Dare to Think | Mere Liberty Podcast

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New Mexico is facing challenges in terms of violent crime, property crime, education, healthcare access, and economic stability. Despite being a "blue state," historically, Democrats in New Mexico have been pro-Second Amendment and have had few gun control laws. The majority of the population in New Mexico is Hispanic, with Nuevomexicanos being the result of intermarriage between Spanish or Mexican individuals and Native Americans. New Mexico has a complex history, including violent religious conquest and the intermarriage of Spanish and Native Americans. The majority of New Mexicans fall in the middle of the political spectrum and are ready for real change, as they are tired of the two-party duopoly.

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Welcome to Dare to Think, where we challenge & and rethinking prevailing paradigms. In today's episode, we delve into the relaunch of the Liberty Seminar, a course designed by Kerry Baldwin to cultivate the invaluable skill of thinking well using the Socratic method. Our guests, Mike Leavitt, Jacob, and Kerry Baldwin, engage in thought-provoking discussions on the significance of critically thinking and challenging existing beliefs. We'll explore how the Socratic method can be applied in diverse areas of life, from theology and education to personal growth and professional development. Join us as we learn about the power of asking the right questions and embracing the freedom of thinking well.

00:00 Introduction

01:06 What is the Liberty Seminar and what is it trying to accomplish?

05:05 What is the Socratic Method?

06:02 Is the Socratic method just about asking questions?

08:14 What is critical thinking and why is it on the decline in society today?

10:56 If tests don't demonstrate learning, then how do we know we're learning?

11:59 Why AI is not taking over reasoning

12:46 What do you get from the course, the Liberty Seminar

16:12 Real life applications: non-academic trade skills building

17:42 Real life applications: improve parenting skills and communication with your teen and adult children

19:05 Real life applications: professional soft skills development

19:26 Real life applications: study of doctrine and theology

21:43 How critical thinking is an effective response to manipulation

24:16 Why is courage implied when choosing to learn to think well

27:29 Objection: Christians who believe philosophy or reasoning is a distraction or will lead you away from the truth

32:56 How has Socratic Practice helped Kerry in her own life?

35:48 How does the Liberty Seminar helpful for intuitive thinkers or those who naturally pursue their passions and interests?

To get more information visit libertyseminar.com or https://mereliberty.com/membership/courses/

Original interviews:

• How Socratic Thinking Can Aid Christians in Faith and Politics, w/ Kerry Baldwin https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/how-socratic-thinking-can-aid-christians-in-faith-and-politics-w-kerry-baldwin/
• Thinking Well and The Liberty Seminar with Kerry Baldwin https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-197-thinking-well-and-the-liberty-seminar/id1506671648?i=1000643384563

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Summary - What Will it Take For Women to Choose Life with Emily Berning

https://letthemlive.org/

What would it look like for us to take seriously the reasons women give for getting abortions? Some of the loudest prolifers believe that considering reasons why women get abortions will somehow give credence to the pro-choice cause, and thus the legality of abortion. Some of the loudest prochoicers believe women aren’t exercising their agency if they aren’t choosing abortion.

There are numerous unintended consequences for this, not the least of which is the overwhelming sense that the abortion debate is entirely intractable. But what if we decided to listen? What if women seeking abortion were behaving rationally?

What if they don’t see abortion as an exercise of free choice, but of no other choice? What if political pundits and fringe extremists do not speak for women with unplanned pregnancies?

What if by listening we Let Them Live?

Join me, Kerry Baldwin with Emily Berning, as we Dare to Think about what it will take for women to choose life.

https://mereliberty.com/about/kerry-baldwin/

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Main Points of Discussion

00:00 Introduction

01:25 About Emily Berning

07:07 How does the mission of Let Them Live help women to choose life?

09:07 What is the cost of motherhood?

11:17 Do women want to choose abortion? How the economy is negatively impacting the decision to choose life

13:34 How does the overturn of Roe v Wade impact how we help women with unplanned pregnancies? https://mereliberty.com/philosophy/life-vs-personhood/

17:15 How does politics get in the way of helping women?

20:43 The negative stigma associate with single motherhood

21:54 Pushback from Christian apologists who believe financial help is tantamount to bribery

24:22 Why is Let Them Live something both sides can support?

26:52 How is Let Them Live different from other pro-life organizations?

30:08 What is the process Let Them Live actually uses to support women in need?

33:33 Responding to requests for help on social media

34:55 What are the monthly financial goal and how do donors keep track of use of donations

38:37 Closing remarks

Resources Mentioned

Let Them Live https://letthemlive.org/ Mere Liberty Monthly Membership https://mereliberty.com/membership/monthly/ Kerry Baldwin's work on abortion https://mereliberty.com/abortion

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Shane Rosenthal | Featured Guest

Shane Rosenthal is the founder and host of The Humble Skeptic podcast which seeks to explore the beliefs and ideas that shape our lives. He was one of the original creators of the White Horse Inn radio broadcast, which he also hosted from 2019-2021. Shane was one of the authors of the book Defending the Faith: Essays on Apologetics and has been a frequent contributor over the years to Modern Reformation magazine. He is a graduate of Cal-State Fullerton (B.A. Humanities) and Westminster Seminary California (M.A. Historical Theology), and resides with his family in St. Louis.

Summary - Shane Rosenthal and the Humility of Healthy Skepticism

Amid all the tribalism and polarization we see today, Christians could learn something from The Humble Skeptic Podcast. Shane Rosenthal, host of the Humble Skeptic Podcast, joined me to discuss this new project, and the value of thoughtful and reflective Christians. We discuss a number of things, including the problem of the left-right paradigm that appears in politics, religion, and culture. How do we discuss tough issues especially with people who are defensive (or offensive) in their ideas.

