Free Republic

NORMAN, Okla. – Taking a cue from the brave abolitionists of the 19th century – William Wilberforce, Elijah P. Lovejoy, even ol’ John Brown of Harper’s Ferry fame – a new movement is taking root right here in Oklahoma and their issue is not slavery, of course, but the controversial issue of abortion. And the thoughtful and informed members of the Norman-based Abolitionist Society of Oklahoma, now only two months old, is looking to eventually abolish abortion. It might seem like an impossible task. But talking to co-founder Russell Hunter this past Saturday, the group, made up largely of young...

...Two arresting new books, timed to co­incide with Darwin’s 200th birthday, make the case that his epochal achievement in Victorian England can best be under­stood in relation to events — involving neither tortoises nor finches — on the other side of the Atlantic. Both books confront the touchy subject of Darwin and race head on; both conclude that Darwin, despite the pernicious spread of “social Darwinism” (the notion, popularized by Herbert Spencer, that human society progresses through the “survival of the fittest”), was no racist...

The death of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Oct. 12, 1870, prompted a host of public meetings and gatherings and an outpouring of feelings about a hero of the era. In Kentucky, one of the largest gatherings took place in Louisville where two speakers were chosen to give the main talks.One was an obvious selection: John Cabell Breckinridge, a former U.S. vice president and senator, fellow Confederate general and former Confederate Secretary of War.The other speaker, however, was not so obvious in the years immediately following the war when feelings still ran high.He had been a strong Union supporter...