STEUBENVILLE, OHIO, May 15, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Catholic religious leaders have warned that religious institutions may be forced to stop providing health care coverage if the Department of Health and Human Services does not change its mandate to provide contraceptives, including abortifacients, as part of their health care plans. Today, the first Catholic university has followed through by dropping its health care plan for students.

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While a group that opposes expressions of Christianity in public forums wants the IRS to use its formidable power to crack down on what pastors say, one legal foundation says, “Bring it on,” promising a “legal war” if churches are attacked on such issues.

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Last September I began delivering an hour-long presentation titled "Islamic Sexuality: A Survey of Evil" to local Tea Party, 9/12 and other patriot groups in Colorado.  The good folks at FreedomTalkNetcast.com, after seeing this presentation in Pueblo, CO sprang into action and professionally videotaped and edited my next delivery of this lecture in Colorado Springs.  It was promptly uploaded to my YouTube channel, "AnnBarnhardt", in four parts and those four parts can be viewed at the following links:

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More than 500 Catholic men recently walked a mile in the rain in Peoria, Illinois. Their mission was to show the community their willingness to defend their Catholic faith against the threats being posed by the new Obama mandate. Why? Because, as Peoria’s bishop Daniel R. Jenky put it, “We must be a fearless army of Catholic men, ready to give everything we have for the Lord, who gave everything for our salvation.”

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SOUTH BEND, Indiana, April 23, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - After an IRS complaint from an secularist group and other criticism, Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky is now facing a petition by Notre Dame faculty to have him removed from the Catholic university’s board of fellows.

The action comes in response to a strongly worded homily denouncing President Obama’s HHS mandate, in which the bishop said that in his attacks on freedom of religion the president “seems intent on following a similar path” as past totalitarian dictators such as Hitler and Stalin.

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Roman Catholic leaders are calling for two weeks of public protests against President Barack Obama's policies as they intensify their argument that the administration is engaged in a war on religion.

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A senior Vatican official is defending his love of guns, which earned him the nickname "Cardinal Rambo" from Italian newspapers. The gun-toting holy man's Christian name is Domenico Calcagno who currently serves as the head of the Administration of Vatican Patrimony.

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“This fall, every practicing Catholic must vote, and must vote their Catholic consciences, or by the following fall our Catholic schools, our Catholic hospitals, our Catholic Newman Centers, all our public ministries - only excepting our church buildings – could easily be shut down,” he said.

On Thursday, the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State claimed the homily violated federal law by taking sides in a political campaign.

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On the occasion of receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970, Aleksandr Solzhen

itsyn spoke of the ideological manipulation of history that occurred under Soviet Communism. It was, he said, “a closing, a locking up, of the national heart, [and an] amputation of the national memory.” He warned that when this happens, a nation “has no memory of its own self. It is deprived of its spiritual unity. And even though compatriots apparently speak the same language, they suddenly cease to understand one another.”

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The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has taken a bold stand for religious freedom. In a recent statement, titled “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty,” the bishops call for repeal of contraception coverage mandated by the Department of Health and Human Services. The clarified position sets up a dramatic confrontation with the Obama administration—and would, if the bishops prevail, help preserve the religious liberty of all Americans.

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My old-school, pre-viral readership knows all about my first foray into "activism", which happened in 2010. I leased a billboard on a very busy stretch of I-70 in Kansas, just a mile west of Ft. Riley, home of the First Infantry Division. The text of the billboard was:

OBAMA IS A FRAUD.
DEMAND RESIGNATION NOW.
God Bless America!

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Comparing Obama to Hitler is something that the liberal/left used to blame on the Tea Party. However, posters and signs showing Obama with a Hitler moustache were inevitably traced to followers of Lyndon LaRouche. They sometimes tried to portray themselves as conservatives, but in reality LaRouche is a former Marxist who ran for president as a Democrat. They like to cause deliberate political confusion.

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Ann Barnhardt broke into the news with her understanding of how Wall Street was robbing us blind. Now she is traveling the country speaking truth. Her courage and honesty is amazing. If you don’t watch this short clip of her speaking, you cheat yourself of seeing a rising leader that deserves our support and admiration. Go Ann Go.

