Recent Viewpoints

February 3, 2021
The 1776 Commission's Report

Kerby Anderson The 1776 Commission issued a report that summarizes “the principles of the American founding and how those principles have shaped our country.” Unfortunately, that will be its only report. In his first few hours in office, President Joe Biden disbanded the commission with an executive order. Compared to his other executive orders that killed the Keystone Pipeline, stopped construction of the wall, and promoted transgenderism, this action might not seem that significant. But it shows how radical he…

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February 2, 2021
Armed US Soldiers on Capitol steps

Kerby Anderson Yesterday I talked about a commentary by Glen Greenwald criticizing the call for a domestic war on terror. One of his concerns is the attempt to justify new domestic police powers because speech can “incite violence.” Not only is that used to justify going after our fellow Americans, it also was the basis for the impeachment article against Trump. Citing Rudy Giuliani in what constitutes incitement wouldn’t be helpful since he has been the former president’s lawyer. It…

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February 1, 2021
Razor-wire fencing around the Capitol

Kerby Anderson We are hearing more and more talk of instituting a domestic war on terror. Glen Greenwald says he has seen all of this before. Some calling for new domestic police powers against “terrorists” admit they are using a model from the first war on terror nearly two decades ago. Politicians and pundits even suggest that we think about creating a 9/11 type of commission for domestic extremism. That would obviously be modeled on the 9/11 Commission established in 2002. Perhaps,…

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January 29, 2021
open school! protesters

Penna Dexter In many parts of the country, K-12 educators are now eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine. States are responsible for setting these priorities and some are making sure teachers and other school staff members are vaccinated quickly. Education Week reports that, as of January 22, at least 21 states have made some or all teachers eligible to receive the vaccine. Yet teachers’ unions in some of the nation’s most populous cities still argue for keeping schools closed. New…

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January 29, 2021
American Creed

Kerby Anderson What is the American Creed? That is a question David Gelernter asks in his book, America-Lite. He has been on my radio program to talk about his book and his op-ed that appeared in the Wall Street Journal. He is a fascinating individual. He received two degrees in classical Hebrew literature, but then became a professor of computer science at Yale University. Some have called him a “rock star” in the world of computing. You might also remember…

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January 28, 2021
Shrinking Church

Kerby Anderson America is turning more into a secular society. But this post-Christian nation has not turned into a kinder, more tolerant place to live. Peter Beinart, writing in The Atlantic, reminds us that a vast majority of Americans still believe in God, but they are fleeing organized religion in increasing numbers. The percentage of people with no religious affiliation jumped from 6 percent in 1992 to 22 percent in 2014. Among Millennials, the figure is 35 percent. Many secular…

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January 27, 2021
wrongwrongRIGHT

Kerby Anderson Americans in general, and even evangelicals in particular, seem confused about important details of their faith. A study done by Lifeway Research found that Americans don’t know much about theology, and many evangelicals seem confused as well. Tyler O’Neil wrote about the “12 Lies American Evangelicals Believe.” Here are a few of them. Americans generally believe that their personal salvation depends on good works. The survey found that three-fourths (77%) agreed with the statement that people must contribute…

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January 26, 2021
Big Tech Purge

Kerby Anderson Will censorship increase or is the purge of some politicians and political content over? A few argue that now that President Donald Trump is history, and now that a few malcontents have been removed from social media, our leaders can get back to governing. But there are too many voices who seem emboldened by the purges that have taken place. For example, the CEO of Mozilla argued that “de-platforming” people from its services was not enough. He believes…

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January 25, 2021
big 4 tech masters3

Kerby Anderson Will the federal government move to regulate Big Tech? I think that is unlikely for many reasons I will delineate in a moment. But I can’t deny that there is growing concern about censorship on various social media platforms. It started with declaimers on social media posts and has now expanded to banning politicians and commentators and even an attempt to destroy an alternative social media platform. House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes called for a RICO…

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January 22, 2021
Biden- all blue

Penna Dexter Whenever there’s a new session of Congress, the House of Representatives adopts a new set of rules to govern the way it conducts business. For the 117th, Congress House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rules Committee Chairman James McGovern have proposed a rules package they claim “makes the House of Representatives the most inclusive in history.” There’s a section that eliminates all gendered terms. If the rules package is adopted by the full House, only “gender-inclusive language” will be…

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January 22, 2021
USA flag on old plank boards

Kerby Anderson Last week I talked about how divided we are as a nation. That is the conclusion of David French in his book, Divided We Fall. I have been struck by the number of other commentators who have been making the same point. In one of his opening monologues, Tucker Carlson admitted that “you may have nothing in common with people on the other side of the country, but you’re stuck with them.” He dismissed the idea that “groups…

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