Welcome to the Liberty Insider.
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This is the program
that brings you up to date
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discussion of religious
liberty news and views.
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My name is Lincoln Steed,
Editor of Liberty Magazine.
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And with me
today is Melissa Reid,
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Assistant Editor
and Marketing Director
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for Liberty Magazine.
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Hi Lincoln,
thanks for having me.
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Yeah, good for you to
be back on the program.
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I hope you're a
regular from time to time.
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I'd like to talk for a
while with you about something
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that's part of the narrative
for the last few months,
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and sure to continue
into the foreseeable future.
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The story of
judicial nominations,
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but the ongoing
story of judicial shifts
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and how the Supreme
Court in particular plays
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a role in religious
freedom and changing often.
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Yeah. Social norms.
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Well it's a hot topic right now
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that's for sure.
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We've had kind of a balance,
I guess that you would say,
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for the past few years
between the typically liberal
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or conservative justices.
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We think that might
change now with some of our,
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with the new additions.
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Well, one thing
that is worth mentioning,
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and I'm not the only
one to comment on it,
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it escapes a lot of people.
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We're really not
talking about classic divide
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between liberal
and conservative.
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Because the classic
political conservatism
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is something
different all together
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from the moralistic
religious conservatism.
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And so there is a clear shift
within the conservative side.
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Right, has some
point of division.
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And also the liberalism
clearly has been somewhat
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hijacked or at
least used by many with a,
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an extremely secular mindset
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that often is
antagonistic to religion.
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So in someway this four
main elements playing out here.
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But it amused me a little as
you look at the Supreme Court
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you mentioned we've
had a balance of luck.
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But even until this
recent due of changes,
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the Supreme Court was mostly
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made up of
conservative appointees. Okay--
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That seems to have
escaped most people.
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Which also tells me
that it's not quite true
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of the activists
and all that those
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that are
cheering on the fraction,
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and some of these
appointments presume
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that just because you put
someone on the Supreme Court
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certainly and most of
these judicial appointments
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doesn't mean that
they you've bought a person
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that they're gonna reflex
leave it the way you want it,
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or judge the way you want.
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Right, which I think
is actually a good aspect
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It's a sign of the
adjurin strength of the system.
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The framers of the constitution
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and the founders of
this republic setup. Right.
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I do have a
fear in this claimer,
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which has a
strong religious faction
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with a religious agenda.
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Within this
faction and the loud talk,
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now on both sides that
they can get the packages
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get their person in.
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Then there we found that
is basically corrosive to
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the idea of a democracy
and a judicial impartiality.
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But as we can see with a
couple of very interesting
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present members
of the Supreme Court
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Justices Scalia and Thomas,
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there are some good arguments
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that these people
have quite an agenda,
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that maybe is
apart from the case
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that come before them.
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They have an
agenda ready to apply
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rather than they look
at it dispassionately,
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certainly with individual bias
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but still is a
legal mind. Right.
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Well maybe you could
tell us little bit about
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what's been happening
with the court recent,
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you know, some recent decisions
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that you felt
was significant or--
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We've got a new
Supreme Court Chief Justice
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Roberts, who I
think surprised almost
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everybody who was
expecting a nuclear option
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and a war for the
fact of the finish
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on this appointment.
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Most people and especially
if they only read the newspapers
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and watched the regular media
thought it was a false alarm
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that he was no danger
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and seem
reassuringly candid to them.
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Well, maybe not to
some of the senators.
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He certainly seems
like the middle American boy
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with a good smile,
the perfect family.
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And I wouldn't presume to say
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that he himself
is anything but that.
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But as a judicial
mind and someone that may
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or may not have an agenda,
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there's reasons to maybe worry
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and there is plenty
of reason to presume
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that he shares a developing
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conservative judicial mindset.
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That along the way could
be problematic to some things
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but almost certainly
to the constitutional
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mandated and traditionalist view
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of separation of
Church and State.
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As well as that he
was very well known,
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very upfront but
he was enough upfront
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for a people to deduce that
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he has some rather problematic,
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from my point of view,
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views on the authority
of the executive branch.
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Clearly, views that
wouldn't have passed
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last 100 or so years ago.
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We're in a, now a
phase where the executive is
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utilizing
powers that were there,
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that have never been
utilized quite their way.
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And like now Attorney General
Gonzales in his hearings,
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maybe I've got to say
Gonzales in his hearings
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made a quite
plan that he believed
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the any president
not just this one.
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But any president is
above the laws of Congress,
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I mean that's an incredible
assertion from someone
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as Gonzales, you know,
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with he's on a
track to the Supreme Court
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certainly he's
Attorney General already.