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It’s been a long and seemingly never-ending battle between the Obama administration and the Catholic Church. With most faith leaders still uncomfortable with the government’s contraception mandate, the stalemate between the two parties hasn’t improved much in recent weeks. On Thursday, in response to this ongoing fight and a perceived increase in threats against liberty for people of faith, the Church announced a new religious freedom campaign.

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A t-shirt business in Lexington, Kentucky has drawn the ire of critics after refusing to print shirts for the city’s annual gay pride parade. The company, called Hands On Originals, told parade organizers that its Christian beliefs are the reason that it has declined the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization of Lexington’s (GLSO) request.

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Citizens4Freedom Newsletter

Hello Citizens,

Please feel free to share this newsletter with your family and friends. 

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As protesters rally outside the Supreme Court while justices listen to high-toned arguments on the constitutionality of President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, one group is hoping the president’s own words will help the case against the law. At least his words before he was president.

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By Michelle Hieronymi Monroe Tea Party

Link to more photos:  http://www.citizens4freedom.com/Media/Gallery/tabid/1385/AlbumID/4002-545/Default.aspx

This month marked 2 years since Obamacare  was signed into law, against the will of the American people.

On Friday, March 23^rd, about 500 energized people stood together in Goshen, N.Y. against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandate (part of Obamacare).  This law forces religious institutions to provide services that directly contradict the teachings of their faith and strips away 1^st Amendment rights. 

Click here for full article

 Click here for more videos.

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The city of Chicago moves to criminalize citizen journalism with new law that makes it a felony with 15 year incarceration sentence. If you freelance video tape events, freelance writer (Internet) with video on events, speeches, and issues you can be arrested in Chicago's jurisdiction. It is a felony with penalty of up to 15 year imprisonment. This brings to mind the people in China being run over by tanks in Tiananmen Square...... Get involved immediately with your local and national Constitutional organizations today. Support your local organizations fighting to protect Freedom & Liberty today. Support your local churches in their rallies to protect Religious freedom today..

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In December, The Blaze first reported about “October Baby,” a feature film that focuses upon the intensely controversial issue of abortion.

On Friday, the movie opened in 350 select theaters across America, offering the rare opportunity to explore a subject matter that often makes people on all sides of the debate squirm. Last week, we interviewed Jason Burkey, 29, who plays the male lead (also named “Jason”) in the film.

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On Friday March 23, 2012, a group of 1300 people gathered outside the Health and Human Services building in Washington D.C. to protest President Obama’s HHS mandate included in Obamacare, calling it an attack on Freedom of Religion and a violation of the First Amendment. MRCTV’s Joe Schoffstall went to the rally to ask those in attendance, including Lila Rose and Star Parker, what they thought of the media labeling Republicans who don’t agree with the mandate as launching a “War on Women.”

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Washington D.C., Mar 24, 2012 / 06:05 am (CNA).- Legal experts believe that the Obama administration’s contraception mandate fails to meet requirements needed to limit freedom of religion under federal law.

George Mason University law professor Helen Alvaré argued that “in many Catholic institutions, such as hospitals and universities, the refusal to insure for contraception is the single clearest statement the Church makes.”

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Link to article on Mid-Hudson News

Link to pictures of rally

Sponsored by OC Right to Life and citizens4freedom

GOSHEN – Hundreds rallied in Goshen Friday as part of the nationwide Stand Up for Religious Freedom events on the second anniversary of the Obama Administration’s health care program.

Organizers in Goshen maintained the rally and call for an end to mandated contraception and other mandates on women’s productive rights violate the US Constitution.

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Fight Obama's HHS Mandate: Goshen, NY joins March 23 NATIONWIDE Rally

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The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on behalf of a private business owner from Missouri who claims that the HHS contraception mandate is in violation of his First Amendment-protected religious liberties. The lawsuit is the first filed by a private citizen against HHS regarding the contraception mandate that requires employers to purchase health insurance coverage, for their employees, that includes free contraceptives, sterilization procedures, and abortion-inducing drugs. To date, six lawsuits have been brought against HHS by religious schools and institutions that are challenging the mandate.

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Catholics under attack (video) - Glenn Beck

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The federal government is proposing some sweeping new regulations that will affect how family farms operate in America.  The Blaze has reported on these regulations over the last year.  This week we covered the testimony by Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis before the Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, and Pensions.

