Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson Graeme Wood gives us a chilling picture of what Islamic jihadists are really like. His book, The Way of the Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State, is the result of years of interviewing ISIS members. It is amazing that he was allowed to interview them and that they didn’t consider killing him or holding him for ransom. Those who he interviewed were called “The Strangers.” When he asked them why they called themselves that, they said it was…

Kerby Anderson Throughout the years, John Stossel has been trying to find ways to simplify economics and illustrate the benefits of free markets. He has found that Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” is often invisible to his viewers. Friedrich Hayek’s “spontaneous order” is clearer but still hard to show. That is why he began to use some of the ideas found in the article, “Rinkonomics: A Window on Spontaneous Order.” It inspired him to rent a skating rink in order to…

Kerby Anderson A new report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) finds that teenage virgins are healthier than other students who are sexually active. At first, you might think that is merely an obvious conclusion since virgins are not likely to contract a sexually transmitted disease (STD). But the conclusions are based on many other factors as well. Students who are virgins actually rate significantly and consistently better in nearly all health-related behaviors and measures than their sexually active…

Kerby Anderson When Chick-fil-A opened its fourth location in New York City, not everyone was pleased. The New Yorker magazine described the spread of the chicken restaurant as “an infiltration” because of “its pervasive Christian traditionalism.” I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised since the New York mayor proposed a boycott when the first stand-alone location opened three years ago. The newest store probably bothers New Yorkers even more because it is a huge, 12,000 square foot restaurant. In case you…

Penna Dexter Many tributes to Former First Lady (and First Mom) Barbara Bush describe her 1990 Wellesley graduation speech, which placed her, at least according to the Washington Post, “at the center of a national debate about the nature of feminism that would continue for decades.” Feminists claim their movement is about making choices, but 150 Wellesley students protested that Mrs. Bush had “gained recognition through the achievements of her husband.” Not quite the Wellesley way. In the end, she…

Kerby Anderson A number of months ago, the American Journal of Political Science issued a correction to a previous study. What was the error? The Journal reversed its conclusion that conservative individuals exhibited traits associated with “psychoticism.” They admitted that the interpretation of the coding was exactly reversed. In other words, it was liberal individuals, not conservative individuals, that exhibited these traits. As one commentator put it, “That’s one heck of an oops.” This finding made quite a splash in…

Kerby Anderson The congressional hearings with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg mostly focused on data collection and privacy. Fortunately, Senator Ted Cruz also raised important questions about what he called a “pervasive pattern of bias and political censorship.” And Senator Ben Sasse said he thought “America might be better off not being policed by one company that has a really big and powerful platform.” He even asked the founder if he could “define hate speech.” It turns out that censorship by…

Kerby Anderson The announced departure of House Speaker Paul Ryan brought lots of commentary, but one that deserves more attention is how his exit illustrates the desire of the American public to jettison adulthood. Andrew Cline says that “America is done with adults like Paul Ryan. Donald Trump and celebrities are the future.” He reminds us that Paul Ryan was introduced to the country as a young policy wonk with a head full of Austrian economics. That apparently wasn’t what…

Kerby Anderson Is what is happening these days in America normal? I doubt very few people would answer in the affirmative. But you would probably get different answers depending on a person’s political persuasion. Republicans might say America got off track when the Supreme Court nominations of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas got so political. They might point to the actions of the previous president and the development of a swamp in Washington. Democrats might talk about the vast right-wing…

Kerby Anderson A question Joni Eareckson Tada has been asking over the years is “When Is It Right to Die?” That is the title of her book that has recently been updated. She understands this issue for many reasons. One of the most significant is the fact that she has spent more than 50 years in her wheelchair. She was on my radio program recently to talk about the latest edition of her book. She is concerned that society is…

Penna Dexter With unemployment at a low 4.1 percent, businesses are complaining that they can’t find enough workers. The WALL STREET JOURNAL says the shortage is due, in part, to “government benefits that corrode a culture of work.” Consider SNAP, the nation’s food stamp program. More than 40 million Americans are in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. That’s up from 17 million in 2000. Since then, the size of benefits and total cost of the program have exploded. Between 2000…