Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson Back in 1996, Samuel Huntington wrote The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. He predicted the current conflict between Islam and the West. In my book, Understanding Islam and Terrorism, I show how this clash of civilizations has had a profound impact on missions. In the past, countries that were closed to the gospel tended to be communist countries. Even so, there was still a significant amount of Christian growth in countries behind the Iron…

Kerby Anderson Anyone looking at charitable giving can see that individuals and voluntary associations are very effective. Don Eberly talks about this in his book. The Rise of Global Civil Society. He points out that during recent disasters around the world, private voluntary organizations had the capacity to raise more funds than government. They were also able to mobilize resources and manpower with a speed and efficiency that matches (if not exceeds) the that best government aid agencies could do….

Kerby Anderson Religious liberty in this nation is in limbo at the moment. Some court cases uphold religious liberty. Other cases set it aside as unimportant. Some sectors of our society advocate the American tradition of religious liberty. Other parts of our culture see it as merely a ruse to discriminate against other Americans. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of baker Jack Phillips in the Masterpiece Cake decision. The justices were critical of the way he was…

Kerby Anderson Why are suicides surging in America? There is no easy answer to that question, but there are some important clues. Some of the answers have been put forth by the latest CDC reports. We do have a number of deaths of despair that result from intended suicides as well as from opioid overdoses. And we also see suicides that have increased among our veterans that show the relationship between military combat and PTSD. But there are social, intellectual,…

Kerby Anderson Earlier this month, various news outlets reported that a 17-year-old Dutch girl was put to death through euthanasia because she had been battling the trauma of childhood sexual assault and a subsequent rape. Days later those same news outlets were focusing on the fact that they erroneously had reported that her death was due to legal euthanasia in the Netherlands. Actually, her death was a decision she made with her family to starve herself to death. The debate…

Penna Dexter It’s striking that the Trump administration and the US Senate have cooperated to confirm a record 41 judges to the US Circuit Courts of Appeals, beating the Nixon Administration, which logged 25 confirmations by its third year. This is important because the 13 appeals courts have the final say in all but the approximately 70 cases the Supreme Court decides each year. First Liberty Institute, a law firm dedicated to defending religious liberty, applauds the opportunity to flip…

Kerby Anderson Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been criticized for writing the truth about the connection of abortion to eugenics. His 20-page concurring opinion in a case dealing with an Indiana law allowed him to educate us about our history. The law required that fetal remains be disposed of in a respectful manner, but also prohibited abortion solely because of the race, sex, or disability of the baby. Justice Thomas wrote, “The use of abortion to achieve eugenic goals…

Kerby Anderson A phrase I often use is: “He who defines the words, often wins the debate.” I have seen this play out in debates, discussions, and interviews. I have also seen how the way you define terms can influence the reader’s perception. That is why the latest information about the style guides being used in the media is a reminder to exercise discernment. Take the issue of climate change, or what used to be called global warming. That change…

Kerby Anderson Some of the discussion in Europe over deepfakes videos has now reached America. If you have ever seen someone use Photoshop or Lightroom to put another person’s face on a body, you have a pretty good idea of what is now being done with video. Until recently someone needed access to cutting-edge video technology to make it look like someone was saying something or doing something they never did. Jim Geraghty reminds us in a recent commentary that…

Kerby Anderson How many cherries should be in a frozen cherry pie? In case you are wondering, the Food and Drug Administration has regulations governing the number, the weight, and the kind of cherries that can be placed into a frozen pie. The reason I know this is due to a decision by the FDA to deregulate the cherry pie market. Raymond March (Independent Institute) goes into some detail about the numerous regulations concerning frozen cherry pies. Not only do…

Kerby Anderson More than a dozen states have joined the national effort to circumvent the Electoral College. It looked like Nevada was going to be the next state to join the nationwide effort. But the governor of the state used some common sense and decided to veto the bill. He argued that the current effort would “diminish the role of smaller states like Nevada in national electoral contests and force Nevada’s electors to side with whoever wins the nationwide popular…