Free Republic

You know gay-rights activism has gone goofy when the New York Times raises an eyebrow at it.Some Christians attracted to the same sex try to “pray the gay away,” to the annoyance of LGBT advocates who believe orientation is inborn and that trying to “cure” homosexuality through prayer further stigmatizes it. Well, good news and bad news. The good news: Praying the gay away is out of vogue.The bad news? Looks like we’re “praying the straight away” instead. In four-year-olds. Mr. Holdsworth, the provost of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Glasgow, belongs to the Scottish Episcopal Church, a separate province...

A prominent Anglican cleric and gay rights campaigner known for contentious gestures has urged believers to pray for Prince George — age 4, and third in line to the throne — to find the love “of a fine young gentleman” when he grows up so as to advance the cause of same-sex marriage in church. Coming just days after Prince Harry — George’s uncle, and fifth in line — announced his engagement to Meghan Markle, a divorced American actress, the suggestion by the Very Rev. Kelvin Holdsworth seemed to illuminate once more the role of royal romance in Britain’s imagination...

LONDON — A prominent Anglican cleric and gay rights campaigner known for contentious gestures has urged believers to pray for Prince George — age 4, and third in line to the throne — to find the love “of a fine young gentleman” when he grows up so as to advance the cause of same-sex marriage in church. Coming just days after Prince Harry — George’s uncle, and fifth in line — announced his engagement to Meghan Markle, a divorced American actress, the suggestion by the Very Rev. Kelvin Holdsworth seemed to illuminate once more the role of royal romance in...

The Archbishop of Canterbury yesterday warned that churches must learn to live with a world in which families are no longer led only by married couples. Even Church of England schools are now filled with children from ‘myriad combinations’ of men, women and children, the Most Reverend Justin Welby said. In a speech that pointed at a fresh direction for the Church’s attitude towards marriage, the Archbishop said that ‘in the last 40 years there has been a great shift in the understanding and the reality of family life’. He threw his support behind the idea that different forms of...

LGBT charities and campaigners have welcomed the Church of England’s new guidance for schools urging them to refrain from making pupils conform to gender stereotypes. The updated guidance for the church’s 4,700 schools, titled Valuing All God’s Children, and timed to coincide with anti-bullying week, followed advice issued three years ago that covered homophobic bullying. It has now been expanded to include transphobic and biphobic bullying. The guidance met with outrage in some quarters, drawing sceptical newspaper headlines and furious commentary from some conservatives. But the human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said the guidance was “big progress for a church...

DALLAS, Pennsylvania, November 20, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – A U.S. bishop is defending a local Catholic university’s invitation to a pro-homosexual priest to have him speak at its winter commencement in the face of almost 20,000 Catholics having signed a petition asking that the invitation be cancelled. Scranton Bishop Joseph C. Bambera is defending Jesuit homosexualist Fr. James Martin’s speaking engagement at Misericordia University’s winter commencement on December 17, saying that the priest’s latest book condoning homosexuality was “written with the full consent of his religious superiors and in conformity with Catholic Church publishing guidelines.” Martin “raises perspectives that challenge readers...

The Archbishop of Canterbury says he doesn't understand why so many Christians in the U.S. support President Donald Trump. Justin Welby told ITV's Preston on Sunday program that he "really genuinely" can't comprehend why fundamentalists have provided such a strong base for Trump.

A progressive evangelical pastor whose 2015 pro-gay marriage announcement led to a steep decline in his church's membership now says that he believes he should have given his church more input on the announcement than he did. Pastor Stan Mitchell, founder and head of the Nashville area-based GracePointe Church, garnered national headlines in early 2015 when he said that his church would support and recognize gay marriages. Since the announcement, GracePointe has seen a steep decline in worship attendance, membership and financial giving. In an interview with The Christian Post on Thursday, Mitchell explained that he felt his position of...

As an outsider, I can’t help but wonder whether the pope and the USCCB were particularly provoked by Weinandy’s suggestion that Jesus had allowed this controversy in order “to manifest just how weak is the faith of many within the Church, even among too many of her bishops.” Catholics will have to make up their own minds—but I’ll admit I have questions about the faith of Pope Francis, which seems, if not weak, at least different from that of the Catholic tradition. Even before the release of Amoris Laetitia in March 2016, Francis had caused many to question his fidelity...

Boys should be free to choose to wear a tutu, tiara or heels, and girls to wear toolbelts and superhero capes, the Church of England has said in new guidance issued to its schools. The advice also calls on teachers to avoid using labels that might alienate children’s behaviour “just because it does not conform to gender stereotypes”. The updated guidance for its 4,700 schools, titled Valuing All God’s Children [pdf], follows advice issued three years ago that covered homophobic bullying. It has now been expanded to include transphobic and biphobic bullying. The church advises that nursery and primary school...