Rosenthal highlights his pilot episode, wherein he describes the experience of digging into the truth of a story his dad told him about Billy Joel, before Joel was famous. Rosenthal's skepticism was not motivated by distrust, but by curiosity and wonderment. We discuss the twists and turns of the process of thinking through a matter, as well as the reality of coming face-to-face with our own ignorance, a key feature of the Socratic Method which I use in my courses.

Rosenthal wants people, Christians in particular, to recognize the value in becoming reflective thinkers, toward the pursuit of truth, for the love of God and neighbor. Rosenthal's gentle temperament, and childlike wonderment will inspire you to embrace the humble skeptic in you too.

Join me, Kerry Baldwin, with Shane Rosenthal, as we Dare to Think about the humility of healthy skepticism.

Main Points of Discussion

00:00 Introduction

01:28 Shane Rosenthal's background and concept for the Humble Skeptic Podcast

08:13 The fear of asking and receiving questions and what critical thinking is

15:17 Seeking to understand; digging into facts; evaluating information

25:13 Seeking to understand ... our own emotions in relation to facts, truth

32:18 What to do when you have unanswered questions and no good resources?

39:54 Concluding thoughts

Resource Links

Shane's Substack https://shanerose.substack.com/podcast

The Humble Skeptic Podcast https://thehumbleskeptic.com/

Support the Humble Skeptic Podcast https://www.givesendgo.com/humbleskeptic

Hyperlinked show notes found at mereliberty.com/035

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An odd twist in my research on a libertarian theory of reproductive rights (and abortion), I've had to dive into how the criminal justice system treats the crime of rape. In doing so, I've been led to what might appear to be very strange. The parallels between the culture surrounding illicit sex work and evangelical purity culture. I cannot say where any causal relations lay between the two, only that they appear to be, strikingly, correlated. And correlated in such a way that Christians in particular must pay attention and take heed.

In this episode, I seek to break down the legal concerns regarding sex work and prostitution, and the connections to human trafficking. The connection to human trafficking is difficult given the prevalence and nature of trauma. I wrote a review of Dr. Gabor Mate's work on trauma in a documentary called, The Wisdom of Trauma. One aspect he addresses are the reasons why women will prostitute themselves and it seems to stem exclusively from trauma. But, when it comes to dealing with traumatized people, there is a principled disagreement about how to deal with sex workers with trauma: use the legal violence of the state to rescue women, penalize women, or only in response to violence done against them.

But there might be another way to deal with trauma, trafficking, and voluntarily choosing to prostitute oneself. And that lays in education concerning sex and intimate relationships. I've found a strong correlation between the views of men and women by "Johns" and "primps" and the view of men and women in evangelical purity culture. Have evangelicals unwittingly set the stage for sex trafficking and prostitution? I think there's good reason to believe that American evangelicalism contributed to the problems some evangelicals are trying to now fix, regarding sexual violence.

The popular view by Christian anti-human trafficking organizations is to embrace the Nordic model - make the men behave! Use the threat of legal violence to make bad men behave better. But does this work? I also explain why the nature of economics will not allow for legal violence to "deter" bad behavior. And why this necessitates decriminalizing sex work if we're going to improve societal and legal views concerning women and sex.

DISCLAIMER: While this episode is aimed at supporting decriminalizing sex work, it is not an endorsement of sex work as morally legitimate. I hold and maintain a Christian sexual ethic (sex is designed by God only for heterosexual marriage relationships), though I believe evangelical "purity culture" is an unbiblical, anti-Christian view.

00:00 Introduction

Ep. 292: Decriminalizing Prostitution: Can Christians Support it?

01:45 Definitions: 'sex work', 'prohibition', 'prostitution', trafficking'

04:04 Why is it important to understand these distinctions

05:46 Difference between 'decriminalization' and 'legalization'

07:58 Explanation of legalization; Nevada vs Rhode Island

09:08 The feminist argument against decriminalization (Nordic model)

09:55 Clip from Julie Bindell's opening statement at the Soho Forum

13:43 "The bleakest view of masculinity"

14:50 Do we know how many sex workers are trafficking vs voluntarily participating?

16:24 Clip from "Sold in America" - a "John's" view of women in purchasing sex

17:41 Evangelical Purity Culture Detour

18:09 Does 'rape culture' exist?

19:28 Nancy Pearcy: how "nominal" evangelical men skew divorce and domestic violence data in the church

23:01 What does evangelical purity culture have to do with decriminalizing prostitution?

27:08 What the so-called "experts" told evangelical women about how to have a good Christian marriage

27:33 Quotes cited by Shelia Wray Gregorie's, The Great Sex Rescue

31:55 Ontological distinctions between men and women don't require a predator/prey relationship

33:39 Connecting the stigma of sex in purity culture to the stigma found in legal prohibition of prostitution

34:21 Legal denial of basic human rights - No Humans Involved

36:22 The unjust handling of sexual violence by our criminal justice system

40% of police officers perpetrate domestic violence in their own homes.

37:41 Are victims of rape stigmatized because of prostitution, or is prostitution stigmatized because of certain views about women, already discussed? (Connection to spiritual manipulation of religious values)

41:57 The perpetual victim status of women - propagated by feminists and patriarchalists

43:17 How do we change society to value women and children, abhor the ev...