Free Republic

'What has happened to me has only furthered the cause of Christ, and for that I rejoice,' said Pastor Tim Stephens ... Canadian pastor who was arrested twice in 2021 for continuing to congregate with his church in Calgary, Alberta ... The Provincial Court of Alberta tossed out charges against Pastor Tim Stephens alleging he violated provincial public health orders regarding physical distancing .... Stephens was imprisoned twice last year for keeping his Fairview Baptist Church open. .... Stephens' acquittal comes weeks after Danielle Smith, Alberta's new premier, promised a plan to pardon COVID offenders in the province. Her administration...

"I am thankful that I met Jason as a result of our church's stand during COVID lockdowns" Pastor Tim Stephens of Fairview Baptist Church has preached at the funeral of one of Calgary's police officers a year after he was arrested for conducting worship services in violation of Alberta's health orders. Police arrested Pastor Stephens at his home last June and offered him bail on the condition that he abide by all public health orders. Pastor Stephens refused to agree to the stipulated conditions, as doing so would prevent him from caring for the church that has been entrusted to...

Gathering in barns, cafes and bookshops, worshippers are flocking to illegal services around the countryIt sounds like the build-up to an illegal rave. Invitations are passed by word of mouth to trusted people. Minimal information – time, directions – is quietly given with pleas for discretion. Once everyone is assembled in a barn on a remote farm – “away from prying eyes,” says the organiser – it begins. This is no rave, but an English church service under lockdown, and the organiser is a Protestant pastor. The Christians who will gather illegally in the west of England on Sunday morning...

The New York Times smears religious Americans as a 'major source' of COVID outbreaks even as church-related infections represent only 0.02 percent of cases. National tension and tempers are incredibly high over the rising numbers of COVID cases in America. WeÂ’re all on the edge after months of lockdowns, shutdowns, quarantines, economic instability, school closures, and the surreal nature of social distancing.WeÂ’re mad about recommendations that keep changing and the lack of control and transparency in how this pandemic has been handled. Churches shut down during the initial phases of the COVID panic. Many were in localities where officials imposed...

Nearly 6 in 10 Americans believe the First Amendment is under threat, according to a new survey, yet a large portion of respondents couldn’t correctly name what the amendment protects. Of the 2,000 adults who took part in the poll, half thought that “liberty” is one of the five freedoms protected by the First Amendment, while nearly half (49 percent) believed “the pursuit of happiness” was included. Thankfully, only 3 percent named “life” as one of the protected freedoms. What’s more, barely more than a quarter (26 percent) of participants knew how many amendments even comprise the Bill of Rights....

Watch Matt Redman sing his hit worship song “10,000 Reasons” live in Times Square, New York in the following video. The advertisements in the background are flashing, promoting different products and services, while Redman and the band sing praises to God. It’s moving to see so many people raising their hands in worship, while the camera pans to other people in the crowd who look like they may never have seen a group of people worshipping God so publicly before. The video gives a beautiful glimpse into what it looks like when we worship God in the midst of a...

NEW YORK CITY, April 24, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Speaking to an influential gathering in New York City on Thursday, Hillary Clinton declared that “religious beliefs” that condemn "reproductive rights," “have to be changed.” “Yes, we've cut the maternal mortality rate in half, but far too many women are still denied critical access to reproductive health,” Hillary told the Women in the World Summit yesterday. Liberal politicians use “reproductive health” as a blanket term that includes abortion. However, Hillary's reference echoes National Organization for Women (NOW) president Terry O’Neill's op-ed from last May that called abortion “an essential measure to prevent...

The Associated Press reports that some churches are taking steps to change their bylaws after the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the federal Defense of Marriage Act out of a desire to protect themselves from potential claims by same-sex couples. The article reported that some critics argued that such changes were unnecessary and amount to “a solution looking for a problem.” But as an attorney who defends the constitutional freedoms of churches on a daily basis, all the assurances of those who have been actively seeking to redefine marriage that they will not target churches ring hollow in light of...

The attack on religious liberty is a two front war. One front you know about, the other one you may not have noticed. Language is the blunt instrument of choice with which the secularist left in this country bludgeons our freedoms. The secularist left has successfully used seemingly slight alterations in language to change the way ordinary people perceive an argument. Most people who pay attention to these things are very much aware of this tactic, as we have seen it so often. This is nowhere more apparent today than in the President’s repeated use of the phrase “freedom of...

“War and Peace in Our Time: Mormon Perspectives” Claremont Graduate University March 18-19, 2011 Under the sponsorship of The LDS Council on Mormon Studies and the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame The program will address the critical issues of war and peace from a variety of Mormon perspectives. Elder Lance Wickman, former member of the First Quorum of Seventy and a Vietnam veteran, will deliver the keynote address on Friday evening, March 18. Complimentary dinners and lunches will be provided for those who register by March 11. Register by emailing information...

Obama/Hillary and Freedom of Religion vs. Freedom of Worship "Some advocates for international religious freedom are monitoring what they fear is a change in the language being used by Obama administration officials – that the broad emphasis on spreading freedom of religion that the president used when he spoke in Cairo last June is being subtly replaced by the more limited concept of freedom of worship." This issue has been around for most of this year, but I have yet to find any article or posting which documents every instance of the phrase "Freedom of Religion" and "Freedom of Worship"...

Since the initially strong language on religious freedom used in President Obama's Cairo speech, presidential references to religious freedom have become rare, often replaced, at most, with references to freedom of worship. A purposeful change in language could mean a much narrower view of the right to religious freedom. As Catholics, this is an area where we must remain vigilant. These small changes can be used to change our perception of rights and freedoms. The change in language was barely noticeable to the average citizen but political observers are raising red flags at the use of a new term "freedom...

The conversion is expected to be the largest in modern times Thousands of tribal and Dalit Hindus in India are to embrace the Buddhist faith at a huge gathering in Mumbai. The ceremony, which may be presided over by Tibet's exiled leader, the Dalai Lama, is billed as the largest religious conversion in modern India. The converts hope to escape the rigid caste system in which their status is the lowest. Right-wing Hindus have often opposed conversion, pushing some Indian states to restrict legal changes of faith. The organisers say the number of people to convert in Sunday's ceremony...