Free Republic

Booker T. Washington wrote one of America’s greatest autobiographies, a story of how he rose from slavery to leadership. Washington did not minimize the hardship along the way... Washington believed in economic empowerment that would leave ex-slaves no longer poor and lead to political empowerment. Here are excerpts from chapters eight and ten of Up from Slavery: An Autobiography, first published in 1901. They detail Washington’s attitude toward African-Alabamans he met while starting his famous Tuskegee Institute, and the battles he waged to teach practical matters—the equivalent then of today’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics). He did not want students...

A new government estimate shows yet another way how Obamacare may ding the economy, and the law's defenders are at pains to explain how this is a feature, not a bug... It's also important to note the CBO estimate does not include the effects of Obamacare's employer mandate.... ...many employers have already cut workers' hours to get under the 50-full-time-employee threshold, beyond which the mandate kicks in. So some reduction of hours -- and not the voluntary kind -- has already taken place.

...Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson started his Super Bowl Sunday by attending a church service. The athlete has been very open about his Christian faith and often posts Bible verses on his Twitter account. On Feb. 2, Wilson posted a picture of himself at church, along with the Bible verse 2 Corinthians 5:17....

Bill Nye may be “The Science Guy,” but Ken Ham is the “Answers in Genesis” man, and a debate between the two over the origins of life has nonbelievers and Christians wringing their hands. Nye, host of a beloved television science series, and Ham, president of a creationist apologetics ministry, will meet at the Creation Museum, where Ham is also the president, on Feb. 4. In what some wags are calling “the Ham-on-Nye debate,” they will weigh this question: “Is creation a viable model of origins?”

When I was a child in elementary school, people often asked me, “What is your favorite subject?” Invariably my response was one of two things. I either said, “recess” or “gym.” My answer revealed my deepest predilections. I preferred play to work. Indeed, my nascent philosophical musing regarding the cosmic “Why?” questions took place as I made a game of walking to school via tiptoeing along a long path, pretending I was a high-wire walker in a circus. I asked myself the meaning of life wherein I had to spend five days a week doing what I didn’t want to...

Now that we've got Boehner/McConnell at our feet -utterly neutered, subjugated, and blackmailed- Democrats don't need to take the Senate or make gains in the House this coming November: I'll be ruling by executive diktat and via my many czars' murky bureaucratic power channels anyway, while selectively enforcing the existing laws that do or do not fit my warped views and relentless agenda. In short, I will be doing as I damn well please over the next 2.5 years (minimum), as has been the trend since Day One -but rather than little shame or concern for the views of the...

The mass wedding held at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night has sparked controversy and been criticized by many as a political stunt to promote same-sex marriage... Christian Gospel singer Natalie Grant has revealed that she left the Grammys early, and many have taken her early exit to mean she was protesting against the events.

Some evangelical pastors have several reasons for not preaching on abortion—and one is fear of man... ....Preaching on the issue might seem uncool or anti-intellectual. Many millennial generation pastors share this last belief. John Piper told WORLD that such younger pastors often understand pro-life issues better than their elders, having enjoyed the benefit of decades of intellectual and spiritual ferment on the matter. Some, however, worry of being typecast as a 1980s picketer or rescuer, or as a far-right, unloving loon. “There are a lot of … courageous younger pastors who don’t have any problem,” Piper said. “On the other hand, a...

I believe that the greatest ethical issue today is that of abortion. In recent years many have come to see terrorist as more concerning than abortion. I am baffled by that, because more people were killed on September 10 in the womb of U.S. women than were killed on 9/11 in New York City. More babies were slaughtered on September 12 than adults were killed on 9/11. If we had a camera on the womb so that CNN could show us graphic videos of what actually happens in the slaughter of unborn children, abortion would be quickly abolished, but the...

