Hello and welcome to a brand new
season of Issues and Answers.
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If you have issues,
well, the Lord has the answers
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and we have a committee of
Christian counselors that the
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Lord has placed in our
path to help with those issues.
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So feel free to email me at:
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Okay! Did I get that
right? Oh it's right there.
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Now today's issue is about
the moral decline of society.
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Where and how do we draw a line.
Now I want to go 2 Timothy 3:1-5
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real quick. It says,
"This know also that in the last
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days perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their
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own selves, covetous, boasters,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient
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to parents, unthankful, unholy.
Without natural affection,
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truce breakers,
false accusers, incontinent
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, fierce,
despisers of those that are
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good, traitors, heady,
high minded, lovers of pleasures
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more than lovers of God, having
a form of godliness but denying
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the power thereof.
From such turn away. "
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Now I wanted to read
that because this issue,
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this moral issue, of our
society is very important.
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And with us today we have
attorney James Standish who
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is the executive director
of the North American Division
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Religious Liberty Association,
as well as the director of
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Legislative Affairs
for the world church of
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Seventh Day
Adventists. That is a mouthful!
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Thanks so much
for coming! Welcome!
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Well thanks so
much for having me.
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Now one of my main things I
wanted to ask, just right off
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the bat; you have
represented, I mean globally,
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religious liberty issues.
What have been some of the
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moral issues worldwide
that you have encountered?
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Well, I think around the world
there are significant issues
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that are out there.
Some of them deal with,
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in a very stark terms, how
people are treated when they
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stand up and have faith.
In some countries, when we go
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overseas, people are actually
put in prison, their tortured,
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sometimes killed.
Very, very stark issue
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and of course an
issue of morality.
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In other areas, we have issues
for example, the trafficking of
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women and children particularly,
for misuse in the prostitution
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and industry. That's
happening particularly
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in Southeast Asia, it's also
happening with the trafficking
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of women from eastern
Europe over to western Europe,
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and even there have been
cases in the United States.
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Very serious,
obviously, moral issue.
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So this is pretty
normal, not normal but I mean,
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it's happening a lot?
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Yeah, the problem of the
international traffic of women
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and children, and also the
misuse or forced engagement
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in these kind of activities
of women and children around the
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world, is sadly quite prevalent.
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Why don't we hear about this?
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Well, I think there
is information about it.
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In the news there have
been reports that have come out
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periodically, but I think
most people are tuned into
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Access Hollywood,
or these other shows.
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You know we're focused, in away
as a culture, we're focused on
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a lot of triviality.
And for many of us we don't
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really dig beneath the trivial
information that comes before
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us, whether it's sitcoms or
entertainment shows, or whatever
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it is, and find out what's
really going on in the world
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around us. Even
in the United States
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have been arrests, in the not so
distant past, of people who've
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been brought here
and subsequently forced
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into prostitution. And
really this is just the most
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base thing that somebody
could do to another human being.
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It's hard to believe
it's happening, but it is,
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and in some ways
it's quite difficult.
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That's one area.
Another area that's also a moral
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issue is the marketing of
products that kill to children
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and to vulnerable populations.
In particular we think about
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the tobacco industry.
Hundreds of thousands of people
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in the United States, millions
of people around the world
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each year die premature horrible
deaths because of tobacco
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products, and yet we know the
tobacco industry is targeting
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children with their advertising,
that's how you get new
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customers. That's
a moral issue also.
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So we have a whole series of
issues that are out there that
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implicate on the
morality of society.
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Of course one of the issues that
we think of here, some of the
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issues that we think of,
regarding morals here in the
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Unites States, are issues like
for example, the abortion issue
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or the issue of
same sex marriage.
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Which are important issues.
But there are other issues
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also that have moral implication
including the issue of access to
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healthcare for all people.
Sometimes we don't think of
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that as a moral issue, but if
you think about it the ability
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of people, especially children,
because their vulnerable.
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And you know I think about
the senior citizens as well,
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because sometimes it gets to a
point where they have to decide
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between eating food or
the medications that their
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doctor prescribes for them.
