Recent Viewpoints

One of the more controversial planks in the Democratic Party platform is the call for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment so that there can be full taxpayer funding of abortion. This is a remarkable change from just four years ago. The Hyde Amendment is named for Representative Henry Hyde and prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion (except in cases of the mother’s life or rape or incest). It was passed by Congress in 1976 and signed into…

by Kerby Anderson If you took the time to watch the two conventions, you would certainly wonder which view of Congress is correct. To listen to many of the Republican delegates (as well as many conservative talk shows), you would think that the Republican-led Congress was a do-nothing Congress. To listen to the Democrats, you would conclude that Congress has stymied President Obama and his agenda at every turn. What’s the real story? Let me provide a short list of…

The Supreme Court term that ended earlier this summer was a brutal one for Christians. The death, in February, of Justice Antonin Scalia brought about disappointing decisions in cases involving restrictions on abortion and upholding religious liberty. Justice Samuel Alito took on Justice Scalia’s role as dissenter in some of these decisions. He was very critical of the Court’s decision not to hear one particular religious liberty case, saying this was an “ominous sign.” It’s unusual for justices to issue…

by Kerby Anderson Franklin Graham in a recent commentary reminds us that the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful, but that is small comfort when we see so many attacks around the world by violent Muslims. He takes the time to help us understand how many of this violent minority there might be in this country. The Pew Research Center asked Muslims in the United States under what circumstances “suicide bombings and other forms of violence against civilians is justified…

by Kerby Anderson Now that the two political conventions are coming to an end, it is obvious that both major parties and both major candidates want to ignore the looming problem: the national debt. Four years ago, it looked like the Republican Party might get serious about dealing with our indebtedness. Representative Paul Ryan was the vice-presidential nominee who had been promoting a plan to overhaul the nation’s entitlements. This year, House Speaker Paul Ryan was also the chair of…

by Kerby Anderson This is a commentary I should have written a week ago, but I had to think about it for a while and wanted to get the quotes right. I wanted to talk about Dallas Police Chief David Brown. In many ways his worst day on the force was also his greatest hour. We saw that in the press conferences he did, and we also saw it in the messages he delivered at the funerals of his officers….

by Kerby Anderson When George Wallace ran his presidential campaign in 1968, he had the slogan that “there’s not a dime’s worth of difference” between his two opponents (Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey). Actually there was more the ten cents worth of difference back then, and there is a billion dollars worth of difference now. Most of the controversy surrounding the Republican Party platform last week focused on a few issues. It rejected many of the demands of LGBT activists…

by Penna Dexter Over the past few months we have witnessed the emergence of a controversy over an issue most of us never saw coming. We have seen local governments, and now the federal government attempting to force schools, businesses, and non-profit organizations to open the showers, changing facilities, locker rooms, and bathrooms designated for women and girls, to biological males and vice versa. No elected official I know of has asked to be faced with this issue. But I…

Recently conservatives concerned about an accurate view of American history won a victory at the College Board. The College Board is a massive non-profit organization responsible for the Advanced Placement Exam as well as the SAT. The College Board is in the midst of revising the various AP tests. Last year the College Board published new guidelines for the AP history test. Daniel Henninger says: “They read like a left-wing obsession with identity, gender, class, crimes against the American Indian…

By Kerby Anderson Most successful non-profit organizations try to run with business world efficiency, but they are limited in many ways because of the funding models they must rely upon. Most of the men and women who serve on a board of trustees come from a business background, and they often cannot understand why the organization cannot be run just like a business. Thomas Tierney recently tried to explain why non-profits often run differently from profit-making businesses. He used this…

by  Kerby Anderson Two weeks ago, the Dallas police used their bomb-disposal robot to end the standoff with the cop killer. Does this unprecedented use of a police robot signal a change in the way technology will be used to fight crime in the future? I think that is does. Police departments have been willing to embrace any technological advance that keeps officers safe and helps them more efficiently fight crime. GPS, cameras, and laptops can be found in most…