Merely Human

Restricting evil and loving everything local. Family, church and community. This was recorded on August the 14th.

Discussions about Daredevil, United States Presidents, The Beatles, and the Image Bearers of God.

Be strong enough to be hated

Jay Watts tackles Essays, accountability, and answering questions about biblical justifications for abortion.

Jay Watts on Treasure Planet and arguments for and against abortion.

Here is the first episode from Season 4 of Merely Human Things. Starting out with Gene Hackman and then moving onto the general distrust in institutions in the US, Jay ends up critiquing and praising George Orwell and his philosophy. We should never trust power and those who yield it. Whether it's your guy or the other guys, we need to be careful in our assessments and trust of those who hold power.

Jay’s second annual Christmas Special.

Season 3 Episode 11 Welcome to our Thanksgiving special and our intro to the Christmas Holidays! Jay offers up some post-election thoughts and Thanksgiving thoughts. What does it mean to have a separation of church and state?

Jay talks about Halloween and the political season. A reminder of the lesser of two evils principal and how we need to constantly be reminded that we did vote for the lesser of two evils

Intro with the latest news about the Pro-Life community with a statement by Trump. What are the ideas that drive the current discussions about abortion and why ad hominem never works. Also we are in the dumbest election cycle in history, no matter which side you're on and no one trusts media sources. We are in a low information news cycle. As a caveat this was filmed before the first debate with Trump and Harris. Final segment about how pro-life policies are supposedly unpopular right now, and if they are, how do we deal with that. What about the idea that abortion has always been here and always will be. How do we deal with that objection.

The infamous missing podcast! This podcast is actually chronologically earlier than episode 27. Loving animals and the natural world fighting back against humanity! Elephants have names and the language of abortion.

#27 Gaslighting and VP Kamala by Jay Watts

Season 3 Episode 7 00:00:00 Introductory remarks include all the crazy political ramblings. 00:15:42 Animals, specifically crows 00:20:25 Republican Party Platform and backing off of the Pro-Life Position

Hall & Oates, Orcas named Gladis, and book banning. Then Jay discusses Just War Theory and why it's important to think about and the full ramifications of that theory. Support Jay and his ministry HERE: https://give.cornerstone.cc/merelyhum... See more from Jay and Merely Human Ministries HERE: https://merelyhumanministries.org

On this episode, Jay begins the show trying to discuss the President of the United States accusing the people of Papua New Guinea of eating his uncle in World War II, but fails miserably to hold it together.

Season 3 Episode 3 This episode starts out with a discussion of the diabolical behavior of roosters as highlighted in an old Scientific American article. Segment two disucsses Herman Melville, his posthumously published book Billy Budd the Sailor, and the attraction of art produced by people in spiritual crisis or flux. Segment three focuses on Vice-President Kamala Harris visiting an abortion facility, and asks the question, “If abortion is so great, why didn’t we get a complete tour of the facility and see it in all of its glory?” The final segment addresses a family of arguments by those who support abortion. The idea that as the unborn age through the embryonic and fetal stages they progress toward full membership in the human family through the acquisition of multiple new capacities. There is no one single ability or capacity that is value giving, rather there is a constellation which cumulatively change the nature of unborn life to something fully human. To give the discussion focus and structure, we rely on highlights from Christopher Kaczor’s responses in his book The Ethics of Abortion.

After discussing his deep dislike for chimpanzees, this episode focuses on the recent ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court determining that under Alabama law the human embryo in vitro (in glass) is considered a child just as a human embryo in vivo (in the living) is under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. The ruling is addressed with a focus on three main points: 1) The Supreme Court of Alabama did not declare the embryo is a child. Alabama law already does that. It declared in vitro embryos could not be excluded from recognition by virtue of their location. Whether in vitro or in vivo, a human embryo is a human child. 2) The definition of human child offered in the decision is not unclear. Immediate human progeny is a child at every stage of its development. Unlike the term baby, this isn’t confusing or emotional. The case offers multiple definitions to clarify what it means when the law states an embryo is a child. 3) One concurring opinion discusses the sanctity of life in theological terms. The majority decision does not mention religious reasons for the decision. The headlines and handwringing over religious interference is misplaced. In short, before people get hysterical online and panic, they ought to actually read the legal decisions the press is doing such a shoddy job describing.

Season 3 kicks off with Jay speaking about Taylor Swift and The Godfather.

