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Josh Brahm

President

Josh has worked in the pro-life movement since he was 18. After 12 years of full-time pro-life work he launched Equal Rights Institute to maximize his impact on the movement.

A sought-after speaker, Josh has spoken for more than 29,000 people in six countries and in 25 of the 50 states.

Josh’s primary passion is helping pro-life people to be more persuasive when they communicate with pro-choice people. That means ditching faulty rhetoric and tactics and embracing arguments that hold up under philosophical scrutiny.

He has publicly debated leaders from Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), Georgians for Choice, and one of the leading abortion facilities in Atlanta.

Josh also wants to bring relational apologetics to the pro-life movement. “Some pro-choice people will not change their mind after one conversation on a college campus. Some of them will only change their mind after dozens of conversations with a person they trust in the context of friendship.”

Josh is formerly the host of a globally-heard podcast turned radio/TV show, Life Report. He now hosts the Equipped for Life Podcast. He’s also written dozens of articles for LifeNews.com and the ERI blog. He has been interviewed by the Washington Post, NPR, and Focus on the Family.
He directed the first 40 Days for Life campaign in Fresno, resulting in up to 60 lives saved.

Josh has been happily married to his wife, Hannah, for 19 years. They have three sons, Noah, William, and Eli. They live in Charlotte, North Carolina.
David Bereit, the National Director of 40 Days for Life, sums up Josh’s expertise this way: “Josh Brahm is one of the brightest, most articulate, and innovative people in the pro-life movement. His cutting-edge work is helping people think more clearly, communicate more effectively, and — most importantly — be better ambassadors for Christ. I wholeheartedly endorse Josh’s work, and I encourage you to join me in following Josh and getting involved in his work today!”

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One Thing Every Pastor Can Do to Prevent Abortions in Their Congregation

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Image: Pastor preaching to congregation

Estimated reading time: 20 minutes.

There is a long list of steps pro-life advocates would like to see their pastor take to stop abortion, and, unfortunately, pastors find that list intimidating. They can’t do everything, and they often don’t feel like anything that they can do would actually make a difference. I’d like to suggest one minimal (and not even controversial) leadership decision that pastors can make that is likely to save lives within their congregations.

My view of what church leaders should do about abortion has evolved over 13 years of full-time pro-life work. I used to get very angry when I thought about pastors who are silent on this subject, because I earnestly believed that most of them were either cowards or shamefully apathetic to a serious evil in our country. I had a bad experience nine years ago with a pro-abortion-choice usher at one of the largest Protestant churches in Fresno, California who debated me about abortion in the foyer while her pastor preached. When I later told the story on the pro-life podcast I hosted, I needed to physically stand up because I was so frustrated by the experience.

I’ve since calmed down a bit, thanks partially to Scott Klusendorf. I remember that, when Scott was writing his book The Case for Life, he told me that he wanted to take a different approach with silent pastors. Instead of lecturing them, he wanted to come beside them, realizing that many of them aren’t doing anything because they don’t know what they should do.

I’ve since tried to emulate Scott’s attitude toward pastors. That’s become easier as I’ve talked to more pastors and parish priests who struggle with what to say about abortion. For many of them, their silence is not due to cowardice or apathy, but due to a very understandable concern of emotionally damaging their congregants whom they know are post-abortive. I’m not saying that the best response to that fear is silence on abortion. I’m merely acknowledging that when a pastor is shepherding hundreds of people, and he knows that some of them are post-abortive, it’s at least understandable for him to be very concerned for their well-being if someone says something in church that equates abortion to killing babies.

Click the video below to watch a video version of this article.

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Equal Rights Institute Turns Four

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ERI Four Year Anniversary

Last week marked the four-year anniversary of the launch of Equal Rights Institute. It’s been a busy year!

We spoke to 2,465 people in 29 speeches and one all-day seminar, representing a 17% increase in how many people we spoke to in the last year. (We rarely do seminars now that the course is out. Now we encourage groups to get the course and then consider flying one of us out for Q&A and roleplay exercises.)

We also published 25 new articles to our blog, a 92% increase from last year, which were read by 32,084 people, a 13% increase from last year. (And those analytics aren’t even accurate, given that due to a huge website error we just fixed, we’re missing two full months of data. Therefore the actual increase in readership is larger than what we’re seeing.)

