Is criminal justice a “human dignity issue?” Wesley’s guest, Pat Nolan makes a compelling case that it is and for improving the manner in which—and attention we pay to—the care and rehabilitation of incarcerated people. In their conversation, Nolan discusses his upbringing in a tough Los Angeles neighborhood and how that led him to a career got in politics as a means of protecting society from criminal predators. But when Nolan was incarcerated for a campaign finance violation, he saw the issue from the other side of the prison cell. Prisoners are too often treated in a demeaning and cruelly unjust fashion, he says, that not demeans their essential humanhood but which also does violence to their souls, making them more likely to commit crimes after they are released. While in prison, Nolan was recruited by the late Chuck Colson to work for his Prison Fellowship ministry on issues of criminal justice reform and methods of improving prisoner rehabilitation, a work that took a distinctly Christian approach which he continues years after his mentor’s death. Nolan was instrumental in helping to pass the First Step Act, signed into law by President Trump, a criminal justice reform measure that is already reducing recidivism and improving community safety. And he’s not done yet. “I will go out with my boots on,” he tells Wesley. Nolan explains his commitment to help those who many scorn in this compelling conversation about an seemingly intractable and uniquely American issue. Pat Nolan is the Director Emeritus of the American Conservative Union Foundation’s Nolan Center for Justice. Launched in 2014, The Center informs and mobilizes public support for criminal justice reforms based on conservative principles, and works with government officials to effectively implement those reforms. Nolan is a leading voice on criminal justice reform, highlighting the skyrocketing costs of prison, fiscal responsibility in the criminal justice system and reforms for non-violent offenders. He is a leader of the Right on Crime project— a national movement of conservative leaders supporting sensible and proven reforms to our criminal justice system – policies that will contain prison costs while keeping the public safe. Previously, he served for 15 years in the California State Assembly, four of those as the Assembly Republican Leader. He was a leader on crime issues, particularly on behalf of victims’ rights, was one of the original sponsors of the Victims’ Bill of Rights (Proposition 15), and was awarded the “Victims Advocate Award” by Parents of Murdered Children. Nolan was targeted for prosecution for a campaign contribution he accepted which turned out to be part of an FBI sting. He pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering and served 29 months in federal custody. Before entering prison a friend of his told him that “for centuries Christians have left their day-to-day world, humbled themselves, done menial labor, prayed and studied their faith. We call that a monastery. View this time as your monastic experience.” Pat credits this friend with helping him enter prison in a frame of mind which allowed him to put the time to good use/ Nolan is the author of When Prisoners Return, which describes the important role of the Church in helping prisoners get back on their feet after they are released. He is a frequent expert witness at Congressional hearings on important issues such as prison work programs, juvenile justice, prison safety, offender reintegration and religious freedom. He has lectured at many judicial conferences and legal conventions. His opinion pieces have appeared in numerous periodicals including the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the National Law Journal, National Review Online, and the Washington Times. He is a frequent guest on television and radio shows, including Fox Network News, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, Michael Reagan, and Sean Hannity. Pat earned both his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and his Juris Doctorate at the University of Southern California. Links Testimony Before the U.S. Sentencing Commission of Pat Nolan (ussc.gov) Policy Center | (conservativejusticereform.org) The Conservative Spearheading Criminal-Justice Reform | The New Yorker President Trump’s Pardon of Pat Nolan — A Great Moment for Criminal Justice Reform – The American Spectator | USA News and Politics The American Conservative Union Nolan Center for Justice
People of true principle are rare commodities in this age of bitter political divisions and cultural discord. What matters exclusively for too many, is winning. Indeed, we live in such strident times that some find it difficult to be friends with people with whom they disagree. In this sense, we have lost the crucial understanding to living in mutual comity, that reasonable people can have radically differing opinions. Not so, Wesley’s guest on this week’s episode of Humanize, Princeton Professor Robert P. George. George describes himself as a true classical liberal. He is unapologetically pro-life. But he adamantly defends the academic freedom of people who have contrary beliefs, such as the utilitarian philosopher, Peter Singer. George is a committed Catholic. But he mixes and interacts easily with people of all faiths, and none at all. And, he is a strong advocate for natural law who respectfully debates those with diametrically opposed opinions about the means for