Recent Viewpoints

by Penna Dexter Our nation’s drift to the left is becoming a strong undertow. It’s manifesting itself on the campaign trail. Just look at the popularity of candidate Bernie Sanders, especially among young people. Right now, there’s a lack of reasoned opposition to his socialist ideas with no candidate adequately defending capitalism or conservatism Gallop polling shows only 42% of Republican voters self-identifying as both socially and economically conservative. Only 19 percent of Americans ages 18-29 say they’re capitalists. And…

By Kerby Anderson Recently in an interview, Lt. Col. Allen West said that President Obama’s decision to ignore his generals was “probably the greatest military blunder the world will ever know.” Why did he say such a thing? One reason was the admission by the president at the last G-7 summit that the U.S. still lacks a “complete strategy” for training Iraqi troops to defeat ISIS. To understand his criticism, we need to go back a few years to the…

Senator Ben Sasse wrote another open letter. This one was addressed to majority America. His previous open letter was the Trump supporters. The latest one has generated all sorts of comments about the presidential candidates and the presidential campaign. In the midst of it he focuses some needed attention on the current crisis we have in America that the political parties are not addressing. He says: “Washington isn’t fooling anyone–neither political party works. They bicker like children about tiny things,…

by Kerby Anderson During this election season you may hear candidates use a phrase that has been used by politicians for the last two decades. When a social issue is discussed, the politician merely responses that we should “let the states decide.” After all, isn’t that what federalism is all about? Various states may come to different conclusions about issues ranging from restrictions on abortion to the legalization of marijuana. It sounds reasonable to “let the states decide” until you…

Kerby Anderson A group of 51 families whose children attend in Illinois have filed a federal lawsuit over transgender access to bathrooms and locker rooms. They did so because the Obama Department of Education has threatened to pull $6 million in federal funding unless the school officials allow a transgender boy to change in the girls’ locker room instead of in a separate facility. The issue began when Student A filed a complaint with the Education Department. He was born…

By Penna Dexter We’re hearing a lot lately about the need for educational institutions to comply with Title IX of the United States Education Code. This part of law, which dates back to 1972, prohibits discrimination based on sex. In order to receive federal funds of any sort schools must abide by it. Over the years colleges and universities have figured out how to comply. But, lately many faith-based institutions of higher learning find they can no longer do so…

By Kerby Anderson I suppose we shouldn’t really be surprised that various social media outlets are censoring posts they don’t like. Three years ago, officials at the National Religious Broadcasters called my attention to social media censorship. But what has been happening at Facebook I think deserves more attention. Let me start by saying that this is not a First Amendment issue. Facebook or any other social media outlet is free to decide what they allow to be posted on…

By Kerby Anderson In the first quarter this year, the nation’s gross domestic product grew by just one-half of a percent. Let me say to people who are younger and have grown up with this slow growth that this is terrible. From 1950 to 2000, the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 3.5 percent. In fact, President Obama may be the only president in modern times to have presided over an economy that never even reached 3 percent…

You may have noticed that some politicians and judges are no longer talking about the freedom of religion. They now promote a lower standard they call the freedom of worship. The difference is significant. Freedom of religion implies the freedom to express your religious values in the marketplace. Freedom of worship implies you only have that freedom inside your church. The case of Dr. Eric Walsh suggests that even that weaker “freedom of worship” standard is under attack. He holds…

Two weeks ago, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces heard an historic case involving religious freedom in the military. This court is essentially the Supreme Court of the military and will have a far-reaching impact on people who serve in the military and other areas of governmental service. Marine Monifa Sterling was court-martialed because she posted a Bible verse in her workplace. The Lance Corporal was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Her supervisor ordered her to remove…

By Kerby Anderson Much has been written about Target’s policy for restrooms and fitting rooms. I think Glenn Stanton’s recent column was the most insightful. It would hard to accuse him of being anti-gay since his latest book has the title, “Loving My LGBT Neighbor.” His critique goes on for five pages, but here is a brief summary of it. First, single-sex bathrooms weren’t discriminatory yesterday. Earlier this year, Target received a glowing 100 percent rating from the Human Rights…