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As top law enforcement
officer in the country.
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And to believe that
about the executive power,
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that's problematic. Right.
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So what sort of
trends do you see as far as
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the conservative
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or the liberal
sides of the bench?
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Where do you see us going?
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And that's probably
the best way to look at it,
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you know, we know
that George Bush has
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put up a woman
for the replacement
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of Sandra Day O'Connor
and we were already quite
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comfortable with
the chief justice now.
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But there is no
question that in recent years
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the so called
conservative judiciary
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have more of an
agenda which intersects
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nicely with the religious right,
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and that's what
they're backing it.
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And the liberal,
more liberal judges
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they have an agenda too.
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Maybe I should tackle
the liberal ones first,
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there's been charges made
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and I've heard them first hand
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from Antonin Scalia
that his more liberal
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justices with him
on the Supreme Court
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again so far this is
the soft headed for example.
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He says, I have a view
of the living constitution.
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And he says they
wake up from the morning,
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and he says they decide,
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you know, this
is a wonderful day,
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how shall I decide to
apply the constitution today?
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What new meaning
can I read into it?
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Well it makes the good theater
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when Scalia entertains
as I've heard law students
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and I've heard him
speaking at colleges and so on.
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But there is a kind of
truth in what he's saying,
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doesn't mean
it's really that bad.
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But some of the more
liberal ones realizing that
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we're in a new
norm of history now,
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you can hardly say
that society is structuring
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the things same way as
200 plus years ago. Right.
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So they tried to
apply the principles again,
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in a sort of privacy and of
human individual human rights
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and self determination.
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Tried to apply
these to these new norms.
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And it does come up with,
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they do come up with
some rulings in cases
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that clearly are not covered
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by the wording
of the constitution.
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But their argument is,
it's under the general intention
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or the democratic norms
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that the founders
were trying to create.
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What's fairly damming
apart from Scalia's mockery
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is just in the last few months.
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Justice Breyer has
come out with a book,
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fairly small book,
telling his judicial philosophy,
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and it does read very
much like Scalia's text.
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Of course he takes it seriously,
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but he outlines there how
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you know, they look at
the reality of the situation
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and try to tailor a new reality
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that's somewhat true
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to the general
outline of the constitution.
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But he makes no pretense that
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it's rigidly structured on it.
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And then he says
something that I think
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is very problematic for
civil and religious liberty.
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He says that they
would base these judgments
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on developing expectations
of a democratic people.
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In the book, Great
Controversy written by
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Ellen White, that Adventists,
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Seventh-day Adventists
are very familiar with,
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where she expands
from a biblical based
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on some end time events.
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She gives a very distinct idea
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that some
problematic developments
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for the United States,
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consistent with Revelation 13,
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where U.S. is
mentioned in prophecy.
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She says that these
will be precipitated
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by the people clamoring in
particular for a Sunday law.
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And the
legislatures giving into them,
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same pattern
that happened in Rome
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where they lost the freedoms,
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it was a claimer
that the Senate gave into
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and then passed over power
to the Roman Caesars. Right.
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Well, this judicial philosophy
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it seems to me is
the perfect enabler
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after you have the legislature
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doing something
that would be opposed
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to the principle
of the constitution.
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But yet this liberal
mentality could very easily
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rubber a stamp
that's saying well,
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I don't need to look
whether it's tears down
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the Establishment
Clause, First Amendment.
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The people wanted, this
is appropriate at the time,
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we'll sign off
and we will not say,
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we'll say this is
constitutional. Right.
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So there is a real
danger from the right,
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rather than the conservatives
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really often calling
them a marvel and so on,
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you know, that's sort
of a hard thing to bear.
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And as we found at the time
of the Bill Clinton episodes,
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there was enough
guilt to go around
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when people like Larry Flynt
00:10:21.39\00:10:22.91
started to
investigate people's lives.
00:10:22.92\00:10:25.44
But the liberal judicial
mentality could be a problem
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if they have the
ascendancy Right.
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A likelihood is
that we will live through
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a conservative ascendancy
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and the model that's
developed there is not only
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the one that Scalia mentions,
00:10:40.29\00:10:41.84
but it derives very
closely from his view,
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very close
himself in a originalist,
00:10:44.50\00:10:46.26
looks to a
original intent. Right.
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You've heard that.
00:10:48.76\00:10:49.81
Right, did Roberts,
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what was the phase that Roberts
00:10:50.80\00:10:52.09
kept mentioning that he wants.
00:10:52.10\00:10:53.63
I forgot the
exact term, but yes,
00:10:53.64\00:10:54.70
he is under
that umbrella. Right.
