I’d like to host a discussion in the comments below. The question is: what would be a better word to use than “abortionist”? Estimated reading time: 2 minutes. UPDATE 7/13/15: There’s been lots of great discussion in the comments, from both sides of the debate, exactly what I was hoping … Read More
A Response to My Facebook Newsfeed Today
If you’re unhappy about the supreme court decision, be a gracious loser, no need to be over the top and hassle people who disagree with you. If you’re happy about the supreme court decision, be a gracious winner, no need to be over the top and hassle people who disagree … Read More
When a Hypothetical Story Isn’t Hypothetical After All
Sometimes when I talk about abortion with strangers, it feels like I’ve already had that conversation before, because they’re making familiar statements. But the truth is, I haven’t had that conversation before, because I haven’t heard that statement from that person before. Even though some statements are very common, different … Read More
Relational Apologetics Tips: How to Cultivate Friendship Amidst Challenging Conversations
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes. Equal Rights Institute is focused on teaching pro-life advocates practical dialogue tips, rigorous philosophy, and relational apologetics. When we use the phrase “relational apologetics,” we mean trying to change a person’s mind about a core belief in the context of genuine friendship. Most people will … Read More
Two Simple Tips to Help You Master the Art of Clarity
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes. Have you ever had a really ugly fight with someone close to you, only to realize after the fact that it was all based on a simple misunderstanding? It’s very frustrating, especially because all of the pain of that fight could have been avoided if … Read More
When and How You Should End Unproductive Conversations
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes. It is one of the questions I’m asked the most often. We’ve all experienced it. You’re talking to someone about abortion or something else and it’s just not going very well. You start doubting whether any good will come from letting the dialogue continue. If … Read More
Relating to Relativists
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes. Since I started working as a pro-life advocate in 2011, I have deeply struggled with how to have productive conversations with moral relativists. I could “win a debate” with them, but I have a loftier goal of actually changing their minds, and I was nowhere … Read More
Are We Afraid of the Truth?
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes. Lately at Equal Rights Institute we have been emphasizing the importance of showing compassion to people, listening to them, and loving them. Several of our followers have responded to this emphasis by asking, “Are you guys wimpy about the truth? Do you just go … Read More
VIDEO: 6 Practical Tips for Having Good Dialogues
My speech from the 2015 Students for Life of America conference in D.C. has been posted! These are six practical tips for having good dialogues with pro-choice people. Six practical tips for having good dialogues: Silence your inner monologue. Rephrase what they said. Find genuine common ground when possible. Acknowledge … Read More
Richard Dawkins Retweeted My Article, and What We Can Learn From That
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes. As you may have heard, the Twitterverse exploded in late August when Richard Dawkins tweeted that it would be immoral to not abort a baby diagnosed with Down Syndrome. He wrote a blog post clarifying his views the following day, and I wrote an article to help … Read More