P&C class update for May 24

Submitted by Suchi Myjak on

Final class update

Thank you and thanks be to God for another great year! I'm thankful to be saying goodbye on a high note in spite of the crazy state of the world. Once we get settled I'll be working in earnest on continuing the classes online. I'll touch base with you when I have something more solid to share on that.

Meanwhile, here's what we covered at our last class.

Part 1: Student responses / debates

We began with a quick review of the ground rules, then students voted (by a nose!) to work on euthanasia arguments. The class went into breakout rooms and figured out how to respond to one question each, then we came back and held some mini debates. Students did a very good job defending the rights of vulnerable people against arguments that devalue them, whether intentionally or not. Well done!

If you missed class, I recommend that you check out the class recording and see what your fellow students were able to do.

I also clarified some finer points about the pro-assisted suicide / euthanasia arguments, especially noting where they made bad assumptions, and also shared some information on a couple of related topics.

Part 2: Productive discussions on abortion

After that, we went back to how to discuss abortion in a productive way. The most important thing is to keep the focus on just two key questions: (1) What is the unborn? and (2) How should we treat them?

2a: Equal Rights Pro-life Argument

I shared a powerful new way to present the argument from Josh Brahm of the Equal Rights Institute, and based on work by philosopher JP Moreland. In a nutshell, the argument goes like this:

  1. Do we (the people in the room, quad, or whatever) have an equal right to life?
  2. If we do, then it seems to me that there is something the same about us all. That we all have equally, that is the reason for that equal right.
  3. What is the same about us? (What is that thing?) I think it's something like humanness or being human.

This argument leverages many of the ideas we've studied this year. Check out the class recording (~12 minutes starting at 22:40) for how to harness the full power of this approach, or, even better, watch Josh's video presentation on it. The links are in the Resources, below.

2b: Traps to avoid

  1. Don't make the fact that abortion hurts women the key issue, because that's not the reason abortion is wrong. It's the other way around -- because abortion is wrong, it hurts women, and children, and ....
  2. Don't fall into pro-choice assumptions. Arguments like "We might have aborted the next Beethoven," or "the doctor that would have cured cancer," or even implying that the fact that a baby has a heartbeat or fingernails or whatever is why he has value. The unborn have value because of the kind of being they are, not because of what they have or what they can do: intrinsic value, not instrumental value.
  3. Do not minimize the difficult situations that people raise. That makes you sound like you don't care. You know you care, and I know you care, but the person you are talking to doesn't know. Make sure to empathize before you even try to address why abortion is not a good solution.
  4. Don't quibble about terms. You have a limited amount of time; don't waste it nitpicking about words. Again, focus on the two central questions.

Part 3: Student questions, answered!

I spent the last part of  class answering students' questions. Topics:

  • Common fallacies in pro-abortion and pro-euthanasia arguments.
  • How to respond to a person who says that it is not our place to dictate what people are allowed to do with their own bodies in a situation where a terminally ill person wants euthanasia?
  • The problem of evil and why there is suffering.
  • What the Church teaches about immigration.
  • The church’s official teaching on the death penalty.
  • What do you do if the pro-choice person refuses to talk?
  • From a natural law standpoint, why is pornography wrong?

Resources:

Blessings,
Suchi / Mrs. Myjak

Categories
2019 Class
Notes
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fallacies
practical apologetics
truth