2023 Christmas Special by Jay Watts

The Final Episode of Season 2: Despair in our World Jim Trotti, a professional counselor for young people, joins the show to discuss despair and the roots of despair in young people. His insight is surprisingly practical. In segment one, Jay makes the claim Roy Orbison’s vocal performance in the song Crying is possibly the greatest vocal performance in contemporary. If you know a better one, please make your case. Segment two explores the idea that musicians and many of the people who create culture are nowhere near as snobby about their tastes as those who gatekeep their music are. Dave Grohl loves disco and funk drumbeats. Martin Scorcese knows every line from every movie, good and bad, because he loves movies. The point is don’t be a snob, just like what you like. Segment three, Christmas music starts in November. Mariah Carey conquered the contemporary Christmas music world. If you hate the song All I Want for Christmas, you live in a conquered world. Act accordingly. The last topic before Jim Trotti joins the show, happiness is discussed. Happiness isn’t a legitimate central life goal, but it is great. And the first part of the sow is for Jay, to remind him that being silly and happy is an important part of being a whole human being. Jim Trotti joins the show and discusses the three things he sees missing in the lives of young people the lack of which leads to despair. Three things that are lacking in the lives of young people today: 1) Foundation of Family Values 2) Emotional Control 3) Depth of Thinking

Introduction to Opposite Day, the day we discuss issues surrounding abortion and not the moral case against abortion. I usually stick to a disciplined approach to defending the dignity of human life, keep the main thing the main thing. Today we venture out from those things to discuss the book Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothing by Ryan T. Anderson and Alexandra DeSanctis. Before that I discuss a very particular aspect of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, some actions have no moral context. Some actions, the murder of innocent children and intentional targeting of civilians, are simply evil. There is context to the greater conflict, but no action by one party can ever morally justify the murder of families while they sleep. I also explain how I try not to speak publicly about things I don’t fully understand. People claiming to be experts of what is happening on the ground when reliable information is impossible to have. Humility requires me to not feel compelled to share my every thought about world events. Neither God nor the leadership of Israel are taking advice from Jay Watts, and ranting about such things on social media don’t make me a hero. They make me reckless.

I asked my daughter if’s he could get challenges and questions from her peers at Kennesaw State University, and she delivered in person. MJ Watts joins us to discuss questions surrounding life of the mother, the foster care system, abortion in cases of rape, and many others.

This Episode was lost between the cracks of editing and starts off declaring itself a Barbie free zone, an announcement that made more sense when it was recorded. Otters are predators revisited. The jokes about them stealing surf boards and paddleboards is updated with a serious story about women attacked by otters on a river in Montana. A reminder that is needed that wild animals are exactly that; wild. https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/12/us/woman-otter-attack-jefferson-river-montana-trnd/index.html This segment reassesses the financial status of the Weasley family in the Harry Potter series as a family who feels less poor and more kid poor. Also, Jay’s recent discovery that The Ministry of Magig underwrote the tuition for every student at Hogwarts sheds a new light on the repeated claims from characters in the books and movies that the Ministry is meddling in Hogwarts business. Of course, they are involved! They are paying for it! This segment uses an internet question about a vampire police officer to contrast two views of rights, natural rights and legal rights. Can a vampire police officer with a legal warrant enter a premise without permission from the homeowner? Let the analogies begin! Avoiding the mic drop culture of online debating and embracing deeper reflection, this episode focuses on strange analogies, what they are intended to demonstrate for the abortion advocate, and their deficiencies in justifying abortion. Analogy #1: The Acorn Analogy: An acorn is not a tree in the same way and embryo is not a human. Analogy #2: Michael Tooley’s Rational Cats. To have moral value a being must have an immediate practicable capacity to rational reflection. If cats could receive an injection of serum which gave them the rational capacities of an adult human, it would mean neither that we are morally required to give the serum to every cat ensuring they become rational nor that cats under normal circumstances should be morally treated like human beings simply because they now have the capacity to rational agency. In this way, a cat is no different than an embryo, fetus, or newborn. Martian Oysters. What if it was discovered that oysters are actually a very early developmental stage of a rational alien life form from Mars. If they could be returned to Mars, they would naturally mature toward rationality. Unlike Tooley’s cats, these oysters have a natural and active capacity for rationality. Does that solve the problem of Tooley’s cats? Now we evaluate analogies from Judith Jarvis Thomson’s 1971 article, A Defense of Abortion. First, we revisit the most famous analogy from this article, The Violinist. This is the article that launched bodily autonomy arguments and The Violinist is the mac daddy of them all. This leads us to… Analogy #4: The Giant Growing Child. If a woman were trapped in a house with a giant growing child whose out of control growth threatened to crush her to death, then she would not be morally required to allow the child’s growth to kill her. She could take lethal action against the growing child to save her life. Analogy #5: Henry Fonda’s Cooling Hands. If Thomson were dying of a high fever and actor Henry Fonda had the ability to heal her with the touch of his cooling hand upon her forehead he would not be required to do so. Though he has the capacity to heal her, she has no claim upon his healing abilities. Analogy #6: The Burglar Analogy and Analogy #7: The People Seeds Analogy.

