Free Republic

A Republican state representative in New Hampshire announced he is switching his political allegiance because of recent comments by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) in a defection analysts said could signal an accelerated trend away from the GOP on homosexuality. New Hampshire State Rep. Corey Corbin announced he is becoming a Democrat because of what he considers poor treatment of homosexuals in the Republican Party. "Being a gay man and, up until this week, a Republican, [Santorum's] comments truly summed up for me the attitude of the GOP toward the millions of gay men and women who work, raise families, pay...

Even though people on both sides of the issue deny it, it is increasingly obvious that homosexuality is dominating a new place on the scale of American political life. Even in conservative circles, prominent voices – some of whom I call friends, all of whom I respect – continually find themselves divided not only on the issue but also on how people of conscience respond to it. In recent weeks, David Horowitz, president of the Center for the Study of Popular Culture, and Robert Knight of Concerned Women for America have been "duking it out" on the issue of whether...

We live in a society that is increasingly decadent largely because our churches have lost sight of the relationship between chastity and courage, Fr. Paul McNellis, Jesuit priest and Boston College philosophy professor told students at Harvard Law School. He spoke before at a gathering of the Harvard Law School Society for Law, Life, and Religion earlier this month."Traditionally, chastity is related to self-control and temperance. It says, 'Slow down.' Courage is seen as overcoming fear in pursuit of a good. It says, 'Go ahead,'" McNellis told the students."A young woman said to me, 'I'm going to wait, even though...

In 1994, writing for the Wall Street Journal, Irving Kristol authored a provoking essay entitled "The New Face of American Politics." Kristol was writing about the internal battles within the Republican Party, and its external battles against the cultural left and its party, the Democratic Party. He asked a basic question. Could the Republican party remain secular, while so many of its members and leaders were social conservatives, and in fact, religious. Moreover, could it remain secular in face of the Democratic Party that had become secularist. "A secular political Party, in a traditional sense, has been neutral as between...

The Rev. Jerry Falwell, one of President Bush's staunchest supporters in the Christian right, may be shying away from the Commander-in-Chief as the 2004 election fast approaches. The current National Liberty Journal, a Falwell publication, features a story ominously headlined "Christian Leaders Threaten to Abandon GOP in 2004." Penned by the Journal's editor J.M. Smith, this lead story lambastes the Republican party and its current chairman, Marc Racicot, for getting too cozy with gay groups. The issue of GOP courting of gay activist groups has been swirling in Washington for months, and became a lighting rod issue for the Christian...

Don't look now, but the most recent effort to portray homosexuality as normal, natural and healthy is underway courtesy of CBS. The network's current installment of "The Amazing Race," a reality program that features 12 couples/teams racing around the world in a quest for a million-dollar prize, touts one same-sex pair as "The Married Couple." According to a report on WorldNetDaily, a CBS spokesperson is quoted as saying, "Yes, they are a married, gay couple.... They are married and they're gay. Is there an issue?" Well, one issue is that "gay marriage" per se does not exist anywhere in the...

The face of war is never pretty, but this time war showed us images we have never seen before. We saw pictures of mothers being sent to Iraq to fight one of the cruelest regimes in the world. What is the matter with the men of this country -- our political and military leaders -- that they acquiesce in the policy of sending mothers of infants out to fight Saddam Hussein? Are they the kind of man who, on hearing a noise at 2 a.m., would send his wife or daughter downstairs to confront an intruder? Three young women were...

Mainliners Stymied on the Matter of Homosexuality Homosexuality: It’s the issue mainliners want to talk about and not talk about, depending on who does the talking and their agenda. It’s old news that "gay" activists in the mainline churches have pressed their agenda and clamored for dialogue about ordinations and blessing homosexual "unions." Having earlier secured access to baptism and Holy Communion for practicing homosexuals (largely because few churches have upheld traditional restrictions), the gay lobby long ago moved on to the sacraments of ordination and marriage. (But don’t expect them to embrace more sacraments: They won’t anytime soon be...

New ultrasound technology 20 years in the making could help create a new generation of pro-lifers. Jim and Ashley Picard are gazing into their daughter’s face for the first time. The round nose she got from him. The pointy chin she inherited from her. Jim is slack-jawed in wonder, and Ashley can’t keep the grin from spreading across her face as they watch their daughter emit a huge yawn, then stick her thumb in her mouth while brushing the umbilical cord away from her face with one hand. The umbilical cord is a bothersome nuisance, and will continue to be...

Note: The following oration was delivered by Miss Barrett (17) to the Worldview Alliance conference held in Colorado Springs, CO, October 18, 2002. America is at War. This war is more deadly than any war she has ever been in; there are more lives at stake now than in all the wars ever fought on American soil. In fact, there are more soldiers enlisted to serve in this war than has ever been enlisted before. In this war there are no cannons, guns, or bullets, but the weapons of this war are of the most fatal design and the issue...

