One of the framed pictures in my office is a photograph I took at Glacier National Park when I was a teenager. I have always wanted to go back and photograph this beautiful place with a much better camera.

I also wanted to go back so that I could take a picture of the signs that the park service put up predicting that all of the glaciers would be gone by 2020 due to climate change. In case you don’t know, there are still glaciers at Glacier National Park. Yes, some have shrunk but they certainly have not disappeared as predicted.

Kyle Smith used this as one example of the problem with making specific predictions. Saying that sometime in this century, we will have an environmental disaster is much safer than saying it will happen in the next 10 years. He also provides some background to the story of glaciers in this park.

The US Geological Survey has been keeping track of the “Retreat of Glaciers in Glacier National Park” for some time. The scientists noted that the mean annual temperature has increased so the glaciers will be gone someday “in the next few decades.” So that had Smith starting to look at past predictions.

For example, a 1923 Associated Press report said glaciers would “almost disappear” in 25 years. They should have been gone by 1948. But there is a 1936 article that predicted that the glaciers would “vanish within 25 years.” So they should have been gone by 1961. And there is a 1952 AP report that explains that “naturalists” said the glaciers would be gone in 50 years. So we should have had no glaciers by 2002.

By now, I think you get the idea. All of these past predictions were wrong, but that did not stop others from making another predictions. Some day the glaciers may all be gone, but they haven’t left yet.

Science is headed into uncharted territory. That’s why we need a reliable science guide to navigate our journey. Dr. Michael Guillen provides that guidance in his book, The End of Life as We Know It. For years he was the Emmy award-winning science correspondent for ABC News. He was on my radio program to talk about the book and his truth tour.

He addresses four areas of concern: the web, the robot, the spy, and the Frankenstein. He talks about the incredible benefits we all receive from the World Wide Web. The information superhighway has lots of lanes to important information. But it also has many dark back alleys. He cites one headline that reminds us that sometimes “the Internet Makes Us Monsters.”

In his section on robots and artificial intelligence, he once again explains how we have been the beneficiaries of machines that do routine manual labor and free us up from dangerous activities. But he also reminds us that robots are able to do more than merely put bolts on an assembly line and will take away many of our jobs.

The section on “spy” reminds us how our privacy is going away. We are living in a fishbowl. As one commentator put it, “You have zero privacy. Get over it.” Before you merely brush that off, consider what it is like to live in China where cameras and facial recognition keep track of you every single day.

His last section reminds us of all the significant benefits we enjoy from science and genetic engineering. Treating and curing genetic disease is admirable. But scientists can now “play God” by mixing and matching genetic material. Good intentions can quickly morph into dangerous outcomes.

I think his book is a good reminder that we need more Christians in the science fields in order to bring ethics and wisdom as science heads into uncharted territory.

Someone who tuned into Point of View for the first time left a comment on the Facebook page criticizing what one of my guests said and concluded by instructing us that Christians should embrace socialism. It’s the type of comment I usually ignore, but I thought it might deserve a response since I have heard it so often.

Over the last few months, I have been teaching through the book of Acts. When you get to Acts 4, you find a statement that the believers “had all things in common.” It also says that those who possessed land or houses sold them and brought the proceeds to the apostles’ feet. They distributed these gifts to anyone in need.

It is worth noting that: (1) this practice was apparently only done in Jerusalem and (2) the practice was a voluntary act. This is hardly a mandate for socialism. Many Christian writers have devoted whole chapters in their books on this subject, so there is more than I can possibly say here.

The believers in Jerusalem owned the property before they voluntarily gave the proceeds to the apostles. The next chapter clearly teaches that. When Peter confronted Ananias, he clearly stated this: “While it remained, was it not your own? After it was sold, was it not in your own control?”

Owning property contradicts one of the fundamental principles of socialism. In the Communist Manifesto, “the abolition of property” is a major item in the plan for moving from capitalism to socialism and eventually to communism.

The Ten Commandments assume private property. The eighth commandment forbidding stealing and the tenth commandment about coveting both assume that people have private property rights. In the New Testament, Paul writes, “Let him who stole, steal no longer.”

Socialism is incompatible with Christianity. That’s why Christians should not embrace socialism.

Although the concept of a free enterprise system developed primarily in Europe, it has become the most successful in the United States. Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, has a possible explanation.

The founders promoted a free market where Americans were able to truly live their liberty. Thomas Jefferson famously said this in his first inaugural address. “A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.”

People from other countries began to realize how exceptional America’s culture of free enterprise was. French nobleman Alexis deTocqueville called Americans ‘”the freest people in the world.” He was struck by the fact that Americans pursued their interests under the supervision of limited government and banded together in voluntary associations.

This is true to this day. According to Arthur Brooks, Europeans are half as likely as Americans to attribute success in their own life to their own efforts. He even suggests that some of this might even be genetic: it is part of the American DNA. We are a nation of immigrants. Immigrants tend to be entrepreneurs and willing to take risks for the possibility of prosperity.

Arthur Brooks contends that we live in a 70-30 nation. A Pew Research Center poll asked a broad range of Americans this question: “Generally, do you think people are better off in a free market economy?” Almost 70 percent of respondents agree that they are better off in a free market economy.

The good news is that 70 percent of Americans believe in free enterprise. The bad news is that the other 30 percent are in control of important arenas in our society such as the academy, media, and government. This will be our challenge for the years to come.