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Will you vote the values that will stand the test of fire? Some things are more important than high gas prices or a faltering economy. They are life, marriage and freedom. This November, Catholics must stand up and protect their sacred rights and duties.

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Has the Obama Administration declared war upon religious freedom in the United States?

This is not as extreme a question as it appears at first blush.

What initially appeared to be a series of unrelated act is now taking on the color of a conscious strategy to eliminate the ability of religious groups to control any aspect of their lives outside the barest of liturgical practices.

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House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi was a guest at the third annual Women in the World summit hosted by Newsweek and the Daily Beast in New York City this weekend. Speakers at the conference included Angelina Jolie, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, IMF chief Christine Lagarde and Senior White House Advisor Valerie Jarrett. During “A Conversation with Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi,“ the Minority Leader used choice phrases like ”the war on women“ and ”a lack of respect for the opinion of women in making their own decisions” to demean those who do not believe religious colleges should be forced to pay for their students’ birth control, which Georgetown Law Student Sandra Fluke infamously testified can cost over $3,000 during law school.

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The Obama Regime has mandated that Americans MUST fund abortion by exactly one dollar per month. This is done by mandating that the service commodity of health insurance must be purchased as a condition of lawful residency in the United States.

Caesar Tyrannus Obama, I will not submit.

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St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday rooted in Christian values, however secular celebrations are also regularly held to commemorate the day. In fact, for a great many, the religious tones aren’t even a consideration, as alcohol, Shamrock shakes and other fun-filled elements regularly dominate the day’s observations. Somehow, though, the holiday is reportedly still too religious for one Massachusetts elementary school.

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According to a pro-life attorney, most participants in ObamaCare insurance exchanges will officially be footing the bill for abortion.

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The New York Times has rejected a full-page anti-Islam advertisement that mirrored a scathing anti-Catholic advertisement the newspaper published on March 9.

According to The Daily Caller, a March 13 letter sent by the Times to the parody’s sponsor, activist Pamela Geller, said the $39,000 anti-Islam ad was rejected because “the fallout from running this ad now could put U.S. troops and/or civilians in the [Afghan] region in danger.”

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Tell someone that you believe in God and see what happens, you might be surprised, especially in what you see in your own friends, and maybe, even in your own family. There will be a distance felt between some of the closest people to you. What you see will or wont say much about their loyalty, or the value of their own lives for that matter, when you think that God is viable and substantive in terms of life, and yet some in your life will distance themselves from him and you.

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It’s official. The concern pro-life organizations had about the ObamaCare legislation funding abortions has been confirmed, as the Obama administration has issued the final rules on abortion funding governing the controversial health care law.

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During the first few days of February, about a week before Obama declared a so-called "accommodation" to the contraception/abortifacient mandate, a Washington Post/ABC poll showed Obama's approval rating at 50 percent, with 46 percent of Americans disapproving.

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Vatican added for first time to State Department list

* Washington puts tiny state in less vulnerable list

* Vatican tries to join Europe's 'White List'

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JOS, Nigeria (The Blaze/AP) — A suicide car bomber attacked a Catholic church Sunday in the middle of Mass, killing at least 10 people in the latest violence targeting a church in a central Nigerian city plagued by unrest, a state official said.

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The American culture wars are never far from the surface but on Friday they moved to a new level with the publication of a full-page advertisement in the New York Times that blames the Catholic Church for most of the world’s ills.

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Wife and mother answers the question posed by Cecile Richards: What does birth control mean to us as women? Here's the truth.

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David Barton has come out with a list explaining why Barack Obama is possibly the most biblically hostile President of all time. While most of these stories have been seen before, seeing them all laid out in one list is pretty astonishing. Parts 1 and 2 are below, the rest can be seen here!

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Rush Limbaugh has drawn the ire of celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred, who sent a letter to the Palm Beach County state attorney requesting an investigation into whether the popular radio host should be prosecuted for calling a law student a “slut” and “prostitute” last week.

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On February 27, the Catholic Information Center and the women's web-magazine Altcatholicah cosponsored the panel discussion, "Women Challenging the HHS Mandate." Here, panelist Gloria Purvis discusses how the HHS Mandate is anti-Woman and how Catholics need to get speak up on the issue.

