Respect Life Radio

Jonathan Culbreath: The need for common good conservatism

"Only recently have we started to see a resurfacing of an older type of conservatism — they call it a common good conservatism — which is trying to regain a little bit of a foothold in the recognition of the absolute universality of moral truth claims and trying to restore that recognition to the political philosophy of conservatism. Other than that, I think the capitulation to relativism is quite prevalent...," said Jonathan Culbreath, writer of a recent article, "Which Freedom? Whose Relativism?" for The American Conservative.

For more from Culbreath, see Postmodern Perennialist and follow him @maestrojmc on Twitter.

David Closson: Amid all the confusion, what is your worldview?

"Every philosophy of life, every worldview, every religion has to answer four basic questions: Why is there something rather than nothing? What's gone wrong in the world? Is there any hope? Where is all this headed?" said David Closson, director of the Center for Biblical Worldview at the Family Research Council, which is based in Washington, D.C. "Increasingly, even those who would call themselves professing Christians don't understand those basic questions. And that's one of the reasons we have the Center for Biblical Worldview. It's to remind pastors and to remind churches, and Christian parents, why they have to take this job of discipleship very seriously."

See resources from Closson, including "Year in Review: 10 Stories from 2021" and "Biblical Principles for Pro-Life Engagement." Follow him @DavidClosson on Twitter. 

Brock Martin of FOCUS: The goal of SEEK22 is to foster Christian community

“The truth is, every single human being has been created by God for a relationship with Him. So the more the world tries to strangle out that reality, the brighter somebody saying, 'Hey, you were created to be unbelievably incredible, you were created to be a great saint' — the more that truth rings true in men's and women's hearts," said Brock Martin, director of regional evangelization for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS).

FOCUS “is a Catholic collegiate outreach whose mission is to share the hope and joy of the gospel with college and university students,” according to the Colorado-based organization, which cites a presence on more than 160 college campuses across the U.S., plus international locations. Its SEEK22 conference takes place online Feb. 4 — 6, with registration details at seek.focus.org. Follow @FOCUScatholic on Twitter, and the hashtag #SEEK22.

Michael Lichens: What we can learn from Marian apparitions

Marian apparitions are "proof positive, right there — in the flesh, so to speak — that God didn't just make us and leave us alone. He is still involved in us and His mother still prays for us," said Michael J. Lichens, editor at Catholic Exchange and the editor of the recent book, "The World of Marian Apparitions: Mary's Appearances and Messages from Fatima to Today" by Wincenty Łaszewski (Sophia Institute Press). Lichens also discusses the care taken by the Church in evaluating and approving apparitions.

Joey Pontarelli: In divorce, the kids are not O.K. and here’s why

“Intuitively, a lot of people know that divorce is this ugly, painful thing. But so often we focus more on the parents who are going through the divorce (rather) than the children. When it comes to the children, the cultural belief is that, 'They'll be fine, they're resilient.' The truth is: they won't be fine and they're not as resilient as you think,” said Joey Pontarelli, founder and president of RestoredMinistry.com and author of "It's Not Your Fault: A Practical Guide to Navigating the Pain and Problems from Your Parents' Divorce."

See also a Denver Catholic interview in 2021 with Pontarelli, "Ministry seeks to help children of divorce become ‘Restored.'" Follow him @RestoredHelp on Facebook. 

Cathy Ruse: Parents fight back — radical Sex Ed in schools (Part 2 of 2)

“Today's Sex Ed is anti-human, I argue. It goes against what is best for the human person. And, of course, it's a lie. The truth is, every child is born in exactly the right body. Institutionalized, politicized sex education can never replace a healthy dialogue between parents and their children about the goodness and beauty of married love. Every person is made in God's image and likeness, unique and unrepeatable. We are created for each other, male and female, by God's design, to cooperate with Him in creating new life," said Cathy Ruse, Esq., who gave the Gospel of Life Presentation on Oct. 22, 2021, at St. Thomas More Catholic Parish in Centennial, Colo. The event was sponsored by Respect Life Denver. Listen to Part 1 of the podcast at this link. For the full video presentation, go to https://vimeo.com/639728100. 

Ruse is a "longtime governor of the Ave Maria School of Law and has been a frequent lecturer for the Blackstone Legal Fellowship," according to her biography at Dominion Law Group LLP.  

Cathy Ruse: Parents fight back — radical Sex Ed in schools (Part 1 of 2)

"And that's when I learned that right down the street a spiritual battle was raging over the bodies and souls of the next generation. And the sexual left was winning. And the other side, my side, wasn't even on the battlefield. But I am convinced, thanks be to God, that that is about to change," said Cathy Ruse, Esq., who gave the Gospel of Life Presentation on Oct. 22, 2021, at St. Thomas More Catholic Parish in Centennial, Colo. The event was sponsored by Respect Life Denver. For the full video presentation, go to https://vimeo.com/639728100. 

Ruse is a "longtime governor of the Ave Maria School of Law and has been a frequent lecturer for the Blackstone Legal Fellowship," according to her biography at Dominion Law Group LLP. Hear a previous Respect Life Radio interview with Ruse, titled, "Kids as lab rats in a Sex Ed social experiment."

Christopher Bedford: Fighting for freedom while under siege

“We have all the tools to resist this kind of thing, all the tools to understand that we're children of God, not just cogs in a machine that fit into your scientific database, all the tools to say that, 'No, our church will remain open...,'" said Christopher Bedford, senior editor at The Federalist, who recently wrote an article titled, "How COVID Lockdowns Handed Global Warming Extremists The Tools To Crush Freedom."

Bedford is also a founding partner of RightForge.com and author of "The Art of the Donald: Lessons from America's Philosopher-in-Chief" (Threshold Editions). Follow him @CBedfordDC on Twitter.

Casey Chalk: How to help Christians persecuted in Muslim lands

"We need to view the persecuted Church as our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we go to Communion, we can remember them, we can unite our prayers to their prayers, and their sufferings before Christ. The more that we do that — and really make...a spiritual communion of it and devote our prayers to it — the more that we will recognize them as those who are certainly deserving, not only of our prayers, but all the help that we can muster," said Casey Chalk, a contributor for publications including The Federalist, and author of "The Persecuted: True Stories of Courageous Christians Living Their Faith in Muslim Lands" (Sophia Institute Press).

Hear a previous Respect Life Radio interview with Chalk, "How 'woke' parenting feeds kid's victimhood." Follow him at CaseyChalk.com.

Ralph Martin: Misunderstanding the mission of the Catholic Church

"It's easy to get the impression these days that the main thing the Catholic Church is concerned about is getting people vaccinated or climate change or the Amazon, things like that," said Ralph Martin, president of Renewal Ministries. "Quite honestly, the primary mission of the Church isn't to save the Amazon, it's to save people from hell. It's to boldly proclaim Jesus Christ as the Savior of the whole world."

Martin, a professor of theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, is the author of books, including "A Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward" (Emmaus Road Publishing). He recently posted a video commentary, "A Startling Warning from a Surprising Source," regarding remarks from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Hear a previous Respect Life Radio interview with Martin, "The biggest crisis in the world revealed."