Viewpoints with Kerby Anderson

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

Penna Dexter
House Republicans proposed the Limit, Save, Grow Act as an attempt to pair modest reductions in spending growth with approval of an increase in the debt limit. The legislation includes requirements that able-bodied adults work if they are to receive welfare such as food stamps and Medicaid.
This is not angry mean Republicans “cutting benefits.” The Wall Street Journal points out that both SNAP, the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, and Medicaid “were turbocharged in pandemic measures, including higher food stamp benefits and a ban on states from removing from the Medicaid roles individuals who may no longer be eligible.” Work requirements for SNAP were “waved away” and should be restored with the end of the emergency in May.
And Medicaid, which was expanded under ObamaCare to include men of prime age above the poverty line, needs to include a work requirement. Otherwise, the Journal warns, we threaten “America’s social and economic future as government sustains a permanent dependent class.”
A new entitlement is on the table: A proposal for increasing child tax credit payments which contains no work requirement.
With nearly two jobs open for every unemployed person, it’s a terrible time to implement policies that discourage work. House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (TX) argues, in a Journal op-ed, that Congress should “return to commonsense policies that encourage people to look for work and rejoin the labor force.”
Rep. Arrington says getting people back to work is “pro-growth and pro-family.” It provides “the surest way out of generational poverty.” It will improve the solvency of Social Security and Medicare.
When we require Americans who work to subsidize able-bodied Americans who don’t, we exacerbate political and social divisions.
In God’s eyes, work has dignity and importance. A recent survey that shows the decline of hard work as a core value for Americans bolsters the case for encouraging work in law and policy. As Rep. Arrington says it’s a “moral imperative.”

Culture of Work Read More

Penna Dexter
House Republicans proposed the Limit, Save, Grow Act as an attempt to pair modest reductions in spending growth with approval of an increase in the debt limit. The legislation includes requirements that able-bodied adults work if they are to receive welfare such as food stamps and Medicaid.
This is not angry mean Republicans “cutting benefits.” The Wall Street Journal points out that both SNAP, the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, and Medicaid “were turbocharged in pandemic measures, including higher food stamp benefits and a ban on states from removing from the Medicaid roles individuals who may no longer be eligible.” Work requirements for SNAP were “waved away” and should be restored with the end of the emergency in May.
And Medicaid, which was expanded under ObamaCare to include men of prime age above the poverty line, needs to include a work requirement. Otherwise, the Journal warns, we threaten “America’s social and economic future as government sustains a permanent dependent class.”
A new entitlement is on the table: A proposal for increasing child tax credit payments which contains no work requirement.
With nearly two jobs open for every unemployed person, it’s a terrible time to implement policies that discourage work. House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (TX) argues, in a Journal op-ed, that Congress should “return to commonsense policies that encourage people to look for work and rejoin the labor force.”
Rep. Arrington says getting people back to work is “pro-growth and pro-family.” It provides “the surest way out of generational poverty.” It will improve the solvency of Social Security and Medicare.
When we require Americans who work to subsidize able-bodied Americans who don’t, we exacerbate political and social divisions.
In God’s eyes, work has dignity and importance. A recent survey that shows the decline of hard work as a core value for Americans bolsters the case for encouraging work in law and policy. As Rep. Arrington says it’s a “moral imperative.”

Culture of Work Read More