Free Republic

Recently, it was reported that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama proclaimed that America was not a Christian nation. He stated that Christianity was just one of many religions that were prevalent in America today. Of course, Senator Obama’s proclamation was just one of many subtle and subversive attacks against Christianity that have surfaced in America recently. Secularists of all ideological beliefs are attempting to evict the God of Christianity out of America. Basically, they want America to become a godless nation, a nation without absolute moral truths and godly standards to follow.

It's often said that America was founded on "Judeo-Christian" values.

Rev. Barry Lynn is the self appointed watch dog who runs “Americans United for the Separation of Church and State”; a well funded 501 c3 exempt public policy and educational organization. I am well acquainted with Rev. Lynn. For years, while I served as the first Executive Director of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), in the 19990’s, a public interest law firm committed to an authentic view of religious freedom, we crossed paths quite a few times. He still regularly debates my friend, the Chief Counsel for the ACLJ, and noted Supreme Court Advocate, Jay Sekulow. I...

We are constantly reminded about the destructive consequences of religion -- intolerance, hatred, division, inquisitions, persecutions of "heretics," holy wars. Though far from the whole story, they are, nevertheless, true. There have been many awful consequences of religion. What one almost never hears described are the deleterious consequences of secularism -- the terrible developments that have accompanied the breakdown of traditional religion and belief in God. For every thousand students who learn about the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials, maybe two learn to associate Gulag, Auschwitz, The Cultural Revolution and the Cambodian genocide with secular regimes and ideologies....

For many liberal Catholics, July 25, 1968 was the day the music died. Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae, published 40 years ago today, reaffirmed Catholicism's absolute ban on birth control. Coming on the heels of the Second Vatican Council's unprecedented opening of the Church to modernity three years earlier, the Vatican's decision to stand by a doctrine that ever fewer Catholics were obeying would reverberate far beyond the bedroom. Progressives saw the encyclical as the ultimate proof that the Church was bound to remain out of touch with contemporary reality. Traditionalists, instead, can mark it as the beginning of...

SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- In what is often seen as one of the most intensely secular nations in the world, Australia received a wake-up call: the faith of the church on public display over the weeklong celebrations of World Youth Day. For young Catholics used to seeing a steady annual decline in figures such as Mass attendance -- now estimated at approximately 13 percent of Catholics nationally -- and feeling like the only young person in the local parish, the sight of an estimated 300,000 pilgrims from around the nation and overseas may well have provided a much-needed shot in...

Whither The Secular State?Brucelewis.com 20080714 A Christian registrar who refused to carry out gay 'weddings' won a landmark legal battle yesterday. Lillian Ladele, 47, was threatened with the sack [being fired], bullied and 'thrown before the lions' after asking to be excused from conducting civil partnerships for same-sex couples because of her religious beliefs. But yesterday a tribunal agreed that her faith had been ridden roughshod over by equalities-obsessed Islington Council, which had sought to 'trump one set of rights with another'. The groundbreaking decision could lead to firms facing 'conscience claims' from staff who say their own beliefs prevent...

Democrats would maintain the same old secularism, but shoehorn it into religious packaging. Now they have an ideal candidate in Barack Obama. Unlike John Kerry, whose respect for religion extended to calling defrocked Haitian strongman Aristide "Father," Obama has perfected this con job.

It doesn’t take a team of scientist and a ten year study to understand the basics of cause and effect. Whether it’s a sociological explanation or a scriptural tenant the same rule along with its associative principles appear as the immutable law of reciprocation. Some call it karma while others use the more folksy phrase “what goes around, comes around” but by any other name it is still best summarized by the words of the Apostle Paul who said “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Gal 6:7)

The leader of Britain's Catholics claimed yesterday that "Judaeo-Christian values" were the only thing binding British society together, on the eve of a lecture series on the place of faith in British public life.Speaking to the Guardian, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor hit out at representatives of an "aggressive secularism" that he believes is gaining ground in the UK, defended the Catholic Church's combative intervention last week in the debate over "hybrid" embryos, and argued that Christian leaders should hold a privileged position over the representatives of other faiths when it came to their input into public policy.The cardinal's comments are likely...

