Estimated reading time: 5 minutes. Any time I go to a college campus to do a pro-life outreach, I can count on three things: 1) I will forget to wear sunblock, 2) I will not drink enough water, and 3) I am going to be reminded that I cannot get … Read More
Is Abortion Justified by an Inalienable Right to Sex?
I wrote an article two weeks ago describing the first part of my conversation with a student I’m calling “Brent.” If you haven’t read it yet, I’d encourage you to check that out first. It has the first half of this story as well as four practical dialogue tips I … Read More
Four Practical Dialogue Tips from My Conversation with Brent
Estimated reading time: 12 minutes. I noticed John Paul, one of our volunteers, looked nervous in his conversation with a student in front of our poll table. I walked up and started listening so he could get help if he needed it. John Paul quickly asked me for my take, … Read More
My Conversation with “Mark” on Personhood and Apathy
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes. This is the story of one of the dialogues I had during our outreach at the University of Michigan. I talked to a student I’ll call “Mark” at the University of Michigan who was pro-choice. He thought personhood began in the 2nd trimester, but he wasn’t … Read More
When They Bite the Bullet
[youtube id=”4gnjKN3BOH0″ height=”316″ width=”560″] Download Audio MP3 | 01:14:53 Josh and Rachel respond to the common question of what to do when the person you’re talking to “bites a bullet,” by saying something like, “Maybe we can kill toddlers sometimes,” or “maybe squirrels are persons.” They also briefly discuss how … Read More
Don’t Be Too Nice
This post is adapted from a newsletter I wrote while on staff with Justice For All. Estimated reading time: 4 minutes. “Gracious confrontation” is not a contradiction in terms; it is an essential part of mastering the art of good dialogue. I learned this in April of 2014 at a … Read More
Why Rhonda Changed Her Mind About Whether to Use the Word “Pro-Choice”
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes. We’ve been talking about language in the abortion debate a lot lately. It’s a subject I’ve written on several times before as well. If we want to be as persuasive as possible, it’s not only our arguments that matter, but the words we use that … Read More
Avoiding an Embarrassingly Common Pro-Life Mistake
Don’t you hate it when your honest clarification question is mistaken for the start of a fallacious argument? Estimated reading time: 6 minutes. Almost every time in the last year I’ve talked with pro-choice students at a pro-life outreach, I’ve had an exchange that goes something like this: Pro-Choice Student: … 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
From ‘I Don’t Want to Talk About Religion’ to ‘I Will Pray Tonight’
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes. Sometimes when I have an opportunity to share my faith in Jesus, I don’t take it. Stay with me. Sadly, many people have had negative experiences with Christians, which makes them disinclined to engage with one again. If I jump at the first chance I … Read More