Welcome to the Liberty Insider.
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This is the program that brings
you the latest news, and views,
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on religious liberty issues.
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My name is Lincoln Steed,
Editor of Liberty magazine,
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and with me today is...
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Charles Eusey.
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Now, Charles, just for
our viewers information,
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explain your background
and what you do when you're
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not on this program.
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I'm an attorney in
private practice in Lumisture,
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Massachusetts, and I am director
of Public Affairs in Religious
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Liberty for the
Atlantic Union Conference
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of Seventh-day Adventists.
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Okay, and I know you spend a lot
of time on that, even though you
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have your own private practice.
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But a lot of it, I think, is
a labor of love as well as...
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I enjoy it.
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Yes, well we all enjoy our jobs,
but I know you do enjoy it.
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I want to talk with you today,
and let our viewers hear our
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views on this, on something very
significant, or a sequence of
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significant events.
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Not too many weeks ago now,
in early 2008, somebody visited
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the United States.
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I think the Pope
came over to see us.
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Uh, Pappa.
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Right!
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Which is interesting...
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With his new shoes!
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...that's a
familiar term for the Pope
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Roman Catholics
call priests Father.
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Right.
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As a Protestant, right away I
have views on that because the
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Bible says call no man Father
except our Father in Heaven.
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So right away we have a
religious issue on what was
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essentially a political visit.
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Uh huh.
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And I don't know about you, but
I watched the stuff on TV and
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it was awe inspiring; the
pageantry, the sense of moment.
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Every aspect of his visit
was quite unique, wasn't it?
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Very well received, and
surprising since he has followed
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such a charismatic Pope, and our
present Pope isn't considered to
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to be so well received
because he's a more quiet,
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individual, more
intellectual type.
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Yes, you're right.
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Pope John Paul II was the
first telegenic pope they said.
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I don't know how much of it
was calculated because he had
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handlers who also
themselves understood clearly
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that it was a new model of
projecting any public figure.
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Pope John Paul II clearly
enjoyed crowds, where I'm not
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sure Benedict, as a
human being, is quite as free.
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He's more of a scholar...
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Right.
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...a student, which was his role
with the past administration,
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for want of a better word.
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He was Prefect for the
Congregation of the Doctrine of
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the Faith, otherwise
known as The Holy Inquisition...
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Right.
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...which has had an interesting
history, concerned with
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doctrinal purity.
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By the way, it's not an
improper function to have
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it in the church.
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Even the Seventh-day
Adventist church has the
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Biblical Research Institute.
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Some wise old theologians,
they're not all old,
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but some of the wise men of our
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church, with doctrinal
backgrounds, act as sort of
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a resource center when
there are doctrinal questions.
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Their position isn't definitive,
but it makes sense to have
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people that you can
trust on theological decisions,
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or deliberations, and Benedict
certainly filled that role.
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Most of the documents that
came out of Rome during his
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predecessors Pontificate were
actually written by Benedict,
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so there is more continuity in
this papacy than people realize.
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Very much so.
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As a matter of personal style,
we think that he has a deficit,
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but you wouldn't know that
from this visit, would you?
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Not at all!
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And the reception was so warm!
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And yet think of
what he was dealing with.
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He was dealing with the
perception like our President.
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What did President
Bush say once about being
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underappreciated,
misunderestimated?
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He was probably a
little misunderestimated,
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not as charismatic, was dealing
with the aftermath of the
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priestly sex scandal, which
put him at a clear disadvantage.
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Then there were so
many other things going on.
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We are clearly in the middle
of a war that is divisive for
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this country, and in
some ways as much as Vietnam.
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And perhaps more importantly,
he has opposed the role of the
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United States in that war.
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So you wouldn't think that this
would be a context for bear hugs
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and back slaps all around, but
that's exactly what happened,
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wasn't it?
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And he's coming over
to a country which takes
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more liberal positions in
regard to some of the positions
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of the Roman Catholic Church.