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Rush Limbaugh has rejected an advertiser’s apparent attempt to reunite with his show after the company initially dropped its ads from the program following his remarks about contraception advocate Sandra Fluke.

The company, Sleep Train, calls itself “the No. 1 Bedding Specialist on the West Coast, and most recognized mattress retailer in the region.”

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I worry about my health a lot. Not because I’m unhealthy, but because I’m a hypochondriac. I don’t imagine symptoms, but when I do have symptoms, I became immediately and irrevocably convinced that they are cancer. Thanks, WebMD!

Most recently, back in October, I found a tiny red welt on my right breast. WebMD told me that I almost definitely had inflammatory breast cancer–a particularly aggressive strain. I called my boyfriend in the middle of the night and made him talk to me until the sun came up, so scared I was shaking all over. I thought of nothing but my imaginary cancer for three full days, until the red spot went away. My friend Destiny texted me regularly to ask how my cancer was doing. She and my mom and my boyfriend found my terror hilarious, but I don’t think they realized its depth.

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Is President Barack Obama America’s most “Biblically-hostile U.S. president?” This is the label that conservative historian David Bardon has given Obama, as the nation continues its debate over the president’s controversial contraceptive mandate.

But for Barton, the situation transcends the current discussion about religious freedom and the Catholic Church, as the frequent guest on Glenn Beck’s radio and television shows develops his provocative argument in detail. He writes:

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Remember Fr. Pontifex, the successful hip-hop artist who responded to Jefferson Bethke’s “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” phenomenon (we profiled him in February)?  He’s back with a new, freedom-filled spoken-word video. In the clip, entitled “We Hold These Truths,” the faith leader stands up for religious freedom and rails against the Obama administration’s contraceptive mandate.

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ABC Television, Disney, premiered a new drama on Sunday night. It is called GCB. Do you know what it is? Have you heard of this? Dawn, have you heard of GCB? Brian? Eh, never mind. Do you know what it stands for? This is Disney. This is ABC. "GCB" stands for "Good Christian Bitches."

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Prior to her statements to congressional Democrats, did Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke have any prior connection to Obama administration officials?

Did the congresswomen who pushed Fluke’s testimony coordinate with a marketing and polling outfit that recently conducted a survey to determine whether contraception mandates can become a possible presidential election issue?

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Over the past week, the media firestorm surrounding Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke and Rush Limbaugh has eclipsed the larger issue of religious liberty that stands at the forefront of the contraception mandate.

With the distracting debate raging, Fluke has received the majority of the media attention surrounding the subject. New developments in the faith world, unfortunately, have gone unnoticed. Of particular note is a public letter that was penned on March 2 by Cardinal Timothy Dolan (also president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops).

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(CNSNews.com) – Although Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke testified to the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee last month that contraception can cost a law student $3,000 over three years and that some of her fellow students could not afford it, a Target store only 3 miles from the law school currently sells a month's supply of birth control pills for only $9 to people who do not have insurance plans covering contraceptives.

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Speaking at a diocesan convocation on public policy here, Cardinal Dolan, who is the archbishop of New York and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said, “We are called to be very active, very informed and very involved in politics.”

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Timothy Cardinal Dolan ramped up the rhetoric in his battle with the White House over contraception policy yesterday — and promised some political payback.

“Don’t impose your teaching upon us and make us do as a church what we find unconscionable to do!” the freshly minted prince of the church told a roaring crowd of 1,000 at Holy Trinity Diocesan HS in Hicksville, LI, referring to a government plan to mandate that religious institutions provide free contraception to workers.

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For me the interesting part of the story is the ever-evolving “coed”. I put that in quotes because in the beginning she was described as a Georgetown law student. It was then revealed that prior to attending Georgetown she was an active women’s right advocate. In one of her first interviews she is quoted as talking about how she reviewed Georgetown’s insurance policy prior to committing to attend, and seeing that it didn’t cover contraceptive services, she decided to attend with the express purpose of battling this policy.

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I’m a proud Georgetown woman upset about another Georgetown woman who may have no pride at all.  How else do you explain  - Ms. Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown Law student, now famous for testimony she never gave – jumping up to talk about her sex life (with the Senate Minority Leader and with the liberal media) and ask for the cost of her sex life to be subsidized by other students at a Jesuit School?