The Way of Medicine 00:00 Intro 01:50 Joe Versus the Volcano and How God Can Use Crisis to Focus Us After embarrassingly forgetting that Joe Banks had a brain cloud, this segment focuses on Joe Versus the Volcano and how it offers a wonderful reminder of how God can take someone consumed with trivial worries and fears and wake them up through true crisis. 10:22 Claim: If brain death is the end of life, then brain function is the beginning of life. We discuss this issue and clarify that early human life does not require a brain to coordinate the first stages of human development. That does not demonstrate it isn’t a living human. Only after the development of the human life crosses over to the point that the organism’s function is coordinated through the brain does it make sense to say without a brain the organism cannot exist. 18:10 Dr. Christopher Tollefsen joins the show to discuss his book The Way of Medicine, co-authored with Farr Curlin. The book addresses the questions of what the practice of medicine is and how can it best serve both the practitioners of medicine and the patients. A pure patient service model reduces medical practitioners to servants of the whims of the patient and has negative implications for treatment across a variety of medical fields. A balanced approach centered on attending the health and flourishing of patients with respect to the vocational calling of medical professionals restores sanity to field struggling to find answers about how to best provide medical care.

Guest is Tina Whittington, Executive VP Students for Life of America 00:01:30 | Episode 5 of Season 2 begins with more of the animal revolution. Elephants are stealing sugar cane, Orcas are attacking sailboat rudders, and now…an otter is stealing paddle boards! A multi-agency effort has been launched by fish and Wildlife to capture a rogue otter who steals surfboards and paddle boards. 00:07:13 | Segment two consider Harold Ramis’s masterpiece Groundhog Day as an examination of a man coming to grips with is place in the universe over a much longer period than immediately obvious upon watching the film. This is a discussion about how God uses suffering and trials to come to the end of ourselves and properly order our lives. 00:18:00 | Segment three reprises a brief discussion of the subject of personhood vs mere humanity as the standard for human dignity and human rights. 00:24:00 | Segment four discusses at length serious claims that birth is the bright line for human personhood. It is more than a magical birth canal argument. Defenders claim birth is a cataclysmic event which brings genuine biological transformation and introduces early human life into the range of those uncontroversially accepted as full members of the human family. 00:56:00 | Our interview this episode is with the Executive Vice President of Students for Life of America, Tina Whittington. Tina shares her expertise and wisdom about how students can impact their campus for life and find a voice in our culture on the issue of abortion. Her experience in building student action groups is invaluable.

Season 2 Episode 4 Jay’s first monologue with this new format. Reminiscing on how much has changed since we were kids. Boom boxes, cassette tapes and figuring out lyrics as a child of the 80’s and 90’s.

Season 2 Episode 3 Interviewed in this episode is Dr. Jeffrey Bilbro. Bilbro is the associate professor of English at Grove City College in Pennsylvania. Bilbro comes on to talk directly about "Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News". Why is this important for Christians and pro-lifers to understand the dynamic of main stream news networks. But in the first segment Jay addresses an interesting new behavior by Orcas in the Straits of Gibraltar and a little about crows. Book... https://www.amazon.com/dp/0830841857?... Site... https://jeffbilbro.com

Reposting of Episode 5 of Human Things 2.0 starts with author and journalist Leah Savas of World News Group to discuss the book she co-authored with Marvin Olasky, The Story of Abortion in America starting in 1652!

