Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson Christianity these days can been seen through a good news/bad news perspective. The good news is that Bible sales are soaring. But the bad news is that for so many Christians, identity is more symbolic than behavioral. That is the conclusion of the latest SALT Index survey done by Back to the Bible. In case, you are wondering SALT stands for “Scripture Absorption and Life Transformation.” Arnie Cole is the CEO and was on my program to talk…

Kerby Anderson Many people are letting artificial intelligence make most of their decisions. Social scientists have referred to it as AI complacency. A recent court case illustrates my point. A woman was directed by her smartphone to take a route that cut across a four-lane highway with no shoulder, crosswalks, or traffic lights. When crossing, she was injured. As you might imagine, she sued the provider of the instructions, but the court ruled against her because she should have understood…

Kerby Anderson Will artificial intelligence replace your job? The answer to that important question depends on the type of job you have and how fast AI is implemented in society. Mario Loyola reminds us of a Karl Marx quote: “The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.” He lived through the industrial revolution and saw menial jobs being replaced by machines. The AI revolution could replace a significant percentage of entry-level jobs. Personal computers have…

Penna Dexter We’re in the thick of Lent, the period of 40 days, which comes before Easter in the Christian calendar. Lent is a time of preparation for Easter, and, in many Christian traditions, a season of remorse. Lent can serve a good purpose even for people who are not in liturgical churches and don’t observe or think about it much. Christians are often uncomfortable with a whole lot of lament and remorse. But something has gone wrong. It’s called…

Kerby Anderson How do crazy and destructive ideas become mainstream in America? Victor Davis Hanson explains the process in a recent commentary. The first step begins with left-leaning researchers in elite universities. It may be a warning about the scorching planet or the need for radical sex-reassignment surgeries. The next step is the media springing into action to persuade a skeptical public. It castigates any doubters as “conspiracy theorists” who spread “disinformation” or “misinformation.” Third, liberal foundations begin funding more…

Kerby Anderson Every few months I do a commentary on marijuana because of new research that has been published about its potential dangers. The occasion this time is an editorial by The New York Times admitting they were wrong. You don’t see such an admission very often. The editors said, “It’s Time for America to Admit That It Has a Marijuana Problem.” They had accepted the view that marijuana “was a harmless drug that might even bring net health benefits”…

Kerby Anderson Bible passages are being used to criticize our immigration policies. It began last month when the Pope cited Matthew 25:35 to decry the U.S. deportation policy. House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked to respond to the Pope and reminded reporters that “borders and walls are biblical.” He also promised to write more about the subject on X. There he talked about the role of civil government to “faithfully uphold and enforce the law so that order can be…

Kerby Anderson Affordability may be a key issue in the midterm elections. President Trump’s State of the Union address and the Democratic rebuttal from Governor Abigail Spanberger illustrate the possible campaign themes. The president reminded Americans that core inflation has been at its lowest level in more than five years. While that is true, the metric excludes food and energy because the prices of those goods tend to be more volatile. The Governor proclaimed, “Small businesses have suffered.” She concluded,…

Kerby Anderson Debate about U.S. military action against Iran is often influenced by someone’s age and understanding of recent history. Whenever I talk about events in the 1990s, I realize that many of my listeners have not experienced that history. And if we are talking about something that happened in the later 1970s and early 1980s, even fewer have experienced it. In 1979, the Shah of Iran was driven from power by the Ayatollah Khomeini. At the same time, the…

Penna Dexter It’s been more than ten years since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling extending same sex marriage to every state. Gallup polling shows that, in the five years following the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, public support for gay marriage rose from 60 to 70 percent. Then it plateaued. Gallup found that, among Republicans, approval of same sex marriage stands at 41 percent — down from 55 percent ten years ago. Perhaps more Americans now understand that when…

Kerby Anderson Perhaps you have heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect. I have talked about it in previous commentaries. David Dunning and Justin Kruger identified it as a phenomenon that occurs when people who don’t know much, think they know much more. They tend to overestimate their own competence. As one person asked: Why do dumb people think they are smart? Columnist Jim Geraghty thought about this the other day when reading the coverage by the New York Times of how…