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Sure, exactly. These are issues
that have moral implications.
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One person has put it this way,
they said the budget is the most
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morally laden document
that's passed through congress
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every year. And you
might say, how could a
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document be a moral...?
Because we're deciding how to
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allocate resources and
how you allocate resources,
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limited resources, has
implications on our moral value.
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How we value various different
population groups but also how
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value different
access to different issues.
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When you said population
groups, you know, in my mind I'm
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thinking about genocide,
and what's the other one?
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Genocide and...
War crimes? Yes, yes.
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Yeah I think that's another,
I'm glad you brought it up.
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One of the problems that
we're facing globally now
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is of course the genocide
that's occurred in Sudan.
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Now if that genocide, this
is something that's been I think
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really only getting the
attention it should recently,
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there's over two million people
who have died in that genocide.
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About four million
people have been displaced.
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That's a lot of people!
And you know after the genocide
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of World War II we said never
again, we never let this happen
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and the world will
never be silent and so forth.
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Here we are, it's happening,
and the world is largely silent.
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Even the Christian
church is largely silent.
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Now thankfully, thank the Lord,
there are Christians who are
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very heavily
engaged in this issue.
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And Christians have been at the
forefront of bringing this to
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the international attention,
of course trying to get the
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United States government
to focus on it as well.
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And I guess one of the, youth in
Asia was the word I was trying
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to think of, you know, and
all this is going on around the
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world, and my heart just bleeds
because we're sending billions
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dollars, and I say we
meaning the United States,
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which of course I love,
but we're sending billions of
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dollars over to Iraq. And
you have these other places
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like India, different places
that we never even hear about,
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in Russia, that are dealing with
issues of poverty and death.
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And we have money just
passing through our hands.
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Where's the morality in that?
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Well, I think that this
is a complicated question,
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and I think it's a good question
that everyone should ask.
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The situation in Iraq, you're
right, hundreds of billions
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of dollars are
being spent there.
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Some would argue that that's
necessary to free a population
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from a tyrant, and no doubt the
government there was tyrannical,
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in the traditional sense
of actually killing people,
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committing genocide
against the Kurds in the north,
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and other similar atrocities.
On the other hand, you're right,
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everything is a trade off
when you start spending money
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you have to ask yourself;
you spending money here versus
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spending money there. How
do we allocate those scarce
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resources, what's the best use
of them, and what are the moral
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values, and how are
our moral values reflected
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in the choices that we make.
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And we as citizens,
it's like our hands our tied.
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Our heart bleeds
we see these children
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that are starving and so forth.
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Well, I think that often many
people think that their hands
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tied a little bit
more than they are.
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This is a democratic society,
that is a society that operates
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democratic principles.
Your elected representatives do
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care about what you have to say.
For many of us, I'd guess even
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many of the viewers of this
show, which deals with issues
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and answers, have probably
never contacted their elected
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representative
about anything of import.
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They've never sent
their congressmen a letter,
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they've never given
their senator a call,
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they've never taken
the time to meet them.
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The government is not going
to respond to people's thoughts
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if we don't tell them
what we're looking for.
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Well now, I know sometimes are
government will make decisions
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outside even the
senate and so forth.
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They call it what?
An executive order?
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So if they're not even
listening to their own...
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Well, except executive
order comes from the president
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and executive order has limited,
there's a limited amount
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of things that you can
do with an executive order.
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And it can only take place
within a limited authority.
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Probably don't have time to
go into all the ins and outs
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of that. But
legislation through the
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senate and the house is subject
to the voice of individuals.
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Let me just give you an example,
we've been working on a bill to
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protect people of faith
in the American workplace.
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So the people aren't
fired because of their faith.
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Is that the Workplace Freedom?
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The Workplace Religious
Freedom Act, exactly yeah.
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I can see your
familiar with it, which is good.
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Oh of course. Yes.
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I went into a legislative office
not too long ago and they said,
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James, this bill is getting very
hot, it's like getting a lot of
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attention, we want to
know what's going on with it.
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I said, Well what
makes you say that?