This episode open with consideration of how poor arguments are on the internet. It is difficult to find anything on social media serious enough to discuss. In the future, serious academic arguments will be considered more thoroughly including revisiting bodily autonomy arguments. The second segment sets the stage for the interview with Ben Mitchell. Three broadly defined ideas of what it means to be human are in conflict in our world. Are we purely physical beings residing in a physical universe? Is our existence the playing out of atoms colliding with atoms with only the illusion of minds and purpose? Or are we psychological beings, free to define ourselves as whatever we wish to be or feel best represents our inner self? Is the physical reality of our body less important than the desires of our heart and our psychologic identity? Or, finally, are we a dynamic union of mind and body where both the physical world and our internal lives must be reconciled as important aspects of our whole? In 3 Things, C. Ben Mitchell joins the show to discuss the most important things for Christians to consider while living in an age where the new cycle includes fears artificial intelligence will be the end of all humanity. The first area of consideration in Al, what it is and how it is being used. The second is transhumanist and post-humanist views of humanity. A certain segment sees humanity as stage to be overcome and not a privileged existence as the image bearers of God. The last subject of consideration is a view of human beings which sees the world as better off without us. C. Ben Mitchell held the Graves Chair of Moral Philosophy at Union University in Tennessee, where he also previously served as Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. Dr. Mitchell also serves as the editor of Ethics & Medicine: An International Journal of Bioethics and as senior editor of Renewing Minds: A Journal of Faith, Learning, and Culture.

This episode begins with an explanation of the long form podcast as our mothership. The vision is to produce longer content that takes it time to consider points of view. From this longer format, we will excerpt shorter segments and videos to offer more concise material. The first segment discusses the idea that peak Star Wars requires both Han Solo played by Harrison Ford and Darth Vader. They make Star Wars work better in every way. Segment two discusses the Burning Research Lab as an argument which frequently pops up on social media. Do you save the petri dish full of embryos or the single 2-year-old child in the burning lab? The thought experiment doesn’t prove what it claims. Finally, part 1 of a conversation with the great Scott Klusendorf where he shares his Three Things pro-lifers need to consider in the post Roe world. Point one, prudence is not compromise, inconsistency is not refutation, and finally human rights require human beings.

Season 2 begins with a little recap of the goals of the Human Things 2.0 long form podcast project. Jay shares his commencement speech advice including: 1) Mark special occasions and celebrate every victory, big or small. 2) Every day offers new opportunities and challenges, new opportunities to mess up or a challenge to begin again. 3) Bet on yourself and don’t be afraid to lose. 4) The people we meet along the way are the most important thing in our lives. In the 3 Things segment, Seth Drayer, Vice President of Created Equal, shares his 3 Things to help dialogue with hostile audiences on the issue of abortion. Find more from Seth at https://www.createdequal.org

The last of season one of Merely Human Things. We are finishing up the interview with Scott Klusendorf. The intro has some very specific ramblings from Jay concerning how easily he can get invested in silly things that would normally have little weight on greater world matters. We've got a comparison from Brooklyn Nine-Nine about just how deeply Jay feels about the misuse of language. After the intro Scott finishes off his list of three things. Scott Klusendorf is one of the best minds in the pro-life movement, so sit back and learn from two of the best.

Summary Episode 9 This episode begins with an explanation of the long form podcast as our mothership. The vision is to produce longer content that takes it time to consider points of view. From this longer format, we will excerpt shorter segments and videos to offer more concise material. The first segment discusses the idea that peak Star Wars requires both Han Solo played by Harrison Ford and Darth Vader. They make Star Wars work better in every way. Segment two discusses the Burning Research Lab as an argument which frequently pops up on social media. Do you save the petri dish full of embryos or the single 2-year-old child in the burning lab? The thought experiment doesn’t prove what it claims. Finally, part 1 of a conversation with the great Scott Klusendorf where he shares his Three Things pro-lifers need to consider in the post Roe world. Point one, prudence is not compromise, inconsistency is not refutation, and finally human rights require human beings.

Life Training Institute’s Megan Almon joins the show to discuss Nobel Prize winning author Annie Ernaux’s Happening, a novelized telling of her experience with illegal abortion in Paris in 1963. Megan shares her Three Things in evaluating the story as a work of literature and political statement about contemporary abortion politics. More about Megan Almon https://prolifetraining.com/about-speaker/megan-almon/ Annie Ernaux's Happening... https://www.amazon.com/Happening-World-Literature-Translation-Ernaux/dp/1609809483 If you enjoy our content, then consider making a donation at our website. https://merelyhumanministries.org/donate/

We asked people who disagree with us to tell us why. We received a long message; one our producer began to reference as the The Letter. I tried to answer as briefly as possible as a segment of an episode, but the objections are wide ranging and require some discussion in unpacking. We went back into the studio and addressed it in a longer form, ultimately deciding to let the segment stand alone. Here is what we call “The Letter Episode.”

