I rarely do speaking events in Fresno these days, but I’m looking forward to training pro-life people in the most undervalued argument in the movement at this event at Free Grace Church. I’ll also be talking about some recent discoveries we’ve made at Equal Rights Institute about the kinds of questions that are good to ask, and the kinds of question you should NOT ask. Will be followed by a Q&A session.
Lunch is provided. Please RSVP at the Facebook event page so that they can buy enough food.
| Date: | October 4, 2015 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. |
| Event: | The Most Undervalued Argument in the Pro-Life Movement |
| Venue: |
Free Grace Church 559-645-5057 |
| Location: | 3385 East Shields Ave Fresno, CA 93726 |
| Public: | Public |
| Registration: | Click here to register. |
| More Info: | Click here for more information. |
Want me to speak to your group? Click here to check my availability!
The Students for Life clubs at University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University are bringing Equal Rights Institute’s training seminar to Michigan! Josh and Tim Brahm and Jacob Nels will teach and mentor you personally to make sure you get the most out of the day. This seminar is designed to train you to have productive conversations with pro-choice people, using the arguments and dialogue skills that will be most likely to change their mind.
NOTE: If you attend this seminar, you will be working with an experienced mentor who will help you to learn the concepts and be able to put them into practice. Because there is a limited number of mentors, there is a cap on the number of people we can effectively train at this seminar. Filling out this registration form is the ONLY way to guarantee a seat at the seminar. If we still have room left for more people on the day of the event, it will be first come first served until we meet our cap. If you’re planning to attend, please complete this form to guarantee a seat.
Training Seminar:
Campus Outreach:
| Date: | September 19, 2015 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| Event: | Equal Rights Institute Seminar - Michigan |
| Sponsor: | The Students for Life clubs at University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University |
| Venue: | Eastern Michigan University - Student Center 300 |
| Location: | 900 Oakwood St Ypsilanti, MI 48197 |
| Public: | Public |
| Registration: | Click here to register. |
I received an email from a follower I’ll call “Mike” who wanted some advice on how to initiate a dialogue about abortion with his pen pal. I thought some of my tips might help you if you’re trying to figure out how to use relational apologetics.
I’ve removed some of the details from Mike’s email to help protect his identity.
Mike wrote:
Hi, Josh.
Since you spend a lot of time writing about how pro-lifers ought to communicate their views when conversing with others, I thought I’d email you with a question I had. I’ve been emailing a pen pal of mine for a few months now, and we mostly talk about our own lives and mutual interests. We’ve never discussed the abortion issue before, and it’s not something I really want to bring up, but I also want to be able to discuss other topics without worrying about whether or not it will eventually lead to a full-blown abortion debate.
Funnily enough, we’re both interested in bioethics, and she’s asked me what bioethical issues interest me the most. I’m not really sure if I should use this as an opportunity to mention my views as a pro-lifer and consistent life ethicist.
Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.
I’d use the bioethics common ground to tread a little into abortion waters. Say that the bioethical issue you’re most interested in is the ethics of abortion, and that you’ve actually been a little worried that mentioning that might make things awkward. Say that you’d be really interested in her take on that if she’d be willing to share it. Say that you’re not one of those obnoxious pro-lifers that shouts opinions at people. You’re interested in both sides learning from each other and having respectful dialogue. You would especially like to do that with a friend since it gives more opportunity for learning from each other, since you can both research each other’s statements and then go back again for clarification.
And then let her take that where she wants to. If she doesn’t want to get into it, respect that. She may love debating that stuff though, and now you have a great launchpad into that topic.
Question: Do you have any advice for Mike? Post it below in the comments!
A friend of mine asked me this question, in response to the third Planned Parenthood video coming out:
I’m still not sure enough that PP is selling baby parts. Would you guys be willing to write a blog post about why you think they are? I think that would be helpful to your pro-choice readers too.
The way Planned Parenthood has attempted to defend themselves is by saying they are donating, not selling the baby parts, and that they are compensated for what it costs them to donate the baby parts. That’s an adequate response if the only thing you’re trying to explain is putting numbers like $75 for a “specimen.” They can say “that’s just us recouping our costs. We do not profit.”
The problem is that there are statements in each video that contradict this attempt to explain away the damning evidence Center for Medical Progress has provided. With each video, the evidence gets worse and worse.
