Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson Over the last few years, I have talked about how many times both sides of the political debate make wrong assumptions about each other. This misperception is certain to increase as we enter into this political season. Arthur Brooks provides further academic documentation for this reality. A study that appeared in the Journal of Politics revealed that the average Democrat believes that more than 40 percent of Republicans earn more than $250,000. That is a number that is completely…

Penna Dexter Often, our most satisfying friendships are with like-minded people alongside whom we work for causes we care about. When the cause is love of and concern for our nation and when the laborers are Christ-followers, certain people rise up as treasured friends. They encourage you, lead you, teach you, and make you better and more effective. At the same time, they love you. And you love them. Debbie Terry was such a friend for me. She passed from this earth last month….

Kerby Anderson For the last few decades, politicians and high-tech companies have been talking about the digital divide. They wanted to make sure that poor and underprivileged students had access to the same digital devices as wealthier ones. I have always felt there was a bigger issue that fewer people were talking about. Fortunately, Naomi Schaefer Riley addresses this in her New York Times op-ed on “America’s Real Digital Divide.” She warns that, “If you think middle-class children are being harmed…

Kerby Anderson The debate and discussion about transgender issues will continue because of a transgender ideology that has developed that is actually harmful to kids. That is one of the conclusions of the book by Ryan Anderson with the creative title: When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment. The transgender ideology promotes the opportunity for children to change their gender with surgery and drugs. And parents “are told that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones may be the only…

Kerby Anderson The contemporary issues of abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, transgenderism, and the hookup culture seem very different. But they all illustrate in different ways a secular hostility to the human body. That is the premise of the new book by Nancy Pearcey with the title, Love Thy Body. She was on my radio program recently to explain how each of these issues goes back to a flawed perspective of our bodies. Supporters of abortion say that the fetus is not…

Kerby Anderson The fastest growing religious group of our time is the group of young people who check “none” or “none of the above” on religious survey questions. Social scientists, therefore, refer to them as “the nones.” A few years ago, I did some commentaries about the “nones” but wanted to revisit this topic because we now have more survey statistics that illustrate their growth. From the 1930s to the 1990s, the percentage of “nones” in America was less than…

Kerby Anderson Over the last two decades, Christian Smith has helped us understand what is in the heads and hearts of young people. He is the co-author of such books at Soul Searching, Souls in Transition, and Lost in Transition. In his books, he coined the now famous term “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.” The term came up in a discussion on my radio program with Kara Powell about her book, Growing Young. She and her co-authors have identified a number of strategies…

Penna Dexter Last month Maine became the eighth state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. The Daily Signal called this an “ominous trend” stating: “Once physician-assisted suicide is on the table, doctors, families, and insurers encounter perverse incentives to end the lives of the most vulnerable — the sick, the disabled, the very young, or very old.” One perverse incentive that’s cropping up is organ donation. In Canada, where assisted suicide has been legal for three years, the Canadian Medical Association has…

Kerby Anderson With all this talk about fake news, you might think this is a recent phenomenon. Jarrett Stepman provides a history of fake news in the US and the attempts government and other entities have used to try to stop it. He reminds us that the Founding Fathers were well aware of the power of the press. Many of them (such as Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine) were newspapermen and pamphleteers. That is why they were all…

Kerby Anderson The World Health Organization has just added an unusual disorder to its list of mental health conditions. People who play an excessive amount of video games could be diagnosed with a “gaming disorder.” Of course, they aren’t saying that anyone who lives to play video games has this mental disorder. But they do set out some criteria to identify people with a gaming disorder. First, they show impaired control over gaming. This includes such things as frequency, intensity,…

Kerby Anderson Columnist Derek Hunter observes that, “Separately, arrogance and ignorance are some of humanity’s worst traits. Together, when coupled with power, they achieve weapon-grade stupid status.” Harsh words, but they are most likely true. He applies this observation to the “Gang of Four” in Congress, also called “The Squad” that seems to be led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But before we talk about the latest conflicts in Congress with these women, consider how true this is becoming in every area…