Episode 6 is the first of three episodes originally recorded to be one single episode. Segment one features a discussion of creator verses organizer, inventor versus promoter, the underappreciated genius verses the public face of success. Jay explains why he takes sides with Jack Kirby and Nikolai Tesla versus Stan Lee and Thomas Edison with as much respect as he can muster. Segment two focuses on Jane Fonda’s extremely tacky joke about murdering pro-lifers and the resulting commentary by some of her supporters. People should call out irresponsible attempts at humor no matter how much they agree in general with the guilty party. Finally, Jay addresses a story shared by a college student about a guest speaker who warned a classroom of young scholars that the Dobbs v Jackson decision put women’s right to vote at risk. Again, accountability matters, and reckless claims must be challenged even when we otherwise agree with those making the claims.

Episode 5 of Human Things 2.0 starts with a rousing defense of the work of Hall & Oats including slightly messing up the names of two of their songs. Segment 2 discusses a short clip from a 2018 Oxford Union Panel on Abortion Rights where pro-abortion activist Ilyse Hogue of NARAL makes the claim that most people believe in three exceptions to restricting abortion: life of the mother, rape, and me. Her point, though most people seem to believe abortion is morally unpleasant, they wish to preserve the ability to get abortions in the event they personally need to access abortion in the future. Abortion is wrong in general, but personal circumstances make individuals feel justified in seeking abortion. She has a point. The final segment welcomes author and journalist Leah Savas of World News Group to discuss the book she co-authored with Marvin Olasky, The Story of Abortion in America.

On this episode, Jay is going Eric Carmen style, all by himself. Bad Movie Night gets explained, Streets of Fire comes up (not for the last time), and midi-chlorians are identified as the bane of the Star Wars universe. On a more serious note, segment two evaluates the actions of 19th century abortionists through the criteria of principled civil disobedience against unjust laws restricting abortion. Their character and behavior reveal them to be unprincipled and primarily driven by self-interest with some monstrous results. Segment three offers a broad discussion of bodily autonomy arguments as the best the pro-choice side offers with a distinction between moral arguments and legal arguments and short introduction to the problems of these two approaches.

On this episode, we discuss the idea of making a case for making a case for life. Why do those opposed to abortion engage this issue with such passion? Because the right or wrong of abortion centers on how we answer one question, “Is the unborn one of us?” People who agree that it is wrong to kill one of us share a common intuition, human life matters. All parties must address the question of the unborn before declaring abortion is either an absolute right or a grave moral wrong. Por-life advocates believe the unborn is one of us, and we advocate for their dignity as we would any other human life being unnecessarily destroyed. Later in the episode, Christen Polo of Protect Life Michigan joins the podcast to share about the efforts to reach the state of Michigan with a life affirming message in opposition to Proposal 3.

This episode addresses despair and community. We discuss how assessing human dignity through instrumental criteria or immediately practicable capacities leads to troubling issues in end of life care. The view that all human beings have value by virtue of what we are, intrinsic dignity grounded in our humanity, ought to lead to stronger community and better care for everyone. Then Jonathan Noyes from Stand to Reason joins us to discuss suicide and three things he most want us to know surrounding that issue.

Human Things C.S. Lewis Society by Jay Watts

Merely Human Moment Believe Them by Jay Watts

MHM Human Things #5 - Beautiful Things by Jay Watts

MHM Human Things #4 - Arguing and the Airing of Grievances by Jay Watts

The fear of pain and suffering is often used to justify terrible decisions. This episode explores experiencing pain with hope and whether a life without it is possible or even desirable.

MHM Human Things Podcast #2 - Am I My Brother's Keeper by Jay Watts

MHM Human Things #1 - Designed to Hurt by Jay Watts

Merely Human Moment #14 - Jameela the Evil Landlord by Jay Watts

Merely Human Moment 13 - There Can Be Only One - The Myth of Legal Neutrality on Abortion by Jay Watts

Merely Human Moment 12 - Control or Respect? by Jay Watts