Free Republic

Refuting the Belief that the Catholic Church ever supported the notion of the Divine Right of KingsI this article I will help to refute the false belief that the Catholic Church ever supported the so called “Divine Right” of kings. I will show that the concept of “Divine Right” is actually not a Catholic and for most part a medieval concept, but rather a concept which derived from the Late medieval ages, and which found its way into complete acceptance in the Protestant Reformation. Similarly I will show that to much extent the Catholic Church actually helped develop much of...

Muslim groups are demanding Spanish citizenship for potentially millions of descendants of Muslims who were expelled from Spain during the Middle Ages. The growing clamor for "historical justice" comes after the recent approval of a law that would grant Spanish citizenship to descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. Muslim supporters say they are entitled to the same rights and privileges as Jews because both groups were expelled from Spain under similar historical circumstances. But historians point out that the Jewish presence in Spain predates the arrival of Christianity in the country and that their expulsion was a...

After nearly a year-long tour in Iraq, Vice President Joe Biden's son, Joe "Beau" Biden III, said he is "absolutely" considering a run for the Senate seat his father occupied for 36 years. "I'll be making the decision in due course," Biden, 40, told "Good Morning America" today in his first television interview since his return to Delaware last month amid speculation that he would make a bid for the seat.One of a handful of elected officials to serve in Iraq since the U.S. led invasion in 2003, Biden took a leave of absence from his job as Delaware's attorney...

BOSTON — A family confidant says the sons of Edward Kennedy want the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee to replace their father in the U.S. Senate. A confidant, who demanded anonymity...says both Edward Kennedy Jr. and Rep. Patrick Kennedy have urged Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to pick Paul Kirk. Massachusetts lawmakers are expected Wednesday to give final approval to a change in the Senate succession law so the governor can temporarily fill Senate vacancies. The interim senator would serve until the seat is filled through a special election in January. The 71-year-old Kirk is a Boston attorney and...

I only have access to a few English language television stations while I am visiting Israel: BBC News and CNN International. Every quarter hour they recap the top stories. Today’s big story (after the non-stop images of a tidal wave taking out resorts frequented by Europeans and few Americans) is the comment of U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland who said that western nations, particularly the United States, were being stingy with their aid packages offered for victims of the disaster. Without putting into context the fact that the United States provides more funding to the UN than any...

Two Universes - “Tyranny,” and “Freedom.” “Why did the Founders not treat freemen, slaves, women, Indians and non-Christians as equal to Christians?” I hope the following [fantasized] answer is reasonable enough to answer the question, or at least suggest one. ============================== Some believe parallel and overlapping universes exist in the same space. Sometimes they are separate while in other times they mingle, overlap or bump. We live in our three-dimensional universe, while others creatures live in universes with more or less than three dimensions. Because all we know are our three dimensions, imagining what a six dimensional universe looks like,...