Author: Kerby Anderson

Kerby Anderson
If he was alive today, John Deere might not even recognize the company that bears his name. As a blacksmith, he realized that farmers needed a better plow for the dense black soil of the Midwest. He took a broken steel saw at a mill and fashioned it into a plow. Soon he was mass producing them.
Today John Deere manufactures lots of agricultural technology. I would recommend you visit the John Deere Pavilion and get a tour. But if you want to understand the future of agriculture, you might also pay attention to the fact that company is building robots.
That is just one of the insights in the new book, The Coming Wave. We are going to be seeing robots and artificial intelligence devices everywhere, although we might not realize that we are seeing them. Autonomous tractors and combines may not look like the robots we see in science fiction movies, but they will be doing more and more of the agriculture of the future.
Robots will be planting, tending, and harvesting crops with a high level of precision. Drones will be watching livestock. Computers and robots will be measuring soil quality, moisture, and weather conditions.
Some agricultural robots will be hard to see because they will be the size of bees. There has been some concern (perhaps overblown) about the reduction in bee populations. That is why Walmart filed a patent for robot bees to cross-pollinate crops autonomously. A RoboBee created at one research institute measures about half the size of a paper clip and weighs less than one-tenth of a gram. It flies using “artificial muscles” compromised of materials that contract when a voltage is applied.
Robot technology is changing agriculture. In fact, robots may soon be helping to feed the world.

Kerby Anderson
Yesterday I mentioned the book by Frank Thomas, What’s the Matter with Kansas? Rich Lowry suggests that there might be a future book with the title, What’s Matter with People of Color? The point he is making is that Democrats have always assumed people of color will vote for their party. That doesn’t look like it will happen in this election.
The results of two polls illustrate the dramatic change. A New York Times poll a few months ago had Trump beating Biden among Hispanic voters 46–40. Recently, a Wall Street Journal poll found that 30 percent of African American men say they are “definitely or probably” going to vote for Trump. Although other polls aren’t as dramatic, something seems to be happening among potential minority voters.
Rich Lowry suggests the problem has been that Democrats lump all sorts of people with diverse backgrounds and demographic characteristics into the category “people of color.” Many of these ethnic groups are not supportive of the woke politics that have been promoted over the last few years.
Hispanics, for example, are much more like the rest of America. One poll shows that 69 percent of Americans say the country is on the wrong track. An even higher percentage (72%) of Hispanics say the same thing. About a third (30%) of the country says inflation and the economy is the top issue. Once again, an even higher percentage (42%) of Hispanics say it is.
What might this mean in this election? Hillary Clinton won Hispanic voters by nearly 40 points. Joe Biden won them by 23 points but will probably see a lower percentage in this election. Those potential votes might go to Donald Trump. I predict that this demographic shift in potential vote preferences will have a significant impact on many of the races in the 2024 elections.

Kerby Anderson
Elizabeth Currid-Halkett writes about “The Myth of Rural Rage,” arguing that red states and small towns are not full of hate. Her comments have a great deal of credibility since she is a university professor, and a lifelong liberal, who apparently has always voted for Democrats. She reads The New York Times and listens to NPR, but agrees with Uri Berliner, the liberal at NPR who expressed his concern about systemic liberal bias in its news reporting.
She tells the story of Craig (a retired person living in Iowa) to personalize the fact that the liberal media and liberal politicians have a false and biased view of rural America. She got to know him and many others when writing her book, The Overlooked Americans.
She refers to the General Social Survey that shows, even on politically charged issues, urban and rural Americans largely feel the same way. “Statistically, about half of both rural and urban Americans are religious, even if rural Americans are more likely to openly discuss their belief in God.”
She reminds us there have been shrill warnings that rural Americans are angry, vengeful, and ignorant. In his book (What’s the Matter with Kansas?) that I will mention again tomorrow, Frank Thomas portrayed rural America’s loyalty to the Republican Party as a form of “derangement.” The election of Donald Trump in 2016 led to countless essays in the liberal media about rural revenge.
She concludes by arguing that “our public intellectuals and leading media outlets have a duty to reset the conversation about rural America and take the time to find out the truth about the people who live there.” I appreciate her honesty and her sentiment, but I don’t see it happening soon.

