Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson Back in 1996, Samuel Huntington wrote The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. He predicted the current conflict between Islam and the West. In my book, Understanding Islam and Terrorism, I show how this clash of civilizations has had a profound impact on missions. In the past, countries that were closed to the gospel tended to be communist countries. Even so, there was still a significant amount of Christian growth in countries behind the Iron…

Kerby Anderson You don’t hear too many political commentators talk about the culture war these days. But I suspect that term might surface now that the election is behind us. Secular, progressive politicians felt they needed to hide some of their extreme views, but they will be more likely to promote them now that the election has passed. At the same time, many of the more moderate Democrats have voiced their concern that their party lost elections to the House…

Kerby Anderson Yesterday I ended my commentary by saying that you should trust your own judgement. Many of the so-called “experts” really don’t understand your world even though they have great power in the media and politics to control you. I think it is time to realize that censorship is going to happen, especially on social media platforms like Twitter, and plan accordingly. Last month, the Senate Commerce Committee held hearings on the topic of online speech. Jack Dorsey (CEO…

Kerby Anderson We are often told to “trust the experts.” And that is good advice when you are dealing with a true expert. I want a plumbing expert in my house if I have a water leak. I want a doctor with medical expertise doing surgery on me. I want a trained pilot flying the plane I am taking from one city to another. No, I am talking about “experts” who don’t really know the real world but often have…

Penna Dexter Though it’s taking a while to know the true outcomes of this year’s elections, we do know some important things: We know that, in the U.S. House of Representatives, the last four years have been characterized less by governance than by theater. In her post-election column, The Wall Street Journal’s Kim Strassel says, “Americans elect lawmakers to pass budgets, confirm judges, develop considered legislation.” What we’ve gotten, she writes is “day after painful day of faux scandals, gotcha…

Kerby Anderson Anyone looking at charitable giving can see that individuals and voluntary associations are very effective. Don Eberly talks about this in his book. The Rise of Global Civil Society. He points out that during recent disasters around the world, private voluntary organizations had the capacity to raise more funds than government. They were also able to mobilize resources and manpower with a speed and efficiency that matches (if not exceeds) the best government aid agencies could do. Private,…

Kerby Anderson Why are suicides surging in America? There is no easy answer to that question, but there are some important clues. Some of the answers have been put forth by the latest CDC reports. We do have a number of deaths of despair that result from intended suicides as well as from opioid overdoses. And we also see suicides that have increased among our veterans that show the relationship between military combat and PTSD. But there are social, intellectual,…

Kerby Anderson The mainstream media nearly always think alike. And the best example of that came two weeks ago when Glen Greenwald resigned from The Intercept. Now I am sure you probably haven’t heard about that news outlet, so let me explain why this provides such a great example of media groupthink. Glen Greenwald was one of the founders of The Intercept. He created it because he wanted to have a news outlet that was insulated from partisan pressures and…

Kerby Anderson Yesterday I talked about a commentary by Dr. Jeff Myers that raised a significant concern about Christian young people who unfortunately embrace anti-religious views and socialist policies. He also compared the amount spent on the last elections to what colleges and worldview ministries spend to prepare young adults to apply a biblical worldview. He therefore concludes that “spending $100 to fix a problem that could have been prevented for $1 is crazy.” We need to rearrange our priorities…

Kerby Anderson Now that the 2020 election is behind us, Christians need to think strategically about how to have a more significant impact on culture, and especially on Christian youth who often embrace anti-religious views and socialist politics. A commentary by Dr. Jeff Myers (Summit Ministries) in the Washington Times addresses this issue. He is concerned that his fellow evangelicals are only focused on winning the next election and blind to the fact they will lose future elections. Meanwhile, leftists…

Penna Dexter The election came and went without passage of a fourth coronavirus relief/stimulus bill. Negotiations between the White House and the House of Representatives started last spring, ramped up as the election approached, and then stalled out. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urged caution, preferring that Congress assess the effects of the first three massive relief packages before passing another one. The original stated purpose for passing more stimulus was to try to keep the coronavirus crisis from turning into…