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And I must say, before anything
else that we might say that
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could be construed as negative
toward the positions of the
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Catholic church on church state
issues, on issues of morality,
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the priest thing is unfortunate,
but as far as public statements,
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I think the Catholic church has
forged a leadership position.
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I think on the value of
life, on the environment,
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even on creationism, with a
little blip by his predecessor
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who at one stage said
that he thought that evolution
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was reasonable.
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It's not incompatible?
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No, I'm still mulling over that.
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Maybe we'll have a
program about that.
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But generally speaking,
for several decades the Papacy
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has been emerging as a
voice of a moral conscience,
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and you can't naysay that.
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But it is problematic to
me that in the United States,
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which is such a
definitively Protestant country,
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is still seen that way
from the European perspective.
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From a Seventh-day Adventist
perspective, with our emphasis
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on prophecy, we see
this as a Protestant bulwark,
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and when this country turns
from it's Protestant heritage
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some bad church state religious
freedom things could happen.
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And we definitely are turning.
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That's my thought!
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Thank you.
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You and I see
this exactly alike.
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We've turned, haven't we?
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The Roman Catholic
Church is growing at a fast pace
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and the
Protestants are dwindling.
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You know, we can't
naysay, they're allowed to grow.
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If it's their freedom to
organize and move into public
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positions, as they are.
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That's fine.
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But looked at negatively,
the fact that the Protestant
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identity of the United
States is not what it once was,
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that Protestants are not as
motivated, it seems, to take
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take these leading
positions, that's problematic.
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It shows that we've lost
our identity in that regard.
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We're not concerned when the
Roman Catholics grow in numbers,
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and in important positions
such as our U. S. Supreme Court.
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Right.
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They're not all monolithically
of the same political view,
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but if a religious issue kicked
in, and the Catholic church used
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what it claims is its power over
its constituents, you know the
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power to remove
their eternal salvation
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if they're excommunicated, that
could be a dynamic that I think
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could badly affect a
major church state issue.
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So we need to be careful there.
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And the power not
to receive communion.
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Right.
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Which was hinted at even
before the 2000 election.
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There was that big ad, I know
we've talked on this program
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before where the Catholic
interest took out an ad saying
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these Senators are against
the church's view on abortion,
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and that the communion
should be withheld from them.
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That's a strong tool.
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We're running out of time and
we've got something special for
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the second half, but I just want
to reiterate some of the things
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that we're
worrying about this visit.
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The fact that George Bush,
for the first time ever in the
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history of this country, met
a head of state, in this case
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a church state at the airport.
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Never been done before!
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It's not illegal, but it's
an act of deference that is just
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mind blowing.
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He met him at the airport,
at Andrews Air Force Base,
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he accorded him a special
dinner at the White House,
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which the Pope did not attend.
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He stood him up!
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Which is amazing!
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And he said, because
George Bush has, like all of us,
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but he's done it publicly,
has misjudged a few people
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in recent years.
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He looked into Putin's eyes and
saw that he could deal with him.
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Well, he looked into the
Pope's eyes and he saw God.
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That's problematic to me.
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And he's visited with him since!
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Yes, and rumors are something
that we try to dispel at times,
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but I hope that the public
rumor that's going around that
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George Bush, like Tony
Blair, on leaving office may
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convert to Catholicism.
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I hope that's not true.
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He has a right to convert, but I
hope his undue deference to the
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Pope is not
indicative of something deeper,
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a personal tilt that's now
demonstrated through public
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office toward the Pope, who
after all is a religious figure
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that we should show deference,
but neutrality toward,
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especially from a
Protestant country.
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I think what we've seen, and
I wrote an article in a church
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publication where I said
that in spite of the sex abuse,
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and all of these other
impediments to Catholicism
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at the moment, the Pope's
visit really was, in essence,
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a confirmation,
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I should say a confirmation of
his role now as global pastor.
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Right.
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And that, for his Pontificat,
is equal to his predecessor
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kneeling down and
kissing the soil in America,
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and the headlines said
the Reformation is over.
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That really, I think, signaled
that we've entered a new phase,
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an international
phase of the role of the
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Roman Catholic Church.
