Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson Although America is certainly a divided nation, the divisions between the various tribes are not as great as you might be led to believe. Yes, the social and political debates are loud and intense, but the fringe, rather than the mainstream, gets most of the attention. A study done by the group “More in Common” discovered “The Hidden Tribes of America.” The researchers discovered that a small group (8%) in the liberal wing and a smaller group (6%)…

Kerby Anderson A recent research paper concluded that first responders are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty. The Ruderman White Paper on Mental Health and Suicide of First Responders is a chilling look at the sobering statistics of the lives of men and women who protect us each day. The paper explains that, “Police and firefighters, when compared to the general civilian population, are at heightened risk for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicide.”…

Kerby Anderson Most Christians understand that the problems facing America are not going to be solved in Washington. But it is noteworthy when a sitting U.S. Senator says that “Politics Can’t Solve Our Political Problems.” That was the title of a commentary by Senator Ben Sasse. He believes that the tribalism in our nation has a deeper source and is tied to loneliness in America. We are relational beings and want to be in tribes. He observes that, “the traditional…

Kerby Anderson A study by the Manhattan Institute explains why it is so hard for middle-class families to make ends meet. The author, Oren Cass, distilled his research down in a Twitter post. “In 1985, the typical male worker could cover a family of four’s major expenditures (housing, health care, transportation, education) on 30 weeks salary. By 2018 it took 53 weeks. Which is a problem, there being only 52 weeks in a year.” Christopher Ingraham wrote about this in…

Penna Dexter Many churches did a wonderful job providing digital services during the Covid-19 lockdowns. The trouble is, now some are finding it difficult to wean significant proportions of their congregations off of the convenience of online church.  It’s a worldwide problem. A Wall Street Journal op-ed by Paul Glader, a Kings College professor who is also Executive Director of Religion Unplugged, and John Semakula, a reporter at the Ugandan daily newspaper New Vision, is entitled “Are Internet Services as…

Kerby Anderson One of the key debate techniques for people promoting critical race theory is what might be considered linguistic arm-twisting. A social justice warrior might say, “If you say you’re not a racist, that just proves you are a racist.” How do you answer this charge? Greg Koukl was on my radio program to talk about how to respond to various religious and political claims and statements. He referred to this debate technique as the “Kafka trap.” In his…

Kerby Anderson Two weeks ago, I used the wealth of Elon Musk to illustrate the size of the national debt. If you took all his money and assets and used them to try to pay down the debt, the impact would be negligible. Apparently, the UN has a better idea. David Beasley is the director of the UN’s World Food Program. He said that if Musk and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos gave up two percent of their personal wealth, they…

Kerby Anderson One question I hear too often is: Do you think we will ever have fair elections again? The question assumes we had fair elections in the past (not always true) and assumes that the current changes being made in election laws in state legislatures are not enough to fix the problem. If we could design an electoral system that would make it easy to vote and hard to cheat, what would it look like? Here are a few…

Kerby Anderson As the year of 2021 is starting to wind down, we have seen the educational debate take some unexpected turns. The year began with teachers and their unions using their political influence to prevent or delay schools reopening. As this year is ending, we are seeing more and more parents protesting at school board meetings. The election in Virginia last week is but one example of a nationwide phenomenon of parents wanting to reassert some control over the…

Kerby Anderson Last week I talked about the cancel culture on college campuses. I ended my commentary with an encouraging action by Professor Robert George at Princeton, who sponsored a lecture that had been canceled at MIT. The typical reaction to that news has been, “That’s great, but that is the exception, not the rule.” While that is true, there are more and more examples of people willing to push back against the cancel culture mob. The most visible example…

Penna Dexter Do you ever search online for a minor ailment only to find so much information you begin to worry you’ve got a serious disease? The best thing to do in those cases is to check in with a real MD. The same wisdom applies to teens searching websites on gender identity. Crystal Cole, medical director of the Center for Gender Affirming Medicine at Akron, Ohio’s Children’s Hospital told The Wall Street Journal, “Gender-diverse people have always existed but…