00:10:54.71\00:10:56.18
Because it's
pretty much becoming
00:10:56.19\00:10:57.96
the norm in these
activists, conservative,
00:10:57.97\00:11:00.25
judicial circles, the
ones that are exemplified
00:11:00.26\00:11:02.58
or embodied in this
administration's world view.
00:11:02.59\00:11:07.75
And yes, there is
no question the way
00:11:07.76\00:11:11.33
they look back
at the constitution,
00:11:11.34\00:11:12.86
they say in fact
Scalia flip-flops in my view
00:11:12.87\00:11:16.21
between identifying
himself as a textualist
00:11:16.22\00:11:19.36
and an
originalist, original intent.
00:11:19.37\00:11:21.98
But I don't think
they're quite synonymous.
00:11:21.99\00:11:23.69
But it claims you look at
what the constitution says,
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and it says what it
says, no more, no less.
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Well very few people
seen to read the constitution,
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it's an
incredible spare document,
00:11:32.65\00:11:34.31
cryptic at times.
00:11:34.32\00:11:35.55
And I think I could argue
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that's the glory
of it for America,
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it lays out some board
and wonderful principles,
00:11:40.44\00:11:42.79
mostly in the Bill of Rights
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and also in the
declaration of independence.
00:11:45.76\00:11:47.80
But since it's just spare,
00:11:47.81\00:11:51.83
it allows sort of
fleshing out as you go
00:11:51.84\00:11:53.97
through a real world situation.
00:11:53.98\00:11:56.01
Where if it
specifically said something
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that was egregiously at
odds with their whole mindset.
00:11:57.97\00:12:00.64
Now you have a
constitution, no problem,
00:12:00.65\00:12:02.39
but Scalia says he
looks at the constitution,
00:12:02.40\00:12:06.44
and determines
the original intent
00:12:06.45\00:12:10.74
and that's how you
have to legislate even,
00:12:10.75\00:12:14.54
not legislate but
confirm or judge on legislation,
00:12:14.55\00:12:18.20
even if it might be
at odds with fairness
00:12:18.21\00:12:19.99
and rightness and so on. Right.
00:12:20.00\00:12:23.75
Can you pick this out
from any of his discussion?
00:12:23.76\00:12:26.79
Well, I know that we're
in exciting times as far as--
00:12:26.80\00:12:29.72
Yeah, things are
happening and after the break
00:12:29.73\00:12:32.30
I think we'll have
to come back to this
00:12:32.31\00:12:33.55
and talk a little bit more.
00:12:33.56\00:12:36.01
But I wish that
some of our viewers had,
00:12:36.02\00:12:39.71
I wish to know that you have,
00:12:39.72\00:12:42.02
I've been exposed to
these legislative opinions.
00:12:42.03\00:12:44.66
They have great
ramifications for our world
00:12:44.67\00:12:47.65
and certainly
for religious liberty
00:12:47.66\00:12:49.57
and how legal
religious liberty principles
00:12:49.58\00:12:52.06
are elaborated and confirmed.
00:12:52.07\00:12:54.64
One-hundred years, a
long time to do anything
00:13:04.32\00:13:07.96
much less publish a magazine,
00:13:07.97\00:13:09.79
but this year Liberty,
00:13:09.80\00:13:12.30
the Seventh-day Adventist
voice of religious freedom,
00:13:12.31\00:13:14.59
celebrates one
hundred years of doing
00:13:14.60\00:13:17.33
what it does best,
collecting, analyzing,
00:13:17.34\00:13:20.12
and reporting the ebb and
flow of religious expression
00:13:20.13\00:13:23.23
around the world.
00:13:23.24\00:13:24.53
Issue after issue,
Liberty has taken on the
00:13:24.54\00:13:27.65
tough assignments,
tracking down threats
00:13:27.66\00:13:29.84
to religious
freedom and exposing the
00:13:29.85\00:13:31.68
work of the devil in
every corner of the globe.
00:13:31.69\00:13:34.30
Governmental
interference, personal attacks,
00:13:34.31\00:13:37.17
corporate assaults,
even religious freedom issues
00:13:37.18\00:13:40.10
sequestered within the
church community itself
00:13:40.11\00:13:42.28
have been clearly
and honestly exposed.
00:13:42.29\00:13:45.56
Liberty exists for one
purpose to help God's people
00:13:45.57\00:13:49.01
maintain that all the
important separation of
00:13:49.02\00:13:51.75
Church and State,
while recognizing the
00:13:51.76\00:13:53.92
dangers inherent
in such a struggle.
