Faith and Law

During the lecture, R.R. Reno will outline the changing cultural and political landscape. Concerns about oppression, discrimination, and over-consolidation are giving way to anxieties about deconsolidation, vulnerability, and disintegration. This foretells as the opening of a new chapter in American political life.Reno is the editor of First Things magazine. He was formerly a professor of theology and ethics at Creighton University. He is the author of several books including Fighting the Noonday Devil, a theological commentary on the Book of Genesis in the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible series. His work ranges widely in systematic and moral theology, as well as in controverted questions of biblical interpretation.Support the show

James Forsyth, senior pastor of McLean Presbyterian Church, will examine John 6:26, where Jesus exposed the political motivation of the crowd who followed him. He'll ask key questions, such as, "How did the crowd's political vision for Jesus keep them from truly seeing him? In what ways can our politics distort our view of Jesus? What does it look like to pursue Jesus because he is an end in himself, not a means to other things?" We hope you can join us for what I believe will be an important discussion in the lives of those who work in politics and policy. James is the Senior Pastor of McLean Presbyterian Church, located just outside of Washington, D.C. He grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he graduated from the University of Edinburgh, before moving to the U.S. to study at Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS), Jackson. He is now a Guest Professor of Practical Theology at RTS Washington, D.C.James is married to his high school sweetheart, Rosie, and is dad to Mia, Caleb, Seamus, and Isla. Formative experiences have included growing up in a strong, yet tender, family, being a college athlete, becoming a father at the age of 19, wrestling through a dark season of anxiety, and being shaped by a handful of key mentors. Throughout, God’s grace has been the theme – a theme that now animates his life and ministry.In his free time, you might find James CrossFitting, supporting Man Utd., laughing too loudly with friends, grilling, playing guitar, or – at his happiest – enjoying his young family.Support the show

Jeremy Everett is a noted advocate for the hungry and poor. He calls Christians to work intentionally across ideological divides to build trust with one another and impoverished communities and effectively end America's hunger crisis. Everett, appointed by US Congress to the National Commission on Hunger, founded and directs the Texas Hunger Initiative, a successful ministry that is helping to eradicate hunger in Texas and around the globe. Everett details the organization's history and tells stories of its work with communities from West Texas to Washington, DC, helping Christians of all political persuasions understand how they can work together to truly make a difference.Max Finberg is President of Growing Hope Globally. Founded as Foods Resource Bank in 1999, Growing Hope Globally has raised more than $51 million in its quest to end world hunger. Across the U.S., 164 Growing Projects, representing more than 2,000 volunteers based in rural farming communities, have helped raise 70 percent of that total. While many Growing Projects are rooted in agriculture – profits from crops raised are donated – others center around events such as dinners, auctions, bike rides, and 5k races. To learn more, visit GrowingHopeGlobally.org.Support the show

Hadley Arkes has been a member of the Amherst College faculty since 1966, and since 1987 he has been the Edward Ney Professor of Jurisprudence. Since 2016, he has assumed emeritus status. He has written five books with Princeton University Press: Bureaucracy, the Marshall Plan and the National Interest (1972), The Philosopher in the City (1981), First Things (1986), Beyond the Constitution (1990), and The Return of George Sutherland (1994). But his most recent books have been with Cambridge University Press, including Natural Rights and the Right to Choose (2002), and Constitutional Illusions and Anchoring Truths: The Touchstone of the Natural Law (2010). His articles have appeared in professional journals, but apart from his writing in more scholarly formats, he has become known to a wider audience through his writings in the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, and National Review. He has been a contributor also to First Things, a journal that took its name from his book of that title. For eight years he wrote a column for Crisis magazine under the title of "Lifewatch" and he has carried over that concern as one of the band of friends who formed the new web journal The Catholic Thing.He was the main advocate, and architect, of the bill that became known as the Born-Alive Infants’ Protection Act. The account of his experience, in moving the bill through Congress, is contained as an epilogue or memoir in his book, Natural Rights & the Right to Choose. Arkes first prepared his proposal as part of the debating kit assembled for the first George Bush in 1988. The purpose of that proposal was to offer the “most modest first step” of all in legislating on abortion, and opening a conversation even with people who called themselves “pro-choice.” Professor Arkes proposed to begin simply by preserving the life of a child who survived an abortion–contrary to the holding of one federal judge, that such a child was not protected by the laws. Professor Arkes led the testimony on the bill before the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House in July 2000, then again in July 2001. The legislative calendar was upended in the aftermath of September 11th, but in March 2002, the bill was brought to the floor of the House, where it passed unanimously. To the surprise of Professor Arkes, the bill was brought to the floor of the Senate on July 18 by the Deputy Majority Leader, Harry Reid, and passed in the same way. On August 5, President Bush signed the bill into law with Professor Arkes in attendance.Professor Arkes has been the founder, at Amherst, of the Committee for the American Founding, a group of alumni and students seeking to preserve, at Amherst, the doctrines of “natural rights” taught by the American Founders and Lincoln. That interest has been carried over now to the founding of a new center for the jurisprudence of natural law, in Washington, D.C.: the James Wilson Institute on Natural Rights and the American Founding, named for one of the premier minds among the American Founders.Support the show

