I spoke at both days of the Central California Diocesan Congress last weekend, and had a booth between sessions. The best moment at the booth was when I met the guy in this picture:
“Ethan” recognized me and said, “Hey, I talked to you at Fresno State this year!” I recognized his face, smiled and shook his hand. Then Ethan told me that he was pro-choice until that day at Fresno State, but he became pro-life in the days following our conversation.
I asked him, “What was it that changed your mind?”
He responded, “It was because of what you said about all humans being equal.”
I had made the Equal Rights Argument, and upon reflection, Ethan became pro-life.
As I’ve said before, this is the most undervalued argument in the pro-life movement. I know philosophers, particularly J.P. Moreland and Christopher Kaczor, have been making it for years. I think we should be making it more often at the advocate level.
I have more posts to do in the future that respond to common objections. They’re in the works!
Josh worked in the pro-life movement starting at age 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 and 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.