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It's a good enough question.
They said, We're getting letters
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from constituents. And
I said, How many letters
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have you gotten
from constituents?
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And this was a legislative
from a small state, from Maine.
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He said, We've got five letters.
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And all of a sudden
we were really engaged.
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We're
concerned. What's going on?
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You might say, well
you know, Five letters,
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How is that going to matter?
It's going to matter because
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most people never
contact their legislative.
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That's right, it's
indicative of how many percent
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of the people that don't.
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We think about how few people
even vote, let alone how many
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people once they've voted
are going to say anything.
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So in a sense, in a democracy,
it's too simple to say you get
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the government you deserve,
but in a sense it's not entirely
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untrue. I mean,
it's true that you and I
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and the rest of those
living in democratic countries,
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not only have a privilege
of being able to contact your
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legislatives, let
your government officials
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know what you want, but in some
ways you have an obligation.
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If you have
strong concerns about
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what's going on, take the time.
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Okay so what you're saying
is people are too comfortable
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with the status quo, with
what they see, they accept it,
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Oh I can't do anything
about it, and don't even try.
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I think that's true and you know
one of the things that breaks
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my heart, is how often I
see people who are pushing evil
00:12:17.35\00:12:22.92
causes, who are so motivated,
so vocal, so willing to put
00:12:22.95\00:12:28.03
their backs into their cause
and make their voice heard.
00:12:28.04\00:12:31.66
And sometimes those of us
who are supporting what's right,
00:12:31.69\00:12:35.40
what's good, are so
complacent, are so comfortable,
00:12:35.43\00:12:41.70
are so distracted. And
we don't always do our job.
00:12:41.73\00:12:44.99
That said, I should
say one other thing,
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the North American
Religious Liberty Association
00:12:46.62\00:12:49.43
has a website, I
hope you don't mind
00:12:49.46\00:12:52.73
just to let people
know what it is. It's:
00:12:52.76\00:12:54.96
And from there we've had
38,000 letters sent to congress
00:13:03.44\00:13:05.54
in the last two years, which
is great, it's a good start.
00:13:05.57\00:13:08.09
As I say, it's a great start.
Those letters have been on
00:13:08.12\00:13:10.75
variety of topics from the
workplace religious freedom act
00:13:10.76\00:13:13.24
to raising the issue
of Sudan with our leaders,
00:13:13.27\00:13:18.93
to other issues that
have been on our agenda.
00:13:18.96\00:13:22.44
So in the White House
you're pushing not only
00:13:22.47\00:13:25.94
America and our home issues,
but issues that are relative
00:13:25.97\00:13:30.37
to people that are
helpless around the world,
00:13:30.40\00:13:32.77
because a lot of societies
aren't democratic societies.
00:13:32.80\00:13:35.42
Absolutely and
very, very good point.
00:13:35.43\00:13:38.71
Those who live in societies
where we can raise our voice,
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need to raise our voice on
behalf of those whose voice
00:13:41.87\00:13:44.37
has been silenced by oppression.
Let me just give you an example.
00:13:44.40\00:13:49.63
I've been doing a lot of work
with the rest of our religious
00:13:49.66\00:13:53.19
liberty team on behalf of
believers in Turkmenistan.
00:13:53.22\00:13:57.65
Turkmenistan is a country where
you don't have freedom of the
00:13:57.68\00:14:00.06
press, or anything
even close to that.
00:14:00.09\00:14:01.64
And a lot of that work
has gone on at United Nations,
00:14:01.67\00:14:06.07
that's where my colleague,
Jonathan Galaga works.
00:14:06.10\00:14:07.98
A lot of it's gone on sending
letters to the government
00:14:08.01\00:14:12.44
themselves, from
outside the country,
00:14:12.47\00:14:14.18
because of course, if you're
inside the country and you send
00:14:14.21\00:14:16.46
letters to the government,
well you know, you don't know
00:14:16.49\00:14:18.38
where you're going to end up,
or where you'll be the next day.