00:13:53.93\00:13:56.83
During the past
century, Liberty has experienced
00:13:56.84\00:13:59.23
challenges of its own,
but it remains on the job.
00:13:59.24\00:14:02.54
Thanks to the inspired
leadership of a long line
00:14:02.55\00:14:05.47
of dedicated Adventist Editors,
00:14:05.48\00:14:07.20
three of whom
represent almost half of the
00:14:07.21\00:14:09.32
publications
existence and the foresight
00:14:09.33\00:14:11.60
of a little
woman from New England.
00:14:11.61\00:14:13.91
One hundred years of struggle,
00:14:13.92\00:14:15.68
one hundred years of victories,
00:14:15.69\00:14:18.14
religious freedom isn't
just about political machines
00:14:18.15\00:14:21.54
and cultural prejudices.
00:14:21.55\00:14:23.08
It's about people
fighting for the right
00:14:23.09\00:14:26.06
to serve the God
they love as their hearts
00:14:26.07\00:14:28.91
and the Holy Spirit dictate.
00:14:28.92\00:14:31.11
Thanks to the
prayers and generous support
00:14:31.12\00:14:33.44
of Seventh-day
Adventists everywhere.
00:14:33.45\00:14:35.60
Liberty will continue
to accomplish its work
00:14:35.61\00:14:38.10
of providing timely information,
00:14:38.11\00:14:39.89
spirit filled inspiration,
00:14:39.90\00:14:41.30
and heaven sent encouragement
00:14:41.31\00:14:43.15
to all who long to
live and work in a world
00:14:43.16\00:14:47.04
bound together by
the God ordained bonds
00:14:47.05\00:14:49.92
of religious freedom.
00:14:49.93\00:14:51.92
Welcome back to
the Liberty Insider.
00:15:01.80\00:15:03.60
Before the break
we were talking about
00:15:03.61\00:15:05.66
judicial
philosophy and the context
00:15:05.67\00:15:08.04
to some of the recent
judicial appointments.
00:15:08.05\00:15:10.42
And of course in themselves
these were media events
00:15:10.43\00:15:13.12
and of course
for much discussion.
00:15:13.13\00:15:14.48
But the point of
this program is that
00:15:14.49\00:15:17.13
if you look beyond
these personalities,
00:15:17.14\00:15:19.01
there are real shifts
taking place that these
00:15:19.02\00:15:23.54
conservative and
so called conservative
00:15:23.55\00:15:26.38
liberal factions
represent. Right.
00:15:26.39\00:15:28.23
Actually I was gonna ask
you since you mentioned that,
00:15:28.24\00:15:30.62
you know, there has been
a lot of talk about this,
00:15:30.63\00:15:33.76
when two justices
positions opening at once time.
00:15:33.77\00:15:36.65
But do you
really think that there
00:15:36.66\00:15:38.06
will be a large shift
in maybe the, you know,
00:15:38.07\00:15:41.62
the way cases are legislated
00:15:41.63\00:15:43.70
or where do you
think we'll go from here?
00:15:43.71\00:15:46.73
Well, that's the
big $100,000 question,
00:15:46.74\00:15:52.76
often Sandra Day O'Connor
was so called swing vote,
00:15:52.77\00:15:56.22
it was as close as one vote,
00:15:56.23\00:15:58.54
and if she had voted
the other way the decision
00:15:58.55\00:16:00.22
would have been the opposite.
00:16:00.23\00:16:02.82
It is important to
recognize that the Supreme Court
00:16:02.83\00:16:05.80
in spite of all the rhetoric,
00:16:05.81\00:16:08.14
mostly by the religious
right thinking about abortion
00:16:08.15\00:16:12.81
but a few other
religious issues,
00:16:12.82\00:16:14.69
in spite their rhetoric.
00:16:14.70\00:16:16.05
The Supreme Court
does not legislate.
00:16:16.06\00:16:18.72
They can only
respond and even then,
00:16:18.73\00:16:20.88
in a very, some
times indirect way
00:16:20.89\00:16:23.87
to legislation or
issues that come up
00:16:23.88\00:16:27.80
in the whole legal process.
00:16:27.81\00:16:29.03
And often their
message can be hard to decipher
00:16:29.04\00:16:34.11
on this Texas
settlement case they intended,
00:16:34.12\00:16:36.81
it's very obvious to
make a statement about privacy
00:16:36.82\00:16:39.30
they ended up inadvertently
giving an endorsement
00:16:39.31\00:16:42.00
to actually same sex marriage,
00:16:42.01\00:16:46.47
beyond just homosexual,
00:16:46.48\00:16:48.19
legitimizing
homosexual behavior. Right.