making a good society. George describes how he went from a coal mining family in West Virginia to the height of academic life as a professor at Princeton University. He describes his love for teaching and his belief that the only limitation on academic freedom does not involve ideas per se, but the “currency” of academic engagement, i.e., the quality of thinking, documentation, and argumentation that an advocate brings to his or her opinions. Wesley challenges George on his defense of Peter Singer, in an interesting and thought-provoking exchange, and asks whether the same criteria would apply to a racist. George’s answer may surprise. Finally, George gives a short primer on natural law theory, which is the philosophical basis for the founding of the United States. This is a fascinating conversation with one of the great academics of the current era. Robert P. George is the sixth McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, a program founded under his leadership in 2000. George has frequently been a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School. Professor George has served as Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom as well as a presidential appointee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the President’s Council on Bioethics. In addition, he has served as the U.S. member of UNESCO’s World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology, as well as being a member of President George W. Bush’s President’s Council on Bioethics. He was also a Judicial Fellow at the Supreme Court of the United States, where he received the Justice Tom C. Clark Award. George is a recipient of the U.S. Presidential Citizens Medal, the Honorific Medal for the Defense of Human Rights of the Republic of Poland, the Irving Kristol Award of the American Enterprise Institute, the Canterbury Medal of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and one of Princeton University’s highest honors – the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching. George is the author of hundreds of books, essays, and articles. And, he is a talented finger-style guitarist and bluegrass banjo player—which may be his most enjoyable accomplishment.
Since the murder of George Floyd, the nation has been embroiled in racial unrest of a kind not seen in decades. It is a disturbing time. Is racism best struggled against through the colorblind approach of the Reverend, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., or a newer strategy—summarized by the term “critical race theory”—that sees race as the central fact of life. Wesley was honored to explore these and other issues in a too-short interview with Dr. Alveda C. King, the niece of Martin Luther King and the daughter of the civil rights activist, the Reverend A.D. King. Alveda takes a firm stance against critical race theory, stating forcefully that “there is only one race, the human race.” She discusses the importance of forgiveness and passionately shares her Christian faith. And contrary to the charge leveled by Planned Parenthood that the pro-life movement is racist, King asserts that abortion is the real racism as in some cities, more African-American babies are aborted than born. King’s message of unity and human equality epitomizes the American dream. The daughter of the late civil rights activist Rev. A.D. King and his wife Naomi Barber King, Alveda grew up in the civil rights movement led by her uncle, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Her family home in Birmingham, Alabama, was bombed, as was her father’s church office in Louisville, Kentucky. Alveda was jailed during the open housing movement. King serves as the Chair of the Center for the American Dream and leads at AFPI. Dr. King is the founder of Speak for Life, fighting for the sanctity and dignity of all life – from the womb to the tomb. She currently serves as a Fox News contributor and host of the Fox Nation show “Alveda King’s House.” Dr. King is a former college professor, served in the Georgia State House of Representatives, is a former presidential appointee, and 2021 recipient of the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award. She is a recipient of the Life Prize Award (2011), the Cardinal John O’Connor Pro-Life Hall of Fame Award (2011) and the Civil Rights Award from Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) (2011). She is a bestselling author; among her books are King Truths: 21 Keys to Unlocking Your Spiritual Potential; King Rules: Ten Truths for You, Your Family, and Our Nation to Prosper; America Return to God; How Can the Dream Survive if we Murder the Children? King is an accomplished actress and songwriter, her latest album being Tender Moments Alone with God. The Founder of Alveda King Ministries. She has served on several boards, including Heartbeat International, Georgia Right to Life, The King Center, Bible Curriculum in Public Schools and Abortion Recovery International (ARIN). She is also a member of the National Black Prolife Coalition (NBPC) and is a Senior Fellow with the Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society. https://nashvillepublicity.prezly.com/afpi-announces-alveda-king-as-chairman-of-the-center-for-the-american-dream https://nashvillepublicity.prezly.com/alveda-king-announces-the-launch-of-new-pro-life-organization-speak-for-life https://www.alvedaking.com http://speakforlife.org Critical race theory resegregation is undoing all of MLK’s gains (nypost.com) Kendi: Election of Obama Harmful to Racial Equity | Humanize Human Exceptionalism Is the Solution to Racism (theepochtimes.com)
