Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson Sometimes I feel that my responsibility is to provide context for events in the news. That was certainly the case when riots that started in Minneapolis broke out in cities across the country. Certain media personalities felt it was their responsibility to excuse and even downplay the violence and property damage of the rioters. This is not a new phenomenon. We need to explain, especially to our younger audience, that liberal and progressive stars in the media have…

Kerby Anderson The editors of the Wall Street Journal asked an insightful question. “Where would President Trump be if his critics didn’t so often help him?” What they are talking about was the decision by Twitter to fact-check the president for the first time. The president wrote that mail-in voting in places like California would be “substantially fraudulent” because the governor is sending ballots out to anyone living in the state. Twitter reminded everyone that the ballots are sent only…

Penna Dexter A dear friend texted me a photo of her daughter and two classmates on their graduation day from medical school. Decked out in traditional graduation garb — gathered in one of their apartments — these three young doctors were about to go online for their virtual graduation. Many colleges and universities have outright canceled graduation due to Covid-19. Others planned virtual ceremonies, complete with pre-recorded or remotely delivered speeches. A few schools will hold in-person ceremonies later this…

Kerby Anderson What has been the cost of the coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown? We usually hear pundits talking about the lives lost and the jobs lost. But there is another way to understand how much has been lost. Christopher Roach reminds us that “Life is Risky” by providing a few responses to the argument that everything must be done to “save just one life.” He reminds us that we do not save every life now because it would be…

Kerby Anderson Harvard professor Steven Pinker had a simple explanation for why Republicans wanted to reopen the economy. Evangelicals were exerting an influence because they believe in an afterlife, which he said is a “malignant delusion.” It was a bizarre tweet, even for an atheist. Although many have answered his comment, I thought we might revisit it because you are likely to run into similar arguments. Pinker argued that belief in an afterlife “devalues actual lives and discourages action that…

Kerby Anderson Presidential campaigns in this country follow a predictable pattern. The Republican candidate caters to the conservative voters most likely to vote in the primaries. Once winning the nomination, the candidate sprints to the middle in order to win in the general election. A Democratic candidate does just the opposite by appealing to liberal voters. Once the nomination is secured, he or she sprints to the center to win the general election. That has been the pattern, but not…

Kerby Anderson Whenever this country has faced a national emergency, our political leaders have increased their power and authority. More power flows to the national government and usually more power flows from Congress to the executive branch. President Roosevelt expanded the federal government during the Great Depression with his New Deal programs. President Bush created huge agencies (Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence) after the attack on 9/11. The exception has been the…

Kerby Anderson One of the unnecessary tragedies of this pandemic has been the deaths of so many elderly patients in nursing homes, especially in New York. One Democratic Assemblyman who represents Queens criticized the state because it “failed to protect the lives of the most vulnerable members of our community. The fact we maintained and pushed COVID-positive patients into facilities that were not equipped to handle them, it was a fatal error.” As sad as that decision was, what is…

Penna Dexter Finally, states are allowing — and encouraging — businesses to reopen. But when they attempt to re-hire laid-off workers, many employers are getting a surprising response: “No thank you” We actually should not be shocked by this because the U.S. government has made unemployment pay better than work. The government created this disincentive to work in March by passing the Cares Act. The bill contained a provision many conservatives complained about but allowed to go through in the…

Kerby Anderson Many colleges in America face a bleak financial future. They may have survived campus riots and protests in the past, but they may not weather the financial challenges they will face starting this fall. The virus pandemic has already altered university education, and that trend is likely to continue for the near future. College campuses are empty as more and more students are learning over the Internet. When colleges open again, will all of the 20 million college…

Kerby Anderson The battle over church attendance and religious liberty has been the major focus of Kelly Shackelford and the First Liberty Institute. He writes about it in his article in Newsweek. When the lockdown began, I suspect that he and the other lawyers at his organization wondered what they might be doing. They didn’t have to wait very long. Governors and mayors began to issue orders that seemed to be focused on closing down church services while other establishments remained…