Faith and Law

A discussion of the short-term and long-range challenges facing Great Tradition Christians in an America increasingly unmoored from its moral and cultural foundations.Support the show

Is “social justice” the same as “biblical justice,” or do these concepts sometimes diverge? On the one hand, social justice seems deeply indebted to Christian thought and practice. On the other hand, some of its most active proponents today are secularists, sometimes even Marxist atheists. In light of such complications, how ought Christians interact with the “social justice movement” in the United States today?Recommended reading:Social Justice Rites: Sacrificial Politics and Sacred Victims by Molly Brigid McGrathJustice in the Bible by Timothy KellerBible Project Justice VideoJustin Giboney is an attorney and political strategist in Atlanta, GA. He is also the Co-Founder and President of the AND Campaign, which is a coalition of urban Christians who are determined to address the sociopolitical arena with the compassion and conviction of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Mr. Giboney has managed successful campaigns for elected officials in the state and referendums relating to the city’s transportation and water infrastructure. In 2012 and 2016, Georgia’s 5th congressional district elected him as a delegate for the Democratic National Convention and he served as the co-chair of Obama for America’s Gen44-Atlanta initiative. A former Vanderbilt University football player and law student, Justin served on the Urban League of Greater Atlanta Board of Directors. He’s written op-eds for publications such as Christianity Today and The Hill.R. J. Snell is the Director of Academic Programs at the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, NJ, and is senior fellow at the Agora Institute for Civic Virtue and the Common Good. Prior to those appointments he was Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Philosophy Program at Eastern University and the Templeton Honors College. He earned his MA in philosophy at Boston College, and his PhD in philosophy at Marquette University. Research interests include the liberal arts, ethics, natural law theory, Thomas Aquinas, the Catholic intellectual tradition, and the work of Bernard Lonergan, SJ. He is the author of Through a Glass Darkly: Bernard Lonergan and Richard Rorty on Knowing without a God’s-eye View(Marquette, 2006), Authentic Cosmopolitanism (with Steve Cone, Pickwick, 2013), The Perspective of Love: Natural Law in a New Mode (Pickwick, 2014), Acedia and Its Discontents (Angelico, 2015), and co-editor of Subjectivity: Ancient and Modern and Nature: Ancient and Modern, as well as articles, chapters, and essays in a variety of scholarly and popular venues. He and his family reside in the Princeton area.David Corey is a professor of Political Science focusing on political philosophy in the Honors Program at Baylor University. He is also an affiliated member of the departments of Philosophy and Political Science. He was an undergraduate at Oberlin, where he earned a BA in Classics from the College and a BMus in music from the Conservatory. He studied law and jurisprudence at Old College, Edinburgh before taking up graduate work in political philosophy at Louisiana State University. He is the author of two books, The Just War Tradition (with J. Daryl Charles) (2012) and The Sophists in Plato’s Dialogues (2015). He has written more than two dozen articles and book chapters in such venues as the Review of Politics, History of Political ThoughtSupport the show

Christians are invited by God to help those in poverty, and many are eager to answer that call. But how? Peter Greer, Jena Nardella, and Oye Waddell offer a biblical and economic understanding of how to address poverty and foster sustainable economic development and human flourishing. Click to read the panelists' slides:Jena NardellaPeter GreerOye WaddellRecommended reading:Created to Flourish by Peter Greer and Phil SmithThe Redemptive Nonprofit by PraxisSupport the show

Our nation is being torn apart. But what if there’s one big thing at the center of it all. In Divided Hearts of America, Super Bowl champion and executive producer Benjamin Watson goes on a journey to discover the truth about abortion—a subject that has been at the center of heated debates since the passage of Roe v. Wade in 1973. Along the way, Watson sits down with over 30 experts in various fields and from both sides of the ideological and political spectrums and asks the question: Can the most divisive issue of our time actually bring us back together again?Listen to an exclusive QA session with Executive Producer Benjamin Watson, his wife activist and speaker Kirsten Watson, and Faith and Law board member DJ Jordan.Support the show

The Department of State's Commission on Unalienable Rights, chaired by Harvard professor Mary Ann Glendon, issued its report on human rights in U.S. foreign policy in July, examining human rights from the perspective of both America's foundational principles and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Professors Robert George of Princeton and William Saunders of Catholic University discuss the report and examine its relevance for a deep and clear understanding of human rights and responsibilities. Support the show

"The only way to truly have wisdom about politics is to daily fight to prevent making politics and power an idol, and to stay grounded in an identity in Christ that is separate from accomplishments." - Ammon SimonAmmon Simon, Chief Counsel to Senator Toomey, shares Christ centered wisdom on battling temptations that come from working on Capitol Hill including:  pride, tribalism and workaholism.  Support the show

