making every lego brick subject to Christ. via likecool.com Sacré-Cœur Basilica Jesus via likecool.com Created by a Swedish church, the statue is 6 ft tall, is made up of 30k bricks, and took 40 volunteers about 18 months to put together.St. Paul Cathedral (London, UK) via ohlssons.be Some of the detail: Scorpions and Centaurs / Flickr Veni, Sancte Spiritus via godbricks.blogspot.com By Brian Korte of BrickWorkz, this is a lego mosaic of the same image in St. Peter’s Basilica.The Last Supper via luprechaun.wordpress.com Gothic Cathedral via brickshelf.com A few more angles: via brickshelf.com via brickshelf.com via brickshelf.com via brickshelf.com Solomon’s...

Lots of religious leaders stood next to Mike Pence when he signed the bill into law. Then the liberal fascists began screaming...and people scattered. There needs to be a public stand with this man--where are the people of Indiana???

As I watched "Good Morning America" today, I saw a segment where the media was bringing pressure to bear on the Indiana legislature and governor. George Stephanopolous was questioning governor Pence: George Stephanopolis:Final question, final yes-or-no question, Governor. Do you think it should be legal, in the state of Indiana, to discriminate against gays or lesbians? And this is how they characterize the debate. They portray one side (theirs) as heroic, and the other side (ours) as evil. Governor Pence was not prepared for this ambush. His response was scatter shot and muddled. Among the things he could have said...

A group hostile to religion in the public square is calling on the IRS to investigate Liberty University’s tax-exempt status after it hosted Sen. Ted Cruz hours after his presidential campaign announcement. In a letter to the IRS, Americans United for Separation of Church and State said Cruz’s speech at an LU convocation last week amounted to a campaign rally. This is “precisely the sort of activity that should warrant an investigation into the school’s tax status,” reads the letter from the group’s executive director Barry Lynn, according to the Roanoke Times. “It sure looks and smells and walks and...

In the wake of the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the media have been stacking myth upon myth in order to drive the narrative that right-wingers desperately want to harm gays and lesbians.

iv class="resource full"> “My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?” from Joel Beeke Mar 30, 2015 Category: Articles “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”(Matt. 27:46, KJV). It is noon, and Jesus has been on the cross for three pain-filled hours. Suddenly, darkness falls on Calvary and “over all the land” (v. 45). By a miraculous act of Almighty God, midday becomes midnight.This supernatural darkness is a symbol of God’s judgment on sin. The physical darkness signals a...

In 1997, in the City of Boerne v. Flores decision, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) did not apply to the states. Since 1993, 20 states have enacted state RFRAs. These laws are intended to echo the federal RFRA, but are not necessarily identical to the federal law. Indiana is the most recent state to enact a RFRA, doing so this year. Sixteen states have introduced legislation this year regarding the creation of, or alteration to, a state religious freedom law. Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas currently have a RFRA, but have introduced...

When California Bishop Marc Andrus wants to engage people in a conversation about climate change he doesn’t throw statistics at them, rather he begins with a question like: When was the last time you had an experience of wonder in the natural world? “If we can connect people back to it, or open them up for a fresh experience with wonder, it’s a great starting place for recovering a sense of why [climate change] is a moral issue,” said Andrus. Throughout history, the church has partnered with social movements on equal rights and justice issues. By beginning the conversation now...

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:20). Turning right and wrong upside down is a human habit that goes back thousands of years. Modern times are no different. Famous evolutionary biologist and professor of Oxford University, Richard Dawkins, recently showed his hand in a twitter conversation that has gained media attention. The British Broadcasting Corporation, a public service broadcaster among many others in the United Kingdom, reported that a twitter user said to Dawkins, “I honestly don’t...

Following a similar shocking video at Cornell University released by James O'Keefe last week, Barry University officials in Florida also sanction a pro-ISIS club with the stated goal of sending material support to ISIS. The only suggestion by Barry officials was to change the name of the club "because technically our country is at war with ISIS."

Indiana's Republican legislative leaders said Monday they're working on adding language to a new state law to make it clear that it doesn't allow discrimination against gays and lesbians.... Supporters of the law insist the law will keep the government from compelling people to provide services they find objectionable on religious grounds. Arkansas is poised to follow in Indiana's footsteps, as Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson has said he'll sign a measure moving through the state's Legislature.

There is a play called The Book of Mormon. Here are the reviews..The New York Times calls it “the best musical of this century.” The Washington Post says, “It is the kind of evening that restores your faith in musicals.” And Entertainment Weekly says, “Grade A: the funniest musical of all time.” Jon Stewart of The Daily Show calls it “a crowning achievement. So good it makes me angry.” It’s THE BOOK OF MORMON, the nine-time Tony Award® winning Best Musical from the creators of South Park. Contains explicit language.These Mormons are so lovable, you feel half-inclined to take a...

In commemoration of Palm Sunday, dozens of churchgoers marched into a Logan Square McDonald's singing, chanting and demanding a $15 minimum wage for the workers behind the counter. About 80 congregants had gathered at the Logan Square Monument moments earlier to receive communion and to use the example of Jesus riding into Jerusalem a week before Easter to demand what they called a living wage for all low-wage workers. "Jesus was participating in street theater on Palm Sunday. On that day he was riding in on that donkey. He was saying business as usual will not continue here," said Marilyn...

I just watched "Killing Jesus". To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I found it unbearable. I understand adding pieces between the lines to flesh out the story for TV, but totally re-writing the Bible is beyond the pale. The stories of John the Baptist death, the trial before Pilot, and especially Judas and the 30 pieces of silver are totally rewritten, and the original was much better. I saw no one in this film worthy of worship, much less praise. Sorry, O'Reilly - You missed the mark on this one.

Questions are being raised over two U.S. foundations that have poured more than three million dollars into abortion rights, LGBT activist, and legal groups to push the message that exemptions based on religious beliefs are “un-American” and an abuse of liberty. The Arcus Foundation and the Ford Foundation have spent over $3 million in combined spending against religious liberty exemptions since 2013, according to a CNA review of tax forms and grant listings.

Who Are the Atheists? [excerpts] For reporting purposes at Barna, we often combine atheists and agnostics into one group, which we call skeptics. Skeptics either do not believe God exists (atheists) or are not sure God exists, but are open to the possibility (agnostics). Skeptics represent one-quarter of all unchurched adults (25%). Nearly one-third of skeptics have never attended a Christian church service in their lives (31%). That’s nearly double the proportion of “virgin unchurched” who are not skeptics (17%)... Five Demographic Shifts among Skeptics They are younger. Skeptics today are, on average, younger than in the past. Twenty years...

On Thursday, Indiana governor Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) into law, and some celebrities, politicians, and journalists--including Miley Cyrus, Ashton Kutcher, and Hillary Clinton, just to name a few--are absolutely outraged. They say the law is a license to discriminate against gay people:

Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed into law Thursday a bill he claims will protect religious liberty in his state. Overwhelmingly approved by that state’s Republican-controlled legislature, the law allows businesses and workers, citing their religious beliefs, to refuse service to anyone they find objectionable. Of course, what the so-called “religious freedom” act really does is legalize discrimination against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender people.