GENEVA (Reuters) - Islamic states are bidding to use the United Nations to limit freedom of expression and belief around the world, the global humanist body IHEU told the U.N.'s Human Rights Council on Wednesday. In a statement submitted to the 48-nation Council, the IHEU said the 57 members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) were also aiming to undermine the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. "The Islamic states see human rights exclusively in Islamic terms, and by sheer weight of numbers this view is becoming dominant within the U.N. system. The implications for the universality of...

"The Abusive Exploitation of the Human Religious Sentiment": Michael Burleigh as Historian of "Political Religion" Michael Burleigh, a distinguished English historian, is the author of a remarkable trilogy on the "political religions" that have been the scourge of late modernity. In his authoritative The Third Reich: A New History (2000)1 Burleigh studied Nazi Germany as a form of totalitarian society. In doing so, he rehabilitated the category of "political religion" as the indispensable interpretive framework for deciphering the National Socialist enigma. That book provides a detailed account of the "moral breakdowns and transformations of an advanced industrial society," one where...

» 03/08/2008 14:51 VATICANPope: secularisation is invading all cultures, and even the ChurchBenedict XVI reveals that an increasing number of people live "making do without God", and he exhorts the Church to carry forward dialogue with cultures, in order to bring back to them the "lofty values of existence". Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Secularisation - living without God - is invading every aspect of human life, and for some time has stricken the Church itself.  It is a tendency fostered by the consumerist mentality, with its tendency to superficiality and egocentrism.  This is the cry of alarm raised today by...

Over half of Britons claim no religion Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent of The Times Freedom from religion in Britain is becoming as important as freedom of religion, according to a United Nations investigation into religion in the UK. In a 23-page report published this evening, a UN rapporteur claims the 2001 Census findings that nearly 72 per cent of the population is Christian can no longer be regarded as accurate. The report claims that two-thirds of British people now do not admit to any religious adherence. The report also calls for the disestablishment of the Church of England. The role...

Question 1: Why are murderers always counted in the victims tally? The day after the mass murder of students at Northern Illinois University (NIU), the headline in the closest major newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, was: "6 Dead in NIU Shooting." "6 dead" included the murderer. Why wasn't the headline "5 killed at NIU"? It is nothing less than moronic that the media routinely lump murderers and their victims in the same tally. This is something entirely new. Until the morally confused took over the universities and the news media, murderers were never counted along with their victims. To give a...

Human beings have never lacked for things to fight over, but for the last two millennia, they have fought the most over ideas involving the divine. Politics, technology, military capacity, and diseases have all played decisive roles in shaping history, yet it is impossible to understand the rise and fall of empires, the clash of civilizations, and the evolving balance of power without appreciating the unique fervor that religion inspires, and the speed with which new religions can spread. Christianity, a minority sect during much of the Roman Empire, became a world religion with a vast following after the Emperor...

Religious right is deadBILL PRESS 26.DEC.07 No matter who becomes the next president of the United States, the American people have already won a great victory — with the total disintegration of the once all-powerful religious right. Starting in 1979 when Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority, Christian conservatives have been the most powerful voting bloc in the Republican Party. Ironically, they began by casting out of the White House a born-again Christian who continued, as president, his lifelong practice of teaching Sunday school, and replacing him with a divorced and remarried man who seldom stepped inside a church. But...

Fundamentalist Christians have become the new target for the Old Media. One big reason is that media scribblers are simply ignorant of Western and world civilization. That thought comes to mind on listening to Verdi's Requiem, one of the most gorgeous and moving works ever composed. It is simply filled with "Christian fundamentalism" --- including the fear of punishment before God. At a guess, half of the greatest works in Western civilization are directly inspired by religious fundamentalism of one kind or another.  Mozart, Bach, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Mendelsohn, Faure, Britten, Handel, and all the rest are just incomprehensible without...

