And the breakdown of our society You ever wonder why more and more topics seem to be contentious and rather difficult to talk about? Whether it’s about the definition of marriage, sexual identity, abortion, transgenderism, immigration, covid policy, or any other social issue, it feels like there is an ever-increasing…

The guise of competency is crumbling in Afghanistan — Over the last week, the Taliban has taken over Afghanistan. The Islamist military organization who was last overthrown in 2001 by US-led military forces has regained control of the capital city Kubal and sent the whole country into turmoil. Most people have seen the pictures and read the stories by…

Voter ID laws have become a hot-button issue over the past few election cycles. “We are witnessing a concerting effort to place new obstacles in front of minorities, low-income families, and young people who seek to exercise their right to vote. A poll tax by another name would smell as…

Why is there something rather than nothing? — In college I had an atheist friend who I’d talk about religion and God with. One week we were chatting about reasons for the existence of God and I brought up the cosmological argument. As I walked him through the argument, I vividly remember seeing the gears turning in his…

And the downfall of the West — This week I was reading the news and came across the following headline: “Demi Lovato says they forgive those misgendering them. Others say consequences could be dire.” I had to read it a couple of times, very confused as to what I had just read. Then I realized what was…

There’s a lot of talk about income inequality these days. We bemoan the increasing wealth of the top 1% and say things like “the rich just keep getting richer.” But how much truth is there to the rhetoric surrounding this issue? Less than you may think. This topic, like so…

A few months ago I was in Charlotte for work and got to talking with one of my Uber drivers. His name was Alpha, and he had immigrated to the United States about a decade ago from a small country in Western Africa called Liberia. This was during the height…

And a call for gratitude. — Many people, myself included, have become so caught up in the issues of our time that we’ve forgotten just how good we have it. In the last half-century, the average life expectancy rose from 56 years to 72, an increase of 29%. In 1966 out of every 1000 infants born…

Last week the Washington Post published an article called “The Racist Legacy many Birds Carry” with the subtitle “The birding community faces a difficult debate about the names of species connected to enslavers, supremacists and grave robbers.” The piece makes the case that birding is riddled with racism and describes…