Kerby Anderson
Michael Barone is a political analyst and best known as the principal author of The Almanac of American Politics. He has been writing about the disconnect between the left-leaning media and the typical American voter. He cites one writer for The Atlantic who argues that the Biden years have seen “the strongest economy the United States has ever experienced.” Her suggestion is that voters are not knowledgeable or sophisticated enough to understand how the economy is doing great.
His response is to point you to a pair of charts that were recently published in the Wall Street Journal. The two writers say the best way to compare two presidencies is to look at net worth. The first chart shows that net worth under Trump was a little better than under Biden.
The second chart then takes inflation into account. The red line (Trump) increases but has some dips along the way because of factors like the pandemic and lockdowns. The blue line (Biden) has a brief increase in net worth and then turns negative for the rest of his time in office.
Rebecca Downs also addresses the disconnect between the media and voters by citing an article in Axios. The article cites a Harris poll showing that more than half of Americans (56%) believe the US is in a recession and then confidently says they are all wrong.
It is true that according to the traditional definition, the country is not currently in a recession. But there is a reason why the latest polls show that most Americans (70%) say the cost of living is their biggest economic concern and why most (68%) also say inflation is an important issue.
Pundits and politicians can point to low unemployment and increasing wage growth. But the American people don’t feel these few positive economic indicators in their pocketbooks.

Kerby Anderson
The Bible talks about hope, and it talks about the importance of gratitude. I find it interesting that even liberal, secular commentators are also talking about hope and gratitude. Nicholas Kristof is a New York Times columnist and winner of two Pulitzer Prizes. He is the author of a new memoir, Chasing Hope: A Reporter’s Life.
He laments that “more than three-quarters of Americans say the United States is headed in the wrong direction.” He is troubled that Americans think we have never been in such a mess. He points to the time before the Civil War or even talks about the turbulence of the 1960s, that included riots, assassinations, and Vietnam War protests. His argument is “we can get through this.”
Essentially, he is saying that we never had it so good. He observes that “if you had to pick a time to be alive in the past few hundred thousand years of human history, it would probably be now.” He tells the story of President Calvin Coolidge’s 16-year-old son, who developed a blister on a toe that became infected. “Without antibiotics the boy was dead within a week. Today the most impoverished child in the United States on Medicaid has access to better health care than the president’s son did a century ago.”
As Christians we have even more reason to have hope. Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” And we should have gratitude. I Thessalonians 5 says we should “always be rejoicing” and we should “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
We have many reasons for hope, especially because we have hope in the Lord.

Kerby Anderson
Maine recently voted to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. This has been an attempt get enough states to pledge that they will send electors to Washington to vote for the president based upon the popular vote. Essentially, it would require electors to ignore how their state voted and merely cast their vote for the winner of the popular vote. It has been an attempt to change the way we elect the president without a Constitutional amendment.
I first wrote about the National Popular Vote initiative back in 2008, when there were two states who joined the compact. By the end of the year, four states had joined. I haven’t written about it since 2019 because there hasn’t been any significant movement until last year when Minnesota joined and now Maine has joined.
So far, there are 17 states and Washington, DC that have joined the compact. It only will go into effect when enough states holding 270 Electoral College votes approve the plan. The current total is 209 Electoral votes.
As I have discussed in previous commentaries, the attempt to dismantle the Electoral College is a bad idea. Just look at the map that has been created to illustrate the impact big states and big cities would have on the outcome. The framers from small states feared they would always be outvoted by the large states.
Because of third parties, many of our presidential elections in the last few decades have not had any candidate with a popular vote majority. The Electoral College gives them a majority. It is also worth remembering that Abraham Lincoln won less than 40 percent of the popular vote and relied on the Electoral College for his authority.
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact won’t have an impact on this election, but it might have a significant impact in future elections.

Kerby Anderson
Over the last few months, I have been doing some interviews on books that document (in one way or another) a lack of moral behavior among evangelicals. If you read articles in Christianity Today, Ministry Watch, or World magazine, you see other examples.
As the authors document what is happening in the evangelical world, I always like to bring us back to why. The “why” question is probably more important than the “what” question. Why aren’t Christians acting like Christians? Of course, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Christians are supposed to be different than the world, but there is abundant evidence that they are very much like the world around them.
Each year, George Barna posts The American Worldview Inventory.  His most recent report shows that very few Americans (including evangelicals) have a biblical worldview. About four percent have a biblical worldview with four percent more with a variety of different worldviews. The dominant worldview (encompassing 92 percent) is the worldview of syncretism.
The classic definition of syncretism is that it is an amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought. In the Christian context, it is an acceptance and even affirmation of a diverse set of beliefs that aren’t biblical. That is best illustrated by the fact that a majority (58%) of American adults don’t believe in absolute truth and instead believe that moral truth is up to the individual to decide.
You would hope pastors might be able to correct some of this theological confusion. But George Barna found that less than a majority (41%) of senior pastors have a biblical worldview. And the problem is worse with youth pastors. Only 12 percent of them have a biblical worldview.
We shouldn’t be surprised at what is happening in the evangelical world when we understand the why behind it.