Last week, New York Times columnist Roger Cohen wrote a column titled "Secular Europe's Merits," in which he explained why he prefers the secularism of Europe to the religiosity of America. To his credit (other New York Times columnists do not generally agree to debate anything they write -- Paul Krugman, for example, has refused to discuss his new book on liberalism with me), Cohen agreed to come on my show, and proved to be a charming guest. A distinguished foreign correspondent for Reuters and the International Herald Tribune, Cohen nevertheless betrayed what I believe is endemic to those who...

MISSION VIEJO – A high school honors student and his parents filed a First Amendment lawsuit Wednesday against a Capistrano Valley High School history teacher they say repeatedly made disparaging and religiously intolerant remarks about Christians and traditional Christian viewpoints during class. - Snip - Court papers cite statements tape-recorded by Farnan such as "Conservatives don't want women to avoid pregnancies – that's interfering with God's work" and "When you put on your Jesus glasses, you can't see the truth." -Snip - He railed against Christianity and traditional Christian viewpoints on topics such as birth control, teenage sex, homosexuality and...

"The battle between science and creationism has reached the prestigious Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where a former researcher is claiming he was fired because he doesn't believe in evolution. Nathaniel Abraham filed a lawsuit earlier this week in US District Court in Boston saying that the Cape Cod research center dismissed him in 2004 because of his Christian belief that the Bible presents a true account of human creation. Abraham, who is seeking $500,000 in compensation for a violation of his civil rights, says in the suit that he lost his job as a postdoctoral researcher in a biology lab...

"The Golden Compass" is more than enough proof to demonstrate the Christmas culture wars are alive and well. We've drifted so far way from the innocence of Christmas movies like Jimmy Stewart's "It's a Wonderful Life." We've shifted from celebrating a savior to crying out for more secularism. I respect artistic ability and one's right to freedom of speech, religion and creativity, but that does not mean I or millions of others have to agree with or tolerate it. It is also my American right to say, "My name is Chuck Norris, and I disapprove of this movie." And it's...

As the election season proceeds apace, we can expect to see increasing attention to the influence of religious figures on the Republican leadership. It made the headlines when the chancellor of Bob Jones University, a fundamentalist Christian school, endorsed Mitt Romney. Similarly, televangelist Pat Robertson’s endorsement of Rudy Giuliani was big news. Religious leaders are portrayed by the press as kingmakers in conservative politics. In contrast, we rarely hear about the links between nonbelievers and political power. The assumption is that nonbelievers are disorganized and relatively politically weak. Indeed, this is the explicit lament of some high-profile atheists. In a...

Because the religious right is the most visible champion of social conservative values today, and the secular socialists have worked so hard to make sure that social conservatism is defined as some right-wing religious extremism, it is in vogue to refer to social conservatives as some mutant breed of social Nazis. (snip) However, in reality, social conservatism actually has little to do with religion. In fact, until recent years, when the Democratic Party became run by Democratic Secular Socialists, it wasn’t even an idea limited to the right or Republicans. It was a very fundamental American precept shared by most...

In the rooms of Manhattan's trendy Soho Grand Hotel guests can enjoy an eclectic selection of underground music, iPod docking stations, flat-screen TVs and even the living company of a complimentary goldfish. But, alas, the word of God is nowhere to be found. Unlike traditional hotels, the 10-year-old boutique has never put Bibles in its guest rooms, because "society evolves," says hotel spokeswoman Lori DeBlois. Providing Bibles would mean the hotel "would have to take care of every guest's belief." What might be surprising to many Americans is that the Bible-free room isn't a development just in hip New York...

The latest disclosure came when Radio Canada announced the "Felix" awards for Quebec-generated popular music. A folk-song group calling itself "Mes Aieux" (My Ancestors) had produced what was voted the most popular song in Quebec. It's called "Dégénérations" which (when spoken) could mean either "degeneration," an apt description of what has been happening in Quebec, or perhaps just "generations," a wistful observance of changing times. The words of the song leave no doubt, however, about its message. They recall and extol the old Quebecois, who courageously broke the land and founded French Canada. The song likewise deplores their descendants who...