00:16:48.20\00:16:51.60
But that said in the long haul,
00:16:51.61\00:16:55.16
it can make a
very real difference.
00:16:55.17\00:16:57.66
Some of the things
that have been said,
00:16:57.67\00:16:59.08
if they were acted upon
by the Supreme Court justices
00:16:59.09\00:17:01.66
is a group would be problematic,
00:17:01.67\00:17:03.54
like Chief Justice Scalia
has volunteered an opinion.
00:17:03.55\00:17:07.27
I think it was in
some discussions somewhere,
00:17:07.28\00:17:09.36
it wasn't off the bench.
00:17:09.37\00:17:10.34
But he said that blue laws,
00:17:10.35\00:17:12.97
Sunday laws and
not unconstitutional.
00:17:12.98\00:17:15.39
But that takes Liberty Magazine
00:17:15.40\00:17:17.50
right back 100 years to. Sure.
00:17:17.51\00:17:19.34
To the beginnings of what
we saw as gross persecution,
00:17:19.35\00:17:24.82
not just of
Seventh-day Adventist
00:17:24.83\00:17:26.97
and not just of Jews.
00:17:26.98\00:17:28.02
But what about anybody that had,
00:17:28.03\00:17:30.49
didn't want to partake of that,
00:17:30.50\00:17:32.45
where you're forced to open
00:17:32.46\00:17:34.06
and close, your business
is depending on those laws.
00:17:34.07\00:17:37.27
Moderate and regulate
your behavior according
00:17:37.28\00:17:39.85
to blue law prescriptions.
00:17:39.86\00:17:42.63
You know, that's religious
legislation at its harshest.
00:17:42.64\00:17:45.01
And here he said
that this is okay.
00:17:45.02\00:17:47.28
And that's
problematic to me hearing him
00:17:47.29\00:17:49.49
say that as a Roman Catholic,
00:17:49.50\00:17:51.09
who has every right to be there.
00:17:51.10\00:17:52.99
You know, the
constitution says no religious
00:17:53.00\00:17:55.06
tests for public office.
00:17:55.07\00:17:57.02
But here, as he's
speaking in a vacuum,
00:17:57.03\00:18:00.21
when he says that there
is it's not unconstitutional.
00:18:00.22\00:18:03.44
And the leader of his Church,
00:18:03.45\00:18:06.26
Pope John Paul
II, recently deceased,
00:18:06.27\00:18:08.76
said in a public
document that church members
00:18:08.77\00:18:11.50
should work for
legislation to support Sunday.
00:18:11.51\00:18:15.35
I think there is
an early warning sign.
00:18:15.36\00:18:17.00
Yeah. Well, I know
that in a lot of cases
00:18:17.01\00:18:20.97
for Roman Catholic politicians,
00:18:20.98\00:18:24.38
who are already leaders.
00:18:24.39\00:18:27.84
They were talking about
not serving them communion,
00:18:27.85\00:18:30.19
not giving them communion,
00:18:30.20\00:18:31.20
if they didn't
vote in a certain way
00:18:31.21\00:18:34.18
or legislate in a
certain, in a certain way.
00:18:34.19\00:18:37.11
That's right. It
was in the last election
00:18:37.12\00:18:38.11
and in another context,
00:18:38.12\00:18:39.09
we've mentioned that
before on this program.
00:18:39.10\00:18:40.95
But it needs to be reiterated.
00:18:40.96\00:18:43.90
Yes, we cannot be prejudicial
to other religious groups,
00:18:43.91\00:18:47.01
the constitution attempts
to remove this from the table.
00:18:47.02\00:18:52.02
It's, there is
no religious test,
00:18:52.03\00:18:54.03
the government is not
in the religion business.
00:18:54.04\00:18:56.63
But when religion becomes
an issue in the public's fear,
00:18:56.64\00:19:01.58
I think then automatically
the views of a church
00:19:01.59\00:19:06.15
and the structure of a Church,
00:19:06.16\00:19:07.45
like the Roman Catholic Church
00:19:07.46\00:19:08.64
when it pressures individuals
00:19:08.65\00:19:10.40
that belong to it.
00:19:10.41\00:19:11.38
You have to be taken seriously.
00:19:11.39\00:19:12.36
And I wish the
Roman Catholic Church
00:19:12.37\00:19:15.89
would in someway
disavow its very public pressure
00:19:15.90\00:19:19.49
vote to bear upon
candidate Kerry as well
00:19:19.50\00:19:21.45
as other senators at that time,
00:19:21.46\00:19:23.83
where the communion was
suggested that it be denied.
