Free Republic

In early 1914, though, it seemed almost impossible that Britain and France would go to war with Germany to defend Russia against Austria-Hungary over a dispute with Serbia. Yet by June 28, war moved straight from impossible to inevitable — without ever passing through improbable. Four years later, 10 million people had died. (From World War One: First war was impossible, then inevitable; Anatole Kaletsky) Although I’ve used this quote in the past, I’ve found myself drawn to it again due to its precise accuracy describing the seemingly incredible and often unpredictable nature of geopolitics. Prior to World War I,...

Pope Francis established a “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation” to be celebrated on September 1. The day should “contribute to resolving” an alleged ecological crisis. Francis asked the bishops and Christian communities worldwide to inaugurate and further develop the initiative. He himself celebrated in 2015 and 2016 a liturgy of the word for the occasion. In 2016 the celebration was a fiasco because St Peter's Basilica was nearly empty. This years event was cancelled.

1. A breakthrough study from the Institute of Crystallography in Italy has just confirmed that the image of the man on the Shroud of Turin is composed of real blood and in fact a microscopic analysis of blood particles reveals that the blood had to come from someone undergoing torture.  This just further confirms the possible authenticity of the Shroud (see here). 2. Using a recently developed X-ray imaging technology, archaeologists were able to read the inside of a biblical scroll that was covered in ash during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD.  The results?  The current manuscripts...

Sometimes my natural skepticism asserts itself, but I cannot walk away. My father-in-law is one of the fairest, most patient, and most virtuous people that I know. He’s always available to help out, his capacity for forgiveness is immense, and when he’s unavailable it’s usually because he’s caring for or teaching people in his community. He’s intellectual honest, and he’s a profoundly decent human being. He’s also an atheist. He’s part of the reason why I have respect for people in the atheist community, and why when I write about atheism I usually have positive things to say. I don’t...

Many Khmer Buddhists have become Christians "because they are looking for answers". Sok Sophon was a battle-hardened Khmer Rouge commander when he found Jesus. The now 63-year-old Cambodian was visiting a refugee camp when a wounded soldier gave him a Bible. At first, he was reluctant but did take it. Then after reading from the Bible the officer of the Pol Pot regime got interested and visited a church service. "I remember the first time I made a detour to get to the church," he says. "I didn't want people to know. I felt ashamed for going there." It took...

FULL TITLE: The number of atheists in America could be 10 TIMES more than previous estimates: Shocking study shows a decline in people who believe in God The number of atheists in this country could be as much as 10 times more than previous estimates, according a study published earlier this year. The percentage of atheists in the US varies depending on who - and how - you ask. According to a Gallup poll in 2016, only one in 10 Americans answered 'no' to the question: 'Do you believe in God?' Even fewer actively identify as atheist, with numbers clocking...

What is repentance?  Is it turning from sin?  Is it not sinning?   Is it reforming one's life?  Is it getting cleaned up first, before coming to Christ? No word causes greater trepidation and uncertainty among those considering a decision of faith and no word causes greater fear and confusion among those already in the Church. This word has caused me some of the greatest angst in my life, largely because of how I've understood it: turning from sin, reforming my ways, being perfect.  Yet I continue to fail.  Daily.  This incredible dichotomy exists in my mind between the biblical...

Do you remember being a kid and attempting to debate grown up topics with friends? I remember from my youth having a friend whose father was an atheist. After hearing frequently his father mock and criticize theists and religious people, my young friend became rather indoctrinated. By the age of 10, he could take up the arguments he’d heard a million times around the home and challenge classmates and children in the neighborhood. To be that young and such a cynic seems awfully sad now as I look back. In retrospect I suppose my childhood pal figured if he could...

The Christian women’s blog Sheologians received a powerful testimony recently from an atheist who visited Planned Parenthood looking for adoption information. That’s not what she got. In her letter to Sheologians, she described how the abortion group repeatedly pressured her to abort her unborn child, ignored her desires to make an adoption plan and tried to manipulate her emotionally. The Blaze reports Apologia Studios created a video of blogger Summer White reading the woman’s letter. The woman’s name is not used. “I am a victim of rape, but I’m also a victim of feminism. I was lied to,” the woman...

In the Santa Clara WEEKLY that I picked up yesterday, I learned that atheist activists won yet another battle locally to eradicate religious symbols from public life. Removal of Park Cross: City Cave-in or Prudent Compromise? described the removal from city property of a 14 foot granite cross that stood in the Mission Cross Park in Santa Clara for nearly 64 years. Much pressure is being put on cities to remove Christian religious symbols. Sometimes even when Christian images are banned, by some lapse of logic, pagan idols are not. Near where I live in San Jose, for example, nativity...

