Last month I spent about four hours in two sessions answering questions from Rock for Life activists before their outreach tour this summer. This is the audio from the first of those two sessions.
I’ll list the topics below in case you want to jump around:
2:32: “Why are you pro-life?”
6:57: My views on capital punishment and how pro-life people who are pro-capital punishment can justify those two views.
14:31: Are pro-choice people inconsistent for criticizing pro-lifers who are pro-capital punishment, since they’re for the choice to kill people in abortions?
18:06: How to think clearly about life-threatening pregnancies.
31:03: How do I talk about this issue with a couple that I know who have said that if they were in a situation where they had to choose between the mother dying and the child dying, that they would never do something that results in the death of the child. (This includes an analogy that explains why I’m not a pacifist.)
44:52: Thinking clearly about really difficult pregnancies that are not life-threatening.
46:37: “What about a woman who has an awful but not life-threatening pregnancy, but also does not have any support system?”
52:17: “That was really helpful, but what is a soundbite we could use when people ask us about life-threatening pregnancies at outreach?”
53:37: How should we think about birth control?
1:06:40: “I recently met someone who said that they’re ‘personally pro-life’ but they also identify as ‘pro-choice’ because they think that should be a decision that people can make. What should I have said?”
1:20:46: “Sometimes when I tell people I’m pro-life I tell them about my mom who chose life for me in extraordinary circumstances. Is that a good idea?”
1:24:07: “What if a 10-year old is a rape or incest victim? Can she have an abortion?”
Notes:
I said that the youngest premie to have been born was 18 weeks and six days. While I have seen that fact somewhere, I can’t find a source for it now. We do have a source for a premie being born at 19 weeks and five days though: Folkard, Claire. “Guinness World Records 2004 (Guinness Book of Records).” By Guinness. Random House, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2015.
The point about how different people need different tools to change their mind is from Timothy Brahm, and he expands on this a lot in episodes six and thirteen of the Equipped for Life Podcast.
The movie that depicts the true story I told about the mountain climbers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates is “Touching the Void.”
Click here for the “6 Resources on Whether or Not Birth Control Pills Cause Abortions” piece.
Josh Brahm is the President of Equal Rights Institute, an organization that trains pro-life advocates to think clearly, reason honestly and argue persuasively.
Josh has worked in the pro-life movement since he was 18. A sought-after speaker, Josh has spoken for more than 23,000 people in six countries and in 22 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 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 15 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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Please note: The goal of the comments section on this blog is simply and unambiguously to promote productive dialogue. We reserve the right to delete comments that are snarky, disrespectful, flagrantly uncharitable, offensive, or off-topic. If in doubt, read our Comments Policy.