Holiday task force gives decoration suggestions for city This article discusses a proposal by the city of Fort Collins, CO to establish a task force to consider policies related to city-sponsored holiday displays. The "educational and multicultural" display would represent both religious and non-religious celebrations that occur between Nov 1 and Jan 30.

NEW YORK, November 7, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The meaning of human nature itself is under threat from a new philosophy of “soul-less scientism” that will undermine “our own self-understanding as human beings” and reduces the aspirations of mankind to the purely material realm. This new philosophy outstrips the danger posed by the actual techniques and technologies of modern biomedical science, said Dr. Leon Kass, speaking to a New York audience in October.  “Scientific ideas and discoveries” he said, “are being enlisted to do battle against our traditional religious and moral teachings, and even our self-understanding as creatures with freedom and...

At the Democrats' presidential debate last week, the candidates were asked to comment on issues pertaining to education. This was Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd's response: "I've been asked the question over the years, 'What's the single most important issue?' I always say education because it is the answer to every other problem we confront as a people here." Needless to say, no other candidate took issue with Sen. Dodd, and it is likely that most senators, all the Democrats and many Republicans, would agree with the sentiment. But the sentiment is not only wrong, it is destructive. There are, of...

Changing our morality to fit the politically correct version of the day would cause our worship of God to be a mere vanity. In a national climate already inundated with ersatz, narcissism, vanity, pop culture nonsense and media fired tripe, who would willingly pull their feet off the only unmovable object left in the world, Jesus the Rock of our Salvation? He said “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. (Mk 7:7)

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The government of Sweden wants to curb the influence of religious instruction in private Christian schools. Education Minister Jan Bjorklund told a Swedish newspaper that new rules being drafted by the government would ban religious elements in subjects other than religion, such as biology. He said, "Students must be protected from every form of fundamentalism." Bjorkland's spokeswoman says, "A student shouldn't be able to pass a natural science test by answering that God created the world. We don't think that's OK." She said the new rules, which need parliamentary approval, would be introduced in 2009.

Even a "Raving Atheist" Can Be Pro-Life - Interview Special to LifeSiteNews.com by Laura Freeburn Editor's Note: The following, until now unpublished, interview was conducted with the popular blog personality "the raving atheist".  The blogger, a lawyer who will not divulge his real name, has nonetheless acquired pseudonymous fame.  He is featured, as "the raving atheist" in the anti-Christian documentary film 'The God who wasn't there". His pro-life convictions are based solely on scientific evidence for the life of the unborn.  He is firmly opposed to belief in God.  The interview is published here as it provides interesting insights.Is it...

Quebec Mandates Relativistic Ethical and Religious Education For All Students in Province Program includes positive presentation of homosexual families and requires children to question their own religious upbringing By John-Henry Westen QUEBEC CITY, October 4, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - As of the beginning of the 2008 school year, all students in the province of Quebec whether in public school, private school or even homeschooled will be mandated to take a program on "Ethics and Religious Culture" which runs from grade one till the end of high school.  The program is completely relativistic and includes positive presentation of homosexual families and requires...

Toronto Catholic School Board Bows to Secularism Commentary on inclusion of "sexual orientation" in Board's Workplace Harassment policy By Fr. Alphonse de Valk, editor Catholic Insight magazineFrom Oct. 2007 edition of Catholic Insight TORONTO, October 4, 2007 (catholicinsight.com) - Just before Catholic Insight went to press with its September edition, on August 15 we learned that in May 2007, the Toronto District Catholic School Board (TCDSB), in its document Workplace Harassment, had moved to prohibit all teachers and staff from complaining or objecting to "same-sex partner status." It turns out that two other unacceptable prohibitions had previously been imposed already;...