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After the break we want to show
you, and I'll reintroduce it
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after the break, but we want to
show you a video that has been
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sent out particularly
to Seventh-day Adventists
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concerning one of the
after effects of that visit.
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A lot of people are talking.
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This is a lot to talk about.
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About the renewed role
of the Papacy, and Rome
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internationally, and its effect
in the United States, because
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with the presidency of George
Bush, religion and politics have
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been mixed in
ways unprecedented,
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and in some ways unholy.
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A long time to do anything,
much less publish a magazine,
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but this year Liberty, a
Seventh-day Adventist voice
00:11:06.53\00:11:10.03
of religious freedom celebrates
100 years of doing what it does
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best: collecting, analyzing, and
reporting the ebb and flow of
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of religious
expression around the world.
00:11:18.71\00:11:20.70
Issue after issue, Liberty has
taken on the tuff assignments:
00:11:20.73\00:11:25.09
tracking down
threats to religious freedom,
00:11:25.12\00:11:27.25
exposing the work of the devil
in every corner of the globe,
00:11:27.28\00:11:30.75
governmental
interference, personal attacks,
00:11:30.78\00:11:33.51
corporate assaults,
even religious freedom issues
00:11:33.54\00:11:36.40
sequestered within the church
community itself have been
00:11:36.43\00:11:39.26
clearly and honestly exposed.
00:11:39.29\00:11:40.99
Liberty exists for one purpose:
to help God's people maintain
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that all important
separation of church and state,
00:11:46.08\00:11:49.07
while recognizing the dangers
inherent in such a struggle.
00:11:49.10\00:11:52.69
During the past century Liberty
has experienced challenges
00:11:52.72\00:11:56.16
of its own, but it remains on
the job, thanks to the inspired
00:11:56.19\00:12:00.60
leadership of a long line
of dedicated Adventist editors,
00:12:00.63\00:12:03.68
three of whom represent almost
half of publications existence,
00:12:03.71\00:12:06.76
and the foresight of a
little woman from New England.
00:12:06.79\00:12:14.63
Religious freedom isn't just
about political machines and
00:12:14.66\00:12:17.92
cultural prejudices.
00:12:17.95\00:12:19.37
It's about people fighting
for the right to serve the God
00:12:19.40\00:12:23.39
they love as their hearts
and the Holy Spirit dictate.
00:12:23.42\00:12:27.41
Thanks to the prayers
and generous support of
00:12:27.44\00:12:29.94
Seventh-day
Adventists everywhere,
00:12:29.97\00:12:31.82
Liberty will continue to
accomplish its work of providing
00:12:31.85\00:12:34.91
timely information,
spirit filled inspiration,
00:12:34.94\00:12:37.56
and heaven sent encouragement
to all who long to lie and work
00:12:37.59\00:12:42.50
in a world bound together
by the God ordained bonds
00:12:42.53\00:12:46.16
of religious freedom.
00:12:46.19\00:12:48.43
Welcome back to
the Liberty Insider.
00:12:58.04\00:13:00.16
Before the break I was
introducing, or setting this up,
00:13:00.19\00:13:03.88
to see a video that I actually
prepared to send out essentially
00:13:03.91\00:13:08.83
to Seventh-day Adventists, but
I think our viewers, Charles,
00:13:08.86\00:13:11.54
would appreciate seeing this.
00:13:11.57\00:13:13.31
It's a video to deal with
something that followed on from
00:13:13.34\00:13:16.26
the Papal visit.
00:13:16.29\00:13:17.26
Seventh-day Adventists
are nothing if not Protestant.
00:13:17.27\00:13:19.39
We've inherited the doctrinal
mindset of Protestantism,
00:13:19.42\00:13:24.12
and the prophetic inclination.
00:13:24.15\00:13:25.96
We see in Revelation 13,
as Protestants always did,
00:13:25.99\00:13:30.77
indications of a persecuting
power that has long been
00:13:30.80\00:13:35.17
identified with the
tendency of Catholicism;
00:13:35.20\00:13:39.51
a corrupt form of Christianity
compelling to worship.