Kerby Anderson
Two dozen states have legalized marijuana and another 14 permit it for medical purposes. But ironically this comes at a time when we are learning more each year about the health effects of cannabis. Why talk about it now? Various media outlets report that the Biden administration is working to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous Schedule III drug.
Dr. Bertha Madras calls it a political decision not a scientific one. She has spent 60 years studying drugs and has served as a psychobiology professor at Harvard Medical School. In 2015 the World Health Organization asked her to do a detailed review of cannabis and its medical uses. Her 41-page report concluded that there were few medical benefits and many medical harms.
Allysia Finley provides a shorter summary of the health effects. For example, the “addiction potential of marijuana is as high or higher than some other drug,” especially for young people. About 30 percent of those who use cannabis have some degree of a use disorder. By comparison, only 13.5% of drinkers are estimated to be dependent on alcohol. Another concern is the fact that “marijuana does more lasting damage to the brain than alcohol, especially at the high potencies being consumed today.”
Many years ago, I had an author on my radio program who documented that cannabis could cause schizophrenia, but I received significant pushback from some in the audience. But we now have even better evidence of this link from the latest scientific studies.
On the other hand, there is some scant evidence that marijuana helps with very specific pain but not for most others. Overall, there are few benefits and many health concerns.
(To see the full text of Ms. Finley’s interview with Dr. Madras, please choose to read more.)

Kerby Anderson
Today is Memorial Day. For many Americans, it is merely a day off. For others, it marks the start of summer. But hopefully for many of you, it is a day to honor those who fought for our freedom and especially for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Sure we can enjoy our picnics and go for a walk or go for a swim. But we should take some time to put up a flag, make a banner, and perhaps participate in a parade honoring our military.
Certainly those in the military feel more loved than the vets who returned from the Vietnam War. But it wouldn’t hurt to thank those who have served our country and to make them feel appreciated. We will never be able to repay them enough for their service.
What else can we do? If you visit a few websites, you will find all sorts of suggestions. Here are a few to consider. Participate in a “National Moment of Remembrance” at 3 PM today. Pause, listen to taps, and reflect. I was in London’s Heathrow airport on Veterans’ Day. When time came to stop and reflect, the airport was absolutely quiet for a minute or so. I was impressed. We can learn something from the British and their reverence for their war dead.
You might encourage your friends, neighbors, and family to visit cemeteries and perhaps even place flags on the graves. I have been to military cemeteries in Hawaii and the Philippines and have seen what is done there. We need to do the same back home.
Those of you who live near the nation’s capital might visit one of the memorials for the Vietnam Veterans, the World War II Veterans, or the Korean War Veterans.
I will let you consider what you might do to make this day special. The point is to make this day special. Too often we come to think about it as nothing more than a Monday holiday or the kick-off for summer. It should mean so much more for us.

Kerby Anderson
What does AI think about artificial intelligence and this new wave of technology? Mustafa Suleyman is the author of the new book The Coming Wave. He had the idea of having an AI computer write the prologue to his book. Here is what the AI computer wrote:
“In the annals of human history, there are moments that stand out as turning points, where the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. The discovery of fire, the invention of the wheel, the harnessing of electricity—all of these were moments that transformed human civilization, altering the course of history forever.”
The AI computer went on to argue that “we stand at the brink of another such moment as we face the rise of a coming wave of technology that includes both advanced AI and biotechnology.” It discussed the potential benefits of these technologies. “With AI, we could unlock the secrets of the universe, cure diseases that have long eluded us…. With biotechnology, we could engineer life to tackle diseases and transform agriculture, creating a world that is healthier and more sustainable.”
But the AI computer also mentioned the potential dangers of these technologies. “With AI, we could create systems that are beyond our control and find ourselves at the mercy of algorithms we don’t understand. With biotechnology, we could manipulate the very building blocks of life, potentially creating unintended consequences for both individuals and entire ecosystems.”
This is a good summary of these powerful new technologies. Perhaps you can also see why I encourage Christian students to consider a career in science and technology. We need Christian values shaping the future of this new wave of technology.