“What is truth?” Pontius Pilate famously asked Jesus. That is a most human question, because of all the known species in the universe, only we even understand the concept of Truth with a capital T. As moral beings, most of us, at least to some extent, seek to live out our lives in ways that we conceive of as Truth. Thus, in an earlier Humanize interview, Wesley spoke with the animal rights leader Gary Francione, who argued on behalf of veganism in the service of a higher moral purpose. He also spoke with the transhumanism proselytizer, Zoltan Istvan about his quest to become immortal through the wonders of technology, a passion he pursued based on his committed materialistic assumption that what we see in the world is all that is. In this episode, Wesley explores a religious concept of discerning and living Truth—the practical and the mystical– with the Catholic popularizer and apologist, Kathryn Jean Lopez. They speak about the late co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, Dorothy Day, and her practical commitment to serving the poor, a woman that Lopez is promoting for sainthood within the Catholic Church. Kathryn and Wesley also discuss mysticism and the its centrality to the human quest for Truth. It is a conversation that will enlighten all seekers on whatever path they are walking. Kathryn Jean Lopez—also known as K-Lo—is the former editor and current editor-at-large for National Review Online. She is also a Senior Fellow at the National Review Institute. An award-winning opinion journalist, Lopez is also a nationally syndicated columnist with United Media’s Newspaper Enterprise Association. Lopez’s work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, The Human Life Review, First Things, and Stars and Stripes, and on the websites of the New York Times, CNN, and other international publications. She writes frequently for a variety of Catholic publications, including Our Sunday Visitor, and is a columnist for The National Catholic Register. Lopez is a frequent guest on national and international radio and television programs, from PBS and CNN to EWTN and Vatican Radio. Lopez speaks frequently on faith and public life, the dignity of human life, and feminism, among other topics. She has addressed audiences at events sponsored by Legatus, the Knights o Columbus, the American Political Science Association, the Heritage Foundation, the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, the Milken Institute, Lincoln Center, and the National Press Club. She is the author of “A Year with the Mystics: Visionary Wisdom for Daily Living.” Related Dorothy Day: A saint for our ‘long loneliness’ | Angelus News National Review: You Too Can Be a Mystic, or At Least Get to Know God and His Great Love For You Better A Year With the Mystics: Visionary Wisdom for Daily Living: Lopez, Kathryn Jean: 9781505109047: Amazon.com: Books WFB on Divine Love: Bill Buckley Goes to Lourdes | National Review
Since the Holocaust, we have agreed to the idealistic vision of “Never Again,” that is, the kind of evil perpetrated by the Third Reich against Jews and others can never be allowed to be repeated. But do we mean it? Today, the Chinese Communist Party is carrying out what can only be described as “Fourth Reich” policies to suppress religion in China and oppress the county’s ethnic minorities. Active genocide is being committed against the Uighur Muslim community, including mass imprisonment in concentration camps, forced relocation throughout the country into what amounts to chattel slavery. Women are forced into abortions and sterilized. Children are removed from homes to boarding schools, where they are indoctrinated in communist ideology and prevented from learning about the faith of their parents. Meanwhile, Falon Gong practitioners have been disappeared into prisons and are the victims of tissue-typing and organ harvesting, that is strip mined for the thriving private organ market in China. China’s social credit system is imposing one of the most effective tyrannies against personal liberty and individual freedom—targeting Christians in particular—using advanced technology such as facial recognition, artificial intelligence, and voice recognition technologies. In Tibet, China is committing cultural genocide against Tibetan Buddhism. Wesley’s guest in this episode is human rights attorney, Nina Shea, a renowned international expert on religious freedom and the human rights atrocities being committed by the CCP. In their very disturbing—but essential—conversation, they discuss the known facts about—and nature of—the anti-religious pogroms committed actively in China, as well as how the international community has willfully turning a blind eye. It is an crucial discussion for anyone who cares about human liberty and the rule of law. Shea directs the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, which maintains an international focus on preserving and protecting religious liberty. She undertakes scholarship and advocacy in defense of those persecuted for their religious beliefs and identities and advocates on behalf of diplomatic measures to end religious repression and violence abroad, whether from state actors or extremist groups. Shea was appointed by the U.S. House of Representatives to serve seven terms as a Commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (June 1999 – March 2012). During the Soviet era, Shea’s first client before the United Nations was Soviet Nobel Peace Laureate Andrei Sakharov. Since then, she has been appointed as a U.S. delegate to the United Nation’s main human rights body by both Republican and Democratic administrations. She regularly presents testimony before Congress, delivers public lectures, organizes briefings and conferences, and writes frequently on religious freedom issues. Her writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, CQ Researcher, Weekly Standard, National Review Online, CNN, Fox, The Daily Beast, HuffingtonPost, and RealClearWorld, among others. Her most recent book, which she also co-authored, is Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2013). Wesley starts the interview by quoting Shea as writing about the Chinese government that: “The ultimate goal is to eradicate religion by either squeezing or crushing it out.” After listening to Shea it is clear that she was not exaggerating. The question is thus presented: What, if anything, are we willing to do about it? Experts – Nina Shea – Hudson Institute Policy Centers – Center for Religious Freedom – Hudson Institute Christians under Xi Jinping | National Review Religious Freedom: Antony Blinken Wrong to Downplay in Human Rights Policy | National Review The Fourth Reich – The American Spectator | USA News and Politics What If China Gave an Olympics and Nobody Watched? (theepochtimes.com)
Every now and then, our electoral system produces one of those quintessentially American characters who coopts the energy of the presidential voting cycle to become a national celebrity and elevate an obscure social movement into greater popular visibility. In 2016 that person was Wesley’s guest Zoltan Istvan, who propelled himself and transhumanism into international notoriety by touring the United States as a candidate for president on the Transhumanist Party ticket, promising to end death as he drove across the country in the “immortality bus” designed to look like a coffin. In 2020 Istvan made headlines again, this time, by running in the Republican presidential primaries. His purpose in all he does is to popularize transhumanism, a futuristic social movement that seeks to create a “post-human” future freed from suffering. The movement looks to technology as the means of attaining the long-held human dream of immortality and the more modern yearning for radical individual bodily self-transformation. But is it really that, or a quasi-religion to give materialists a reason to hope? Is it ushering in a new form of eugenics? Indeed, is there such a thing as a “better” human being? Is intelligence the most important attribute, as Istvan claims, or is love the essential human virtue, as Wesley asserts? This much is sure: Transhumanism matters because it focuses quite explicitly on issues germane to human exceptionalism and the kind of future we will leave for our progeny. Zoltan Istvan is an American transhumanist, journalist,entrepreneur, political candidate, and futurist. Formerly a reporter for the National Geographic Channel, he now writes futurist, transhumanist, secular and political-themed articles for major media, including The New York Times, Vice’s Motherboard, Wired, The Huffington Post, TechCrunch and Newsweek. Istvan regularly appears on television and video channels discussing futurist topics. He is widely perceived as one of the world’s most influential transhumanists and is the author of The Transhumanist Wager, a philosophical science fiction novel. Transhumanist Bill of Rights – Version 3.0 – U.S. Transhumanist Party – Official Website (transhumanist-party.org) Opinion | The Abortion Debate Is Stuck. Are Artificial Wombs the Answer? – The New York Times (nytimes.com) Transhumanism and Our Outdated Biology | HuffPost Latest News Transhumanism: Zoltan Istvan Forsees Technological Self-Perfection and Immortality | National Review Transhumanist Bill of Wrongs | Discovery Institute
There was a time when the fields of “science” and “public health” were not controversial. There were good reasons for that widespread public trust. Because of advances in fighting infectious disease, life expectancy materially increased. The scourge of smallpox was eradicated and the polio vaccine brought the crippling disease under substantial international control. Those days are long gone. We live in bitterly divisive times and the authority of science, as it is applied in public policy, no longer necessarily prevails. Indeed, some worry that “science” has become unduly ideological. There is no question that the science sector is sometimes used as a political cudgel in our culture wars. With the coming of the COVID pandemic, the public health is also looked upon by some with increasing suspicion. To say the least, this isn’t a healthy atmosphere for the country or for the furtherance of scientific advancement. What can be done ease these divisions? How can “science” and “democracy” work together to fashion a research sector consisting of both technological expertise and ethical boundaries that preserve comity and societal consensus. Wesley’s guest in this episode of Humanize has some important ideas on how we can restore a robust science sector that serves, rather than dominates, society. Dr. J. Benjamin Hurlbut is an associate professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. He earned his Ph.D. in