00:19:23.84\00:19:28.90
I well remember
reading Senator Kennedy's wife
00:19:28.91\00:19:32.05
words in the New York Times,
00:19:32.06\00:19:33.88
saying that this
was-- communication
00:19:33.89\00:19:36.28
and this was the
maximum pressure.
00:19:36.29\00:19:37.99
Where if they
didn't go along with that,
00:19:38.00\00:19:39.88
to be excommunicate
for a Catholic means
00:19:39.89\00:19:42.24
to be cast out from
any chance of salvation.
00:19:42.25\00:19:43.93
That's a pressure no
government can bring on that,
00:19:43.94\00:19:46.93
even if the
government executes you,
00:19:46.94\00:19:48.66
they're not really
00:19:48.67\00:19:49.64
if you have a
hope for the afterlife,
00:19:49.65\00:19:50.69
you could still
hold to your principles.
00:19:50.70\00:19:54.36
Very interesting development.
00:19:54.37\00:19:56.84
But going back to,
00:19:56.85\00:19:58.04
what I would like to
do is describe the liberal
00:19:58.05\00:20:01.61
versus the conservative gender
00:20:01.62\00:20:04.74
and back to
describing Antonin Scalia.
00:20:04.75\00:20:08.15
And maybe we have a
little advantage on him
00:20:19.02\00:20:21.76
in the church
context and certainly
00:20:21.77\00:20:24.35
Seventh-day Adventist too.
00:20:24.36\00:20:26.45
You know, we look at the Bible
00:20:26.46\00:20:27.56
and we try to divine what
the right Bible writer meant,
00:20:27.57\00:20:33.17
and you know, C.S
Lewis said, you know,
00:20:33.18\00:20:35.27
how could the idea
that something in the Bible
00:20:35.28\00:20:39.64
that was hard to understand
00:20:39.65\00:20:40.84
for people say 500 years ago.
00:20:40.85\00:20:43.40
And yet we can go right back
00:20:43.41\00:20:44.79
to 1,000s of years
ago when it's written.
00:20:44.80\00:20:47.16
And we can sort
of see through it,
00:20:47.17\00:20:48.62
we can know their intent,
00:20:48.63\00:20:50.02
that's arrogance to
the extreme, we don't,
00:20:50.03\00:20:51.94
we're so removed from
their culture and so on,
00:20:51.95\00:20:54.86
to try to
second guess the words.
00:20:54.87\00:20:56.37
That doesn't mean this,
they really meant such and such.
00:20:56.38\00:20:58.78
Right. Is quite problematic.
00:20:58.79\00:21:02.19
So first off we
have to understand
00:21:02.20\00:21:04.57
that with Scalia and
less conservative folk,
00:21:04.58\00:21:07.34
it's a bit of a
convenient game they play.
00:21:07.35\00:21:09.95
Because it means what
they say it means. Right.
00:21:09.96\00:21:12.27
And we see already
with the Christian right,
00:21:12.28\00:21:14.86
they're quite
prepared to reconstruct history
00:21:14.87\00:21:17.03
and built this mythical America,
00:21:17.04\00:21:20.60
where there was a
intention to protect religion,
00:21:20.61\00:21:23.24
protect on the states levels,
00:21:23.25\00:21:26.14
the state protection
of particular religions.
00:21:26.15\00:21:30.19
And there's a half truth in it,
00:21:30.20\00:21:31.17
but it's not true as they say.
00:21:31.18\00:21:34.09
It's original intent
can be quite dangerous.
00:21:34.10\00:21:36.72
Then as Scalia outlines it,
00:21:37.73\00:21:39.73
and I've heard him say
it, he can look very plainly
00:21:39.74\00:21:42.69
and the facts of
history somewhat support him,
00:21:42.70\00:21:44.89
that they didn't
intend women to vote.
00:21:44.90\00:21:48.08
They didn't
intend slaves to be free.
00:21:48.09\00:21:50.54
And his proof which
is somewhat of a proof,
00:21:51.84\00:21:55.50
when those things happened,
00:21:55.51\00:21:56.84
their amendments to the
constitution qualifying it.
00:21:56.85\00:22:00.43
Now that's a little bit
00:22:00.44\00:22:01.45
at odds with the liberal view,
00:22:01.46\00:22:04.22
which reads into
these expensive statements
00:22:04.23\00:22:07.02
of the Bill of Rights.
00:22:07.03\00:22:10.54
Universal and complete
rights that went beyond
00:22:10.55\00:22:13.89
what they were
granting at that time.
00:22:13.90\00:22:15.68
But were explicit in the claim
00:22:15.69\00:22:18.39
that was endorsed and
put into the constitution.