Kerby Anderson
Americans are rightly concerned about what is happening at our border. But skeptics ask whether the US can control the border. Todd Benson, in a recent PragerU video, provides some answers. He has spent the last twenty years of his life dealing with the issue of immigration, both as a reporter and as an intelligence officer in the Texas government.
From 2021 to 2024, 8 million people have entered the country illegally, and that does not count the 2 million “gotaways.” He calls this the “greatest mass movement across national borders in US history, and maybe the greatest in human history.” And it is worth mentioning these people are coming from 150 different countries.
Why are they coming? He says it gets down to risk versus reward. If the reward is greater than the risk of deportation, migrants will come. Under the Trump administration, the risks were higher. The president extended the border wall, instituted a “remain in Mexico” policy, and empowered border and immigration agents to detain, deport, and expel illegal immigrants.
The current administration reversed all those policies. He laments that now “border agents became like Walmart greeters; deportation officers were chained to their desks; most anyone who showed up was guaranteed entry.”
The odds changed significantly, and word got out to other countries. We now have a “mass movement of people toward a single goal: to get across the border.” Once they get here, then we have the responsibility to feed, house, and care for millions of people from other countries we didn’t invite to this country.
How can we reverse this trend? The answer is simple: reverse the risk/reward calculus. He reminds us that we did it in 2017 to 2021. We can do it again.

Kerby Anderson
Scott Galloway is a professor of marketing at the New York University Stern School of Business and author of the book The Algebra of Wealth. In a recent TED Talk, he describes many of the concerns I have raised in previous commentaries. The first step in solving a problem is properly identifying it.
He begins by reminding us that as we go down the generations, “the last two generations are making less money on an inflation adjusted basis.” He argues that the social contract in America has broken because “for the first time in the US’s history a 30-year-old is no longer doing as well as his or her parents were at 30.” Most young Americans do not feel good about America. That attitude creates rage and can explain the incendiary movements like the BLM riots and pro-Hamas protests.
He also shows graphs that parallel the research by his colleague, Jonathan Haidt. Rates of self-harm increase. Rates of depression also increase. He recalls that when he was in high school, teenagers died because of drunk driving. Today teenagers are killing themselves.
Many of these disturbing trends were surfacing 30 years ago when I wrote Signs of Warning, Signs of Hope. The builder generation (born before the end of WWII) sent Dad off to work and Mom stayed home with the kids and most went to church. The boomer generation (1946-1964) had two parents working, had a more difficult time buying a home, and may or may not have gone to church. The latest generations have both husband and wife working, aren’t sure they want to have kids, may never afford a home, and don’t go to church.
The economic and spiritual trends that started decades ago account for so many of the societal concerns surfacing today. It’s time to admit we have a broken economy and broken society that needs revival.

Kerby Anderson
I’ve played basketball and programmed computers. But I never thought putting the two together would be a problem. An AI-computer got the facts of a recent NBA playoff all wrong and generated a fictitious story.
Klay Thompson plays for the Golden State Warriors. Although he is an excellent shooter, he went an abysmal 0-10 from the 3-point line when they played the Sacramento Kings.
Here is the story the AI computer created: “In a bizarre turn of events, NBA star Klay Thompson has been accused of vandalizing multiple houses with bricks in Sacramento…. The incidents have left the community shaken, but no injuries were reported. The motive behind the alleged vandalism remains unclear.”
The AI computer apparently pulled some online comments about Thompson “throwing up bricks” and generated this fictitious story. It illustrates what could happen when AI is unsupervised and out of control.
The story accuses Klay Thompson of doing something he did not do, claims houses were vandalized, and does not know his motive. It also assumes no injuries took place because they weren’t reported. Remember, none of this happened. It was created in the mind (or circuitry) of the AI computer.
Most people who have reported this fictitious story find it funny. I find it scary. The AI computer obviously didn’t know basketball slang (throwing up bricks). But it created a whole story out of a misunderstanding. Let me remind you that whole reputations have been ruined because of a misunderstanding. For that matter, wars have started from a misunderstanding.
This may be a silly story, but it does illustrate that AI isn’t as reliable as we have been led to believe.