00:14:18.41\00:14:20.59
But also at the U.S.
state department and with our
00:14:20.62\00:14:23.37
legislatives saying, This is
what we have credible reports
00:14:23.40\00:14:26.92
of occurring there, and
this is what needs to happen
00:14:26.95\00:14:29.86
to change that.
We've had actually some
00:14:29.87\00:14:31.86
very, very positive results
directly flowing from that work.
00:14:31.87\00:14:37.14
That's one example, that's
certainly not the only example.
00:14:37.17\00:14:39.46
We've worked on
issues in a number
00:14:39.49\00:14:41.29
of countries around the world.
00:14:41.32\00:14:42.34
Now who are some of
the biggest violators
00:14:42.37\00:14:46.62
around the world of morality.
00:14:46.65\00:14:48.85
I think morality writ
large it's hard to say because
00:14:48.88\00:14:53.12
different countries
have different problems,
00:14:53.15\00:14:56.35
if you know what I'm saying.
00:14:56.38\00:14:57.44
And different
standards of what morality is.
00:14:57.47\00:14:59.29
Exactly. If you say which
country is just so pervasively
00:14:59.32\00:15:05.25
involved in
immorality in a variety of ways;
00:15:05.28\00:15:09.21
forced abortion through to
oppression of religious freedom,
00:15:09.24\00:15:12.53
to locking people
in prison for no cause.
00:15:12.56\00:15:17.20
I think it's hard to be in
a country, like for example,
00:15:17.23\00:15:19.62
North Korea, where
the government has just so
00:15:19.65\00:15:23.60
pervasively regulated society.
But not only regulated society
00:15:23.63\00:15:27.65
but enforced on them dreadful
restrictions and abuses.
00:15:27.69\00:15:32.75
On the other hand though,
for many of us living in America
00:15:32.76\00:15:35.82
we think, Look at us!
We're a wonderfully moral...
00:15:35.85\00:15:39.09
I've heard this particularly in
the current circumstance because
00:15:39.12\00:15:42.26
we feel under attack, and we are
under attack around the world.
00:15:42.29\00:15:45.44
People have a tendency
to justify our lifestyle.
00:15:45.47\00:15:48.57
I've even heard people talking
about how we want to go overseas
00:15:48.60\00:15:53.78
and give them our culture.
Well let's take a step back and
00:15:53.81\00:15:56.41
look at what our culture is!
The pervasiveness of pornography
00:15:56.42\00:16:01.31
in our culture, the
violence we have in our culture.
00:16:01.34\00:16:05.14
And we call it entertainment.
00:16:05.17\00:16:08.83
Entertainment. Some of the
violence we call entertainment,
00:16:08.86\00:16:12.17
some of it we call crime.
Sadly we have a phenomenally
00:16:12.18\00:16:14.97
high crime rate in this country.
The killing of unborn children.
00:16:15.00\00:16:21.32
The normalization of
morally degrading behavior.
00:16:21.35\00:16:26.17
All of these things are sadly
becoming a part of our culture.
00:16:26.20\00:16:30.80
There not the good parts of
it, I know that there's a lot of
00:16:30.83\00:16:34.08
great things about
American societies.
00:16:34.09\00:16:36.06
A lot of great things about
Western society in general.
00:16:36.09\00:16:38.33
But you can't ignore that this
is going on even in our society,
00:16:38.36\00:16:42.85
and sometimes when people
outside of our country look at
00:16:42.88\00:16:44.80
us, we say, Well what to
they see? They see freedom,
00:16:44.83\00:16:48.09
and they see generosity,
and they see a lot of people
00:16:48.12\00:16:51.68
from a lot of backgrounds
living together peacefully.
00:16:51.71\00:16:53.59
Sure they see that, but the
other thing that they see is
00:16:53.62\00:16:56.46
what we project through
Hollywood and our TV shows
00:16:56.49\00:17:00.42
and so forth. Which
is really just degrading,
00:17:00.43\00:17:04.54
debasing immorality.
