Shaping Opinion

Our guest is Bishop Joseph Stirckland. He is a Roman Catholic Bishop, the Biship Emeritus of Tyler, Texas. He he’s the Chairman and the Founder of a nonprofit organization called Pillars of Faith.He’s developed a reputation for taking strong, traditional positions, and that has put him in situations I’m sure he never imagined when he entered the clergy. We’re going to talk about that and much more in this episode.Links:* Pillars of Faith (website)* Bishop Joseph Strickland (website) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com

Our guest is Timothy Sandefur. He is the vice president for legal affairs at the Goldwater Institute’s Center for Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation.What I wanted to talk with Tim about was something he wrote about free speech and employers’ rights. More the point, does your employer have a right to free speech, and if so, how far does it reach?Links:* Defending the Free Speech Rights of Employers Against the Administrative State, Goldwater Institute Blog* NLRB Limits Employer Speech, SHRM* NLRB Restrains Employer Speech, Finds Captive-Audience Meetings Unlawful – Publications, Morgan Lewis This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com

Our guest today is Patrick Breyer. He is a self-described freedom fighter and a former member of the European Parliament. He served on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.I wanted to talk with Patrick about a newly proposed EU internet regulation, commonly known as chat control. Under this proposed legislation, users of apps would have to agree to allow the government to scan all their private and public messages as a matter of course.Links:* Patrick Breyer Website* Chat Control: The EU’s CSAM Scanner Proposal (website)* Patrick Breyer, EU Website This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com

Our guest is Bunni Pounds. She is the Founder and President of Christians Engaged as well as the Senior Vice President for Family Policy Alliance and Family Policy Alliance Foundation – both founded by Dr. James Dobson.She is the author of the book Jesus and Politics: One Woman’s Walk with God in a Mudslinging Profession. She was a political consultant for 16 years. And in 2018 she ran for Congress herself in 2018 but did not get elected.What I wanted to talk with Bunni about was a new development that will affect every church in America. In July, the IRS decided that religious clergy can endorse political candidates from the pulpit or through their official church communications. This is a big deal, and our guest today has some thoughts.Links:* How Conservative Christians Cracked a 70-Year-Old Law, New York Times.* Did the IRS Just Change Its Own Rule to Set Pastors Free?, The Stream This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com

Our guest is Ingrid Jacques. She is a columnist at USA Today.She wrote a column recently about those late-night comedy shows. She argues that the reason Stephen Colbert got fired had everything to do with ratings and business issues. All of this points to larger problems with the whole genre of late-night comedy and those who produce the shows.Links:* Leno's right: Colbert got canned because Americans are tired of left's lectures, USA Today Opinion* Late Night Ratings Revealed, TV Insider This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com