VATICAN, October 5, 2007 (CWNews.com/LifeSiteNews.com) - By denying the existence of natural law, secularism is undermining the very foundations of democratic society, Pope Benedict XVI argued in an October 5 private audience with members of the International Theological Commission. Disregard for natural law, the Holy Father said, has caused "a crisis for human-- even more for Christian-- civilization." In response to that crisis, he continued, Church leaders should mobilize "both lay people and followers of religions other than Christianity" to reclaim a common moral tradition. The International Theological Commission had gathered in Rome this week to discuss a forthcoming document...

Church of England: Labour's equality law denies Christians right to oppose homosexuality 07.09.07      Dr Rowan Williams has endorsed the warning Labour's latest equality law will deprive Christians of the right of free speech, the Church of England has warned. The Single Equality Bill could force vicars to conduct weddings for sex-change brides, deprive Christians of the right to oppose homosexuality and make church schools promote gay lifestyles in lessons, said the Archbishops' Council. Church charities may also be barred from saying grace before meals or displaying crucifixes, it claimed. The CofE document - endorsed by the Archbishop...

GLASGOW, September 4, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - This past Sunday, the Catholic faithful in Scotland was called upon to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the first ever papal visit to Scotland. Archbishop Conti of Glasgow seized upon the opportunity to deliver a heartfelt sermon to encourage the faithful of his diocese to defy the mounting trend of secularism in Scotland.  Conti gave the sermon at Carfin Grotto in Lanarkshire, Scotland on the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's visit in 1982.  The message of Conti's sermon was very similar to the themes addressed in the talks given by John Paul...

PARIS, September 5, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Newly elected French President Nicholas Sarkozy did not shy away from tackling controversial issues in his campaign and he has, once again, engaged a politically hot topic in a nation previously renowned for its secularism. In a letter written by Sarkozy and publicized yesterday, he addressed the teachers of France, calling on them to take part in a "renaissance" and to reflect on the huge responsibility placed in their hands - the responsibility to "guide and to protect the spirit and the sensibilities that are not yet completely formed, that have not yet attained...

In saying this, I am not criticizing liberalism, just explaining what it is. It is a form of political organization that is militantly secular and incapable, by definition, of seeing the strong claim of religion – the claim to be in possession of a truth all should acknowledge – as anything but an expression of unreasonableness and irrationality. Berlinerblau and Krattenmaker hold out the hope that secularists and strong religionists might come to an accommodation if they would listen to each other rather than just condemn each other. That hope is illusory, for each is defined by what is sees...

Newsweek's Anna Quindlen recently wrote that a presidential victory for Rudy Giuliani "wouldn't be a good thing for this country, but his candidacy may wind up being a good thing for his party," which Quindlen obviously believes has been hijacked by the Christian right. Giuliani's strong poll numbers, said Quindlen, perhaps "indicate that the end is nigh for the stranglehold the Leviticus Lobby has had on the GOP." It's no longer surprising that those screaming most loudly against Christianity and its influence on public policy in America often employ the same tactics and represent the same dangers they falsely attribute...

In a time when modern science and scholarship have begun to cast doubts on traditional faith, many on the left, right, and center are increasingly abandoning traditional religion. While most such people on the center-right are content simply not to believe, many on the left continue to cling to the salvationist ethos. In the past, that impulse was satiated with communistic reveries. If religion was the opiate of the masses, socialism was the heroin of the secular leftist. That no longer seems, at least outwardly, to be the case. With a worldwide record of abject failure, socialism lost its claim...

Secular liberalism stands helpless before a new century of religious wars, Columbia University Professor Mark Lilla concedes in "The politics of God", a despairing vision of the political future published in the August 19 New York Times Magazine. [1] It is one of those important statements, like the "end of history", that will repeat on us indefinitely, like a bad curry. It comprises most of the Times weekend magazine, presented with all the pomposity the newspaper can summon.