Here are a few of my favorite memories from the last year:

Training the staff and volunteers of Denmark Right to Life to have better dialogues with pro-choice people.

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PODCAST: Josh Brahm Explains Some Changes to Our Podcast

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I give a mini ERI update because we’re making some changes that will impact the ERI podcast schedule.

Download Audio MP3 | 00:06:17

Click here to subscribe to the ERI podcast in iTunes.

Subscribe to the Equipped for Life Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Subscribe to ERI’s other podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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COURSE PODCAST CLIP: Practical Tips for Talking with Post-Abortive Women

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Every other Wednesday we publish a new episode of the Equipped for Life Podcast, available to everyone who purchases our course, “Equipped for Life: A Fresh Approach to Conversations about Abortion.” Generally, these podcast episodes won’t be available to the general public, but we plan on releasing short clips from the episodes every Thursday, to give you a sense of what these podcasts are like.

In this episode of the Equipped for Life Course Podcast, Rachel interviews Lori Navrodtzke, a Pregnancy Resource Center counselor and Justice For All volunteer, about how to dialogue with people about abortion if they’ve already had one.

Download Audio MP3 | 00:07:50

In this clip, Rachel and Lori discuss how to proceed in a conversation if someone does not admit to having had a personal abortion experience. They also give some examples of how to let people know about post-abortive healing, even if they don’t feel like they need it at this time.

Click here to subscribe to the ERI podcast in iTunes.

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LIVE SPEECH AUDIO: Using Digital Media to Save Lives

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Download Audio MP3 | 00:32:38

At the 2018 Students for Life of America Conference, Timothy Brahm gave a never-before-heard speech on social media dialogue. After the presentation, Tim answered some questions from the audience along with Josh Tijerina from Halcyon, another social media presenter at the conference who presented before Tim did. Below are listed some of the different points that he makes in the speech, in case you would like to jump around:

Problems with Conversations on Social Media:

  • 2:27: When people are in fight mode, they can’t hear you. It is not just about the arguments.
  • 3:43: Social media conversations are extra challenging because they are public, not private
  • 4:33: Social media breeds hypersensitivity to our own brand management.
  • 6:07: The structure of comment threads work against you.
  • 7:12: The “like” system influences how causal observers perceive your writing through an unfair filter.
  • 8:15: People on social media are almost immune from normal social pressures.
  • 10:07: Recent political hostility has conditioned people to be angry online.
  • 11:03: Social media is structured as an engine for constant outrage.

16 Tips for Social Media Dialogue:

  • 16:08: Move your conversation to private message, Skype, or in person as soon as possible.
  • 17:06: Make minimal persuasion goals.
  • 18:00: Be aware of the lack of nonverbal communication.
  • 18:34: Post things with your pro-choice friends in mind.
  • 19:22: Try hard to assume the best about people.
  • 19:34: Take a step back if you’re feeling defensive.
  • 19:57: Point out every piece of common ground.
  • 20:14: Try to only use neutral language.
  • 20:31: Ask lots of clarification questions, make few statements and arguments. Try to wait to do so until the conversation is one-on-one.
  • 20:48: Choose a friendly looking profile picture.
  • 21:17: Don’t name-drop philosophers or logical fallacies.
  • 21:36: Don’t feed the trolls.
  • 22:08: Use links very sparingly.
  • 22:28: Only cite neutral sources. Do not link to pro-life websites.
  • 22:36: Point out when they teach you something.
  • 23:18: Sow intentional, positive seeds with people who you hope to dialogue with someday.

Q and A with Tim Brahm and the other presenter who spoke before him, Josh Tijerina:

  • 25:25: “When is the appropriate time to use snark in dialogues?”
  • 26:39: “In regards to your point about liking pro-choice friend’s comments when you think they are being charitable or gracious in dialogue, do you think that could be misinterpreted or come off as strange to your pro-life friends?”
  • 28:01: “Have you done any studies on the effectiveness of graphic abortion images on social media?”
  • 30:01: “In tip number four, you suggest we post on social media with our pro-choice friends in mind. I am a Christian and this influences my pro-life view, so sometimes I post Christian things or bible verses. What do you think about this?”

Related Links:

Subscribe to the Equipped for Life Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Subscribe to ERI’s other podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.