Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson Will censorship increase or is the purge of some politicians and political content over? A few argue that now that President Donald Trump is history, and now that a few malcontents have been removed from social media, our leaders can get back to governing. But there are too many voices who seem emboldened by the purges that have taken place. For example, the CEO of Mozilla argued that “de-platforming” people from its services was not enough. He believes…

Kerby Anderson Will the federal government move to regulate Big Tech? I think that is unlikely for many reasons I will delineate in a moment. But I can’t deny that there is growing concern about censorship on various social media platforms. It started with declaimers on social media posts and has now expanded to banning politicians and commentators and even an attempt to destroy an alternative social media platform. House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes called for a RICO…

Penna Dexter Whenever there’s a new session of Congress, the House of Representatives adopts a new set of rules to govern the way it conducts business. For the 117th, Congress House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rules Committee Chairman James McGovern have proposed a rules package they claim “makes the House of Representatives the most inclusive in history.” There’s a section that eliminates all gendered terms. If the rules package is adopted by the full House, only “gender-inclusive language” will be…

Kerby Anderson Last week I talked about how divided we are as a nation. That is the conclusion of David French in his book, Divided We Fall. I have been struck by the number of other commentators who have been making the same point. In one of his opening monologues, Tucker Carlson admitted that “you may have nothing in common with people on the other side of the country, but you’re stuck with them.” He dismissed the idea that “groups…

Kerby Anderson As even school children know, the British monarchy preceded the American republic. The framers wanted to change many aspects of their previous government so they wrote in Article 6 of the Constitution that no title of nobility should be granted by the federal government. But in other areas, they continued the British tradition of the king. One example is in Article 2 that grants the president the power to grants pardons. The framers justified it as a way…

Kerby Anderson Today is the presidential inauguration. In previous years, this day was a day of celebration with little controversy. But 2020 and now 2021 are not normal years. In fact, there was some controversy four years ago. This year, the controversy erupted into an attack on our capitol. For a moment, it is worth reflecting on our inaugural history. George Washington took office in 1789 in New York City to the sounds of ceremonial artillery and church bells ringing….

Kerby Anderson Over the last few weeks, I have had the privilege of interviewing authors who have written about our polarized country. David French writes about Divided We Fall. Justin Giboney writes about civic engagement in Compassion & Conviction. Both of them talked about a study known as the Hidden Tribes of America, that I wrote about two years ago. The study broke Americans into seven tribes: Progressive Activists, Traditional Liberals, Passive Liberals, Politically Disengaged, Moderates, Traditional Conservatives, and Devoted…

Kerby Anderson Now that the state legislatures are back in session, one of the more significant functions this year will be reapportionment. After the decennial census is completed, the states must reapportion the congressional districts. This is necessary for two reasons. First, the populations within states change. Second, the population of states varies because of migration from one state to another. Reapportionment will affect two issues. The allocation of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives is done by…

Penna Dexter The jarring events of the past year, and especially of recent weeks, have further divided an already-divided nation and rocked the sensibilities even of Bible-believing Christians. In 2021, we’re certainly not out of the woods. In fact, going forward, things may get difficult for Christians. How difficult remains to be seen, but believers certainly face headwinds in the culture. We will need courage. As the pandemic rose, some churches took financial hits. Others found it difficult to adapt…

Kerby Anderson Sometimes the verse in Jeremiah 29:11 has been misapplied since it originally was directed at the Jews in the Old Testament. It says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” A number of years ago, Chuck Bentley with Crown Financial Ministries illustrated that if we look at the previous verses, we find a blueprint of “Four…

Kerby Anderson America is a house divided. That is the central message of the book by David French, Divided We Fall. His book was selected by World magazine as its book of the year, and I had him on my radio program recently to talk about the polarization in America. He believes it is time for us to understand that “the continued unity of the United States of America cannot be guaranteed.” He persuasively argues there is not a single…