00:17:04.57\00:17:06.13
So with our society being
so, what's the word? I mean,
00:17:06.16\00:17:13.36
just the morality being at such
a bad state, where do you see
00:17:13.39\00:17:17.95
the law or the government
getting involved? Do you?
00:17:17.98\00:17:21.95
Well, I think this
is a good question.
00:17:21.98\00:17:23.96
How do you solve a
sickness in a society?
00:17:23.99\00:17:28.33
The answer has to be,
there's no simple easy fix.
00:17:28.36\00:17:33.05
You can just pass a law and
everyone's going to be good,
00:17:33.08\00:17:35.65
on the other hand, you can't
simply say, I'm going to be good
00:17:35.68\00:17:39.50
and society is going
to be better overnight.
00:17:39.53\00:17:42.73
Now you're not saying legislate
morality, what are you saying?
00:17:42.76\00:17:45.36
Let me unpack that a little bit.
Often when we talk about moral
00:17:45.39\00:17:50.33
issues, people say, You
can't legislate morality.
00:17:50.36\00:17:53.04
This is a cliché
that's often used.
00:17:53.07\00:17:56.04
I use to say it!
00:17:56.07\00:17:57.79
And my response to that and
I think as you take a step back
00:17:57.82\00:18:01.53
is while it's true you cannot
make a law that makes people
00:18:01.56\00:18:06.16
good, there are laws that can
assist in showing that a society
00:18:06.19\00:18:11.12
is just, merciful. And
justice and mercy is a form
00:18:11.15\00:18:16.84
of morality. Let me
just give you one of my
00:18:16.87\00:18:19.92
favorite examples in this line.
And that's a case that involves
00:18:19.95\00:18:24.35
Great Britain back in the 1700s.
There was a gentlemen there
00:18:24.36\00:18:26.99
by the name of
William Wilberforce.
00:18:27.02\00:18:28.43
Now William Wilberforce probably
isn't as well known in the
00:18:28.46\00:18:31.17
United States as he should
be. But he was the British
00:18:31.20\00:18:34.35
legislator, he was a born again
Christian, who went out into
00:18:34.38\00:18:38.76
parliament and said,
We've got to stop slavery.
00:18:38.77\00:18:41.47
Now there's no doubt that he was
motivated by his religious views
00:18:41.50\00:18:46.46
How do we know
that? Because he wrote it.
00:18:46.49\00:18:48.82
And he said it, he
wasn't ashamed about who he was
00:18:48.85\00:18:50.90
and what he had to say.
Year after year he introduced
00:18:50.93\00:18:53.95
the bill into parliament saying,
We got to ban slavery in the
00:18:53.98\00:18:57.49
United Kingdom. And
this is well before we
00:18:57.52\00:19:00.31
banned slavery here in the
United States incidentally.
00:19:00.32\00:19:02.99
Eventually, near the end
of his career, it passed.
00:19:03.02\00:19:08.41
Slavery was banned. Then
eventually before he died,
00:19:08.44\00:19:11.80
he saw slavery banned in
the entire British empire.
00:19:11.83\00:19:14.44
Is that a month before he died?
00:19:14.45\00:19:18.04
It was right
before he died. Exactly.
00:19:18.07\00:19:20.00
So you imagine the British
empire is not, at that time,
00:19:20.03\00:19:22.88
is not a small thing.
You know they use to say,
00:19:22.91\00:19:24.77
The sun never sets
on the British Empire.
00:19:24.80\00:19:26.04
It's all around the
world, global empire.
00:19:26.07\00:19:29.30
Totally banned slavery,
based on his moral view.
00:19:29.33\00:19:34.15
And we can make no mistake
about it, by banning slavery
00:19:34.18\00:19:39.01
he was, through legislation,
trying to force his moral view
00:19:39.04\00:19:43.15
on society. I think
most of us would say,
00:19:43.18\00:19:46.27
Good honor. Did a great
job! Sadly should have been done
00:19:46.30\00:19:51.41
a long time before, should have
never been a problem to begin
00:19:51.44\00:19:53.50
with, but there you have
it. The implementation through
00:19:53.53\00:19:57.28
legislation of a moral view.
