Faith and Law

The "American Project" at Pepperdine's School of Public Policy is a unique "pracademic" initiative that is exploring a variety of cultural factors impacting our politics and policymaking. One of the issues they're focused on is the growing crisis of loneliness. Long before the pandemic, economists, social psychologists and healthcare experts were raising serious concerns about the increasing levels of disconnection and alienation across almost all demographic categories. As human beings created for community, how should policy makers and leaders of faith respond to these challenges? Hear from one of the nation's leading researchers in this field and the dean of Pepperdine's School of Public Policy in this timely conversation.Recommendations from Dean Pete Peterson for further reading on the topic:"Death by Loneliness" by Dr. Broghammer - RealClear Policy (American Project series)"We are suffering from a social recession, too." by Michael Hendrix (Manhattan Institute) - RealClear Policy (American Project series)"All the Lonely Americans?" Report by Joint Economic Committee (Sen. Mike Lee's Office)Francie Broghammer, MD, is the Chief Psychiatry Resident at the University of California, Irvine. Her academic interests lie in medical ethics, education, spirituality, and human flourishing. She is a Leonine Fellow, an American Psychiatric Association Leadership Fellow, and is a board member for Pepperdine University’s American Project. Additionally, she holds the distinction of sitting on the UC Irvine Medical Ethics Committee. Dr. Broghammer played Division I Women’s Lacrosse at the University of Notre Dame, and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Science Pre-Professional Studies and Portuguese Language & Brazilian Studies. She attended the University of California, Irvine for medical school and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Medical Honor Society. Dr. Broghammer has published several peer reviewed articles and is currently researching suicide and social isolation. She resides in Long Beach, California with her husband and their two children.Pete Peterson was the first executive director of the bi-partisan organization Common Sense California (CSC). In 2010, CSC became the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership at Pepperdine University. Currently, Peterson serves as dean of Pepperdine's School of Public Policy. Along with teaching a class on the subject at Pepperdine, Peterson co-developed the Davenport Institute's training seminars which have been offered to more than 1,000 public sector leaders. He's also consulted on many participatory governance projects throughout California on issues ranging from budgets to water policy. Pete serves on the advisory boards of California's Institute for Local Government, and the Public Policy Institute of California, as well as the DaVinci Charter Schools in Hawthorne, CA. Pete earned his BA in History from George Washington University, and his Masters in Public Policy from Pepperdine's School of Public Policy. He was the 2014 Republican nominee for California Secretary of State.Support the show

Lisa Schultz, Chief of Staff to U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry Black, and Kerry Knott, Chief of Staff to Representative Robert Aderholt join us for a virtual panel discussion about serving Members and staff during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Although no one has the definitive perspective on how we will operate in this new era, Lisa and Kerry will help us in a preliminary look at how we will approach our work. Support the show

At a time of dramatic turmoil and change on all fronts in society -- from the status of the nation state to identity politics to educations to the nature of morality -- the question arises: Is there any unifying narrative that allows us to make some sense of the chaos? The answer is yes, that the underlying notion of human identity, what it means to be a 'self' has been transformed over the last three hundred years. Only as we grasp the dynamics of this transformation can we both come to understand what is happening in our world and begin to frame a helpful response.Dr. Trueman’s book can be pre-ordered online.Support the show

While much progress has been made toward poverty alleviation, many well-intentioned efforts have led Christians to actions that are not only ineffective, but leave the most vulnerable in a worse situation than before. Is there a better answer? Combining biblical exegesis with proven economic principles, For the Least of These: A Biblical Answer to Poverty equips Christians with both a solid biblical and economic understanding of how best to care for the poor and foster sustainable economic development. With contributions from fourteen leading Christian economists, theologians, historians, and practitioners, For the Least of These presents the case for why markets and trade are the world’s best hope for alleviating poverty.Rev. Dr. Art Lindsley is the Vice President of Theological Initiatives at The Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, where he oversees the development of a theology that integrates faith, work, and economics. Dr. Anne Rathbone Bradley is the George and Sally Mayer Fellow for Economic Education and the academic director at The Fund for American Studies. She also serves as the Vice President of Economic Initiatives at The Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, where she develops and commissions research toward a systematic biblical theology of economic freedom. Support the show

The world is more digital than it's ever been before; it’s more diverse than it’s ever been before, and it's more divided than it's ever been before. Christians have been given the ministry of reconciliation. In this lecture, David Bailey will be sharing five pillars of becoming a reconciling community so that Christian leaders and their communities can become the foretaste of the Kingdom of God that is to come. David M. Bailey is a public theologian and culture maker who believes the church should lead by example in effective cross-cultural engagement and practices in reconciliation. He’s the founder and executive director of Arrabon; an organization that builds reconciling communities in the midst of a digital, diverse, and divided world. David is an active speaker, consultant and strategist for many national organizations about cultural intelligence and culture-making. He is the co-author of the Race, Class, and the Kingdom of God Study Series. David is the executive producer of documentary 11am: Hope for America’s Most Segregated Hour and the Urban Doxology Project. He's rooted at East End Fellowship in Richmond VA, and serves on the preaching team. David's greatest honor in life is to be married to his wonderful and beautiful wife, Joy.Support the show

