Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson During this campaign season, will voters settle for generalities, or will they demand specifics? We will find out in seven weeks. Politicians are known for speaking with vague platitudes, but usually they are forced to give more specific answers when asked by voters or the media. Because this commentary is heard nationally, I will focus on the presidential candidates, though I could also use the state and local elections to illustrate my point as well. Kamala Harris talks…

Kerby Anderson Should parents be held criminally liable if their child shoots others in a school or public place? That is a question being considered in Georgia. The 14-year-old shooter (who killed four people) has been indicted, but so has his 54-year-old father. Earlier this year, a jury in Michigan convicted parents after their son killed four students and wounded six others. They were prosecuted for being negligent. They knew of their son’s mental health issues and failed to secure…

Penna Dexter South Dakota is one of the most pro-life states in America. Before Roe v. Wade was overturned, South Dakota had enacted 111 statutes restricting abortion, the most of any state. Under a trigger law that took effect after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in 2022, abortion is illegal in South Dakota, except to save the life of the mother. The state’s pro-lifers work hard to elect legislators who will protect the sanctity of human life. Now they are battling a…

Kerby Anderson We have idols today, but rarely are they in the form of carved statues and found in religious shrines. A study by Lifeway Research asked Protestant pastors in this county what they felt were modern-day idols. Two-thirds (67%) of the pastors believe comfort is a desire that Christians have made into an idol. A majority also reported that control or security (56%), money (55%), and approval (51%) are idols that have significant influence on their congregations. They were…

Kerby Anderson Many Americans are concerned about the impact that social media and Big Tech are having on society. Therefore, it is not surprising that a number of documentaries have been focusing on problems from this technology. One of the most important documentaries to come along is “The Social Dilemma.” It features an interesting blend of talking-head interviews with various Big Tech figures, with a fictional dramatization of what happens when children in one family become addicted to social media….

Kerby Anderson One striking difference between Europe and America has been the temptation of many European countries to fall into totalitarianism. Dennis Prager reminds us that after World War I, many of these countries embraced communism, fascism, or Nazism. There is a very good reason why. The primary beliefs that gave rise to meaning in life were patriotism and the Judeo-Christian religion. The senseless slaughter during the Great War (as it was called) challenged both of those foundations. National identity…

Kerby Anderson Professor Paul Kengor has a book on The Devil and Karl Marx that reminds us how much Marx hated God and Christianity. In his book and on my radio program, he cited Marx and many of the biographies that showed how scary he was. His own family and friends were frightened by his demonic fits of rage and his bizarre focus on violence. Marx wrote, “When our turn comes, we shall make no excuses for the terror. There…

Kerby Anderson In previous commentaries, I have quoted Michael Shellenberger and his book, Apocalypse Never, which deals with environmental issues. But his latest book documents the problem of homelessness in one city. The title is: San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities. He documents various reasons why the homeless problem has become worse. Limited housing has been one reason. Expensive housing and warmer climates explain why the homeless can be found in California, Florida, and Hawaii. Not only is the climate…

Penna Dexter Because of a new rule the Biden-Harris administration issued last spring, students in nearly half the states face some disturbing changes as they return to their schools and colleges. The rule is the result of a rewrite of Title IX of the Education Amendments, enacted in 1972 specifically to protect women and girls. Title IX forbids discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program. The new rule expands the definition of sex to include…

Kerby Anderson If you type the words “tablet kids” into a search engine, up will pop all sorts of tablets for young children. If you look far enough, you will see a press report of a medical study that would warn you not to purchase one of those tablets. The Journal of the American Medical Association on Pediatrics documents such concerns in the article on “Early-Childhood Tablet Use and Outbursts of Anger.” The researchers found that children who spend 75…

Kerby Anderson Americans have been concerned about immigration, and particularly about the lack of border security. I wondered how the mainstream media would try to deflect the issue. The New York Times published a report with the headline, “In JD Vance’s Backyard, Conspiracy Theories About Migrants and Voting Abound.” The headline of a Washington Post report proclaims that “Republicans Flood TV with Misleading Ads about Immigration, Border.” In a recent commentary, Rich Lowry explains “all of this represents is not…