Kerby Anderson
Two weeks ago, the president of the University of Florida, Ben Sasse, wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. I wish other university presidents would read what he wrote and apply these same lessons to their college.
He tells “parents and future employers: We’re not perfect, but the adults are still in charge.” The school’s response to protests and encampments is driven by three basic truths.
First, “universities must distinguish between speech and action.” Speech isn’t violence. Throwing fists, storming buildings, vandalizing property is violence. Universities are supposedly in the business of discovering knowledge and passing it on. “The heckler gets no veto. The best arguments deserve the best counterarguments.”
Second, “universities must say what they mean and then do what they say.” Administrators at many of these colleges are issuing empty threats. He reminds us how ineffective that is with a 2-year-old. It doesn’t work any better with a 20-year-old. “Moving classes online is a retreat that penalizes students and rewards protesters.”
He made it clear to protesters that: “We will always defend your rights to free speech and free assembly—but if you cross the line on clearly prohibited activities, you will be thrown off campus and suspended.” He reminds them that they are a university, not a daycare.
Third, “universities need to recommit themselves to real education.” He laments that professors and their schools have adopted a rigid and dogmatic view of identity politics. As I have mentioned in a previous commentary, many of the students chanting “from the river to the sea” do not even know the name of the river or the sea.
Ben Sasse concludes that it is time for universities to do their jobs again. The first start is to read his op-ed, and then have college presidents apply it to their school.

Kerby Anderson
Is Christianity as bad as atheists say that it is? For decades we have heard the charges from the so-called New Atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. But those ideas are starting to surface in other discussions. As one of my radio guests noted, non-Christians used to ask if Christianity is true, but now many ask whether Christianity is good.
Secular professors often will talk about Christianity in a negative way, focusing only on the Crusades, the Inquisition, or the Salem Witch Trials. But we never seem to hear about any of the positive contributions of Christianity. Fortunately, Jerry Newcombe has provided such lists in his books and commentaries.
For example, if you are educated, you should probably thank Christianity. “Education for the masses was a gift of Christianity to the world,” he explains. Education in America was established so that citizens could read the Bible for themselves and not be deluded. Nearly all the colleges in America’s early history were founded on Christian principles.
If you have ever been in a hospital, you should also thank Christianity. “St. Basil of Caesarea, who lived in the fourth century, is credited with creating the first hospital in the history of the world.” And let’s not forget the advances in science. As Norm Geisler and I explain in our book on Origin Science, most of the pioneers in the field of science had a Christian worldview, and others were theists who believed in God.
Most of the social movements in the 19th and 20th centuries sprung from Christian convictions. The abolition movement, child labor law movement, suffrage movement, and the civil rights movement are just a few examples.
Christianity shouldn’t be blamed for what is bad in the world. We should be grateful for the many blessings it provides each of us.

Kerby Anderson
Is crime on the rise? Most Americans think so. A Gallup survey last year found that nearly all (92%) Republicans and a majority (58%) of Democrats thought crime was increasing. A recent Rasmussen survey found most (61%) likely voters say violent crime in the US is getting worse.
But the media cites statistics arguing that crime is decreasing. That is why John Lott took the time to investigate the difference in perception about crime statistics. He concludes that Americans aren’t mistaken.
This country has two measures of crime. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting programs count the number of crimes reported to the police each year. The Bureau of Justice Statistics produces a National Crime Victimization Survey and asks Americans whether they have been victims of a crime. The two measures differ significantly.
One reason for the divergence is due to the fact that many police departments (especially in cities like New York and Los Angeles) don’t report crime data to the FBI. But there is another reason for the difference: many Americans are less likely to report a crime.
Arrest rates are plummeting. Why report a crime to the police if you don’t believe the criminal will be caught and punished? Arrest rates for property crimes, for example, have dropped sharply. FBI data for 2022 shows that only 12 percent of reported property crimes in all cities resulted in an arrest. In cities of more than one million people, that percentage drops to 4.5 percent. Arrest rates for violent crime also dropped significantly. And for cities with more than a million people, only 8.4 percent of violent crimes resulted in an arrest.
Crime is not decreasing. Only the reporting of crime is decreasing.

Kerby Anderson
The Federal government has a spending problem. Yesterday, I talked about the problem and discussed two ideas Stephen Moore proposes to shrink the federal budget. The two ideas mentioned yesterday were to use presidential impoundment authority and to require a super-majority vote to raise taxes. Here are two other ideas he proposes.
The first suggestion is what he calls the millionaire subsidy elimination act. This was proposed many years ago by the late economist Walter Williams. The argument is simple: no individual with an income over $1 million should be eligible for federal aid payment, and no business entity with more than $1 billion in revenues should be eligible for federal corporate welfare subsidies. Why should Warren Buffett or Bill Gates receive Social Security? Why should financially successful corporations receive federal benefits?
Second is the budget stamps solution. This was proposed by an economist in the Reagan Administration. Under this plan, the government would issue a special blue currency called “budget stamps.” This would be given to all recipients of federal spending. Recipients of federal assistance this year would receive $6 trillion in budget stamps.
The value would fluctuate based on how much money was collected in taxes that year. If tax collections were estimated to be 90 percent of spending, the budget stamp would be worth 90 cents, not a dollar. This would provide a significant incentive to Congress to balance the budget.
These last two days we have talked about four ways to shrink the federal budget. We need to do something to bring fiscal sanity to our government.

