Free Republic

Solzhenitsyn. Havel. Bonhoeffer. Kolakowski. These names are forever lionized in the pantheon of noble dissidents. And rightfully so. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn catalogued the heinous abuses of the Soviet labor camp experience in his greatest work, The Gulag Archipelago. Vaclav Havel endured isolation and harassment as an outspoken playwright who penned the razor-sharp analysis of life under oppressive Czech Communist stooges in his essay The Power of the Powerless. Dietrich Bonhoeffer helped found a Protestant Confessing Church objecting to the Nazification of his former denomination. He then went on to write his seminal work, The Cost of Discipleship, which objected to “cheap...

A few weeks ago, a Catholic priest caused quite a stir in one of our local diocesan high schools. He spoke the truth about sex. Pause here to sigh, and to wish that our heresies were more interesting.Some of the parents and students objected. They did not say, “The priest presented the truth in a way that made it less likely that the audience would accept it. We are worried that the Church’s teachings did not appear in the best light. We need to do some considerable work right now, lest the students go on to reject what they...

The Planned Parenthood abortion business in Seattle, Washington is taking a page out o the religious bigotry book in order to raise funds for itself. Tomorrow night, the abortion corporation will stage “Bar Nun Bingo” at and, two days later, with hold another “Bar Nun Bingo” — fundraising events that, as Bill Donohue of the Catholic League tells LifeNews in an email, are aimed squarely at Catholics: barnunbingoBoth fund-raising events will bash nuns, and will be led by the demonstrably anti-Catholic gay group, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Pictures of previous “Bar Nun Bingo” affairs show how sick it is. Planned...

Link only included due to copyright restrictions: http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/04/21/pope-saint-johnpaulii-easter-sex-abuse-column/7980347/

(Screenshot: Comedy Central)As we mentioned, Stephen Colbert, heir to David Letterman's chair on "The Late Show," openly talks about his Catholic faith. It's a surprise to those who know the comedian only as the satirical conservative host of "The Colbert Report."In this April 2009 episode on Maundy Thursday, Colbert hosted Bart Ehrman, a prominent New Testament scholar and biblical critic.As Ehrman points out contradictions he's found in the Bible, notably in the crucifixion of Jesus, Colbert takes him to task in his usual acerbic tone. But under the caricature, Colbert presents the divinity of Christ in ways that leave...

I’m not one of those twelve million readers who bought the book “Heaven is For Real” and torpedoed it to the New York Times’ Bestseller List. But I did check it out from the library and enjoyed both the story and the accounts of heaven. “Heaven is for real” is, in fact, only one among the many testimonies of near death experiences I’ve heard about from both Christians and non-Christians. With some suspect exceptions, most of the descriptions of heaven are fascinating and inspire me to work hard to aim for the ultimate prize. But that’s just the good news.On...

Protesters against SB175 gather outside the Colorado State Capitol in Denver on April 15, 2014. Credit: Peter Zelasko/CNA. Denver, Colo., Apr 16, 2014 / 12:32 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Archbishop of Denver on April 15 rallied opposition to a Colorado bill he says is “both extreme and dangerously ambiguous” in its ban on all abortion regulations and other pro-life laws. “Coloradans are not against common sense regulations on abortions, and they should have the opportunity to be able to debate and pass those regulations,” Archbishop Aquila Samuel J. Aquila said to a crowd of hundreds at an assembly and prayer...

Teaching the truths about homosexuality, chastity, adultery, and how God wants us to live our lives is not always an easy thing to do. Nor is living that life. But God asks that we do our best nevertheless, for our ultimate goal is eternity with Him. We cannot plead ignorance. We cannot justify that we chose otherwise. God's word is the truth, and though some may try to silence those who tell the truth, it doesn't change the facts. April 11, 2014 (ALL.org) - Sister Jane Dominic Laurel, a Dominican nun who has recently come under fire for a presentation...

Today I saw on the front page of the Holy See’s daily that the Holy Father reconfirmed Msgr. Guido Marini as Master of Ceremonies for another term. Good sign. Pope Francis is keeping certain of Pope Benedict’s people pretty close.

The Muslims Will Invade The Vatican, And Try to Destroy The Roman Catholic Church By Ted on April 12, 2014 inFeatured, General SHOEBAT EXCLUSIVE By Theodore Shoebat I remember a few years ago spending time with an Evangelical friend of mine. Within our conversation, somehow, the subject of the Crusades came up. Of course, I defended the Crusades, explaining that they were fighting off Islamic invaders in the Middle East. He, on the other hand, vehemently condemned the Crusaders as evil and barbarous people. I asked him, “Who would you rather win, the Muslims or the Crusaders?” He said,...

