Free Republic

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Rev. Francesco Francese kept his Sunday homily at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church on Broadway short as he encouraged worshipers to “be gentle” with people who stray from the path of God. “It’s our Christian duty to, if we can, to make up for mistakes, and try to help those who are also victims in one way or another,” said Father Francese. “God wants us to give others their due, to never be unjust to them.” As he closed his Bible the sanctuary fell silent. The rousing blend of voices, piano harmonies, and bongo drums associated...

With increasing frequency, it is getting harder and harder for conservative Catholics, no matter how well credentialed they are, to get hired in academia, particularly in Catholic universities. When he was still teaching at SUNY, author Thomas E. Woods, Jr., told me that his enthusiasm for the Latin Mass was met with more hostility in Catholic colleges and universities than at the State University of New York, where they thought it was exotic. In the latest issue of Modern Age, a quarterly review, English professor Anthony Esolen recalls his own experiences a quarter century ago when he went to work...

Many historians call the Founding Fathers "Deists," and many of them were not true Christians -- after all, Thomas Jefferson tore all the miracles out of the Gospels! But judging by the Declaration of Independence, our Founders were more religious than many think: our founding document mentions God no less than four times.This is not to say America was founded as an explicitly Christian nation -- the federal government has never had an established religion. But the Jewish and Christian understandings of God deeply influenced the founding generation, and that influence radiates from the Declaration of Independence.Here are the four...

Two wars today are being waged against Jewish students on American university campuses. One is substantive, the other is institutional. The plight of the Jews at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island is emblematic of both. The purpose of the substantive war is to deny Jews their freedom as Jews. As the guarantor of Jewish freedom, Israel is the subject of a systematic, multidimensional assault, carried out everywhere on campuses. On a growing number of campuses in the United States, the only Jews who can safely express their views on Israel are those who champion Israel’s destruction. Those who support...

Governor Raimondo’s proposed new truck-tolls, headed this week for House and Senate votes, may cost Rhode Island business, according to an announcement Saturday by Ocean State Job Lot. The company said it is putting on hold its "plan for expansion within the state," specifically what it described as a 500,000-square-foot, $50-million distribution center. At a Saturday morning news conference at Ocean State Job Lot's new store at 5947 Post Road in North Kingstown, David Sarlitto, the company’s executive director, issued this statement: "At the re-location opening of its flagship store in North Kingstown today, Job Lot announced its opposition to...

Yesterday afternoon at Netroots Nation in Providence, RI, I attempted to ask the embattled Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) about his campaign, specifically his record as the deciding vote for Obamacare. Ohio voters passted an amendment to their constitution outlawing the Democrats' health care law by a wide margin in 2011: Ohioans overwhelmingly rejected the healthcare mandate provisions of Obamacare. They did this by handily passing an amendment to the state’s constitution that reads, in part, as follows: No federal, state, or local law or rule shall compel, directly or indirectly, any person, employer, or health care provider to participate in...

Washington — An alliance of Asian American groups on Friday filed a federal complaint against HarvardUniversity, saying that school and other Ivy League institutions are using racial quotas to admit students other than high-scoring Asians. More than 60 Chinese, Indian, Korean and Pakistani groups came together for the complaint, which was filed with the civil rights offices at the Justice and Education departments. They are calling for an investigation and say these schools should stop using racial quotas or racial balancing in admission. "We are seeking equal treatment regardless of race," said Chunyan Li, a professor and civil rights activist,...

The World View in Five Minutes February 25th, 2015 This is THE WORLD VIEW in 5 Minutes. I’m Adam McManus. As it turns out, God still controls the weather patterns, and Congress does not! They’re calling it a snow-pocalypse on the East Coast. And they are not calling it global warming. Washington DC broke a 120 year low temp record last weekend. And Boston has cleared 100 inches (or 8 feet) of snow, and is expected to top its all time season record. Syria reports more kidnappings by Isis. An additional 90 women, children, and elderly have been reported missing...

Folks, I have been a bit under the weather lately....so maybe my mood is reflected by my sickness. I log on to Drudge and see Obama is going UP in Gallup....meanwhile, the society is hurtling toward hell. Sodomy is celebrated and enabled by SCOTUS (the state of Florida's constitution is about to be shredded--to the delight of the liberal media), jobs are being lost, racism is exploding, and all during the season wherein we are to remember our Saviour. My mind and heart struggle to remember God has ALL THINGS in His control. His providence is working all events and...

The true story is told, in Reader’s Digest, of a man by the name of Marcel Sternberger. Marcel Sternberger took the same subway train every day, on the Long Island railroad. Every day, he was on that same subway. Until, one day, a friend of his was critically ill. Sternberger instead visited his friend in the hospital, and wound up spending the morning. Sternberger then had to take a noon train to work – a train he had never been on before. Sternberger was confounded by the noon crowds. He walked into one of the subway cars, which he knew...