Would we say that that was the
00:19:57.31\00:20:02.85
wrong thing to do? I
certainly wouldn't say that.
00:20:02.88\00:20:06.73
So where is the line then?
Is it the violation of God's
00:20:06.76\00:20:12.49
moral laws that
you don't step across?
00:20:12.52\00:20:14.34
Where do you draw the line?
00:20:14.37\00:20:15.69
Drawing the line is complicated
because there's no legislation
00:20:15.72\00:20:18.83
that doesn't have
a moral implication.
00:20:18.86\00:20:22.90
And everybody is motivated
by this sense of morality,
00:20:22.93\00:20:27.77
I hope so anyway! It
would be terrible if people
00:20:27.80\00:20:30.10
were going out there and saying,
I'm going to be a legislator
00:20:30.11\00:20:32.45
but I'm totally immoral,
I have no moral perspective.
00:20:32.48\00:20:35.27
And most of us who have a sense
of morality, draw that morality
00:20:35.30\00:20:38.89
from our religious perspectives,
from our religious viewpoint.
00:20:38.92\00:20:41.35
Make no mistake about it,
even when people pretend like
00:20:41.38\00:20:43.53
their not drawing it from
their religious perspectives,
00:20:43.56\00:20:45.42
and sometimes we try
to play that game like,
00:20:45.45\00:20:47.43
Well this is some natural
law, or this is some kind of
00:20:47.46\00:20:53.35
reasoned, I've
come to this perspective
00:20:53.38\00:20:56.80
through human
reason. At the end of the day
00:20:56.83\00:20:59.46
human reason, if you
applied that strictly and say,
00:20:59.49\00:21:02.50
Why should you be kind to
others? Shouldn't you defend
00:21:02.53\00:21:05.28
what you've got and take from
others everything that, you know
00:21:05.31\00:21:08.81
if you take it totally a
moral perspective it's sort of a
00:21:08.84\00:21:12.62
Darwinistic cultural
Darwinistic perspective.
00:21:12.65\00:21:16.83
There's no particular reason
to sort of be kind to others
00:21:16.86\00:21:20.31
or so forth. So if
we accept the fact that
00:21:20.34\00:21:24.45
all legislation has a moral
impact, the old legislators are
00:21:24.48\00:21:28.52
motivated, we hope at
least in part by morality.
00:21:28.55\00:21:32.16
The question then
becomes, when does the law
00:21:32.17\00:21:35.94
that deals with
morality go too far?
00:21:35.97\00:21:39.04
When is it inappropriate?
00:21:39.07\00:21:41.30
And who is to set that bar?
00:21:41.33\00:21:44.37
Well, that's a good question.
Particularly in the post modern
00:21:44.40\00:21:47.47
world where we say there is
no truth, there is no standard,
00:21:47.50\00:21:49.86
and so forth. Of
course I don't believe that,
00:21:49.87\00:21:51.51
and I'm sure you don't
either. But that's sort of the
00:21:51.54\00:21:53.63
prevailing sort of
philosophical framework.
00:21:53.64\00:21:56.91
I would suggest a
couple things to think about.
00:21:56.92\00:22:00.44
First of all, at least
in the American context,
00:22:00.47\00:22:04.07
there is a barrier to how
far you go with passing laws
00:22:04.10\00:22:09.36
that have moral implications.
00:22:09.39\00:22:12.84
That is the Bills of
Rights and the Constitution.
00:22:12.87\00:22:15.32
But now aren't we repudiating
those lines, aren't we
00:22:15.35\00:22:18.75
aren't we erasing those lines?
00:22:18.79\00:22:21.53
I think and to be honest I think
that every generation defines
00:22:21.56\00:22:26.70
the lines that are
drawn within the Constitution.
00:22:26.73\00:22:29.39
Since the beginning
that's been going on.
00:22:29.42\00:22:33.23
But I think that there are
certain fairly bright lines
00:22:33.26\00:22:36.18
within the Constitution
that sure you can argue back and
00:22:36.21\00:22:38.75
forth about it, but if you step
over them you really stepping
00:22:38.78\00:22:42.79
over fairly obvious lines.