VATICAN CITY, April 11, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Human life is “sacred and inviolable” and “every civil law is based on the recognition of the first and most fundamental right, the right to life,” Pope Francis told an Italian pro-life organization today. The pope thanked the Movimento per la Vita, one of Italy’s leading political pro-life groups, for their work, urging them to continue “with courage and love” for life “in all its phases.” “It is therefore necessary to reiterate the strongest opposition to any direct attack on life, especially innocent and defenseless, and her unborn child in the womb...

BERKELEY, CA, April 7, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Oakland Bishop Michael Barber, Pope Francis’ first U.S. episcopal appointment, has drawn ire from Catholic progressives after replacing the priests serving the University of California at Berkeley campus, one of whom is “openly homosexual.” Newman Hall Holy Spirit Church, which functions as the parish church for Catholic students at the university, has been led by its pastor, Fr. Bernard Campbell, for the past seven years. Fr. Bill Edens, a self-identified homosexual, has served as student chaplain for the last five. Both are members of the Paulist order, which normally appoints priests at the...

"Have you not read?" The Authority behind Biblical InterpretationBy Robert SungenisDriving in my car the other day, I turned on the radio and came across one of the local Protestant stations. A preacher was expounding on John 3:5 where Jesus says, "Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."In his exegesis, he was absolutely sure that John did not mean physical water. Instead, he proposed that John’s water referred to the "word of God." He cited Ephesians 5:26 and claimed that because Paul referred to "washing her with water by the...

As Star Trek: Voyager Captain Kathryn Janeway, Kate Mulgrew knew her way around a solar system or two. So there was a certain irony to the actress’ voiceover work in the upcoming documentary The Principle, which focuses on the notion of geocentrism: the idea that the sun revolves around the Earth. But Mulgrew has dispelled the notion that she buys into the documentary’s central premise, writing in a post on her Facebook page that she is “not a geocentrist, nor am I in any way a proponent of geocentrism.” “I was a voice for hire, and a misinformed one, at...

Fears that a public Catholic baptism ceremony for a Argentinean lesbian couple’s child would amount to little more than a media stunt to promote the Church's acceptance of homosexuality appear to have been borne out Saturday at the Archdiocese of Cordoba’s cathedral. After the celebration of the sacrament, the couple, Karina Villarroel and Soledad Ortiz, kissed while posing for photos with the child, Umma Azul, at the front of the Church. Villarroel, the non-biological “mother,” told local press the Catholic Church’s decision to grant the baptism was important “because it signifies that there is a real social change and acceptance"...

“Strong and brave young women.”That’s what former U.S. Secretary of State and potential presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called the members of Pussy Riot, a Russian anarchist punk band whose members have been convicted in Russian courts of “hooliganism” and inciting religious hatred.Clinton posed with two members of the band while in New York for the Women in the World Summit. On Friday, she posted the photo on Twitter, saying,Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina served nearly two years in prison after their unauthorized performance February 21, 2012, in Moscow’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The two were stopped by...

Welcome to The Reign of “Gay” April 08, 2014 Make no mistake, it has nothing to do with fun and games, and everything to do with the forced rationalization of grave depravity Carl E. Olson In the summer of 1992, I took my first real job, working as a graphic designer for the venerable Meier & Frank department store chain in downtown Portland, Oregon. Those three years proved to be quite educational for a fairly naïve young man fresh out of Bible college and figuring out the ways of the world in the very beautiful, exceedingly secular Northwest. Within...

The Maryland Catholic Conference counts the boost in minimum wage and full funding of two programs benefiting nonpublic schools among its successes as the General Assembly adjourned April 7. Legislators passed a bill April 7 raising the state’s minimum hourly wage from $7.25 to $10.10 incrementally by 2018. The final bill does not require, as earlier drafts did, that the wage be indexed to inflation. It also extended by one year the original proposal’s timeline for the full wage increase to take effect. The MCC, which advocates for public policy on behalf of the state’s Catholic bishops, supported a general...

"The Guy Fawkes mask has now become a common brand and a convenient placard to use in protest against tyranny — and I'm happy with people using it, it seems quite unique, an icon of popular culture being used this way," British graphic novel artist David Lloyd, the man who created the original image of the mask for a comic strip written by Alan Moore, told BBC. At the top of Reddit today is somewhat ironic image of this icon of rebellion being mass-produced in a factory in Sao Goncalo near Rio de Janeiro. Reuters notes that the masks are...

From The Times November 7, 2007 Ron Paul raises $4.3m in a day on the back of notorious terrorist Tom Baldwin in Washington Guy Fawkes, a 17th-century English mercenary and terrorist who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament, is an unlikely figurehead for a US Republican presidential candidate. But Ron Paul is neither a run-of-the-mill Republican nor a typical presidential aspirant. His supporters announced yesterday that they had smashed Republican fundraising records by hauling in a total of $4.3 million (£2 million) for his campaign from more than 37,000 donors over the previous 24 hours. And they...