......."[Davis] hit state Attorney General Greg Abbott, the party's likely GOP nominee, for bringing up the story. "We're not surprised by Greg Abbott’s campaign attacks on the personal story of my life as a single mother who worked hard to get ahead,".....................................right now she is a national star thanks to her filibuster against a Texas abortion law but if she waits four years to run for something she may well be less of a big deal nationally.Given all of that, Davis had to run for governor this year — even if she didn't think she could win. We've written that...

Answering theological questions from his students has been a continual commitment throughout Dr. R.C. Sproul’s ministry. Originally called “gabfests” by his early students and later, “Ask R.C.,” these sessions continue to take place at our conferences, on Renewing Your Mind, and online.Tonight at 7:30pm EST, Dr. Sproul will be live online via video answering your theological questions. You will be able to submit questions to him in real-time or in advance by using #AskRC on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.We do hope you can join us tonight at Ligonier.org/live.

Yes and no. As I have argued here, there are some fine reasons why Christians should be a constant presence at their local abortion mill. It is true that different believers, even different churches have different callings. Trouble is, too often we “feel called” to that which is most comfortable, most respectable. If there are ten churches within a five mile radius of the local mill, and everyone of them supports Bible study programs for successful businessmen something is wrong. Just remember that both the priest and the Levite had some thriving ministries to get to back in Jerusalem...

Sadly it seems most politicians (especially Democrats in Washington, D.C. and "Blue" states) today are seeking to become a “Nero-Aristocracy”… (yes I meant Nero). They don’t seek to govern but to rule, to declare themselves our “owners” not our public servants. Many citizens seek to avoid politics and related debates/discussions... but now see our liberty and prosperity being bled away! Lots of previously uninterested are now forced to get involved (such was the origin of Tea Party groups). Both parties are in this pursuit of more and more control of our very lives, but the Democrats with media in tow,...

ditor's note: Yolanda Young is the author of the memoir, "On Our Way To Beautiful", and the publisher and C.E.O. of Lawyers Of Color. Follow her on twitter @yolandayoungesq (CNN) -- As "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson returns from his brief "hiatus," he'll do so to the cheers of some surprising supporters — southern blacks. Robertson was suspended from the A&E hit show for calling homosexuality a sin and equating it to bestiality in a GQ profile. Receiving less attention were his comments that black people were happier before the civil rights movement. Media have focused on two camps in...

Join us on Monday evening, November 4th, as Nabeel Qureshi, a former devout Muslim, describes his dramatic journey from Islam to Christianity. A question and answer session will follow his talk.

Answering theological questions from his students has been a continual commitment throughout Dr. R.C. Sproul’s ministry. Originally called “gabfests” by his early students and later, “Ask R.C.,” these sessions continue to take place at our conferences, on Renewning Your Mind, and online. Next Tuesday, January 21 at 7:30pm EST, Dr. Sproul will be live online via video answering your theological questions. You will be able to submit questions to him in real-time or in advance by using #AskRC on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. If you’d prefer to participate by telephone, you can pre-register using the form at the bottom of...

If you are very judgmental and tend to be squeamish when forming your opinion, please don't view this 17 second video.

In what sense do some people “save” their own lives, only to lose them? Likewise, how is it that some are willing to ‘lose their lives’, and save them in the process? To Jesus those who ‘save their own lives’ are those who seek to preserve their standing before the world, by distancing themselves before the reproach of identification with the Lord and Saviour. They are said to have “gained the world” in some way. Because there is a very real tension between the world and Christ, confessing Christ is a form of repudiation of this world, whether the confessor...

Evangelical Christians love America. Some see in her the last hope of creating a Christian nation. But it is not a Christian nation. It is pagan to the core. It is in danger of becoming, if it is not already, the new “Evil Empire.” The Mayflower Compact is a museum piece, a relic of a forgotten era. “In God We Trust” is now a lie. Yes, we must always work for social reform. Yes, we must be “profane’ in Martin Luther’s sense of going out of the temple and into the world. We do not despise the country of our...