Recent Viewpoints

By Penna Dexter There’s a new study out showing that, for the first time since 1880, young adults are more likely to live at home with mom and dad than in their own households with a spouse or romantic partner. Pew Research Center analyzed the census data and found that, in 2014, living with parents became the most common living arrangement for millennials. According to the report, among 18-to-34-year-olds, 32.1 percent were back home with parents, while 31.6 percent were…

By Kerby Anderson A new rule implemented by President Obama’s Labor Department will make it harder for salaried workers who want some level of job flexibility. It is hard enough to juggle work and family life. This rule will make it even harder. The government raised its overtime “threshold” test for salaried employees so that they can qualify for overtime. Their employers must pay time and a half when they work more than 40 hours a week. On its face,…

By Penna Dexter It’s hard to overestimate the importance of family businesses in America today. A new book entitled The Braveheart Exit, helps business owners understand how they can operate their businesses in ways that serve to build a family legacy of faith and freedom and increase the likelihood that the business thrives in succeeding generations. You may be at the top of your game, full of energy and feel you’re indispensable. Great. Author and business advisor Randy Long says…

By Kerby Anderson With all the social and political issues coming at us these days, it is important that we get back to first principles. Here are a few biblical principles that should inform how we respond to current issues. First is the sanctity of human life. Verses such as Psalm 139:13-16 show that God’s care and concern extend to the womb. Other verses such as Jeremiah 1:5, Judges 13:7-8, Psalm 51:5 and Exodus 21:22–25 give additional perspective and framework…

By Kerby Anderson If you are like me, you probably have bookshelves full of books. But there was a time not so long ago in western civilization when books were rare. Nick Bilton (technology reporter for the New York Times) asks us to imagine that we could travel back in time to 1424. If you went to the University of Cambridge in England, you would find one of the largest libraries in the world in Europe. Here you would see…

By Penna Dexter In the name of civil rights for transgenders, the White House wants men to feel free and comfortable walking into women’s restrooms. Disagreeing with that policy does not mean you’re against social justice for men who think they should be women. We should be more worried about stories like this one out of Chicago: Police there say a man choked an eight-year-old girl until she passed out in the bathroom of a Jason’s Deli restaurant in Chicago’s…

By Kerby Anderson Is poverty in the world increasing or decreasing? Economists are discovering that it has substantially decreased. Kevin Hassett summarizes the data from economists who have been looking at the world distribution of income. By gathering data from many different countries, they have been able to count the number of individuals who live on a $1 per day or less, which is a key measure of poverty. According to their calculation, the number of people living in poverty…

By Kerby Anderson At one time or another we have all heard the comment that what we believe “may be true for you, but it isn’t true for me.” In his article, Francis Beckwith provides a humorous but instructive way to respond to that oft-used comment. He said: “Several years ago, after a pick-up basketball game, I got into a discussion with one of my teammates about a book I was reading on the Christian philosophy of religion. When I…

By Kerby Anderson One of the challenges for us in the future will be perception. We observe the world with linear perception, but we live in exponential times. Exponential growth is very different from arithmetic growth. We live our lives in a linear way. We live day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month. But the changes taking place around us are increasing not in a linear way but in an exponential way. Exponential growth is not something that we would consider intuitive. Scott Armstrong…

By Kerby Anderson What are the key components of the free enterprise system in America today? Arthur Brooks in his book, The Battle, describes five principles. The first principle is: The purpose of free enterprise is human flourishing, not materialism. In this statement he sets forth the moral case for free enterprise. He argues in one chapter that people flourish when they earn their own success. It’s not money per se that is a measure. Instead, it is what Arthur…

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…