Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson One song we often sing during the Christmas season is “What Child Is This?” William Chatterton Dix wrote the lyrics in 1865 when he was an insurance company manager and had been struck by a severe illness. After a spiritual renewal in his life, he wrote a number of hymns. This one was set to the tune of the traditional English folk song, “Greensleeves.” “What child is this, who, laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping? Whom…

Kerby Anderson How can we resolve the apparent tension between the scientific presentation of evolution and the Bible? Some Christians attempt to reconcile the two views by saying that evolution is true, and that’s the mechanism God used. Prominent organizations such as Biologos insist that theistic evolution (sometimes called evolutionary creation) is a superior view because of the evidence for evolutionary theory. Authors of a new book challenge that assumption based on their scientific understanding and their theological concerns. The…

Kerby Anderson Last week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a case that will have quite an influence on religious liberty. Lawyer David French was in my radio studio the other day and said that he has “never seen a case more mischaracterized in my entire legal career.” He has seen lots of cases, so that is quite a statement. The case involves Christian baker Jack Phillips. When two men visited his Masterpiece Cakes bakery in 2012 and asked…

Penna Dexter On the last day of November, the president and first lady switched on the 50-foot tall National Christmas tree to kick off another Christmas season in Washington D.C. The president took the opportunity to highlight a campaign promise — his promise that we’d be saying Merry Christmas again. And on that Thursday night, he said it. He told the crowd: “We’re saying Merry Christmas again.” He said, “Today is a day I’ve been looking very much forward to…

Kerby Anderson Many members of the millennial generation think they are special. At least that is the conclusion of a recent study of college students. One newspaper report on the study put it this way: “If you asked a college freshman today who the Greatest Generation is, they might respond by pointing in a mirror.” The study of college students documented young people’s unprecedented level of self-infatuation. Psychologist Jean Twenge found that over the last four decades of research on…

Kerby Anderson Today is December 7 – a day that President Roosevelt said would be “a date which will live in infamy.” On that fateful morning of December 7, 1941, America was attacked without warning. More than 2,400 Americans died and 1,100 were wounded. Our country was changed forever. This attack led us into war, and the citizens of America responded with courage and resolve. So it may be well to reflect on what took place and how we today…

Kerby Anderson Over the years, I have written about how people in high tax states have been migrating to low tax states. Unfortunately, many politicians in those states want to argue that tax rates don’t affect investment or even migration. The latest data from the IRS once again demonstrates tax migration. Between 2012 and 2015, a net of $8.5 billion in adjusted gross income left New Jersey and $6.2 billion left Connecticut. Illinois, for example, lost $13.6 billion. However, during…

Kerby Anderson Are single-parent families just as good for children as two-parent families? Some of the headlines recently in newspapers and newsmagazines seem to say so. But all you have to do is look back at academic studies to see that, in nearly every case, two parents are better than one. One older family study deserves renewed attention. Dr. Patrick Fagan using data from the National Survey of Children’s Health found two important factors. Children who grow up in an…

Kerby Anderson Numerous charges and revelations about sexual harassment are now bringing out people trying to affix blame. In the past, we blamed the perpetrator. Unfortunately that has changed. Charlie Rose exposed himself to women who worked for him. When he issued an apology, it ended up being more of a non-apology. The most important line was this: “All of us, including me, are coming to a newer and deeper recognition of the pain caused by conduct in the past,…

Penna Dexter I was delighted recently by an interview the Wall Street Journal published with the husband-wife team behind the long-loved Babar the Elephant children’s books. Laurent de Brunhoff is 92 and says Babar’s Guide to Paris, published this year, is his last. As a kid, I loved the Babar books. Babar’s character was created by Jean de Brunhoff in 1931. In the first book, the young elephant saw his mother shot by a hunter and fled the jungle to…

Kerby Anderson Before this year ends, it is worth mentioning the anniversary of a terrible Supreme Court decision that occurred 90 years ago. Eric Metaxas mentioned it in a recent Breakpoint commentary, and I wanted to add some important background to the infamous case known as Buck v. Bell. The high court upheld a Virginia law that allowed them to sterilize Carrie Buck because they felt she was “unfit” to reproduce. To understand how we got to the court’s decision,…