Free Republic

Nicholas Baker, a student at Saint Louis University, a Catholic institution, recently announced his candidacy for the student government’s Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion. Baker is not the traditional candidate for a role that typically attracts left-leaning progressives. But Baker, who also serves as president of SLU’s College Republicans, said he is fed up with the direction in which his institution is headed. “As things stand, SLU is accepting of virtually everyone except for traditional Catholics and conservatives. They’ve gone so far as to allow a group of two thousand students to organize under the name ‘SLU Sluts,’” Baker...

The parents of Michael Brown, the Ferguson Missouri man who was shot by Officer Darren Wilson following an altercation, spoke before a UN Committee yesterday, pleading for the world to note what was happening in Ferguson and around the country. Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr. spoke to the United Nations Committee Against Torture -- which also works against cruel or degrading treatment or punishment by government authorities. CNN: "We need the world to know what's going on in Ferguson and we need justice," McSpadden told CNN in Geneva, Switzerland. "We need answers and we need action. And we have...

Carlson says he has a duty to speak up in moral conflict By: Derrick Neuner Posted: 8/20/09 It's a new year at Saint Louis University, and along with changes occurring on campus, there has also been a change in the St. Louis Archdiocese. On June 10, after serving four years as bishop of the Diocese of Saginaw, Mich., Archbishop Robert J. Carlson was installed as the head of the St. Louis Catholic Church. As archbishop, Carlson will be responsible for over 550,000 Catholics and he will have a unique chance to interact with one of the nation's oldest and largest...

If you've checked your e-mail in the last week, you've probably seen a message forwarded from a friend, urging you to boycott gas stations on Tuesday. The aim: To teach greedy Big Oil a lesson. But economics Prof. Pat Welch of St. Louis University says the real lesson is that the boycott won't work. "Needing gas ranks third behind needing to breathe and needing to eat," he said this morning. "If you need gas and you don't buy it on May 15, you'll buy it on May 16, or May 14." Welch cited an iron law of economics called "inelasticity...

St. Louis University, a Jesuit school proud of its Catholic heritage, celebrated a legal victory last week that affirmed it is not controlled by the Catholic church or by its Catholic beliefs.The Missouri Supreme Court agreed with the school in handing down a decision that the city of St. Louis did not violate state and federal constitutions by granting the university $8 million in tax increment financing for its new arena.Opponents of the $80 million arena sued the school in 2004, halting construction. The Missouri Constitution prohibits public funding to support any "… college, university, or other institution of learning...

Roman Catholic Faithful announces "Operation Second Chance" "I'm 47 years old. I'm divorced. I'm a recovering alcoholic. I'm gay!" Homosexual activist seeks ordination to the priesthood as Roman Catholic Faithful announces "Operation Second Chance" The president of an international Catholic watchdog group today called upon the St. Louis Catholic hierarchy to block a self-proclaimed homosexual activist from seeking ordination to the priesthood. Citing a 1961 Vatican directive which declared that "advancement to religious vows and ordination should be barred to those who are afflicted with evil tendencies to homosexuality or pederasty" as well as a more recent declaration from Rome...