The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR) is pleased to announce the appointment of Joshua Lindsey as Research Analyst.  Joshua has already played key roles in several important CBR projects, including compiling data on Christian colleges for our Revival Project, gathering news stories about our activism, and training our 2020 interns.  And did we mention he is also a fierce pro-life apologist when he’s on campus?

Joshua holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from St. Andrews University in Laurinburg, North Carolina.  After taking several graduate courses in counseling that taught that religion is a personal weakness, Joshua decided to find other ways to help people without compromising his faith.  That led to Joshua volunteer for a nonprofit that helped students receive a quality education and then work to improve socioeconomic conditions in Guatemala.

Growing up in a Catholic family in North Carolina, Joshua’s parents taught him that his life was precious and that his potential, despite his cerebral palsy, was limitless.  They took him to pro-life rallies and to the March for Life in Washington, DC.  After attending the March several times, Joshua began to think that something more should be done.  He quickly saw it for the echo chamber/pep rally it is and knew it wasn’t making enough of an impact.

In high school, his public speaking class was assigned “controversial issues” to debate, and Joshua was struck by the particularly callous pro-abortion arguments.  Afterward, he searched online for abortion pictures and then went to his local voting precinct to hand them out to voters.  He wanted to distribute the same picture to his youth group, but the Director of Religious Education at his parish deemed them inappropriate for his age group (high school!) and threw them away.

After college, Joshua was attending a new parish and met Bill and Jeanette Schultz, CBR Project Directors in Raleigh, and then Joanna Keilson, CBR Internship Director.  He began volunteering at CBR’s college outreaches in North Carolina.  Though the work was demanding, Joshua felt God’s calling to be there.  Soon after, he found out that the abortion picture he had printed and distributed in high school was a CBR picture.  His call to action from God had come full circle.

Joshua told FAB:

Working at CBR is very significant for me because it enables me to use my background in psychology to give back to my community and help vulnerable people to have a voice, people to whom I can especially relate because of my disability (cerebral palsy).  Because of my background, I can understand people at a more personal level.  I believe we can empathize with people who contemplate or have abortions without agreeing that abortion is the right decision.

Joshua lives outside Raleigh with his parents.  Though his primary duties are research related, Joshua joins the rest of the team on the road whenever he can.  If you would like to support Joshua (or any of our staff members), it’s quick, easy, and secure to support CBR online.  Whatever you can do will make a huge difference.  To support Joshua’s work, designate your gift for “Carolina Project Director (SE-JTL).”

Welcome aboard, Joshua!  We’re happy to have you!

CBR Staffer Mik’aela Raymond explains that just because an act is government sanctioned, doesn’t mean it is right.

We had not been to the University of Georgia in many years, and our return last fall did not disappoint. Students and faculty showed up with visceral reactions, shouting the usually obscenity or ad-hominem attack. However, several students came back with calmer, even remorseful, spirits.   It was in these pockets of humility that we found opportunities to share truth.

Google is on our side. “Fetuses are not human,” one woman emphatically claimed. CBR Staffer Mik’aela Raymond responded, “If these organisms aren’t human what species are they?”  “We’re not talking about organisms, they are just one cell,” the woman explained.  She attempted to use Google to prove her point.  Fortunately, our scientific sources check out with “Google science”.  She was confused upon reading the results of her search — a human being is a living organism from it’s most humble single-celled beginning.

180 degree, “About-Face!” A young man returned to our display to re-visit a conversation with Mik’aela.  “I was rather incendiary yesterday; that was wrong. I shouldn’t have acted that way and I am sorry.” He went on to admit, “I have a different view now than an hour ago.”

Actions speak louder than words. “Get off our campus; we don’t %^$&*n want you here.” A woman was visibly upset during her first visit to our display.  The next day, she returned and hung around the display all day long — listening to various conversations, staying silent. When asked if her mind had changed at all she said “No”,  but her radically shifted countenance spoke much louder than her words.

The truth is solid! A group of five men huddled around CBR volunteer Marie. One piped up to ask, “How do you justify comparing abortion to genocide?” Marie explained, “When we fail to recognize the humanity of an entire group of people it enables us to justify all kinds of violence against them.” The group fell silent, then one said “Solid!”  He left.  The second said “Solid!” and left.  The third said “Solid!” and left.  The last two stayed for a continued dialogue.  It was like a scene out of a movie!