On June 27, 2003, Rear Admiral Barry C. Black (Ret.) was elected the 62nd Chaplain of the United States Senate. He began working in the Senate on July 7, 2003. Prior to coming to Capitol Hill, Chaplain Black served in the U.S. Navy for over twenty-seven years, ending his distinguished career as the Chief of Navy Chaplains. The Senate elected its first chaplain in 1789.Commissioned as a Navy Chaplain in 1976, Chaplain Black’s first duty station was the Fleet Religious Support Activity in Norfolk, Virginia. Subsequent assignments include Naval Support Activity, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland; First Marine Aircraft Wing, Okinawa, Japan; Naval Training Center, San Diego, California; USS BELLEAU WOOD (LHA 3) Long Beach, California; Naval Chaplains School Advanced Course, Newport, Rhode Island; Marine Aircraft Group THIRTY-ONE, Beaufort, South Carolina; Assistant Staff Chaplain, Chief of Naval Education and Training, Pensacola, Florida; and Fleet Chaplain, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, Norfolk, Virginia. As Rear Admiral, his personal decorations included the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal (two medals), Meritorious Service Medals (two awards), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals (two awards), and numerous unit awards, campaign, and service medals.Chaplain Black is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and an alumnus of Oakwood College, Andrews University, North Carolina Central University, Eastern Baptist Seminary, Salve Regina University, and United States International University. In addition to earning Master of Arts degrees in Divinity, Counseling, and Management, he has received a Doctorate degree in Ministry and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Psychology.Chaplain Black has been selected for many outstanding achievements. Of particular note, he was chosen from 127 nominees for the 1995 NAACP Renowned Service Award for his contribution to equal opportunity and civil rights. He also received the 2002 Benjamin Elijah Mays Distinguished Leadership Award from The Morehouse School of Religion.  In 2004, the Old Dominion University chapter of the NAACP conferred on him the Image Award, "Reaffirming the Dream -- Realizing the Vision" for military excellence.Chaplain Barry C. Black is married to the former Brenda Pearsall of St. Petersburg, Florida. They have three sons: Barry II, Brendan, and Bradford.Support the show

Academic and popular authors regularly assert that America’s founders were deists who created a godless Constitution and desired the strict separation of church and state.  Professor Hall explains why these claims are false, and shows how the founders were influenced by Christian ideas in important ways.  He concludes by arguing that America's founders shared a commitment to protecting religious liberty, but that there is virtually no evidence that they desired to build a wall of separation between church and state.Mark David Hall is the Herbert Hoover Distinguished Professor of Politics and Faculty Fellow in the William Penn Honors Program at George Fox University. He is also associated faculty at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University and senior fellow at Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion. He has written, edited, or co-edited a dozen books on religion and politics in America and is a nationally recognized expert on the religious freedom.  His book, Did America Have a Christian Founding?: Separating Modern Myth from Historical Fact, will be available from Thomas Nelson in October of 2019. Support the show

Mark Lutz grew up in South Africa, the son of missionary parents. Living for twenty years under apartheid shaped him to become an advocate for justice. Visits to fifty countries have sharpened his vision for a world free from extreme poverty.Mark is Senior Vice President of Global Philanthropy at Opportunity Inter- national, a non-profit microfinance organization. They loan out two billion dollars per year to poor families so they can start and expand small businesses, feed their families and send their children to school. In his book, UnPoverty: Rich Lessons from the Working Poor, the author tells the tales of remarkable people he met while visiting some 50 countries, concluding that they are poor simply because of where they were born. He contrasts their riches with his own poverty, sharing their lessons and calling us to envision a world without extreme poverty.Mark earned a Masters degree in cross-cultural communications from Wheaton College. He and his wife, Lise, live in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, where they raised their three children.Support the show

Dr. Aaron Rhodes’ book, The Debasement of Human Rights: How Politics Sabotage the Ideal of Freedom, identifies a dangerous trend in the international human rights movement. Increasingly, the natural rights of individuals, like religious freedom and freedom of speech and conscience, are being conflated with manufactured rights that are the social and economic policy priorities of particular groups and governments. Natural rights protect the fairness of the political process by ensuring that individuals are free to think, speak, and act according to their convictions. However, when governments and social groups can transform their economic and social policy goals into “human rights,” this undercuts the moral legitimacy and persuasive power of natural rights.Join us for a discussion on the future of the human rights movement and suggestions as to how the U.S. can best shape human rights policy and strategy. Our panelists will discuss how robust protection of natural rights, such as religious freedom, can ultimately lead to economic and social prosperity and why natural rights are best protected when they are protected for all, not for members of particular identity groups.Support the show