Maybe if I can give you an
00:22:42.82\00:22:47.33
example, I would argue that
if you pass a law that stops
00:22:47.36\00:22:52.02
someone from practicing their
faith or forces them to practice
00:22:52.05\00:22:55.22
your faith, actually
engage in religious activity,
00:22:55.25\00:22:58.40
then you've gone too far.
00:22:58.43\00:23:00.00
That's what the First
Amendment is all about.
00:23:00.03\00:23:02.13
But that's the plain
line, what about those fog lines
00:23:02.16\00:23:06.25
that you go through and can't
see and once you realize you're
00:23:06.28\00:23:08.89
there you've crossed
that black and white line.
00:23:08.92\00:23:11.06
I think it's a good question.
You know one commentator said
00:23:11.09\00:23:14.45
that life is lived
on the slippery slope.
00:23:14.48\00:23:16.44
You know you often say,
If you pass a law that deals
00:23:16.47\00:23:19.36
with morality here is it
going to result in laws that
00:23:19.39\00:23:22.44
deal with morality over
here and at what point does it
00:23:22.47\00:23:25.11
degrade into... well
the answer is life is lived
00:23:25.14\00:23:28.38
on the slippery slope.
This is a commentator's
00:23:28.41\00:23:30.78
perspective, and that is,
for example, police can become
00:23:30.81\00:23:34.97
Gestapo, it doesn't
mean we don't have police.
00:23:35.00\00:23:37.09
Because we say, Oh it's a
slippery slope until we get into
00:23:37.12\00:23:40.03
oppressive policing. And
I think in this case, sure.
00:23:40.06\00:23:45.95
Anytime you have a bill,
or legislation that deals with
00:23:45.98\00:23:50.78
morality which is
virtually every bill.
00:23:50.81\00:23:52.65
You could be setting a precedent
where by people would go over
00:23:52.66\00:23:56.15
that line and say, Hey
we're going to make you keep our
00:23:56.85\00:23:59.85
religious perspective,
we're going to force you
00:23:59.88\00:24:02.02
to be a part of our
religious practices.
00:24:02.03\00:24:06.74
On the other hand, just because
that's possibility or that's the
00:24:06.77\00:24:11.01
end result of a
theoretical slippery slope,
00:24:11.04\00:24:13.70
doesn't mean we
should pull away and say,
00:24:13.71\00:24:16.70
There are terrible violations of
individuals rights in society,
00:24:16.73\00:24:22.94
there are groups that want
to impose their morality through
00:24:22.97\00:24:25.51
legislation, it doesn't mean
that their immorality through
00:24:25.54\00:24:28.99
legislation, it doesn't
mean that we shouldn't stand up
00:24:29.02\00:24:31.39
and say, A. We're going
to protect individual rights,
00:24:31.42\00:24:35.61
and B. We're not going
to let immorality become
00:24:35.64\00:24:38.64
the law of the land.
00:24:38.67\00:24:39.77
So we have people in place
like you that can help define
00:24:39.80\00:24:44.71
where and what this line is.
00:24:44.72\00:24:47.10
Well, fortunately not just
me. I work with a team at a
00:24:47.13\00:24:50.87
our world headquarters
of Seventh Day Adventists,
00:24:50.90\00:24:53.08
and also with Liberty Magazine.
We also have an international
00:24:53.11\00:24:56.24
center for religious
freedom up at Andrews University
00:24:56.27\00:25:00.36
where we have academics
working on these issues.
00:25:00.39\00:25:02.02
No man's an island, as we
say, and I certainly think that
00:25:02.05\00:25:06.09
trying to do this all
by yourself wouldn't be
00:25:06.12\00:25:08.06
a wise thing.
Because it is complicated.
00:25:08.09\00:25:10.24
I want to just give
you two more examples.
00:25:10.27\00:25:12.40
They actually come from
the late 1800s, of how to draw
00:25:12.43\00:25:15.56
this line. One
involves the prohibition
00:25:15.59\00:25:17.96
movement, the
movement to outlaw alcohol.