In January 2012, Bono arrived in Timbuktu on a private jet with “ONE” emblazoned on the side, accompanied by his wife, daughters, the designer Renzo Rossi and several others. He had come to the historic city in Mali for a festival celebrating the music of the famous Tuareg tribe. On the night of the event, Bono and his entourage were placed on a small bleacher surrounded by, yet separated from, the thousands of local people via metal traffic barricades and a dozen heavily armed men. Toward the end of the evening, a woman announced that “BONE-no from Youtube” was in...

Do you oppose the liberal agenda on health care, the living wage, voter ID laws, gay rights, and gun control? If so, you are guilty of supporting “non-Christian” policies. That was the view expressed by William Barber on Joy Reid’s MSNBC show today. But Barber, a liberal pastor from North Carolina, took things an ugly step further. Suggesting that they had failed to address poverty, including child poverty, Barber accused conservative Christians of “policy pedophilia.” Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

CHICAGO, November 2, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) -- Francis-appointed U.S. Cardinal Blase Cupich said that if Catholics want to engage in “discernment” like Pope Francis does, they must let go of “cherished beliefs.” “It is our job to take up that discernment. It takes time. It involves discipline. Most importantly it requires that we be prepared to let go of cherished beliefs and long-held biases,” said the Archbishop of Chicago in a talk to the Catholic Theological Union published on YouTube October 27. “It is this willingness of Francis to let go of the unnecessary and explore unchartered waters that gives him...

The Church of England will debate blessings for same-sex couples after a motion was passed by one diocese, with the support of the local bishop, calling for a formal liturgy. The Bishop of Hereford, who spoke in favour of the change and voted for the motion, said he thinks clergy should be helped to carry out a more formal service with recently married gay couples. Hereford's diocesan synod has voted to support a motion calling on the House of Bishops to "commend an Order of Prayer and Dedication after the registration of a civil partnership or a same sex marriage"....

Another reminder, as if we needed one, that it's not going to stop with Confederate generals. Or, for that matter, Virginians or slaveowners. Look at the history of the left around the world. And look at where they drew the line and stopped. The answer is nowhere. And so we have this insult, unthinkable in the pre-Obama era where the Dems at least feigned respect for America. An historic Episcopal parish where George Washington frequently worshiped has decided to remove a memorial plaque honoring the nation’s first president, saying the decision was out of a desire to provide a “welcoming”...

A church attended by George Washington will take down a memorial to the nation's first president, a move church leaders say is intended to make the place of worship more welcoming. The Washington Times reported Friday that Christ Church in Alexandria, Va., will remove memorials of Washington and former Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which stand on either side of the church's altar. "The plaques in our sanctuary make some in our presence feel unsafe or unwelcome," church leaders said. "Some visitors and guests who worship with us choose not to return because they receive an unintended message from the prominent presence...

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences has invited California governor Jerry Brown to deliver a keynote address in their upcoming meeting on climate change to be held in the Vatican. This is not the first time the Vatican has offered a platform to the contentious California governor from which to proclaim his views on global warming. Invited to speak at a similar Vatican event in 2015, Jerry Brown, a darling of Planned Parenthood, railed against climate-change skeptics, calling them well-financed “troglodytes” who are determined to “bamboozle” the gullible. The Vatican hosted 10 U.S. Democrat mayors as well as Governor Jerry Brown...

A guest on MSNBC’s “AM Joy” stated that conservative Christians like Roy Moore aren’t actually Christian.WATCH:(video at link)After host Joy Reid referred to Alabama Senate hopeful Roy Moore as the “darling of the Christian right,” guest Rev. William Barber said that right-wing Christians weren’t real Christians. Reid asked, “Judge Roy Moore, it is interesting. He is a darling of the Christian right. But reading this article this week about how he once stood steadfast against removing segregation and poll taxes from the Alabama Constitution and yet he fits in fine. Why is that?”Barber answered, “I just can’t call it ‘Christian right.’...

SAN FRANCISCO, California, October 11, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — Four U.S. Catholic bishops and another from New Zealand have offered their names in support of Jesuit Father James Martin’s “project of outreach to LGBT Catholics.” According to Father Martin’s book publisher, Church hierarchy is continuing to endorse his message in light of “backlash from some unofficial far-right Catholic groups leading to the cancellation of three scheduled lectures.” “Many Catholic leaders have stepped forward to offer forceful new support for Father Martin and his message of ‘respect, compassion, and sensitivity,’” a HarperOne news release said. The “additional church leaders (who) have also...

United Methodist Church bishop Dr. Karen Oliveto is not only a lesbian, she also believes (and publicly teaches) that Jesus was a bigot filled with prejudices. She does say that Jesus grew and changed, and that's her point. Bishop Oliveto admonishes, "If Jesus can change, if he can give up his bigotries and prejudices, if he can realize that he had made his life too small, and if, in this realization, he grew closer to others and closer to God, than so can we."