At this Friday Forum, the Clapham Group will premier a short film on The Role of the Faith Community and the Fight to End AIDS through PEPFAR and the Global Fund.  A panel of experts will respond including:Mark P. Lagon is a practitioner and thinker on global health, human rights, and human trafficking, and global institutions.  He is Chief Policy Officer at Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria—where he coordinates the non-profit’s Administration and congressional outreach, policy advocacy and coalition management, and research content.  He is also Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum, and Adjunct Professor in the Masters of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) at Georgetown University’s School. In the NGO world, he served as President of Freedom House.  Previously, he was Executive Director and CEO of the leading anti-human trafficking nonprofit, Polaris.  In academia and the think tank world, he was Global Politics and Security Chair for Georgetown’s MSFS Program.  He was also the same time Adjunct Senior Fellow for Human Rights at the Council on Foreign Relations.  In the Executive Branch, he served in three successive roles at the Department of State: member of the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff; Deputy Assistant Secretary of International Organization Affairs; and finally Ambassador-at-Large directing the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.  Earlier on Capitol Hill, he was senior staffer at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee responsible for international organizations and human rights; and served as deputy director at the House Republican Policy Committee. He is co-editor with Anthony Clark Arend of the 2014 book, Human Dignity and the Future of Global Institutions and author of the book, The Reagan Doctrine: Sources of American Conduct in the Cold War's Last Chapter.  He received his Ph.D. in Government from Georgetown University, and A.B. from Harvard University.Jenny Yang provides oversight for all advocacy initiatives and policy positions at World Relief. She has worked in the Resettlement section of World Relief as the senior case manager and East Asia program officer, where she focused on advocacy for refugees in the East Asia region and managed the entire refugee caseload for World Relief. Prior to joining World Relief, she worked at one of the largest political fundraising firms in Maryland, managing fundraising and campaigning for local politicians. She is co-author of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion and Truth in the Immigration Debate, serves as Chair of the Refugee Council USA (RCUSA) Africa Work Group, and was named one of the 50 Women to Watch by Christianity Today.Tom HartTom Hart is the US Executive Director of ONE, and is responsible for ONE’s advocacy, communications and campaign activities in the United States. Previously, Tom was the Senior Director of Government Relations at ONE. In this role, Tom devised and executed ONE’s government relations strategy for the US and Canada. Tom and his team led the way on unprecedented increases in development assistance by the United States, including historic increases in funding for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB through PEPFAR and the Global Fund, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and more. Before joining ONE, Tom was the Director of Government Relations for the Episcopal Church, USA, and an aide to Senators Alan Cranston and Jay Rockefeller.Michael GersonMichael Gerson is a nationally syndicated columnist who appears twice weekly in the Washington Post and in more than 100 other newspapers. He is the author of Heroic Conservatism (HarperOne, 2007) and coauthor of City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era (Moody, 2010).  He appears regularly on the PBS NewsHSupport the show

At this Friday Forum, author and social critic Os Guinness will discuss his latest book, Carpe Diem Redeemed: Seizing the Day, Discerning the Times.  Guinness argues that you only live once―if then. Life is short, and it can be as easily wasted as lived to the full. In the midst of our harried modern world, how do we make the most of life and the time we have? In these fast and superficial times, Os Guinness calls us to consequential living. In strong contrast to both Eastern and secularist views of time, he reorients our very notion of history, not as cyclical nor as meaningless, but as linear and purposeful. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, time and history are meaningful, and human beings have agency to live with freedom and consequence in partnership with God. Thus we can seek to serve God's purpose for our generation, read the times, and discern our call for this moment in history. Our time on earth has significance. Live rightly, discern the times, and redeem the day.Os Guinness is an author and social critic. Great-great-great grandson of Arthur Guinness, the Dublin brewer, he was born in China in World War Two where his parents were medical missionaries. A witness to the climax of the Chinese revolution in 1949, he was expelled with many other foreigners in 1951 and returned to Europe where he was educated in England. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of London and his D.Phil in the social sciences from Oriel College, Oxford.  Os has written or edited more than thirty books, including The Call, Time for Truth, Unspeakable, A Free People’s Suicide, The Global Public Square, and Last Call for Liberty: How America’s Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat. His latest book, Carpe Diem Redeemed: Seizing the Day, Discerning the Times, was published in September 2019Support the show