What are the key components of the free enterprise system in America today? Arthur Brooks in his book, The Battle, describes five principles.

The first principle is: The purpose of free enterprise is human flourishing, not materialism. In this statement he sets forth the moral case for free enterprise. He argues in one chapter that people flourish when they earn their own success. It’s not money per se that is a measure. Instead, it is what Arthur Brooks calls “earned success.”

A second principle is that America stands for equality of opportunity, not equality of income. Arthur Brooks has found that non-Americans will tell you that Americans are the most egalitarian people in the world. Most of us believe that we should have similar opportunities but also believe that we might end up in different places.

A third principle is that we seek to stimulate true prosperity, not treat poverty. Arthur Brooks says nearly every study of impoverished communities around the world shows that prosperity, not poverty, is the right focus if we want to lift people out of poverty.

A fourth principle is that America can and should be a gift to the world. Here is where we see a split in values. While some Americans see America as exploitative, most Americans believe that our country does more good than harm. And they believe the nation has been a force for good in the world.

And a final principle is that what truly matters is principle, not political power. Americans reject the pursuit of political power at the expense of principle. Confidence in politicians in America is now as low as it was during the era of Watergate.

Arthur Brooks in his book explains how we can make the case for the free enterprise system. These are key principles we need to promote.

Rav Arora provides a sad and very sobering summary of what happened to black lives in 2020. He writes about race, crime, and culture for the New York Post. He reminds us how the nation was “united in shock and horror after George Floyd’s death.” But he goes on to describe in painful detail what happened in our cities.

Consider this statistic. “Last year saw the largest year-to-year increase in homicides ever recorded in US history. The homicide rate in 34 cities was 30 percent higher in 2020 compared to the previous year.” At least 8,600 black lives were lost to homicide last year.

In Chicago, 80 percent of gun-violence victims in 2020 were African American. In New York City, 71 percent of shooting victims are black (even though they constitute 26 percent of the city’s population).

Of course, the media narrative focuses only on those tragic circumstances in where a black man or woman is killed by police (which he says happens less than half of a percent). He estimates that “the probability of an African American being killed by a civilian is more than 30 times higher than that of being killed by a member of law enforcement.”

More than 90 percent of black homicide victims are killed by black offenders. He warns that in these cases, “the ghost of endemic white supremacy cannot be invoked to push racial grievance narratives. As a result, the media turns a blind eye.”

He also reminds us of a much-publicized Gallup poll that found 81 percent of black Americans favored the same or higher levels of police presence in their neighborhoods. If we are truly concerned about black lives, then we shouldn’t be talking about defunding the police.

Numerous surveys show that socialism is often more popular among young people than capitalism. That is why I have written numerous commentaries and booklets on the subject. My booklet on A Biblical View on Capitalism and Socialism explains the two views and answers many of the criticisms socialists have about the free enterprise system. My booklet on A Biblical View on Socialism helps to answer many of the arguments used to promote socialism.

The latest post-election survey done by the Cultural Research Center shows a significant decline in support for socialism. George Barna believes that another reason for this decline is the aggressive marketing of a government-driven culture that show young and old what socialism in America would really be like.

He found that the most precipitous decline in support for socialism was among Americans ages 30 to 49. Just a decade ago, they were the demographic I often pointed to as those who supported socialism more than capitalism. That has changed significantly.

Socialism is less popular even for Americans who are age 50 years or older. In the past, they have been the group most consistent in their support of capitalism. But even in this group, there was an eight percentage-point decline of support for socialism.

The demographic groups with the least support for socialism were Christians who had a biblical worldview and what George Barna calls SAGE Cons (Spiritually Active Governance Engaged Conservative Christians). But there are still a small percentage of them who support socialism. That is why I have a section in my booklets on whether the Bible teaches socialism.

Support for socialism is declining, and that is good news.

A columnist named Virginia is facing a dilemma. She lives in Brooklyn Heights and doesn’t know what to make of her neighbor who recently plowed her driveway without being asked. The neighbors are what she calls “Trumpites,” and she is a Harvard-educated liberal journalist.

Rod Dreher writes about this because normal people don’t have a problem with such an act of kindness, no matter who provides it. She, on the other hand, says it is “kind of weird. Back in the city, people don’t sweep other people’s walkways for nothing.”

Then she wondered if the neighbors heard Senator Ben Sasse suggest we clean another neighbor’s walk. That’s it. They were probably trying “to make a bid for reconciliation” she concluded. But she added they “probably aren’t looking for absolution anyway.”

Rod Dreher observed: “Let me tell you something, Virginia: your neighbors probably have no idea who Ben Sasse is, and isn’t looking to reconcile with you, much less receive your absolution. They just wanted to do something nice for you, because you are their neighbor, and that’s what neighbors do for each other. The fact that you assume there must be some politically aware motive behind the action says a lot about you.”

He tries to explain to her that most people in America will do nice things for friends and neighbors without stopping to ask about their politics. In a small town, “the guy you’ll need to call to saw up the tree that fell across your driveway might have MAGA and NRA stickers on his truck. He might also do it for you for free, because he knows you’ve been sick and have medical bills.”

It is a sad commentary that Virginia, and so many other liberals like her, failed the snowplow test. They can’t set aside their politics and their suspicion. Plowing snow, raking leaves, mowing lawns for others. That’s what neighbors do.