00:22:18.40\00:22:21.16
So what we will see, I believe
00:22:21.17\00:22:23.90
with the
conservative thought in court,
00:22:23.91\00:22:25.38
which is likely to come
out of these two changes,
00:22:25.39\00:22:27.66
is a systematic
rolling back of many
00:22:27.67\00:22:30.82
of the social justice
issues of recent years,
00:22:30.83\00:22:33.88
not all religious.
00:22:33.89\00:22:35.41
And this is where I
think the religious right
00:22:35.42\00:22:37.83
somewhat being
blindsided because
00:22:37.84\00:22:40.78
they're putting all of their,
00:22:40.79\00:22:43.09
their support
behind this whole view,
00:22:43.10\00:22:44.89
because they see it
as a way to rollback,
00:22:44.90\00:22:46.82
throw the vote and
bring Churches safe together.
00:22:46.83\00:22:50.25
But I believe it's
taking us back to the time
00:22:50.26\00:22:53.37
of relatively
unrestrained power of capital,
00:22:53.38\00:22:57.04
land owners, which really is how
00:22:57.05\00:22:59.20
this country started
off, we mythologize it.
00:22:59.21\00:23:01.87
But this was the backyard
of well connected landowners
00:23:01.88\00:23:07.33
that saw as the, you
know, as the term says,
00:23:07.34\00:23:13.05
you know life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness.
00:23:13.06\00:23:15.17
Very few people
know that happiness
00:23:15.18\00:23:17.30
was not the original
word and it was code language
00:23:17.31\00:23:19.65
for the original word life,
00:23:19.66\00:23:20.92
liberty and the
pursuit of property.
00:23:20.93\00:23:22.91
This construct that
they're trying to go back
00:23:23.99\00:23:28.46
to as really
putted in a bad way,
00:23:28.47\00:23:30.88
but it can almost say
that this is the east coast
00:23:30.89\00:23:35.27
land owning business
class wanting to regain power.
00:23:35.28\00:23:39.25
And are troubled by
religious diversity,
00:23:40.44\00:23:43.70
troubled by the rising power
00:23:43.71\00:23:46.36
of all the little French
special entrances and so on.
00:23:46.37\00:23:49.99
And they won't
remove it absolutely,
00:23:50.00\00:23:51.87
but the center of
gravity is shifting.
00:23:51.88\00:23:54.08
Right. And I look to the Bible
00:23:54.09\00:23:55.71
and I see that's at
least in general outlines
00:23:55.72\00:23:58.53
what the Bible talks about it,
00:23:58.54\00:23:59.69
it talks about
the very end of time.
00:23:59.70\00:24:01.64
The laborer crying
out because of his wage
00:24:01.65\00:24:04.33
held back by fraud.
00:24:04.34\00:24:05.72
I look at the end
of time and it says
00:24:05.73\00:24:07.10
the judges have
prevented justice.
00:24:07.11\00:24:10.01
I look at some of the
last chapters of Revelation,
00:24:10.02\00:24:13.36
and the chapters that
you may not necessarily
00:24:13.37\00:24:16.93
connect early to
the United States.
00:24:16.94\00:24:18.59
But as the premier economic
system and trading system,
00:24:18.60\00:24:26.98
you know, mercantile
system in this world.
00:24:26.99\00:24:29.04
We have to be
implicated where it talks
00:24:29.05\00:24:30.91
about Babylon
system of commerce.
00:24:30.92\00:24:34.44
That all of the
nations play wantedly with it
00:24:34.45\00:24:37.49
and then when it
collapses they weep over
00:24:37.50\00:24:39.44
because this is pot
of gold is basically,
00:24:39.45\00:24:42.24
suddenly disappeared.
00:24:42.25\00:24:43.61
And I think we're
heading back to that
00:24:43.62\00:24:45.35
and I also read in the Bible
00:24:45.36\00:24:46.37
and it's been
problematic for many years.
00:24:46.38\00:24:47.77
But it talks that
slaves at the end of time.
00:24:47.78\00:24:50.01
You know slavery
exists in more ways
00:24:52.13\00:24:53.88
than just the
southern plantation,
00:24:53.89\00:24:56.14
and if you remove some of
the American talk of slavery,
00:24:56.15\00:25:01.45
as it existed
here through the ages
00:25:01.46\00:25:03.76
from the Roman Empire
00:25:03.77\00:25:04.74
right through
to the present day.
00:25:04.75\00:25:06.44
Slavery continues basically
as an indentured servitude,
00:25:06.45\00:25:10.46
where someone has lost
their freedom of person-hood
00:25:10.47\00:25:14.72
to determine where
they go, economic freedom.
