Free Republic

Dr. Bryon McClanahan reviews Pryor's work on Lee. He is quite critical and discusses major problems with the book as well as the "trendy" practice by modern historians of "humanizing" (tearing down) American heroes . . .

A national correspondent for “The Atlantic Magazine” who gained attention for an article calling on the United States to study possible reparations for slavery was in Iowa this week to speak at Grinnell College’s Martin Luther King Junior Day events. In an interview with Radio Iowa, Ta-Nehisi Coates says the idea of reparations for slavery is as old as the country itself. “Immediately after the Revolutionary War you had black people who had been enslave by the British making that argument that post-colonial, not really colonial government, reclaimed the property of British slave holders that African Americans who had been...

The January 26th edition of The New Yorker imagines a world where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. marches arm in arm with some of the most polarizing news figures from 2014 and the #BlackLivesMatter movement. The publication is known for it’s controversial covers, but this one entitled “The Dream of Reconciliation” – shows Dr. King with Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, and New York City Police officer Wenjian Liu, who was killed by a gunman in December – peacefully walking with arms linked as an American flag waves in the background. Artist Barry Blitt who drew it says he...

The last several months have seen an outpouring of activism, with slogans coming in waves: “Justice for Mike Brown,” “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,” and “I Can’t Breathe.” But the phrase “Black Lives Matter” has emerged to bind each flashpoint into one cause. The 2012 murder of Trayvon Martin and acquittal of George Zimmerman served as the first of these flashpoints, snowballing in August with the murder of Michael Brown. “Ferguson is the birthplace of what’s happening right now. In many ways, Ferguson is like ground zero of these protests,” says DeRay McKesson, who has been protesting and organizing in Ferguson...

How Education Has Empowered Me What is education? There are many who would say that an education is merely an entity that is to be possessed and others who say that it is only a means to move forward in the world, however I believe that education is a key, a key to freedom. Nelson Mandela once said "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world", I truly agree with the wise words of Mr. Mandela and hope that one day I can use my education to do great things. When I was young...

The Black Brunch movement wants us to get uncomfortable with law enforcement violence in communities of color.Weekend brunch is usually the time for Americans to kick back and enjoy a mimosa and a slice of a savory veggie frittata (watch out for those spiking egg prices) with friends or family. But on Sunday, diners in several New York City and Oakland, California, restaurants got a hefty serving of anti–police violence activism alongside their meals. Dozens of participants in the grassroots Black Brunch movement walked into restaurants that tend to serve a predominantly white customer base. The activists weren’t there to...

One of the little-discussed details in the wake of the terrorist attack on the Paris offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo centers on a book featured on the front cover of its current edition. The book, which has reportedly caused controversy in the days leading up to its publication over perceived "Islamophobia," imagines the future election of a Muslim leader of France, which heralds a broader Islamization of the EU. Its title is "Soumission" or "Submission" in English ("submission" being the literal definition of the Arabic word "Islam"), the newest work of celebrated and controversial French author Michel Houellebecq. "Soumission"...

The letters of Publicola, a fascinating window into the debate that occurred in the early days of the French Revolution, before significant blood had been shed in France, before the French people had beheaded their king and queen, before the Reign of Terror, before Napoleon was a name of any significance, and before all of Europe became engulfed in war, written anonymously by John Quincy Adams.

"Putin is behaving in a very paranoid way. He’s putting a lot of emphasis on increased repression. He’s taking a lot of money out of domestic coffers: health, education, pensions, to support his own inner circle – to keep peace among competing groups. To bail these people out when the social situation in the country is so dire is an act of….it reveals the regime for what it is, and he can only really keep peace by increasing the repression."

Michel Houellebecq, who first stirred controversy with sex novel Atomised, makes waves with book describing country after Islamist becomes president. Put France’s literary enfant terrible together with Europe’s most combustible political talking point, and sparks were always going to fly. Michel Houellebecq, whose tale of sex, mother-hatred and cloning Atomised was the French literary scandal of the Nineties, is turning his attention to “Islamisation”. His new novel Soumission (Submission), will not be published until January 7 but has already triggered a flurry of accusations that he is pandering to the growing Islamophobia gripping France. It is set in 2022 and...

