Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson Liberal, progressive ideas have invaded nearly every academic discipline. But I assumed that such nonsense would never be applied to mathematics. I was wrong. A “Math Ethnic Studies” program was introduced this year in the Seattle public schools. Let’s hope that what happens in Seattle, stays in Seattle. A few commentators have been writing about this latest attempt at “woke mathematics” so I thought it was worth talking about. One writer said it is “chock full of social…

Kerby Anderson Each year, we take time from our busy lives to celebrate a day of Thanksgiving. Though many holidays have become secular celebrations, this holiday still retains much of its historic religious overtones. A day of Thanksgiving was set aside by the Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony. Life was hard in the New World.  Half of the Pilgrims died in the first terrible winter. After the first harvest was completed, Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving and…

Kerby Anderson Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and I suspect that you are doing lots of things to get ready for this special day. Let me suggest you add one more item to your to-do list. Visit our website and download a copy of my Thanksgiving Quiz. Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to gather as a family, but I also believe it can be a great time to teach our children and grandchildren about America’s godly heritage. I created this short quiz…

Kerby Anderson Once again it is time to revisit the topic of tax cuts and the deficit. Heated rhetoric and misleading claims are increasing because threats of a government shutdown are occurring while we head into another election year. Fortunately, Guy Benson tries to provide a reality check to so much misinformation. He begins by talking about something that has bothered me for decades. When Democrats are in office they talk very little about deficits and the national debt.  But…

Kerby Anderson Since we live in such a polarized political environment, I wanted to take a moment to highlight the positive impact some TV personalities have had in our world. Specifically, I am thinking of Mr. Rogers. The movie, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” is now in the theaters and serves as a visual reminder of his impact not only on children but on all of us. Baylor professor Brooke Blevins has put together six lessons we can learn…

Penna Dexter The annual “winter crisis” at Britain’s National Health Service is starting early this year. Data released last week showed English emergency room wait times are the worst in 15 years. More and more patients are forced to wait in hospital corridors on temporary beds called ‘trollies’. The goal is to treat 95 percent of patients within 4 hours. In the last year the NHS managed to treat only 83.6 percent within that time, 6 percent less than the year before. In Britain,…

Kerby Anderson After the government announced the death of the ISIS leader, many wondered what might be the next step. ISIS has been defeated on the battlefield and their leader is gone. But there is still more to do. In his book, The State of Our Nation, Jim Denison described four steps that were necessary to defeat ISIS. These were: (1) take away its caliphate, (2) apprehend or kill its leader, (3) defeat its ideology, and (4) advance spiritual awakening….

Kerby Anderson Over the last few decades, cohabitation has gone from being rare to routine. So it isn’t too surprising that now there are more Americans who have lived with a partner than have married one. That is the conclusion of the latest Pew Research Center statistics. Also disturbing is the increasing percentage (69%) of Americans who say it is acceptable for a couple to live together even if they don’t plan to get married. The excuse used to be…

Kerby Anderson Why do nearly a majority (43%) of young people have a positive view of socialism? That is a question many pundits and social commentators have been pondering. The swing to socialism isn’t due to the presence of favorable examples of it in the world. Cuba, Nicaragua, North Korea, and Venezuela are impoverished, authoritarian countries. Even the soft-socialism in many European countries isn’t that attractive to anyone who takes the time to look at their economic record. Victor Davis…

Kerby Anderson With polls coming out nearly every day on nearly every topic, it is time to revisit the topic of national polling. The first issue is statistical accuracy. A typical three-day poll of 1000 people, if proportioned among the 3000 counties, can accurately represent American adults 19 out of 20 times within three percentage points. The real question about the polls isn’t whether they are statistically accurate but whether they are polling the right people and whether the people…

Kerby Anderson Two weeks ago the slaughter of Mormon women and children was a shocking reminder of the danger at our border and the terror so many Mexican citizens experience on a daily basis. Drug cartels control huge swaths of the Mexican countryside because government officials and law enforcement are out spent and out gunned. The attack was originally attributed to a case of mistaken identity. But the reality is that it was probably a warning sent to Mexican officials…