Recent Viewpoints

Legislatures and city councils have had a debate for some time about so-called “bathroom bills.” Apparently many gay activists are convinced that the next barrier to discrimination concerns transsexuals who desire to use a public bathroom of their preference rather than their biology. That is why some legislative bodies want to pass bills that would protect woman from predators. A recent column by Frank Turek provides some insight into the debate in North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” (HB2) that could be…

Nabeel Qureshi, in his new book, Answering Jihad: A Better Way Forward, explains the way in which radical Muslims use the Qur’an to promote jihad. His recent column in USA Today provides a readable summary of his presentation. He describes his experience growing up as a Muslim. His imams and the Muslim community taught that Islam is a religion of peace. But when he began to investigate the Qur’an and the traditions of Muhammad’s life while he was in college,…

The terrorist attacks in Europe provide some valuable lessons for us in America about dealing with radical Islam. Last year there was the attack on Charlie Hebdo and a later attack on Paris, as well as the shootings on the train from Amsterdam to Paris. Last month, it was the horrific terror attack in Brussels. Many asked the obvious question, Why an attack in Brussels? There are two answers to that question. The first is that Brussels is significant politically….

We all love Disney movies and Disney theme parks. But I doubt too many Christians loved what Disney threatened to do in Georgia. The Disney Company threatened to pull back its film and television productions in Atlanta and forced the governor’s veto of a religious freedom bill that would protect pastors and Christian businesses from gay bullies. Meanwhile, the Disney Company has placed theme parks in China. In fact, a $5.5 billion theme park will soon open in Shanghai, China….

The plight of a 6-year-old girl is causing a stir in Santa Clarita, a community outside Los Angeles. The state of California and LA County recently removed her from the home of a Christian family with whom she’s been living since she was two. The reason:  Race. The little girl’s name is Alexandria; she goes by Lexi, Lexi Page. She was taken from the home of Rusty and Summer Page, her foster parents, who want to adopt her, but can’t…

Congress is considering a bill to fight government zombies. That is the name Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers gives to the many government programs that have never been reauthorized by Congress. These “walking dead” programs continue to function with little or no government oversight. Her bill would gradually cut funding for unauthorized government programs in order to compel Congress to take action on them. Currently, the federal government funds 256 unauthorized programs costing $310.4 billion. This even includes entire agencies like…

Voter turnout this election season has been higher than normal. But data from Pew Research helps put the higher than normal numbers of voters in their proper perspective. Through the first 12 primaries of 2016, the combined Republican turnout has been the highest since at least 1980. Democratic turnout has been the highest since 1992, although there was a high turnout in 2008. Now for the reality check. The combined Republican turnout was only 17.3 percent of eligible voters. The…

When President Obama was in Austin for a music festival, he said: “We’re the only advanced democracy in the world that makes it harder for people to vote.” He talked about barriers politicians put up that “make it as hard as possible for our citizens to vote.” I must admit, I do not know what he is talking about. Let’s start with a requirement to show a photo ID. I don’t consider that a barrier to voting, but let’s for…

Although there are have been some protesters at various presidential rallies, most of the media attention has been on those protesting Donald Trump rallies. That is understandable since many of them have used bare-knuckle tactics and a mob mentality. To listen to some in the media, it is Donald Trump’s fault that these clashes are taking place. Certainly his provocative rhetoric has intensified the reaction. But let’s put some of this in context. Leftist groups routinely shut down events on…

The United States Justice Department is considering taking on a new function: going after climate change deniers. Climate change deniers, or climate deniers, for short, are people (often scientists) and corporations who don’t buy into the theory of climate change, formerly known as global warming. It is true that the climate constantly changes, due entirely or almost entirely to natural and God-ordained forces. The most controversial part of the theory of climate change states that mankind holds great responsibility for…

In nearly every one of the presidential campaigns you hear lots of doom and gloom. And I agree that there are many things in this country that need to be fixed. But it is also worth remembering that things are better than we know. David Harsanyi reminds us that in many ways, we never had it so good. He argues that we have lost any sense of context. Let’s compare our current situation to the Great Depression. Let’s compare our…