Author: Kerby Anderson

Kerby Anderson
Perhaps you have heard of the “heckler’s veto.” This occurs when someone who disagrees with a speaker’s message triggers actions or protests to disrupt the event and get the speech cancelled. We have seen this tactic on university campuses primarily used against conservative speakers.
I thought of this tactic when I read about the controversy surrounding expensive security fees charged against Turning Point USA at a Texas university just thirty miles from my radio studio. The administration charged the conservative group $28,000 for security, without obtaining permission for the charges.
The justification for the huge charges apparently was based upon “subjectively evaluating possible actions in which protestors might engage.” It doesn’t appear that any major protest took place. But consider the precedent this might set. If the university administration thinks a particular speaker or conference might draw protestors, they would feel free to charge huge amounts for security.
The ADF has written to the campus police about their actions because the university charged “outrageous security fees for two small campuses events simply because of fear of how others might react.” And they argued that this security fee is essentially a heckler’s veto.
I suspect this might become a new tactic used by radical groups. Threaten a protest or even a riot, and the university feels the need to charge the sponsoring group so much that the group must cancel.
Over the years, I have scheduled speakers to address controversial topics like climate change, radical Islam, and gender confusion. If I was confronted with such an outrageously expensive bill, I would probably have to cancel. This might become a new tactic to silence free speech.

Heckler’s Veto Fee Read More

Kerby Anderson
While looking at various headlines and reading many of the news articles, I noticed a trend that should be highlighted. It appears we are being conditioned to accept high inflation and become resigned to a poorer standard of living.
A headline last year predicted, “Inflation’s New Normal Will be 4%. Get Used to It.” Her prediction was right. Inflation has been with us and will continue to be with us. Another headline reported that “Consumers Are Getting Used to Higher Inflation.” He assumed that workers would demand higher wages to keep up with inflation. As I mentioned in a previous commentary, wages have not kept up with inflation.
The most recent headline came from a podcast in this country done with the Bank of England’s top economist. He said people in the UK need to accept that they are poorer. He lamented there was a “reluctance to accept that, yes, we’re all worse off.” He was concerned that people demanding pay increases and businesses raising prices will fuel more inflation. Fortunately, the article also quoted another economist that pointed to the “massive expansion” in the money supply as a reason for inflation.
Missing from these stories is who benefits from inflation and who is hurt by it. Remember the classic quote, *“Inflation is the surest way to fertilize the rich man’s field with the sweat of the poor man’s brow.” Increasing prices harm the poor more than the rich, and inflation is stealing the wealth of everyone as the dollar devalues.
God condemns Israel in Isaiah 1:22 by saying, “Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water.” People were cheating each other by adding cheaper metals to their silver and by adding water to their wine. That is why we should NOT be conditioned to accept inflation.
*The quote is credited to Charles Holt Carroll, but also attributed to Daniel Webster.

Inflation Conditioning Read More

Kerby Anderson
Many critics in the current generation are making unfair judgments about past generations with an air of moral superiority. I call it generational judgmentalism. Victor Davis Hanson merely says that these critics are self-important and ungracious and have very little gratitude for those in the past that did so much for all of us.
He observes that these “21st-century critics rarely acknowledge their own present affluence and leisure owe much to history’s prior generations whose toil helped create their current comfort.” Of course, we could also add the millions buried in military cemeteries who fought and died for the freedoms we enjoy today.
He also asks several important questions. “What will our grandchildren say of us who dumped on them over $30 trillion in national debt—much of it as borrowing for entitlements for ourselves?” Another is, “What sort of society snoozes as record numbers of murders continue in 12 of its major cities?”
One of the key buzzwords for this generation is “infrastructure.” But Hanson wonders “when was the last time it built anything comparable to Hoover Dam, the interstate highway system, or the California Water Project—much less sent a man back to the moon or beyond?”
It is easy to criticize previous generations while using today’s standards of morality and behavior. It is easy to forget the struggles previous generations had to face because they were not blessed with the numerous technological advances we enjoy today.
It’s easy to tear down. It’s not so easy to rebuild. These are the questions we need to ask of the critics bent on destroying society. They don’t seem to offer anything significant in its place.

