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An Exciting Announcement About the Equipped for Life Course!

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When we first launched the course in the Fall of 2016 we decided to format it as an annual membership because we wanted to best serve our main demographic: pro-life student club leaders who want to train their new incoming students every year. After asking for feedback from course members, we have decided to shift our subscription model to better accommodate the needs of pro-life advocates who are not associated with any particular group, but are just as excited to go through our curriculum. We also want to encourage those college students who began the course with a group to stay involved in the movement after graduation by keeping their membership active. For these reasons, I am excited to tell you that the Equipped for Life Course will now use a permanent membership model!

This means that anyone who has ever purchased a subscription in the past will have their membership switched over to permanent active status. Anyone who purchases the course going forward will also have permanent access! Whether you buy the course alone or as part of a group package, no memberships will ever expire. I am happy that we are able to change the format for course members in this way because I think it will better serve the needs of pro-life advocates. Ultimately, that is what is most important to our organization!

We will be implementing these changes over the next few weeks on the backend of the website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at Support@EqualRightsInstitute.com.

If would like more information or would like to purchase the course, go to EquippedCourse.com.

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A Look Back at 2018 and What We’re Doing Next!

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This post is to catch you up on the most exciting developments at Equal Rights Institute, where we’re headed next year, and how I’d like you to prayerfully consider partnering with us financially.

It’s been a busy season of speaking at ERI! Last year we gave 36 speeches and seminars all over the country as well as Canada and Denmark, speaking to 3,978 people. That’s a 44% increase in the number of speeches, but to roughly the same number of people we spoke to last year, meaning we spoke at more small events than we did last year, like high school/college clubs and church groups. All in all Tim, Rachel, and I spoke in Maryland, Oregon, Pennsylvania, California, North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Arizona, Canada, and Denmark!

Let me share a few stories from the last few months since I’ve already talked a lot about my international trips training the pro-life movement abroad in the first half of this year.

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How to Avoid Two Extremes of Pro-Life Advocacy

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Mastering the art of pro-life advocacy requires a delicate balance of candor and affability.

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes.

We should not be so afraid of making people uncomfortable that we are unwilling to share the truth. I have seen this happen in some Christian churches when leaders want to be welcoming but are so focused on building community that they either willingly or unintentionally sacrifice the richness of the faith for the sake of attracting new people. Their idea of evangelism is to make Jesus “cool” by selling people a shallow, feel-good message that isn’t different in kind from a motivational speaker.

In response to this culture of misplaced compassion, some Christians take the opposite approach and overcorrect. They want to dive into advanced theology immediately, and call out sinful behavior of people seeking Christ without bothering to build relationships first. This cart-before-the-horse method can be just as unhelpful as the feel-good-religion approach.

I have seen the same two extremes arise during abortion dialogues, and I would like to make a case for the balanced approach to pro-life activism: we need to be both winsome and truthful when we talk about abortion.

If you want to see a clear example of an unbalanced abortion conversation, go onto Twitter and search for “pro-life” or “abortion.” You will see two main types of people:

  1. Those who tweet about abortion without any careful consideration of how their words will be perceived by pro-choice people, and
  2. People who are throwing insults at individual pro-choice accounts and organizations like Planned Parenthood or NARAL.

If advocates are both winsome and truthful when they talk about abortion they will see more people come join the efforts of the pro-life movement.

It is an ugly, unproductive place. Often, I will scroll through and wonder why these people even bother. I suspect for many of them it is because they honestly don’t know of a better way.

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ERI Update – November 2018

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Download Audio MP3 | 00:22:01

I give an update on what’s been going on behind the scenes at the ERI office, regarding recent speaking trips, making the video series analyzing “Reversing Roe,” and an update on the sidewalk counseling course.

Related Links:

  • Click here to watch my video series Reversing Roe: Exposing the Bias
  • Click here to donate to Equal Rights Institute
  • Click here to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.
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7 Tips for Handling a Forced Political Debate at the Holiday Dinner Table

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Author’s note: This is part two of a two-part series on being an effective pro-life advocate at family holiday gatherings. Part one is here: 6 Things Every Pro-Life Advocate Needs to Know Before the Holidays.

Editor’s Note 11/27/24: Political discussions have become more and more heated over the last decade, and Trump’s election for a second presidential term is unlikely to change that for the better. In addition, with Trump’s re-election and the Dobbs decision, conversations about abortion are more likely than ever to get redirected into a political discussion. It’s better to keep a dialogue focused on abortion, regardless of how you feel about US politics, but sometimes (especially if you’re not the one initiating a debate on hot-button issues at the family dinner) you’re going to be stuck along for the ride. The tips in this article remain highly applicable, and Tip #5 has been updated to be more timely.

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes.

7 Tips for Handling a Forced Political Debate at the Holiday Dinner Table

In my first article on this subject, I explained that political discussions with extended family are some of the most complicated dialogue situations to navigate due largely to the power dynamics. I also discussed several reasons why the holiday dinner table is not an ideal time or place for persuading people to change their mind about abortion.

But what if your pro-choice aunt does bring up abortion or another political topic at the dinner table and tries to pull you into a debate with her? Here are seven tips for making the best of that situation: