Free Republic

Conventional wisdom tells us that religious faith is on a downward slope, particularly when it comes to Christianity. Of course, there aren’t many ways to separate nominal Christians from genuine believers when compiling statistics, but many measurements show that Christianity is on the decline in the West. The state of Christianity in Europe can be discouraging. The continent that was once the heart and soul of Christendom is increasingly godless. But is there encouragement on the horizon? One podcaster and writer thinks so. Justin Brierley, the author of “The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God” and host of the “Unbelievable”...

The President of the Episcopal Church's lay and clergy House of Deputies, the Rev. Gay Jennings has blasted laws in parts of Africa that she says, "are brutally repressive to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people."

I first caught the musical “Les Misérables” back in 1987, when it made its U.S. debut on Broadway. My lasting memory of the Tony Award winning production, which enjoyed the third-longest run on the Great White Way after “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera,” is that much of the audience wept through Act II. As “Les Miserables” appears this holiday season on movie screens throughout the country, featuring the vocal talents of actors Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried, among others, I now think the musical decidedly spiritual entertainment. It’s not that “Les Miz” has changed since...

Christmas trees that have graced the two main libraries at the University of North Carolina won't be displayed this year, after numerous complaints, The Charlotte Observer reported. The trees have stood in the lobbies of Wilson and Davis libraries at the Chapel Hill campus during December. This year, they are being kept in storage. Sarah Michalak, the associate provost for university libraries, told the newspaper that she made the decision after several years of complaints from employees and others. “We strive in our collection to have a wide variety of ideas,” she said. “It doesn't seem right to celebrate one...

The "Dueling Civilizations" Letters Charles W. Moore 2002.09.16 My 9/11 column, Dueling Civilizations: Islam and the West, proved to be quite a letter-generator. I was surprised and pleasantly gratified at the large proportion who got the point I was attempting to express -- that Islam and the Christian/post-Christian West are on a collision course, irreconcilably alienated at the most basic level of ethical, moral, principle, and essential worldview -- - and that many agree with me, although of course plenty did not. I had not intended to get into another debate about the past sins and shortcomings of Christendom, but...