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Warning that the Church is being “despoiled of her institutions” as “freedom of conscience and of religion become a memory from a happier past,” Cardinal Francis George of Chicago observes that “the Catholic Church in the United States is being told she must ‘give up’ her health care institutions, her universities and many of her social service organizations.”

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The Knights of Columbus council 13277, Assembly 2835 at St. Sylvester's in Navarre have agreed to organize the Pensacola site for the "Stand Up For Religious Freedom Rally on March 23", from Noon until 1 pm  at the Pensacola Federal Court House.

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We are women who support the competing voice offered by Catholic institutions on matters of sex, marriage and family life. Most of us are Catholic, but some are not. We are Democrats, Republicans and Independents. Many, at some point in our careers, have worked for a Catholic institution. We are proud to have been part of the religious mission of that school, or hospital, or social service organization. We are proud to have been associated not only with the work Catholic institutions perform in the community – particularly for the most vulnerable -- but also with the shared sense of purpose found among colleagues who chose their job because, in a religious institution, a job is always also a vocation.

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They are suburbanites and religious people, employers and retirees, millionaires such as John M. Templeton Jr. of Bryn Mawr and homemakers such as Loretta Hill of Devon. What they have in common is an admiration for Rick Santorum.

"No matter what you think about his social views, he's willing to hold his ground," Hill, 58, said. "I think that's one of the things people respect about him."

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Today, Presidential candidate Rick Santorum appeared on the Glenn Beck program to discuss the state of the race for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. The tone of the overall exchange was cordial, with Santorum joking at the start, “You know, Glenn, sometimes my wife loves you more than me.”

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When Barack Obama was campaigning for president in 2008, he declared that marriage is between a man and a woman. For the most part, his position was treated as a nonissue.

Now Rick Santorum is campaigning for president. He too says that marriage is between a man and a woman. What a different reaction he gets.

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No matter the ultimate destination of Rick Santorum's current surge in popularity in the GOP presidential nomination battle, his rise to prominence is sparking a renewed interest in "the social issues," helped along by President Obama's latest bureaucratic salvo against religious institutions.

There are two important points to keep in mind here as the campaign goes forward. First, the conventional wisdom has it that Republicans should at all costs avoid embracing the social issues - pro-family, pro-life and pro-faith-based institutions - because, otherwise, they will lose the all-important independent voter.

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This morning, the Washington Post published an op-ed written by Glenn Beck. The piece, which focuses upon religious freedom and the need for the faithful to come together, is a direct response to the religious freedom violations that are occurring here in America — particularly against the Catholic church.

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(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Ron Paul (R.-Texas.), who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, told Candy Crowley on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that social conservatism is "a losing position" for the Republican Party.

"Do you--are you uncomfortable--certainly Rick Santorum is the one who has been in the forefront of some of this talk on social issues, but there have been others in the race," Crowley asked Paul. "Are you uncomfortable with this talk about social issues? Do you consider it a winning area for Republicans in November?"

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From No Limbs to No Limits, motivational speaker Nick Vujicic has overcome disability and depression to encourage others to live life to the fullest. Born with Tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare disorder characterised by the absence of both arms and legs, Vujicic struggled with depression and loneliness as a child. However, Nick says his faith in God and encouragement from friends and family helped him discover his purpose in life. Since the age of 19 Nick has been fulfilling his dream of being able to encourage others through motivational speaking and sharing his testimony about how God changed his life and gave him a future and hope.

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Jeff Bell, an 'early supply-sider,' on the roots of American social conservatism—and why the movement is crucial to building a Republican majority.

This is an excellent article about how the left is obsessed with the social issues. Although they will claim that Rick Santorum or the right is obsessed with them. The left's obsession is to tear the very fabric of our moral society apart. They will attack strong family values. They attack the faith institutions. This is how they drain the society of consequence. And once they have this breakdown they then introduce the dependency on the almighty government. Jeffery Bell in the video explains how the social issues are closely tied to the economic issues of our time.  ~ C4F

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GOP hopeful Rick Santorum released a new ad today that features top conservatives praising his efforts, including Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee and Rush Limbaugh.

