L’Abri Rochester

Rochester L’Abri

Here we explore life’s issues with our weekly speakers from the Rochester L’Abri Community; aiming to give honest answers to honest questions from a Christian perspective.

  1. 11/20/2025

    Medical Homicide and Perverse Incentives in Global Perspective - Kirk Allison - Friday Night Lecture - November 14th

    This talk considers the involvement of medical professionals in intentionally lethal acts in several historical and contemporary contexts (beyond abortion or medical experimentation under National Socialism). Contexts include medicalized capital punishment (from 18th C. France to 21st C. Florida); assisted suicide and euthanasia (from Hippocratic proscription to contemporary prescriptions); transplantation (forced organ harvesting in totalitarian China / the intersection of euthanasia and transplantation among European liberal democracies), as well as, oddly and astonishingly, medical lethality as a backstop solution for failed housing policy in Canada! In economic terms, a 'perverse' incentive accomplishes the opposite of the stated intent. But, a morally or spiritually perverse incentive may also fulfill intent. When medical(ized) lethality is normalized, 'the trouble with normal is it always gets worse' (B. Cockburn) - including for the coherence of medicine per se.   Kirk C Allison, PhD, MS directed the Program in Human Rights and Health at the U of M School of Public Health from 2007-2016 and taught in the Health Humanities Program of the College of Saint Scholastica from 2017-2025. (Previously he served as Chair of the American Public Health Association's Ethics Special Primary Interest Group and testified on forced organ harvesting in China before a U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee).

    1h 22m
  2. 11/13/2025

    Held in the Love of God: Discipleship and People with Profound Intellectual Disabilities - Friday Night Lecture - November 7th

    Throughout its history, Evangelicalism has neglected to consider the spiritual lives of people with profound intellectual disabilities and how their experiences might contribute to a fuller understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. Both the historic and modern constructions of evangelical discipleship have led to particular ministry strategies and practices that rarely consider the presence of people with profound intellectual disabilities. A broader theology of discipleship that includes the spiritual lives of people with profound intellectual disabilities can only be achieved through embracing a renewed emphasis on a theology of the cross, and the conviction that we are held in the trustful love of God that seals our eternal purpose in the divine kingdom. Dr. Phil Letizia is a theologian and pastor who holds a Ph.D. in Theology and Disability from the University of Aberdeen. After 20 years of pastoring and church planting, Phil has joined Anselm House's Center for Faith & Learning as the inaugural Director of the Healthcare Initiative. The initiative aims to provide intellectual and relational support to the significant number of healthcare students, faculty, and providers at the University of Minnesota, in the Twin Cities, and at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Phil also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Disability and Religion. Last fall, his book Held in the Love of God: Discipleship and Disability was published by Baylor University Press.

    53 min

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Here we explore life’s issues with our weekly speakers from the Rochester L’Abri Community; aiming to give honest answers to honest questions from a Christian perspective.