As another term of the Supreme Court comes to a close, the justice’s rulings give Christians a lot to consider as we think about our engagement in the public square. The consequential decisions came on issues ranging from religious liberty to abortion jurisprudence to civil rights law. Russell Moore and the ERLC filed amicus briefs in a number of these cases as advocates before the high court. Join us for a round up of the Supreme Court’s 2019-2020 term as Moore reflects on what the rulings mean for the future of these critical issues.Russell Moore is president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. The ERLC is the moral and public policy entity of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.The Wall Street Journal has called Moore “vigorous, cheerful, and fiercely articulate.” He was named in 2017 to Politico Magazine’s list of top fifty influence-makers in Washington, and has been profiled by such publications as the Washington Post and the New Yorker.His latest book, The Storm-Tossed Family: How the Cross Reshapes the Home, was named Christianity Today’s 2019 Book of the Year. This prestigious award was also conferred upon Moore’s previous book, Onward: Engaging the Culture Without Losing the Gospel, by Christianity Today in 2016. In addition to these titles, he has also written Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches and Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ.Prior to his election in 2013, Moore served as provost and dean of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he also taught theology and ethics. He currently serves as visiting professor of ethics at Southern, Southeastern, and New Orleans Baptist seminaries.A native Mississippian, Moore and his wife Maria are the parents of five sons.Jeff Pickering serves as Policy Communications Director in the ERLC's Washington, D.C., office. In this role, he hosts the weekly Capitol Conversations podcast, develops communications strategy, and connects journalists with the organization’s policy work. He also serves as the mentor and director of the ERLC's internship program. Jeff previously served in both local church ministry and government affairs in his home state of Texas, where he graduated from Texas A&M University. He and his wife, Chelsea, have a one year old son and enjoy living on Capitol Hill.Support the show

As an ordinary high school student in the 1960s, Tom Tarrants became deeply unsettled by the social upheaval of the era. In response, he turned for answers to extremist ideology and was soon utterly radicalized. Before long, he became involved in the reign of terror spread by Mississippi's dreaded White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, described by the FBI as the most violent right-wing terrorist organization in America.In 1969, while attempting to bomb the home of a Jewish leader in Meridian, Mississippi, Tom was ambushed by law enforcement and shot multiple times during a high-speed chase. Nearly dead from his wounds, he was arrested and sentenced to thirty years in the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman Farm. Unrepentant, Tom and two other inmates made a daring escape from Parchman yet were tracked down by an FBI SWAT team and apprehended in hail of bullets that killed one of the convicts. Tom spent the next three years alone in a six-foot-by-nine-foot cell. There he began a search for truth that led him to the Bible and a reading of the gospels, resulting in his conversion to Jesus Christ and liberation from the grip of racial hatred and violence.Astounded by the change in Tom, many of the very people who worked to put him behind bars began advocating for his release. After serving eight years of a 35-year sentence, Tom left prison. He attended college, moved to Washington, DC, and became copastor of a racially mixed church. He went on to earn a doctorate and became the president of the C. S. Lewis Institute, where he devoted himself to helping others become wholehearted followers of Jesus.A dramatic story of radical transformation, Consumed by Hate, Redeemed by Love demonstrates that hope is not lost even in the most tumultuous of times, even those similar to our own.Support the show

Can it ever get better? This is the question Benjamin Watson is asking. In a country aflame with the fallout from the racial divide, is there hope for honest and healing conversation? For finally coming to understand each other on issues that are ultimately about so much more than black and white?A former NFL tight end for the New Orleans Saints and a widely read and followed commentator on social media, Watson has taken the Internet by storm with his remarkable insights about some of the most sensitive and charged topics of our day. Now, in Under Our Skin, Watson draws from his own life, his family legacy, and his role as a husband and father to sensitively and honestly examine both sides of the race debate and appeal to the power and possibility of faith as a step toward healing.Support the show

What we have experienced during and in the aftermath of the tragic death of George Floyd has challenged us to think anew about racial reconciliation. This includes the workplace of Capitol Hill to which we have been called. While this moment in our history has created pain and suffering, it also has the potential of being a catalyst for healing and reconciliation. Capitol Hill, like other workplaces, is fertile ground for loving others and aiding reconciliation. This requires intentionality as we reach out to bridge racial divides. How does the Hill fare in this area and what is our role in personal ministry?What does ministry on the Hill look like when it’s effective in bringing staff and members together from different races and backgrounds? And what are the personal experiences we’ve witnessed and can share?These and other questions will explored by our special guest, D.J. Jordan, and among ourselves as well. These are challenging and difficult issues which require us to collaboratively seek the Lord’s wisdom and guidance. D.J. Jordan is a Vice President at Pinkston, a public relations company.Support the show

Does prayer seem like the only thing you can do after all the handwashing? What if we not only followed the best medical advice but also looked to Almighty God? What if we set aside partisan differences and think theologically in this time of anxiety and fear.Dr. Chad Pecknold, Professor of Historical & Systematic Theology in the School of Theology at The Catholic University of America, Very Rev. Thomas Petri, O.P., Vice President and Academic Dean of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception and Dr. Joseph E. Capizzi, Ordinary Professor of Moral Theology at the Catholic University of America discuss this timely topic.Support the show