Kerby Anderson
The Federal government has a spending problem. That is best illustrated by the fact that the deficit this fiscal year will be $2 trillion. The accumulated national debt from George Washington to President Reagan was $1 trillion. This year we will accumulate twice as much debt in one year as was accumulated in the first 200 years of this country.
Stephen Moore reminds us that Congress just passed a bipartisan agreement to spend an additional $95 billion on foreign aid. Not one penny of that was being paid for by offsetting spending cuts. He has four ideas on how to shrink the budget.
The first suggestion is presidential impoundment authority. Just because Congress authorizes spending shouldn’t mean that the president always must spend it. The president, just like a CEO, should have the power to suspend spending on programs. Presidents from Thomas Jefferson to Abraham Lincoln to Franklin Delano Roosevelt have used that authority. He also mentions Richard Nixon, but he was prevented from doing this effectively because the Supreme Court ruled against him. That will probably have to be revisited.
The second suggestion is to require a super-majority vote to raise taxes. It is unlikely Congress will ever pass a balanced budget amendment. But it might pass a law requiring bipartisan support for raising taxes. The current president wants to increase taxes without any spending cuts. Clearly, we don’t have a revenue problem; we have a spending problem. By the way, raising more taxes to balance the budget never has worked. Once more revenue comes to the government, politicians find more ways to spend it.
Tomorrow we will look at two more ways to shrink the federal budget. We need to do something to bring fiscal sanity to our government.

Kerby Anderson
Arthur Brooks begins his article by asking if you are feeling a little guilty about reading his article. He explains that we might feel that way because it is taking time away from something else you might feel you should be doing. We have deadlines and obligations nipping at our heels.
The title of his article is “How to be Less Busy and More Happy.” As I have mentioned in previous commentaries, Arthur Brooks has been investigating what makes people happy. He has a podcast with the name, “How to Build a Happy Life.”
According to a recent survey by Pew Research Center, a majority (52%) of Americans are usually trying to do more than one thing at a time. The survey also found that nearly two-thirds (60%) said that sometimes they feel too busy to enjoy life. That number approached three-fourths (74%) when asking parents with children under the age of 18, who admit they feel too busy to enjoy life.
The solution to excessive busyness is simple: do less. But he acknowledges that is easier said than done. But don’t give up yet. Researchers have learned that well-being involves a “sweet spot” of busyness. Put another way, too little discretionary time or even too much free time reduces life satisfaction.
He also admits “that for most of us, too much discretionary time is scarier than too little, and we overcorrect to avoid it. If we don’t know how to use it, free time can become idleness, which leads to boredom, and humans hate boredom.”
The trouble for most people is the fact that their lives are far below the sweet spot of discretionary time. That’s why I suggest all of us take a moment to reevaluate our lives and time commitments.

Kerby Anderson
Ira Stoll begins his commentary by mentioning that Jonathan Haidt’s new book, The Anxious Generation, is currently the #1 New York Times bestseller. But he then adds that there may be “another, non-technology possible contributor to the mental health crisis that’s getting less attention but may be just as significant.”
That factor is church attendance. It appears that as church attendance goes down, mental health issues go up. A study in Harvard Public Health estimated “about 40 percent of the increasing suicide rate in the United States from 1999 to 2014 might be attributed to declines in attendance at religious services during this period.” Another study estimated that declining church attendance from 1991 to 2019 accounted for 28 percent of the increase in depression among teenagers.
A major review of 215 studies reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that “weekly religious service attendance is longitudinally associated with lower mortality risk, lower depression, less suicide, better cardiovascular disease survival, better health behaviors, and greater marital stability, happiness, and purpose in life.”
Ira Stoll observes that “plenty of mental-health clinicians I know see in religious-service attendance some of the habits and attitudes that can help to combat depression and anxiety. There’s the supportive community, the face-to-face interaction, the getting out of bed and out of the house, the sense of purpose and meaning, the expressions of gratitude and humility.”
And these are just the social benefits of church attendance. There are also spiritual benefits that come from committing your life to Jesus Christ, spending time in Bible study and prayer. That’s why going to church is so important.