Ten Books every F.R. member should read to articulately promote/defend and expeditiously achieve the goals stated @ About Free RepublicScoring could be based on: Ten Books Every Student Should Read in College A book was awarded ten points for receiving a No. 1 rating, 9 points for receiving a No. 2 rating, and so on. The ten books with the highest aggregate ratings made the list. We have also compiled an Honorable Mention list. Sample list: NET BibleFederalist Papers AND The Antifederalist Papers (as an integrated whole)In Search of Tocqueville's Democracy in AmericaFarrand's Records Home Page: US Congressional DocumentsTaking Back...

President Bush has done a splendid job pushing two significant tax cuts through Congress in his first term in office—and because major provisions in the latest cut will sunset after next year, he may well push through yet a third significant tax cut (to make this year’s package permanent) before the term is over.Serial tax cuts of a certain size are a good thing, even if the ideal policy would be one massive tax cut that simultaneously simplified the system and dramatically reduced the overall burden of taxation on the economy. Still, Democrats who argue that the tax cut the...

The editors of HUMAN EVENTS asked a panel of 28 distinguished scholars and university professors to serve as judges in developing a list of Ten Books Every Student Should Read in College.To derive the list, each scholar first nominated titles. When all the nominations were collected-they amounted to more than 100 titles-HUMAN EVENTS then sent a ballot to the scholars asking each to list his or her Top Ten selections. A book was awarded ten points for receiving a No. 1 rating, 9 points for receiving a No. 2 rating, and so on. The ten books with the highest aggregate...

The explosive reaction recently to Sen. Rick Santorum's commentary on Lawrence v. Texas, the anti-sodomy law case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, suggests that some believe those who oppose expansion of homosexual rights are in favor of discrimination, or harbor anger toward minorities in general and ill will toward homosexuals, in particular.In the Associated Press interview that sparked the controversy, Sen. Santorum said, "I have no problem with homosexuality. I have a problem with homosexual acts. As I would with acts of other, what I would consider to be, acts outside of traditional heterosexual relationships. And that includes a...

For Third Time, Denomination Considering Lifting Ban on Ordination of Gays, Lesbians (AgapePress) - The executive editor of an influential Presbyterian magazine is expressing strong disappointment that a radical feminist pastor now holds the highest elected position in the Presbyterian Church (USA).Winning 53% of the vote on the second ballot, Susan Andrews of Maryland was recently elected as moderator of the PC(USA)'s 215th General Assembly, taking place in Denver. Andrews, who pastors Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, is the first female to hold such a position.She is also on record as saying it is her "fondest dream" that her...

Apology or not, David Horowitz might want to reconsider his pro-‘gay’ stance I’m in the middle of a tiff with a friend, David Horowitz, who is taking issue with Christian conservatives’ attempt to keep the GOP from falling into the camp of "gay" activists. He has written two columns on his FrontPageMagazine.com website. The first, "Pride Before a Fall" (May 20), accused Christian conservatives of intolerance and poor judgment concerning their meeting with Republican Party Chairman Marc Racicot to discuss Mr. Racicot’s earlier meeting with 300 homosexual activists. The latest column, "Render Unto Caesar" (May 27), responds in large part...

High school students' beliefs regarding origins are very important. Many high school students claim to believe in a supernatural theistic Creator. Many also report a born-again experience and would thus hold to having a personal relationship with the Creator. Such a relationship should impact all aspects of one's personal life and worldview. The Scriptures reveal (I Corinthians 2:14-16 and Romans 1:20) that there exists a dichotomy between those that believe the Creation account and those who do not. Only the truly born-again believer is able to take every thought and attitude and compare it to the thoughts and attitudes of...

The sharpest differences between the official party platforms were on cultural matters, from abortion to school vouchers, and religious groups campaigned vigorously for their respective champions. In the end, cultural disputes and widespread dismay over the country’s moral state overshadowed the economic optimism that was expected to put Al Gore in the White House, allowing Bush to eke out a victory.All these tendencies converged in a "50 percent solution": half the people voted, and half of those backed each major candidate. (See table, p. 21.)Evangelicals and black Protestants are now prominent among the elites of their respective parties, and Catholics...

"Should These Conditions Be Normalized?" : American Psychiatric Association Symposium Debates Whether Pedophilia, Gender-Identity Disorder, Sexual Sadism Should Remain Mental IllnessesOn Monday, May 19th, 2003 in San Francisco, at a symposium hosted by the American Psychiatric Association, several long-recognized categories of mental illness were discussed for possible removal from the upcoming edition of the psychiatric manual of mental disorders. Among the mental illnesses being debated in the symposium at the APA's annual convention were all the paraphilias--which include pedophilia, exhibitionism, fetishism, transvestism, voyeurism, and sadomasochism. Also being debated was gender-identity disorder, a condition in which a person feels persistent discomfort...

<p>AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Rick Perry signed a law preventing Texas from legally recognizing same-sex unions that are formed in other states.</p> <p>Tuesday's signing of the Defense of Marriage Act (search) makes it the 37th state to enact such a law, said Kelly Shackelford, president of the Plano-based Free Market Foundation, a group that describes itself as dedicated to strengthening families.</p>