Category Archives: Radio Commentaries

Do you have a right to behave badly? Most people probably would answer “no” to that question even if, in their heart of hearts, they feel quite differently. And, by all counts today, Americans do feel differently.

There is no constitutional right to bad behavior. In fact, the United States Constitution exists, in large part, to keep bad behavior in check at the federal levels of government. The same goes for state constitutions and a whole raft of state and local laws. Laws exist because of bad behavior – not to encourage it but to discourage it. A free society requires order, meaning good behavior, and a free society cannot long endure a culture of bad behavior – it can’t afford it neither can it naturally counter it. There are no neutral corners in a free society where bad behavior simply vanishes because men all of the sudden become angels. read more

Most of the New Republican strategy hinges on the rise of Millennials into adulthood. Millennials are today’s 18 to 29 year olds. They are the highly schooled (though little educated), highly opinionated Obama supporters still living in their parents’ basement. They blame their economic woes on George Bush instead of their worthless, taxpayer-funded art history degrees or their endless attempts to turn skateboarding into a career. Their hope of a bright economic future rides on school loan forgiveness programs. read more

I’m following with interest the criticisms being directed at United States Senator Marco Rubio. Rubio is a conservative Republican from Florida who defeated an establishment Republican incumbent in 2010. Back then, candidate Rubio was an “enforcement-first” backer of immigration reform. Today, Senator Rubio argues that efforts to legalize undocumented immigrants already living in the United States have to precede any other component of immigration reform.

Talking to Sean Hannity, Rubio explained why enforcement-first wouldn’t work, he said, read more

A growing number of private businesses are adopting internal policies addressing discrimination in the workplace regarding homosexuality. These nondiscrimination policies are adopted to ensure employees that their workplace is safe and accommodating. Interestingly, many private companies that have pursued these internal policies now advocate that nondiscrimination should become public policy. It’s not enough for them to have instituted these policies in their own companies, they now feel compelled somehow to insist that the rest of the world follow suit. read more

The Boy Scouts of America is scheduled to vote later this month on its proposed nondiscrimination policy on sexual orientation for its youth. I was asked by a BSA official to provide some thoughts on the subject in a letter and here are some of those thoughts. I wrote,

Sutherland Institute is sure of a few facts and consequences, if the policy is approved.

First, BSA is not being challenged legally on this issue… In other words, this debate, as much as it has been unnecessarily contentious, is a self-inflicted wound for BSA. read more

Who is the most trusted person in your life? And why is that person your most trusted person? What triggers these questions is a recent Readers Digest poll surveying subscribers about their most trusted American. Those subscribers told Readers Digest that their most trusted American is actor Tom Hanks. In fact, the top four most trusted Americans are actors: Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep.

There’s a lot we could talk about here but let’s just focus on a couple of things. read more

A recent editorial in The Salt Lake Tribune calls on the Utah Senate to oppose a resolution critical of a United Nations program called “Agenda 21.” This program was adopted over 20 years ago at a U.N. Conference on Environment and Development. The stated focus of Agenda 21 is the promotion of economic growth, quality of life, energy conservation, poverty reduction and environmental protection – each good causes in their own right.

The problem with Agenda 21 is that its lofty goals conflict and compete with even loftier concepts of American freedom, not the least of which is private property rights. read more

For nearly eight years, Jim Ferrell has been a part of Sutherland Institute’s Transcend Series of lectures and classes. We created the Transcend Series initially for state legislators to help them cut through politics and focus on sound, principled-based policy. Our first class in 2004 was dubbed the “Sutherland 20,” a group of 20 legislators who have since served in legislative leadership including two Speakers of the House.

Jim Ferrell’s role is to help participants to see colleagues, constituents and political opponents as people and not simply as objects. That sounds simple enough but in the heat of political battle you would be amazed at how easy it is to slip into seeing others as objects to push, pull, climb over, ridicule, condemn and otherwise marginalize. read more

The Boy Scouts of America are scheduled this week to decide whether or not to lift its long-standing ban on accepting homosexual scout leaders in local troops. The push to lift the ban comes from two members of its national board who both support homosexual scout leaders but worry more about how progressive-minded corporations extort BSA over its no-gay policy. These corporations threaten to quit donating to BSA until the ban is lifted.

There are no serious political threats to BSA driving this renewed debate. Nobody beyond homosexual activists and those two BSA board members are pushing the issue. There’s no legal threat against BSA – in 2000, the United States Supreme Court settled the issue: BSA does not have to accept homosexuals scout leaders if it doesn’t want to. read more

Last week The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced a new web site targeted to people struggling with homosexuality and the relationships they have within their families and faith community. In announcing this unprecedented outreach, LDS Church Apostle Dallin H. Oaks said,

Same gender attraction presents many issues and questions in society at large. These include what causes it, whether it is subject to change in kind or degree, and whether, or the extent of which, laws like marriage should accommodate it. Our discussion is limited to two related questions we sometimes hear in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints… read more