In Defense of Human Rights… for All Humans

The theme for this Parliament, "A Call to Conscience: Defending Freedom and Human Rights," provides an opportunity to ask some defining questions. If we are defending freedom and human rights as a matter of conscience, it would seem appropriate to have an agreed-upon standard of identifying a human and answering a few questions. Should all humans have human rights, or should they only be awarded to humans that kings, governments, religious leaders, or some other authority deems worthy of human rights? Should human rights be based on being human, and if so, how is that measured? Is it determined by location, where one lives? Or is it based on age, perhaps too young or too old? Is it based on a human's ability to care for or provide for themselves? Is it based on their ability to contribute to society? These questions transcend culture, religion, and nationalism. This workshop will be interactive.

L.L. (Don) Veinot Jr. is co-founder and President of Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc., and a member of the Evangelical Press Association (EPA) in good standing. He is a frequent guest on various radio and television broadcasts as well as being a staff researcher and writer for the Midwest Outreach Journal. He is co-author of, Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret, A Matter of Basic Principles: Bill Gothard and the Christian Life, contributing author of Preserving Evangelical Unity: Welcoming Diversity in Non-Essentials, as well as articles in the CRI Journal, PFO Quarterly Journal, Campus Life Magazine, Journal of the International Society of Christian Apologetics, Midwestern Journal of Theology, The Christian Post and other periodicals. He is also co-host of the weekly “Unknown Webcast” on the Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc YouTube Channel. Don and his wife of 52 years, Joy, live in Wonder Lake, IL.

Bill Honsberger - Bill has a bachelor’s degree from Western Bible College in Pastoral Theology, a Master of Arts Degree in Systematic Theology from Denver Seminary, numerous hours in graduate study in philosophy and history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Colorado-Boulder and reached candidate status for the completion of his PhD at the University of Denver. He is currently stuck on AbD at Southern Seminary in Louisville. He has also taught as an adjunct professor at several Christian schools, including Colorado Christian University, Denver Seminary, Horizon College of the Bible, Rocky Mountain Bible College, Calvary Chapel Bible College (Dumaguete, PI), Pacific Island Bible College (Guam) and for several local community colleges in the Denver area. He speaks at colleges and churches around the country and has had numerous television, radio and newspaper interviews. Bill and his wife Terri live in Aurora, CO and have eight children and thirteen grandchildren.