Generational Judgmentalism Read More

Kerby Anderson
Today is the National Day of Prayer. It is a vital part of our American heritage. The first call to prayer happened before the American Revolution. In 1775, the Continental Congress called on the colonists to pray for wisdom as they considered how they would respond to the King of England.
Perhaps one of the most powerful calls to prayer came from President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. In 1863, he issued a proclamation for a day of “humiliation, fasting and prayer.” Here is some of that proclamation:
“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand, which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.”
In 1952, Congress passed and President Harry Truman signed a resolution that declared an annual, national day of prayer. In 1988, President Reagan signed into law a bill that designated the first Thursday of May as the time for the National Day of Prayer.
It is estimated that there have been more than 130 national calls to prayer, humiliation, fasting, and thanksgiving by presidents of the United States. There have been 60 Presidential Proclamations for a National Day of Prayer because every president has signed these proclamations.
Today is the National Day of Prayer. Please pray for this nation and its leaders.

Day of Prayer Read More

Kerby Anderson
A recent poll by Pew Research Center discovered that 27 percent of Americans view evangelicals as the most unfavorable faith. They also discovered that Jews ranked as the most favorable religious group.
The poll asked Americans to rank six of the mainstream religious groups. Those were Jews, mainline Protestants, Catholics, Muslims, Mormons, and Evangelical Christians. The greatest number of unfavorable feelings were expressed toward Evangelical Christians and Mormons.
By contrast, the most positive feelings were reserved for Jews at 35 percent. In fact, only 6 percent said they had a negative view of them. Catholics came in second with 34 percent saying they viewed them favorably and only 18 percent said they had negative impressions of them.
I would contend that this poll not only tells us something about people’s attitudes toward various religious groups, but it also reminds us of the nature of those groups.  On my radio program, I mention that a majority of Supreme Court Justices are Catholic as are a sizable number of members of Congress. Then I ask, what does that tell you about their politics? Of course, the answer is that it doesn’t tell you anything because some take their Catholic faith seriously, while many do not. You could do the same by providing a list of prominent Jewish people.
The religious groups with the highest favorability (Jews, Catholics) also have the greatest theological diversity. Often the religious label says less about their faith and more about their family background. The groups with the highest unfavourability (Mormons, Evangelical Christians) have the greatest theological cohesion.
Put another way, many Americans have no problem with religion unless the religious person takes his or her religion very seriously.

Unfavorable Faith Read More

Kerby Anderson
What is America’s greatest challenge? Former governor Bobby Jindal has a list that focuses on the challenges created by liberals in this country. Although he uses the term liberals, it might be better to realize his critique applies to leftists rather than liberals in general. Here are his four concerns.
“First, liberals are undermining the rule of law that prevents the arbitrary exercise of power and protects law-abiding citizens.” Some of the examples he uses range from liberal prosecutors refusing to enforce the law to restrictive rules and regulations that are adversely affecting home and business owners.
“Second, liberals are undermining the ideal of meritocracy that frees society from inherited privilege and petty corruption.” Gifts and talents are not distributed equally, but the role of government should not be equality of outcome but equality of opportunity.
“Third, liberals are undermining pride in American history and her values that has animated unity at home and a generous, confident and inspiring policy abroad.” America has been a unique force for good, but if you listen to lectures in school or listen to newscasts, you wouldn’t know that.
“Fourth, liberals are undermining the marketplace of ideas that has facilitated a better understanding of reality, protected minority viewpoints, and provided outlets for protesting voices.” Suppression of conservative viewpoints and religious liberty rights is done in the name of inclusion and diversity.
Notice two things about this list. It doesn’t talk about foreign threats, only domestic challenges. Most of the challenges are cultural rather than political, meaning they won’t be resolved just by electing the right people for office.

America’s Greatest Challenge Read More

Kerby Anderson
Do you have too much month at the end of your money? That question and catchphrase has been around for decades. But it seems even more relevant to our current economic situation. High inflation, rising interest rates, and runaway government spending has had a negative impact on American families.
E. J. Antoni is an economist at the Heritage Foundation and has run the numbers and explains that Americans have taken the pay cut every month since President Biden took office. For example, he documents that the average American family has lost the equivalent of more than $7,000 in annual income. He also argued that “There is a direct link between spending, borrowing and printing trillions of dollars, and the disastrous results for Americans.”
A skeptic might respond that while it is true that prices have gone up, wages have also increased. That may be true, but I haven’t found too many people in my sphere of influence who have told me their salary or wages have increased. If you look at the numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, you will note that average weekly earnings are up 9 percent since President Biden took office, but consumer prices have risen 14.9 percent over that same time.
In some ways, it reminds me of times when I have tried to climb a hill or mountain with lots of gravel, talus, and scree. Two steps forward can sometimes result in falling three steps back. That is what is happening to the typical family with two parents working. Their combined weekly paychecks are up about $200, but the money has lost so much of its purchasing power from inflation that it is as if their weekly pay shrunk by more than $100.
These are numbers to remember while Congress is debating raising the debt ceiling and worth remembering during the election next year..

Pay Cut Read More