the History of Science at Harvard University in 2010 and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Program on Science, Technology, and Society at Harvard Kennedy School. Hurlbut’s research lies at the intersection of science and technology studies, bioethics and political theory. He is author of Experiments in Democracy: Human Embryo Research and the Politics of Bioethics (Columbia University Press, 2017). Ben and Wesley discuss the causes of the current discord between science and the general population, how science is a community of practitioners as well as a method, and some of the current controversies involving the COVID pandemic, as well as recent advances in biotechnology that threaten to unleash a new eugenics. Ben also describes approaches that can heal the current discord between science and the society it serves. It is an important conversation as we proceed deeper into what has been describes as the “biotech century.” Ben Hurlbut | School of Life Sciences (asu.edu) http://somatosphere.net/forumpost/dangerous-practices/ https://www.pairagraph.com/dialogue/628339bfdf074c5cb48b334789e764bd Human genetic engineering demands more than a moratorium | Science | The Guardian If Synthetic Biology Lets Us Play God, We Need Rules | Time
In a previous program with Donna Rice Hughes, Wesley discussed how children are victimized by commercial sources of pornography and obscene Internet content. It was an important conversation, and if you missed it, you can listen to it here: Donna Rice Hughes of ‘Enough Is Enough’ on Porn, Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), and Healing Our Culture | Humanize Unfortunately, commercial pornography may not be the only such threat to children. Some critics claim that a sex education materials and social justice school courses also expose young students to inappropriate sexual content and to issues, such as transgenderism, for which they are not prepared. But is it true? Yes, according to Rebecca Friedrichs, an elementary school teacher and activist who has been exposing the sexualizing of children in the schools through her non-profit organization For Kids and Country. Among its other projects, FKAC tracks the sexualizing of students in school through its SeXXX Ed project, which Wesley and Rebecca discuss in this episode. It is a shocking conversation. Rebecca describes how young children are exposed to graphic sexual content, may play “games” involving models of erect penises and condoms, and are taught about anal sex, among other inappropriate lessons. She describes how parents are intentionally kept in the dark about what their children are being taught and how some schools are becoming arenas for lifestyle indoctrination. This is a mature discussion, but an important one for anyone who cares about the welfare of children and what they are being taught in our public schools. Home – For Kids And Country How public schools groom kids for sexual predators like Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell – Washington Times Adopt A Teacher – For Kids And Country Annals Of Media Gaslighting: Gender Queer Edition – The American Conservative
In this edition of Humanize, Wesley hosts one of the people he most admires in the public sphere. Joni Eareckson Tada is an artist, an international humanitarian, a disability rights activist, a Christian evangelist, and a defender of the sanctity and equality of human life — not just in the comfort of the United States but around the world, including in places of extreme poverty and societal discord. Tada was paralyzed from the shoulders down in a swimming accident in 1967. During her two years of rehabilitation, according to her autobiography Joni, she experienced anger, depression, suicidal thoughts, and religious doubts. However, during occupational therapy, she learned to paint with a brush between her teeth and began selling her artwork. The rest, as the cliché goes, is history. To date, Tada has written over forty books, recorded several musical albums, starred in an autobiographical movie of her life, and is an advocate for people with disabilities She founded Joni and Friends in 1979, an organization to “accelerate Christian ministry in the disability community” throughout the world. In 2007 the Joni and Friends International Disability Center in Agoura Hills, California, was established which runs a multi-faceted non-profit covering a number of program outlets. It this emotional conversation, Joni recounts how a young man in her rehabilitation center changed her life, shares her thoughts on art and beauty. She describes the “Wheels for the World” project that distributes wheelchairs to the developing world. And she discusses how her faith in God literally upholds her through suffering nights of severe chronic pain, bringing her as the sun rises, to a new day a better person than she was the night before. It is an inspiring and truly uplifting conversation with one of the most optimistic and self-giving public personalities active in the country today. Ministries | Joni and Friends Introducing Joni’s House! | Joni and Friends Hungry for Home | Joni and Friends Radio | Joni and Friends
In this episode of the Humanize podcast, Wesley interviews Stephen C. Meyer, Director of the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture, about his new book The Return of the God Hypothesis: Three Scientific Discoveries that Reveal the Mind Behind the Universe. Read More ›