In this landmark work of history, Arsonist reveals the secret role of one man who challenged the foundations of feudalism and instigated the American Revolution. James Otis was disgusted by the anti-democratic feudal structure of society and threatened to set it all “in a flame” though, he confessed, he too would likely be consumed in the fire. By the winter of 1760, this provincial bourgeoisie, one of the wealthiest and most intelligent men in the British colonies, had become fully radicalized. That his words – a promise and a prophecy – came to full fruition and his predictions about the...

To Dad--who knew how to keep Christmas well Candle wicks, like memories, flicker faintly at times, and burn brightly at others. Dickens could have been writing about my father, William Christian Stoos, when he said of Scrooge that he knew how to keep Christmas well. Dad was the Spirit of Christmas in our household. Each year he anticipated the holiday with a childlike glee. Although a stoic man, and deeply spiritual, he became a child at Christmas time—his favorite time of the year. Whether it was the gaudy Christmas tree with its 2,000 lights that warmed our cozy house, the...

"Patton's familial ties to Confederate veterans is quite fascinating (Chapter One is titled, "Ghosts of the Confederacy") and had a significant impact on his view of history, as well as his role it it. (An extremely important and influential factor, despite what some think.) Patton's great-grandmother once wrote, "I am crying because I have only seven sons left to fight the Yankees."

Six official clay seals found by an archaeological team at a small site in Israel offer evidence that supports the existence of biblical kings David and Solomon. Many modern scholars dismiss David and Solomon as mythological figures and believe no kingdom could have existed in the region at the time the Bible recounted their activities. The new finds provide evidence that some type of government activity was conducted there in that period.A Mississippi State University team found this bulla, or ancient clay seal, on a dig site in southern Israel last summer. It offers evidence of government activity in the...

And one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush upon you. The burden of self-deception has grown too heavy, and some minor incident...collapses it all at once, and you see that everything, everything has changed and changed completely under your nose. The world you live in - your nation, your people - is not the world you were born in at all. The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the holidays. But the spirit, which you never noticed because you made the lifelong mistake of...

The Golden Christmas Much to the annoyance of multiculturists, Christmas is still America’s most celebrated holiday, and in the weeks preceding this festive time, traditional Christmas stories will appear on television screens. We can expect to see numerous versions of Charles Dickens renowned tale, A Christmas Carol, O.Henry’s The Gift of the Magi, and Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts like myself look forward to adaptations of Conan Doyle’s The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle. As much as I enjoy these holiday offerings, my Christmas season would not be complete without a reading of William Gilmore Simms’ novel The Golden Christmas. Simm’s sensitive...

From a wide-ranging interview with Blackwater founder and ex-CEO Erik Prince: "ISIS poses a near-term threat, but certainly the greatest threat long-term are crazies with a nuclear weapon in Iran…that is by far the most destabilizing possibility in the Middle East. …I think it’s highly concerning that the Obama administration is talking about making an Iranian nuclear deal that wouldn’t be subject to Senate approval — like any other treaty would be. We have a Constitution, we have a division of powers of the U.S. government — that is, beyond ISIS or beyond Iran — if we start destroying the...

Consistent with our analysis of last year’s list, the New York Times has again apparently excluded any conservative or even right-leaning titles from its “100 Notable Books” of 2014. A disclaimer: While “conservative” or “right-leaning” are obviously subjective terms, a cursory glance at the Times’ list indicates books that lack a focus on individual liberty, free enterprise, traditional values, or many of the other tenets of Western civilization — unless critical of such tenets; further, the list is bereft of any titles authored by conservative or right-leaning authors. To give you a sense as to the kind of narratives/themes echoed...

Free Audio: Download the Complete Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis Read by Dr. Chrissi Hart (British Accent) openculture.com/2011/12/the_chronicles_of_narnia_free.html Before the days of Harry Potter, generations of young readers let their imaginations take flight with The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven fantasy novels written by C. S. Lewis. Like his friend J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis served on the English faculty at Oxford University and took part in the Inklings, an Oxford literary group dedicated to fiction and fantasy. Published between 1950 and 1956, The Chronicles of Narnia has sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages, delighting younger and older readers worldwide. The seven volumes in...

Then yet a thousand times more thankful should our people be for this nation’s bounteous wealth, her strength and liberty “Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand. And as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone to many. Let the glorious name of Jehovah have all the praise.” (William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth County, 1621) Thankful they assembled there, A humble Pilgrim band, To praise their God in silent prayer That He should bless their land. Through winter unforgiving, Through pestilence and war, Those grateful few yet...