A Texas family is suing Gov. Rick Perry and a school district over a state-mandated moment of silence in schools, according to The Dallas Morning News. David Wallace Croft and his wife, Shannon, of Carrollton, Texas, have three children at Rosemeade Elementary and argue that the moment of silence is unconstitutional and amounts to state-sanctioned school prayer. The couple has a history of complaints against religious-affiliated words and images in schools, having previously complained about Boy Scout rallies held during school, fliers sent home about Good News Bible Club meetings and the inclusion of "Silent Night" and a Hanukkah song...

There was nothing fey about Mustafa Kemal Pasa, a.k.a. Ataturk, the founder of post-Ottoman Turkey. Neither in his seizure of power, nor in what he did with it, was the man inclined to shrink from difficulties. An articulate and complex man (I have not been able to find a biography of him that makes him truly plausible), he was able to guide his independence movement as much ideologically as tactically, then shape the emerging Turkish republic to his own desires. Partly he did this by making himself, through his eloquence, the author of his own legend, and through that legend...

Monday night marked the Democrats' most interesting debate to date – which is to say, the audience fell unconscious about halfway through, as opposed to during the opening statements. But amid all of the technological hubbub and political jockeying, there was one question that stood out. The questioner was Rev. Reggie Longcrier, pastor of Exodus Mission and Outreach Church in Hickory, N.C. "Sen. Edwards said his opposition to gay marriage is influenced by his Southern Baptist background," Longcrier stated. "Most Americans agree it was wrong and unconstitutional to use religion to justify slavery, segregation and denying women the right to...

In just the last few months, three books attacking belief It is not due to their eloquence, originality or persuasiveness that these books have become best sellers. I believe other factors are at work. And they are: First and most significant is the amount of evil coming from within Islam. Whether Islamists (or jihadists, Islamo-Fascists or whatever else Muslims who slaughter innocents in the name of Islam are called) represent a small sliver of Muslims or considerably more than that, they have brought religious faith into terrible disrepute. How could they not? The one recognized genocide in the world today...

With the predictability of a John McCain temper tantrum (or a John Edwards $200-haircut), every two year the Democrats announce that they're going to fight like hell for the religious vote - a vow duly reported by the media in the hushed tones of revelation. Thus, a story on the recent CNN Democratic presidential forum began with the following observation: "After barring their souls in a live television confessional, top Democratic White House hopefuls have put Republicans on notice that religious voters are up for grabs." At the forum, sponsored by Jim (Hugo-Chavez-Is-My- Shepard) Wallis and his Sojourners collective, Hillary...

I participated in two debates this week, and between them learned a great deal about the nature of science and religion in our time. The first debate, on the subject of religion, was with Richard Dawkins, the famous evolutionary biologist and atheist, in Toronto. The second, in New York, was with a leading Jewish-Christian missionary on whether Jesus died for our sins. What startled me was how, in the religion debate, although my adversary and I challenged each other's most sacredly held beliefs, there was no offense taken on either side. Less so was there any acrimony directed toward me...

One hundred million people: that’s how many died under the oppression of Communism. Those victims have too often been ignored by much of the Western press—especially by members of the media who were sympathetic with the Communist ideology. But on Tuesday, the victims were remembered—and a Washington park was dedicated to their memory. It’s called the Victims of Communism Memorial Park. Rising above the park grounds is the statue of a woman, her arms lifting a torch aloft. It’s a replica of the Goddess of Democracy statue carried by anti-Communist demonstrators in Tiananmen Square 18 years ago. The statue and...

NEW YORK, June 18, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Religious education is a form of child abuse and violates the rights of children, contends a thesis to be considered by secular humanists at the Center for Inquiry's congress in Beijing this October. The Center for Inquiry, an organisation recently awarded special consultative status as an NGO at the United Nations (UN) will consider the proposals of Innaiah Narisetti, the chairman of the Center for Inquiry's India chapter, that portend the next stage in the assault on the rights of parents to educate their children. Nasiretti called the influence of religion a "severe...