Free Republic

The time for happy-clappy, lighthearted engagement of our culture may be nearing an end. Sometimes it takes a while to understand that what used to work no longer works. Let me get more specific.Decades ago the “Al Smith Dinner” was a time for Republicans and Democrats to bury the hatchet (even if only temporarily) and come together to raise money for the poor and to emphasize what unites us rather than what divides us. But in the old days the death of 50 million infants was not what divided us. We were divided about lesser things such as how much...

NEW YORK (RNS) After years of strong resistance, organizers of New York’s St. Patrick’s Day parade on Wednesday (Sept. 3) said that gays and lesbians will be allowed to march under their own banner for the first time, and Cardinal Timothy Dolan — the parade’s grand marshal next March — has welcomed the move. The decision is another sign of how quickly changing public attitudes toward gay people have pushed changes in state laws, government policies and the practices of private entities. Dolan’s positive response may also point to a shifting dynamic within the Catholic Church on gays and lesbians...

Organizers of the world's largest St. Patrick's Day Parade say they're ending a ban and allowing a gay group to march under its own banner for the first time. The prohibition on identified gay groups in the centuries-old New York parade had made participation a political issue. Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio refused to march this year, and Guinness beer dropped its sponsorship.

From Kim Kardashian’s butt to Miley Cyris’ obscene gyrations, clearly our American culture has popped, exploded, gone to hell in a hand basket, and is just plain offensive and out-of-control. Once again, the NATIONAL ENQUIRER tells it the way it is by featuring the re-release of the iconic art book WHITE TRASH UNCUT by outstanding photographer Christopher Makos. (1). His first edition is available for a whopping $500 a copy, but this second release is selling at $50 each and includes 40 new pix of the decline and fall of Western Civilization in full disgust. Makos is “the first photographer...

It seems like every year Catholics are threatened by various homosexual groups because they have declared war on our religion and the secular world helps them any way they can. This year the phonies who sell beer have joined them. Subgroups within the homosexual community take the occasion of St. Patrick’s Day to try to force Catholics to violate deeply held religious doctrines against the celebration of homosexuality. They delight in their attempts to pressure the organizers of St. Patrick’s Day Parades around the country to allow them to march under a banner proclaiming their sexuality. As often as they...

Happy St. Patrick's Day, I have kids and a job, so I don't celebrate anymore, but others should for me...safely...PLEASE.

If you’ve never been to the annual New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade, better put it on your calendar for next year. That is, if there is a next year. Time could be running out on the world’s biggest celebration of all things Irish. Why? Because the parade’s organizers have for two decades steadfastly refused to allow gay and lesbian organizations to march under banners trumpeting their sexual orientation. The city’s self-appointed guardians of human rights long ago declared this policy exclusionary and intolerant. But, unlike in previous decades, the effort to paint the parade and its organizers...

I am SICK of hearing about sodomites and their allies in the media...so, WHICH of the beer companies are not bending over to the homosexual agenda?

On June 19, 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade was a privately run operation that could write its own rules for participation. Writing for the high court, Justice David Souter noted that gays and lesbians had never been barred from marching in the parade; they were banned from marching under their own banners. The court's unanimous ruling was a victory for the First Amendment right to freedom of assembly. Once this decision was reached, gay and lesbian groups in many cities, including New York, were angry, and some tried, unsuccessfully, to march without...

BOSTON (AP) -- Boston Mayor Martin Walsh is threatening to boycott the St. Patrick's Day parade unless organizers allow a group of gay military veterans to march, joining New York's mayor in protesting parade policies on gay groups. Walsh, the son of Irish immigrants, said Thursday he's been trying to broker a deal with the city's parade organizers to allow a gay veterans group sponsored by MassEquality to march in this year's parade. He said allowing gay groups to participate is long overdue. "It's 2014 - it's far beyond the time where we should be even having this discussion because...

Bill Donohue comments on the decision by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio not to march in this year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade:This is the first time in New York City history that its mayor has decided to boycott the St. Patrick’s Day parade. Personally, I am delighted: I lead the Catholic League contingent every year, and I do not want to march with a public official who does not want to be associated with Irish Catholics.De Blasio says he will not march because the parade does not allow pro-gay signs. Neither does it allow pro-life ones. The great...

After boycotting snow removal, William Wilhelm Jr. aka Bill de Blasio will be boycotting the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.Bill de Blasio doesn’t seem like a fan of parades in general. Before the election he showed up at the Columbus Day Parade and claimed that he wasn’t doing it to support Columbus.Wilhelm Jr. isn’t a fan of St. Patrick either because the parade doesn’t allow gay rights signs. That will make Bill de Blasio the first mayor since Dinkins to pull this stunt. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says he won’t be marching in the nation’s largest St. Patrick’s...

Clever work from the folks over at Lutheran Satire. Despite its title, it's not anti-Saint Patrick. Watch till the end.

Today being St. Patrick's Day, what better pick for today's feature could there be than this one?

(Billy Hallowell) -- St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday rooted in Christian values, however secular celebrations are also regularly held to commemorate the day. In fact, for a great many, the religious tones aren’t even a consideration, as alcohol, Shamrock shakes and other fun-filled elements regularly dominate the day’s observations. Somehow, though, the holiday is reportedly still too religious for one Massachusetts elementary school.At the Soule Road School in Wilbraham, St. Patrick‘s Day has been replaced as the name for the school’s celebration surrounding the popular holiday. It’s been replaced with the generic “O’Green Day.” MassLive.com’s Patrick Johnson calls the move “a heavy-handed attempt...

Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the Boston Police Department are encouraging St. Patrick’s Day revelers to keep the festivities safe and “family friendly” as they increase the police presence during tomorrow’s parade and order South Boston bars and liquor stores to close early. Police remind revelers that public drinking, indecent exposure or disorderly conduct are against the law, and offenders will face fines or be arrested.

Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to attend Pittsburgh's St. Patrick's Day Parade as part of President Barack Obama's re-election campaign. More than 100,000 spectators are expected for the parade on Saturday, which begins at 10 a.m. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that volunteers from Organizing for America will also be registering voters and handing out Irish themed “O’Bama” campaign stickers.

Freedom of Information Day When : Always March 16th Freedom of Information Day celebrates and recognizes a valuable concept in American rights. March 16th is the birth date of James Madison, the 4th president of the United States of America. James Madison is recognized as the "Father of the Constitution", and the chief author of the "Bill of Rights". Freedom of information and individual rights was very important to James Madison. Did you Know? The Freedom of Information Act was passed into law in 1966. It opened up a wealth of information to American citizens. James Madison would be...

St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday rooted in Christian values, however secular celebrations are also regularly held to commemorate the day. In fact, for a great many, the religious tones aren’t even a consideration, as alcohol, Shamrock shakes and other fun-filled elements regularly dominate the day’s observations. Somehow, though, the holiday is reportedly still too religious for one Massachusetts elementary school. At the Soule Road School in Wilbraham, St. Patrick‘s Day has been replaced as the name for the school’s celebration surrounding the popular holiday. It’s been replaced with the generic “O’Green Day.” MassLive.com’s Patrick Johnson calls the move “a...