PROVIDENCE - Tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge were rejected by popular demand, but a proposed toll on Interstate 95 near the Connecticut border had less opposition. Any toll would need federal government approval, and Rhode Island Public Radio's Ian Donnis asked the Democrats running for governor what they thought of the idea during an NBC 10 live debate Wednesday. "Yes. I think people deserve a straightforward answer. This state should be looking in comprehensive ways," Pell said. Providence Mayor Angel Taveras said he does not support adding a toll on I-95. "It's a regressive tax that has an impact...

Today there will be both celebration and alarm, joy and gnashing of teeth. Any informed American knows the dangers that threaten our country, and I'll forgo a litany of the unlawfulness and destructiveness that has characterized the last six years. Rather, I'd like to remind everyone of the little events in history that shaped us---and which came very close to either not occurring at all or to turning out much differently than expected. Some will call this providence, others, "good luck," and still others will claim that America made her own luck. Whichever your interpretation, meditate for a moment on...

Buddy Cianci (see-AN'-see) served two stints as mayor of Rhode Island's capital city, and both ended in felony convictions. Now he may try for a third. Cianci's charisma and shenanigans put him and Providence in the national spotlight - for good and ill - during his 21 years at the city's helm. He says he's leaning toward running again, 12 years after his conviction in a federal investigation into widespread corruption in his administration. Cianci says if he were mayor again, he could use his personality and experience to inject excitement back into the city. The mere discussion of a...

Adversity by Terry Johnson Background Reading: Romans 8:26-39; Genesis 50:15-21 In 1858, a gifted young Presbyterian missionary named John G. Paton sailed with his wife and infant son to the New Hebrides in the South Pacific to begin missionary work among the islanders. Within a few months of arrival, both his infant son and his wife had died, leaving him to labor alone. In August 1876, a gifted young theologian names Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield and his bride were honeymooning in Germany. While sightseeing in the Black Forest region, they were suddenly caught in a severe storm, and something that was...

A homeless man told the police on Friday that his conscience drove him to reveal something he’d kept secret — that he’d beaten a man to death in South Providence 24 years ago. By nightfall, Daniel Serrano, 65, was charged with the murder of 32-year-old Michael Holliday — a man he said he didn’t intend to kill, Maj. David Lapatin said. “He claims he was feeling very guilty about it,” the police major added. A workman discovered Holliday’s body in a vacant third-floor apartment at 27 Somerset St. on Feb. 24, 1990. The man had been beaten to death. He...

Retired chemist Edward Schokowitz was incredulous when he received a letter from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey early last month saying his Medicare Advantage Plan, which had no premium, would be eliminated next year.“They took all the senior citizens and threw us out of the plan. They now want to give us the same plan for $153 [per month],” he told the Daily Caller. “The President said you can’t be kicked out of your plan. He lies.”Schokowitz is one of many Medicare beneficiaries now learning that — like Americans who buy insurance on the individual market —...

Philippians 4:19 Today, I am wearing an orange wristband marked “ARTPRIZE”. I’ll be wearing it most days for the next three weeks or so. ***** I’ve been riding the bus to school since the second week. Even at full fare—$1.50 each way—it’s less than the combination of gas and parking to drive myself. I use a 31-day pass, which costs $40; in that amount of time I make about 36 bus trips, each one costing a fraction over $1.11. I have used two of these passes so far, and have a fresh one in my pocket right now. These passes...

God’s Strange Providence David stood waiting and watching by the stone Ezel. It was his stone of destiny. His dear friend Jonathan was to determine whether King Saul still harbored murderous intentions toward David. If so, David would have to flee. If not, he would be able to return to normal living. David and Jonathan had agreed upon a signal. If it were safe for him to return, Jonathan would shoot three arrows and cry to the lad with him, “Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them and come…” (v. 21). But if Saul still harbored...

God’s decretive will is sometimes described as the sovereign, efficacious will by which God brings to pass whatever He pleases by His divine decree. An example of this may be seen in God’s work of creation. When God said, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3), He issued a divine imperative. He exercised His sovereign, efficacious will. When He did so, it was impossible for the light not to appear. It appeared by the sheer necessity of consequence.The decretive will can have no other effect, no other consequence than what God sovereignly commands. He did not request the light to shine. Neither...

Teitzei means “to go out” in Hebrew. It is in the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy 21:10 – 23:26). What many do not realize or appreciate is that the Torah is based on connecting principles. Not just that, but that the world is based on connecting principles, and that ultimately God Himself, so to speak is consistent and runs the universe consistently based on connecting principles. Thus, is something at some point seems disconnected or dissonant at any given point in time, it will be redressed and reconnected and the final consequence will be such that not matter what seemed out...