The ad, called "Quotes," features the candidate on the campaign trail, with his family and giving strong speeches before large crowds. It is being released in Michigan, which holds its crucial primary Feb. 28.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y., Feb. 17, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Recently Facebook apologized for censoring a post by Dr. Rebecca Gomperts in which she gave instructions for a do-it-yourself chemical abortion. The popular social media site decided it was okay for the international abortion provider to teach women and girls how to do an abortion themselves at home using Misoprostol, even telling them to lie to a pharmacist to get the necessary drugs.

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Taking a page from rival Newt Gingrich, Republican presidential hopeful and newly minted front-runner Rick Santorum on Friday slammed the media for asking about a controversial comment one of his supporters made about contraception a day earlier.

"My record stands for itself," Santorum said in an interview on "CBS This Morning" after being asked about Foster Friess' comment on MSNBC Thursday that women should hold a Bayer aspirin between their knees to use as contraception.

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February 16, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Six pro-life activists, including one Catholic priest, were arrested this morning in front of the White House while holding a peaceful prayer vigil in protest against the Obama administration’s birth control mandate. They were released shortly thereafter, after paying a $100 fine.

Fr. Denis Wilde, the Associate Director of Priests for Life, told LifeSiteNews that by their arrests the protesters hoped to send a “wake-up call” to President Obama that opposition to his mandate is not going away.

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My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Allow me this opportunity to share with you important information concerning an alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the Church in the United States directly, and that strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty for all citizens of any faith.  The federal government, which claims to be "of, by, and for the people," has just dealt a heavy blow to almost a quarter of those people - the Catholic population - and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic faithful.

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For the past few weeks Glenn has been focused on raising awareness on the persecution of Catholics being carried out by the Obama administration. According to the new healthcare laws that were a cornerstone of the Obama administration, employers affiliated with the Catholic Church will have to include free birth control in their health insurance plans, a mandate that runs contrary to both Catholic doctrine as well as religious freedoms granted by the Constitution. Today he is going a step beyond raising awareness by providing action steps for what you can do.

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Valentine was a holy priest in Rome, who, with St. Marius and his family, assisted the martyrs in the persecution under Claudius II. He was apprehended, and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome, who, on finding all his promises to make him renounce his faith ineffectual, commanded him to be beaten with clubs, and afterwards, to be beheaded, which was executed on February 14, about the year 270. Pope Julius I is said to have built a church near Ponte Mole to his memory, which for a long time gave name to the gate now called Porta del Popolo, formerly, Porta Valetini. The greatest part of his relics are now in the church of St. Praxedes. His name is celebrated as that of an illustrious martyr in the sacramentary of St. Gregory, the Roman Missal of Thomasius, in the calendar of F. Fronto and that of Allatius, in Bede, Usuard, Ado, Notker and all other martyrologies on this day. To abolish the heathens lewd superstitious custom of boys drawing the names of girls, in honor of their goddess Februata Juno, on the fifteenth of this month, several zealous pastors substituted the names of saints in billets given on this day.

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A Planned Parenthood affiliate’s newest president and CEO said in an official statement that she regards her work for the biggest abortion business in America to be a holy profession.

Melaney Linton, who will now oversee Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, is determined to further the Life-ending work of Planned Parenthood:

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Catholic League President Bill Donohue shared his reaction to President Obama’s revamping of the contraception policy. He told Alisyn Camerota that he isn’t pleased with this change and feels like Obama is making things worse, asking, “Is this man out of his mind?”

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RUSH: I'm realizing some of you might not a-heard it if the local EIB affiliates cut away to cover the president who also appeared shortly after this program began.  And one of the themes my opening comments was reacting to everywhere I'm seeing in the media that Obama finally backed down. "Obama caved. Yes, he did! We talked him back down. He no longer... He can't tell the Catholic Church what to do. Obama got the message. Obama,  he's slinking away in shame."  I said, "No, he's not," and no, he did not cave in any way, shape, manner, or form.  "Obama offers a compromise proposal said to be respectful of religious concerns."  Now, look at this.  The right to religious liberty in this context is unequivocal in our country and in the Constitution.

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If you aren’t creeped out by the No Birth Control Left Behind rhetoric of the White House and Planned Parenthood, you aren’t listening closely enough. The anesthetic of progressive benevolence always dulls the senses. Wake up.