Comedian and atheist Ricky Gervais recently squared off with comedian and Roman Catholic Stephen Colbert over religion during a recent taping of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." The exchange was brief and mostly unproductive in terms of articulating anything of value, but it did provide some insight into one of atheism's blind spots—teleology (the purpose of things). I encourage you to watch the video. Not long into the discussion, Colbert presents Gervais with the philosophical question, "Why is there something instead of nothing?" Gervais immediately dismisses the question as making "no sense at all." Ricky Gervais then proceeds to change the question...

A few months ago, a man named Dave Rubin reached out to us at Word on Fire to ask if Bishop Barron would be open to an interview. (Apparently lots of Dave’s Twitter followers suggested the idea.) To be honest, we didn’t know much about Dave at the time. But after some Googling, we discovered he’s a well-known comedian and host of the super popular “Rubin Report”, a show that airs directly through YouTube. “The Rubin Report” has over 350,000 subscribers and 100 million views. It’s one of the most popular YouTube channels in the world. Dave mostly shares cultural...

No one has ever seen one, but scientists are now sure they exist.In fact, by definition it’s impossible to see a black hole—an object whose gravitational pull is so strong that not even light can escape its grasp. Black holes had long been just a theoretical possibility that stemmed from Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. But then, in 1971, scientists were sure they had found one.But how could they observe what by definition was incapable of being seen?The first hint was a blue supergiant star many times larger and brighter than our sun. As one astronomer observed its...

The number of Americans who don’t ascribe to any religion grew significantly during Obama’s eight years in office, according to a recent Pew Research report on how the country changed during the Obama era.U.S. President Barack Obama (L) stands with Pope Francis during an arrival ceremony for the pope at the White House in Washington September 23, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst “When it comes to the nation’s religious identity, the biggest trend during Obama’s presidency is the rise of those who claim no religion at all. Those who self-identify as atheists or agnostics, as well as those who say their religion...

“If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him” (Deut. 18:22).  Hattip to Thomas Sowell.Originally filmed backed in 2007, the above video is still on target.  The global warming scam has little to do with science and everything to do with an ecological substitute religion for wealthy elites in the West.  This substitute religion is eagerly embraced by politicians in search of green crusades to bring themselves political power.  The harsh reception this...

December 15, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis has asked the atheist mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, to send him “positive waves” as support for his pontificate in just the same way he asks for prayers from Catholics. “I ask you in good faith to pray for me or to think of me and send me positive waves (onde positive),” Pope Francis said in the closing of his letter to Hidalgo, as Le Point reports. Pope Francis signed the letter sent by his private secretary to thank Hidalgo and 70 other mayors from all over Europe for participating in a conference...

Hey — guess what? There's something cosmically special about us human beings after all. Even the Washington Post says so. One of the cardinal tenets of a worldview shaped by materialism and Neo-Darwinism is a rejection of the idea that human beings are in any way special. Instead, we're merely the result of a fortuitous accident. What's more, many adherents postulate that this accident has occurred, perhaps even often, elsewhere in the Cosmos. So there's nothing exceptional or unique about us. However, Howard A. Smith, an astrophysicist at the Smithsonian-Harvard Center for Astrophysics, begs to differ. In a recent Washington...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - An atheist's request for a personalized license plate saying "IM GOD" was denied by the state of Kentucky, which said it might distract other drivers, and would be in bad taste. Bennie Hart says that by announcing "IM GOD" on his license plate, he simply wants to show the impossibility of disproving anyone's claim to being "God." Besides, Hart says, he had the same plate for a dozen years when he lived in Ohio, without causing any problems.

Can European Christianity withstand assaults from radical secularism and Muslim immigration? The current trends suggest that Christianity may vanish from Europe, as happened to Christianity in North Africa in the 7th Century.

Usually feted ecstatically by Catholics across the world, Pope Francis may face a far more muted reception when he arrives next week in Sweden, one the world's most secular nations, with openly gay Lutheran bishops and special cemeteries for atheists. Add to that the fact that Francis will be there to take part in a joint Catholic-Lutheran service in Lund to mark the start of the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's anti-Catholic Reformation that led to a bloody schism in Europe. In the first papal visit to the country in nearly 30 years, Francis, who is seen as breathing freshness...