Medical abortion is increasing as a percentage of all abortions for reasons that benefit abortion providers but there are distinct disadvantages for women. Medical abortion is far more likely to fail than surgical abortion, resulting in frequent complications and requiring surgical completion in one out of twenty women. Abortion advocates are aggressively working to remove FDA and legislative restrictions so that medical abortion can be provided without evidence based oversight. These trends must be recognized and countered for the protection of American women.Click here to download Dr. Skop's presentation.Recommended reading on the topic of medical abortions: “The Next Abortion Battleground: Chemical Abortion” by Patrina Mosley, published by the Family Research Council in December 2019. "Immediate Complications After Medical Compared With Surgical Termination of Pregnancy" Niinimäki, Maarit MD; Pouta, Anneli MD, PhD; Bloigu, Aini BSc; Gissler, Mika MSocSc, PhD; Hemminki, Elina MD, PhD; Suhonen, Satu MD, PhD; Heikinheimo, Oskari MD, PhD. By The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists October 2009."The “No-Test Medication Abortion” Protocol: Experimenting with Women’s Health" by Dr. Ingrid Skop, published by the Charlotte Lozier Institute in July 2020.Support the show

The "American Project" at Pepperdine's School of Public Policy is a unique "pracademic" initiative that is exploring a variety of cultural factors impacting our politics and policymaking. One of the issues they're focused on is the growing crisis of loneliness. Long before the pandemic, economists, social psychologists and healthcare experts were raising serious concerns about the increasing levels of disconnection and alienation across almost all demographic categories. As human beings created for community, how should policy makers and leaders of faith respond to these challenges? Hear from one of the nation's leading researchers in this field and the dean of Pepperdine's School of Public Policy in this timely conversation.Recommendations from Dean Pete Peterson for further reading on the topic:"Death by Loneliness" by Dr. Broghammer - RealClear Policy (American Project series)"We are suffering from a social recession, too." by Michael Hendrix (Manhattan Institute) - RealClear Policy (American Project series)"All the Lonely Americans?" Report by Joint Economic Committee (Sen. Mike Lee's Office)Francie Broghammer, MD, is the Chief Psychiatry Resident at the University of California, Irvine. Her academic interests lie in medical ethics, education, spirituality, and human flourishing. She is a Leonine Fellow, an American Psychiatric Association Leadership Fellow, and is a board member for Pepperdine University’s American Project. Additionally, she holds the distinction of sitting on the UC Irvine Medical Ethics Committee. Dr. Broghammer played Division I Women’s Lacrosse at the University of Notre Dame, and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Science Pre-Professional Studies and Portuguese Language & Brazilian Studies. She attended the University of California, Irvine for medical school and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Medical Honor Society. Dr. Broghammer has published several peer reviewed articles and is currently researching suicide and social isolation. She resides in Long Beach, California with her husband and their two children.Pete Peterson was the first executive director of the bi-partisan organization Common Sense California (CSC). In 2010, CSC became the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership at Pepperdine University. Currently, Peterson serves as dean of Pepperdine's School of Public Policy. Along with teaching a class on the subject at Pepperdine, Peterson co-developed the Davenport Institute's training seminars which have been offered to more than 1,000 public sector leaders. He's also consulted on many participatory governance projects throughout California on issues ranging from budgets to water policy. Pete serves on the advisory boards of California's Institute for Local Government, and the Public Policy Institute of California, as well as the DaVinci Charter Schools in Hawthorne, CA. Pete earned his BA in History from George Washington University, and his Masters in Public Policy from Pepperdine's School of Public Policy. He was the 2014 Republican nominee for California Secretary of State.Support the show

Lisa Schultz, Chief of Staff to U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry Black, and Kerry Knott, Chief of Staff to Representative Robert Aderholt join us for a virtual panel discussion about serving Members and staff during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Although no one has the definitive perspective on how we will operate in this new era, Lisa and Kerry will help us in a preliminary look at how we will approach our work. Support the show

At a time of dramatic turmoil and change on all fronts in society -- from the status of the nation state to identity politics to educations to the nature of morality -- the question arises: Is there any unifying narrative that allows us to make some sense of the chaos? The answer is yes, that the underlying notion of human identity, what it means to be a 'self' has been transformed over the last three hundred years. Only as we grasp the dynamics of this transformation can we both come to understand what is happening in our world and begin to frame a helpful response.Dr. Trueman’s book can be pre-ordered online.Support the show