When a bunch of wealthy white women and elite Washington bureaucrats defend the trampling of religious liberties in the name of “increased access” to “reproductive services” for “poor” women, the ghost of Margaret Sanger is cackling.

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Irondale, AL (EWTN) – EWTN Global Catholic Network filed a lawsuit February 9 in U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Alabama against the Department of Health & Human Services, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and other government agencies seeking to stop the imposition of the contraception mandate as well as asking the court for a declaratory judgment that the mandate is unconstitutional. EWTN is the first Catholic organization to file suit since the final HHS rules were published by the Obama administration on January 20, 2012.

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We've been talking about this emerging conflict between the Catholic Church and the Obama Administrationfortwoweeks, and last night and this morning it exploded all over the mainstream media.

The basics are this: The department of Health and Human services issued a regulation that all non-Church religious intitutions, like hospitals and schools, had to provide employee health insurance that includes contraception, sterlization, and drugs that the Church maintains are abortifacients. 

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rick Santorum is looking to capitalize on a string of stunning victories that snapped his four-state losing streak and raised new questions about front-runner Mitt Romney’s clout with conservatives.

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For thirty years the Catholic bishops of the United States have trivialized their moral authority by wasting their teaching authority within the Church by embracing every liberal social initiative that came along, from expressing concern for migrants and refugees to lecturing the government on the plight of illegal aliens.

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To the Members of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops:

It may have taken a few days to sink in, but by now you should all have realized that President Obama has opened a massive assault on the Roman Catholic Church in America the likes of which none of you have ever experienced and for which few of you have prepared.

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On Jan. 20, the Obama administration, specifically Health and Human Services, made it known that it will indeed require, in the words of a U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops news release, "that sterilization and contraception--including controversial abortifacients--be included among 'preventive services' coverage in almost every healthcare plan available to Americans."

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Requesting prayer and action from the lay faithful, bishops nationwide continued to speak out against the Obama administration’s mandate that requires religious agencies to offer contraceptive and sterilization coverage to their employees.

“This decision is outrageous,” said Bishops Kevin Vann of Fort Worth and Kevin Farrell of Dallas. “It is an unprecedented and untenable abrogation of religious freedom in the United States.”

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Catholic parishioners around the country were read letters this morning written by church leadership railing against an Obama administration ruling that requires employers to provide health insurance plans that include contraceptive coverage.

Churches and other houses of worship are exempt from the guidelines but Catholic hospitals, colleges, and social services fall under the umbrella of institutions covered by the decision.

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The Obama administration has chosen to ignore the First Amendment and add insult to injury for Catholics whose schools, hospitals and charities help make this nation great. Now the real fight begins.

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Earlier today, Alan Colmes made headlines by making an unseemly comment about Rick Santorum– namely, about his child who died hours after being born. Colmes let his Twitter followers know that he did his part to apologize to Santorum, and the latter responded to that apology on air today with Sean Hannity, explaining his actions with his child and his acceptance of Colmes’ apology.

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This video is an artistic take on how the story of the nativity might have read had a social network existed at the time of Jesus's birth. Follow this historical period as it unfolds as a digital narrative. This vignette is great for highlighting the truths and circumstances of our Savior's birth in a fresh, unique way.

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Sarah Palin is using her influence to breathe new life into Rick Santorum's campaign for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.

The 2008 vice presidential nominee told Fox News' Sean Hannity, "If voters start kind of shifting gears and deciding they want ideological consistency, then they're going to start paying attention to say, Rick Santorum."

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a few years back i posted a long series of bad nativity sets. last year i grouped them all into one post — 20 of them at that point — and it became my highest trafficked post of all time. but people sent me more and a stumbled onto a few myself. so… this year, the list has 27! merry christmas all, and enjoy or be horrified by this weird collection of nativity oddness.

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Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi blasted Catholics for fighting for the right not to perform or fund abortions, describing their abhorrence for supporting abortions as “this conscience thing,” in remarks to the Washington Post.

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Under the pretense of fighting poverty and injustice, the USCCB-run Catholic Campaign for Human Development has disfigured Catholic Social teaching to make it nothing more than a tool to help promote sexual immorality and Communism.

