New conservative darling, neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson, will be a featured speaker at the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) next month, according to the American Conservative Union (ACU).

The Conference, which represents the largest gathering of conservative leaders and activists in America, is scheduled for March 14 to March 16, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md.

"Dr. Ben Carson represents the optimism and hope of the future of the conservative movement, while at the same time he articulates the deep fiscal and social challenges that our Nation faces," said Al Cardenas, chairman of the ACU, in a statement. "We look forward to welcoming Dr. Carson to the CPAC stage in March." more >>

Best-selling author and pastor Rick Warren plans to give an exclusive preview and behind-the-scenes look at the production of "The Bible" TV series, created by Mark Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey, during a live webcast on Saturday. The event comes one day before the much-anticipated first episode premieres on the History Channel this Sunday.

The 90-minute simulcast hosted by Warren will feature an overview of the series with not-yet-seen portions of the series and the "why" behind the series with Burnett and Downey, according to Pastors.com, a website dedicated to providing guidance and resources for Christian leaders.

"One way to build a bridge between God's Word and the issues of our day is to tie a sermon series into some cultural event, something that has already caught the attention of many people," Warren stated. "For instance, when we enter the current economic crisis, I preached a series on God's principles for money management. It taught people that the Bible offers wise and practical advice on how to handle your finances. more >>

Tennessee enacted its first compulsory attendance law for public schools in 1905. The school year was adapted for traditional agricultural summer work schedules. With that also came an established curriculum of what children should learn at incremental age levels in grades one through twelve. Counties and cities established school districts governed by local elected or appointed school boards.

Public schools and churches shared a common purpose of "Raising up children in the way they should go." School included Bible reading, recitation of prayer and Bible verses. In the 1920s the South was in a wave of religious revivalism. Through the efforts of William Jennings Bryan, fifteen states enacted laws prohibiting the teaching of evolution in public schools. Tennessee enacted a bill introduced by John Butler making it unlawful "to teach any theory that denies the story of divine creation as taught by the Bible and to teach instead that man was descended from a lower order of animals." This was the background for the court challenge in the Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tennessee in 1925.

In 1954, the Brown v. Board of Education decision declared racially segregated schools unconstitutional. This led to massive establishment of alternative private and church schools in a movement derisively called "white flight." more >>

A 20-year Ohio middle school science teacher who was fired in 2011 for teaching creationism in his class will have his day in the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday when his lawyers will argue that his firing was a violation of his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights to free speech and religion.

"In oral arguments before the Ohio Supreme Court tomorrow, February 27, The Rutherford Institute will defend the right to academic freedom of a science teacher fired for encouraging students to think critically about the school's science curriculum, particularly as it relates to evolution theories," said the Rutherford Institute in a statement released in response to questions from The Christian Post on Tuesday.

"In coming to veteran science teacher John Freshwater's defense, Institute attorneys argue that the Mount Vernon City School District violated John Freshwater's academic freedom rights – and those of his students – by firing him in January 2011," said the statement. more >>

A German couple will have its day in court once more as it appeals a decision barring them from seeking asylum in the United States in order to homeschool their children.

Uwe and Hannelore Romeike, a devout Christian couple with five school-aged children, appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which decided last week to have oral arguments take place in April.

The Romeikes, who came to the United States in 2008, are being represented by the Home School Legal Defense Association. more >>

President Obama ended his State of the Union speech on a warm and fuzzy note by calling for pre-K programs for almost all children. The best thing he could do for pre-kindergarten children is to make sure he doesn't hang trillions of dollars of debt around their necks, but that isn't the route he is taking.

Instead, Obama wants to provide government daycare for all preschoolers who live in households where the income is below approximately $47,100. He doesn't call it daycare or babysitting (which is a more accurate term); he calls it early childhood education.

Early childhood education means programs for kids from birth to age 3 (a massively expanded Early Head Start, home visits by nurses, parental education and health services), more of the existing Head Start (mostly for 3-year-olds), more "high-quality preschool" for 4-year-olds available to every child in America and full-day kindergarten for all. more >>