00:25:14.73\00:25:17.11
I believe in a
relatively plain way,
00:25:17.12\00:25:21.10
back in the
Laissez-Faire economics
00:25:21.11\00:25:23.37
over a 100 years
ago in this country
00:25:23.38\00:25:25.47
where people
worked crushing hours,
00:25:25.48\00:25:28.30
menial wages, lived
in the factory store.
00:25:28.31\00:25:30.67
Were kept down by
the private Pinkertons
00:25:30.68\00:25:32.89
and police forces, I believe
that was effective slavery.
00:25:32.90\00:25:36.02
And we've come beyond
that, and yet judicially
00:25:36.03\00:25:39.77
as a cruel intention I believe,
00:25:39.78\00:25:42.06
not always stated, not
always fully understood.
00:25:42.07\00:25:43.98
But it's
implications are to roll us back
00:25:43.99\00:25:47.62
to my formal
impressive, less tolerant,
00:25:47.63\00:25:51.40
religiously corrosive structure
00:25:51.41\00:25:54.79
and it will only be encouraged
00:25:54.80\00:25:56.71
by external
stresses like terrorism,
00:25:56.72\00:25:58.83
foreign adventures gone
wrong, natural calamities.
00:26:00.72\00:26:04.61
And so I really
see the judicial system
00:26:04.62\00:26:07.20
in this full context.
00:26:07.21\00:26:10.12
Well these are big topics
00:26:10.13\00:26:11.31
and we can spend hours on them.
00:26:11.32\00:26:14.19
The bottom line is that
we're in a changing time
00:26:14.20\00:26:18.10
and we need to be
diligent in our prayers
00:26:18.11\00:26:20.08
regarding these changes.
00:26:20.09\00:26:21.28
We don't know what
the future will hold
00:26:21.29\00:26:23.44
as far as the Supreme Court goes
00:26:23.45\00:26:26.58
and the
decisions that we'll make.
00:26:26.59\00:26:28.35
But we know that, that
God is the ultimate authority
00:26:28.36\00:26:31.19
and He is on our side.
00:26:31.20\00:26:32.52
And as long as we stay diligent
00:26:32.53\00:26:35.34
and are fervent in our beliefs
00:26:35.35\00:26:39.03
and work towards that end.
00:26:39.04\00:26:41.35
Then the final
outcome will be positive.
00:26:41.36\00:26:45.17
At the end of Alfred
Lord Tennyson's poem Ulysses,
00:26:47.47\00:26:51.11
he has the hero lately
return from the Trojan Wars.
00:26:51.12\00:26:55.00
The known fact that as he says,
00:26:55.01\00:26:57.49
little profits that I
meet and dull unequal laws
00:26:57.50\00:27:01.31
into a savage race.
00:27:01.32\00:27:03.10
I'm not really sure
that we should yet call
00:27:03.11\00:27:05.27
the constituency, the
voters in the United States,
00:27:05.28\00:27:08.67
a savage race.
00:27:08.68\00:27:10.00
But by the
contention that surrounds
00:27:10.01\00:27:12.10
the appointment of
judicial appointments
00:27:12.11\00:27:16.57
to the Supreme Court.
00:27:16.58\00:27:17.86
I think there is some evidence
00:27:17.87\00:27:19.38
that we're approaching
a new era of savagery,
00:27:19.39\00:27:22.33
and the contention
between opposing forces.
00:27:22.34\00:27:24.81
It really
shouldn't be like this.
00:27:26.07\00:27:27.93
It should be that in
a country that's founded
00:27:27.94\00:27:30.27
on very clear
principles of individual freedom
00:27:30.28\00:27:33.19
and rights that the
judiciary should be free
00:27:33.20\00:27:35.88
to look to the constitution,
00:27:35.89\00:27:37.98
to follow judicial principles,
00:27:37.99\00:27:39.57
to follow fairness and
be counted upon to do that.
00:27:39.58\00:27:42.56
Rather than an
effort by pressure groups
00:27:42.57\00:27:45.73
to put their
brought person in place.
00:27:45.74\00:27:49.48
I pray that this
is not yet the case.
00:27:49.49\00:27:51.42
I hope that justice,
the justice that flows down
00:27:51.43\00:27:54.12
with mercy is to be found
in our land for sometime yet.
00:27:54.13\00:27:58.19
And I pray that the
judges on the Supreme Court
00:27:58.20\00:28:01.36
will be motivated
by this principle.
00:28:01.37\00:28:03.57
This is Lincoln
Steed, for Liberty Insider.
00:28:06.97\00:28:09.95