Free Republic

One of the state's largest and most liberal churches could lose its tax-exempt status because of an anti-war sermon that a former rector delivered two days before the 2004 presidential election, according to the Internal Revenue Service. In his sermon, the Rev. George F. Regas did not urge parishioners at All Saints Episcopal Church to support either George Bush or his opponent, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. But he was sharply critical of the Iraq war and Bush's tax cuts. The IRS in a June 9 letter warned the church that its tax-exempt status was in jeopardy because the federal tax...

MANSFIELD, Mass. (AP) - Representatives of Episcopal congregations in Massachusetts sidestepped a vote on whether to endorse a report that condemns appointments of gay bishops and calls on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada to enact a moratorium on same-sex blessings. Instead, voters at the 220th convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts endorsed a neutral resolution that calls for more study of the 2004 report, commissioned by the head of the Anglican Communion. At issue was the 2003 ordination of New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, and divisions...

Johannesburg - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa has come out in support of polygamy and homosexuality - provided they promote the cause of the Gospel. The church's bishop, Louis Sibiya, said on Sunday that there was not a simple "yes" or "no" answer as to whether a self-confessing gay person could be married and even ordained in the church, or whether a polygamist could be ordained into the ministry. "Rather, we should ask how the acceptance and/or non-acceptance of these promote the course of the Gospel," he said, speaking at 30th anniversary celebrations of the church in southern...

Under an "Impeach Bush" banner on a wall of the Minnesota State Capitol, anti-war speakers tried Saturday to link the Iraq war to a slow response to Hurricane Katrina. It was part of the "Bring Them Home Now" national bus tour initiated by Cindy Sheehan, the mother who camped near President Bush's Texas ranch to demand that he talk with her about the death of her soldier son. Sheehan was in the South on another bus Saturday, but about 350 people showed up in St. Paul to hear out-of-state speakers, along with local legislators, candidates and clergy members decry the...

The group named heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar, communications giant Motorola, military contractor United Technologies and electronics manufacturer ITT Industries - all of which supply the Israel Defense Forces . . . The Church also listed international banking conglomerate Citigroup, which was cited in April by The Wall Street Journal for "having moved substantial funds from charities later seen to be fronts funneling money to terrorist organizations," including "funds [which] ended up as payments to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers" . . . The 2.5 million-strong church, the ninth largest in the U.S., represents most U.S. Presbyterians.

The Ford Foundation finances a study to prove Christianity makes teaching impossible on campus. Mike Adams Townhall.com | June 27, 2005 For years, I have argued that anti-religious bigotry is a serious problem in higher education. Recently, a memo was circulated at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, Georgia, which broaches this controversial subject. Below, I have reproduced it in its entirety: GC&SU Friends: Recently, the university submitted an initial proposal that reponded [sic] to a Ford Foundation RFP. The funding program is called Difficult Dialogues and addresses the growing intolerance on university campuses surrounding religious pluralism and cultural...