Religious freedom — the ability to live and act according to one’s faith — is one of our most fundamental human rights. But as Western society has secularized, the importance of religious freedom seems to have been eclipsed by other concerns. Indeed, freedom of religion is too often devalued in the public square, and in some places in the world, is under direct — and even violent — assault. No one has put more thought into this urgent concern and what to do about it than Sam Brownback, returning for his fifth interview with Wesley on Humanize. In their discussion, Brownback explains why religious freedom is at the core of liberty and explains why he considers religious freedom to not “only” be a fundamental human rights issue, but an urgent concern for the …
Euthanasia is bad medicine and even worse public policy. Once a society accepts the principle that killing is a splendid answer to suffering, the kinds and extent of suffering that come to be seen as appropriate reasons to cause death expands continually. Often, this suicide agenda — let’s call it — advances so slowly that, over time, people become acclimated to policies that were once unthinkable. But that has not been the case in Canada, where the government and much of the population enthusiastically embraced what the law euphemistically calls medical assistance in dying, or MAID. As a result, the “slippery slope” can be seen slip sliding away in real time to the unfortunate point that euthanasia is now the fifth leading cause of death in Canada. Indeed, in …
We live in an era of cultural whiplash. Never has the potential for technological advances been more pronounced, and at the same time, the potential for wrenching societal dislocations so threatening. What are we to make of such times as these? Should we be excited or fearful, optimistic or quaking in our boots? For answers, Wesley turned to George Gilder, one of America’s most prominent and innovative thinkers about technology and the economy and a co-founder of Discovery Institute where he directs Discovery’s Technology and Democracy Project and is a senior fellow of the Center on Wealth and Poverty. Mr. Gilder attended Exeter Academy and Harvard University. At Harvard, he studied under Henry Kissinger and helped found Advance, a journal of political thought. In the …
These days, hedonism strikes a beat in society. We have long been told that if it feels good, if it is what we want, so long as we aren’t hurting others, then, we should do it. But does that kind of self-indulgence really lead to a successful and satisfying life? Wesley’s guest on this episode of Humanize, Dr. Andrew V. Abela, doesn’t think so. To avoid dysfunction and lead a truly happy and satisfying life, Dr. Abela suggests developing and practicing what he calls “super habits” that can aid us all in making wise decisions, managing emotions, and interacting with other people. In fact, he has written a book to explain it all — Superhabits: The Universal System for a Successful Life. Andrew Abela is the founding dean of the Busch School of Business …
Homelessness has become a crisis in the United States. We live in the richest country in the world, and yet one can drive down main thoroughfares of our most prosperous cities and be confronted with tent encampments lining streets, squalor, open-air drug markets, and destitute people begging. The crisis is multifaceted as it is seemingly intractable. What is the role of mental illness? What about drug addiction? Is the rising cost of housing part of the problem, and if so, what can be done about it? What protections does society owe these vulnerable people based simply on their humanity and what responsibilities, if any, do they owe to greater society to help themselves? The problems seem so unsolvable that it is tempting to throw up one’s hands in despair. But that’s …