00:25:17.99\00:25:20.75
Now we know alcohol
causes enormous problems
00:25:20.78\00:25:23.23
in families, in society.
And a number of religious
00:25:23.26\00:25:26.52
groups worked to
get alcohol banned.
00:25:26.55\00:25:29.36
I think that is
absolutely appropriate.
00:25:29.39\00:25:30.78
There's no
Constitutional right to drink.
00:25:30.79\00:25:33.17
There's no Constitutional right
to get drunk and beat up people
00:25:33.20\00:25:36.58
and so forth, and
so it's appropriate.
00:25:36.61\00:25:38.60
On the other hand there
was another group at that same
00:25:38.63\00:25:40.56
period, who said, We want
to make Sunday a holy day.
00:25:40.59\00:25:43.70
We want to enforce
that through the laws.
00:25:43.73\00:25:45.26
Once again, that does
violate a Constitutional right.
00:25:45.29\00:25:48.87
Your right to freedom of
religion and your right to be
00:25:48.90\00:25:51.33
free from a
state imposed religion.
00:25:51.36\00:25:53.70
And so there were
groups, including our own group,
00:25:53.73\00:25:56.30
that went up to Congress
and across the country and said,
00:25:56.33\00:25:59.94
No. Yes, we can work on issues
that deal with public morality,
00:25:59.97\00:26:04.78
but no, you cannot impose
your religion on other people.
00:26:04.81\00:26:08.16
So now we're going into the
point of separation of church
00:26:08.19\00:26:11.51
and state. Okay,
our time is running out.
00:26:11.54\00:26:15.90
Okay, would you
please come back because
00:26:15.93\00:26:17.68
we've got to deal with that.
00:26:17.71\00:26:18.93
Well, I tell you I'd
be pleased to come back,
00:26:18.96\00:26:20.95
and once again it's
great to be on your show,
00:26:20.96\00:26:23.35
and I hope this season goes
00:26:23.38\00:26:25.49
tremendously well
for you. God bless.
00:26:25.52\00:26:27.19
God bless Attorney, thank
you so much for joining us.
00:26:27.22\00:26:29.43
Thank you so much for having me.
00:26:29.46\00:26:30.43
And thank you for joining us.
If you have issues and answers,
00:26:30.44\00:26:34.29
you know I always say, well
if you have issues that need
00:26:34.32\00:26:36.95
answers, the Lord has those
answers and we have a committee
00:26:36.98\00:26:40.88
Christian
counselors to deal those.
00:26:40.91\00:26:43.37
So please feel free okay.
I'm going to give you my email
00:26:43.40\00:26:45.37
address as well as
our mailing address.
00:26:45.40\00:26:47.87
And I almost forgot.
Attorney Standish wanted me to
00:27:06.78\00:27:09.20
remind you to make sure
you know how to reach him
00:27:09.23\00:27:11.92
and the website is:
00:27:11.95\00:27:13.66
You can go this website to
reach your Congress person or
00:27:17.00\00:27:20.33
from anywhere around the
world you can look at reports
00:27:20.36\00:27:24.53
based on religious
liberty, and it's globally okay?
00:27:24.56\00:27:27.32
And as for me, we thank
you so much for joining us
00:27:27.35\00:27:31.07
here at Issues and Answers.
And don't forget, if you have
00:27:31.10\00:27:33.54
issues, it's okay I won't tell
anyone if you don't want me to.
00:27:33.57\00:27:36.40
You can write me via
email or regular mail.
00:27:36.43\00:27:39.37
And just remember you
don't have to suffer alone,
00:27:39.40\00:27:41.95
whatever your issues are,
we talk about church/state,
00:27:41.98\00:27:44.35
we talk about morality
issues, but regardless whatever
00:27:44.38\00:27:47.67
your issue is, we'll pray
with you, we have a committee
00:27:47.70\00:27:51.21
of counselors
and we will be there
00:27:51.24\00:27:53.24
with and for
you. God bless okay.
00:27:53.28\00:27:55.28