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Godfather Politics 

Many abortion advocates have no clue what goes on at the clinics they endorse, nor do they really want to know.  They believe that women have this God-given right to say what happens to their body even if it means murdering an unborn child.

But what about the babies?  Do they have any rights?

Sadly, and profoundly perverse is knowing that many people who favor abortion and the right to kill an unborn child are also animal rights activists.  Many members of PETA are pro-abortion.  They protest and picket cosmetic manufacturers and research labs concerning the treatment of the animals while at the same time they are all in favor in the slaughter of innocent lives that never get the chance to see the light of day.

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Some Muslims are getting smart. They’ve learned some lessons from the Communists, especially Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937). Gramsci broke from the revolutionary methods of the early Marxists. Today’s smarter Muslims don’t want to blow up stuff. Like the Gramsci Communists before them, they are working to take over our culture from the inside by using our laws against us. No shot needs to be fired. No building needs to be blown up. They are going after the foundational institutions: schools, media, politics, and the courts. This was Gramsci’s contribution to the cultural revolution. While Gramsci remained a committed Communist, he was a new-breed Communist.

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Crucifixes? At a Catholic university? How about that.

Of course, at the heart of this complaint is the hope of establishing a Muslim prayer space on the campus that would be subject to different standards than the rest of the university -- a little enclave of Islamic law where its ban on the display of crosses would be "respected."

It is mentioned below that Muslim students say they like CUA because they feel "safe" and "comfortable." They are receiving the benefits of what Catholics have built at CUA, but are expecting more. They want to bend the institution to their own purposes for their own "comfort."

They think it's a fine place, if it just weren't so, you know, Catholic, and therefore un-Islamic. "University Accused of Discriminating Against Muslims," from CUA's The Tower, October 20 (thanks to B.):

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The Vatican called on Monday for the establishment of a “global public authority” and a “central world bank” to rule over financial institutions that have become outdated and often ineffective in dealing fairly with crises.

A major document from the Vatican’s Justice and Peace department should be music to the ears of the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrators and similar movements around the world who have protested against the economic downturn.

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The anti-Middle East Christian lobbying in Washington, attributed to Muslim Brotherhood front groups and sympathizers is not limited to the Maronites, who form the bulk of the two million Lebanese Americans. According to research showing the links between Presidential adviser Dalia Mogahed and the Muslim Brotherhood, and to NGOs representing Middle East Christian groups in the US, blocking Middle East Christian meetings at the White House and the State Department have been associated with the work of the “advisors” and their allies in the Islamist camp in Washington such as CAIR and MPAC.

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The Catholic Church does not claim teaching authority on matters of economics and finance. When the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace issues a statement on the world’s financial markets, faithful Catholics are not bound to accept the economic analysis it contains.

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PARIS, France, October 21, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A group of Parisian Catholic students was beaten by riot police during a protest in front of a theater during the premiere of a blasphemous play by Italian playwright Romeo Castellicci, on Thursday evening.

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Catholics make up about a quarter of the American electorate and have backed the popular-vote winner in every presidential election since 1972. That track record continued through 2008: While weekly churchgoing Catholics slightly favored Sen. John McCain, Catholics as a whole backed President Barack Obama by a margin of 54 to 45 percent.

Given the role Catholics played in Obama's 2008 victory and their habit of picking presidential winners, you might think that an embattled president with a 40-percent approval rating would be working overtime to solidify his support among this crucial voting bloc. Instead, Obama seems intent on convincing Catholics that their faith in him was unwarranted.

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Rome, Italy, Oct 8, 2011 / 03:29 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- An American bishop has predicted that government authorities may one day attempt to silence the Catholic Church in the United States.
 
“We could see the possibility of it within the United States where we are no longer free to preach the truth from the pulpit or to present Catholic teaching,” Bishop Samuel J. Aquila of Fargo, North Dakota, told CNA on an Oct. 7 visit to Rome.

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(CNSNews.com) – Will same-sex marriage ceremonies be allowed at the Catholic Chapel of the Most Holy Trinity at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point?

“The answer is ‘no,’” said Taylor Henry, director of public affairs and media relations for the Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and spokesman for Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who certifies all Catholic chaplains for the armed services.

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