00:13:39.54\00:13:43.58
And yet, following the Pope's
visit, a strange sort of rumor
00:13:43.68\00:13:48.37
developed within Adventism,
so we prepared this video
00:13:48.40\00:13:51.86
to nip that in the bud.
00:13:51.89\00:13:53.23
I'd like for our viewers to
see that, and afterward we can
00:13:53.26\00:13:55.78
discuss that a little
bit, but for now let's
00:13:55.81\00:13:57.63
look at this video.
00:13:57.67\00:13:58.64
It's fairly long,
but I hope interesting,
00:13:58.65\00:14:00.39
and certainly relevant.
00:14:00.42\00:14:01.91
A few decades ago, during
another interesting presidential
00:14:11.28\00:14:14.47
campaign season, comedian
Pat Paulson, put his hat in the
00:14:14.50\00:14:18.46
ring and lightened
things up considerably.
00:14:18.49\00:14:20.76
As the conflicts inherent
in the 1968 race bubbled up,
00:14:20.79\00:14:25.47
he countered with witty
news releases of his own.
00:14:25.50\00:14:28.42
I well remember one of
his faux press conferences.
00:14:28.45\00:14:32.64
Somber faced, as was his style,
he leaned into the microphone,
00:14:32.67\00:14:37.21
then announced that
rumors had been going around,
00:14:37.24\00:14:41.13
rumors of the very
worst kind; true ones.
00:14:41.16\00:14:45.75
We all laughed, and in the
double blind of his campaign
00:14:45.78\00:14:49.77
many continued to believe he was
serious about actually running.
00:14:49.80\00:14:54.15
The trouble with rumors is that
once started, true or otherwise,
00:14:54.18\00:14:59.64
they take on an
existence of their own.
00:14:59.67\00:15:03.04
People invest the rumor
with their own suppositions,
00:15:03.07\00:15:06.03
and even a rumor which has
some small substance can easily
00:15:06.06\00:15:10.63
take on
battleship sized battles.
00:15:10.66\00:15:13.85
In recent weeks a rather
detailed rumor regarding secret
00:15:13.88\00:15:18.57
plans for a soon to be announced
Sunday law has raced through
00:15:18.60\00:15:22.11
the Adventist social
network here in North America.
00:15:22.14\00:15:25.01
Much further, in fact, as I have
even had e-mails from Europe and
00:15:25.04\00:15:29.37
Australia asking about it.
00:15:29.40\00:15:31.03
CD's sent from private
ministries speak of it as fact,
00:15:31.06\00:15:35.39
and widely circulated sermon
tapes have further inflated the
00:15:35.42\00:15:40.19
plausibility of
the Sunday conspiracy.
00:15:40.22\00:15:44.58
For several weeks now,
during Sabbath afternoon
00:15:44.61\00:15:48.18
Religious Liberty rallies,
questioners have brought
00:15:48.21\00:15:50.79
up the rumor.
00:15:50.82\00:15:51.79
Is it true? they want to know.
00:15:51.80\00:15:54.69
Unfortunately, an answer that
debunks the rumor tends to have
00:15:54.72\00:15:59.50
the wrong effect on those most
inclined to believe the rumor
00:15:59.53\00:16:02.69
in the first place.
00:16:02.72\00:16:03.69
Those who are complacent about
the times, unless stirred by a
00:16:03.70\00:16:07.71
sensational tale of a sudden
secret development, will likely
00:16:07.74\00:16:12.02
go to sleep again until
stirred by another rumor,
00:16:12.05\00:16:15.55
or by the sudden realization
that the test is upon them,
00:16:15.58\00:16:20.57
and they are not prepared.
00:16:20.60\00:16:22.12
Put simply, the rumor is that a
Christian Coalition insider has
00:16:22.15\00:16:29.16
revealed details of a secret
meeting with political leaders
00:16:29.19\00:16:33.65
in November of last year, and
with the Pope in April of this
00:16:33.68\00:16:37.71
year to discuss ways of
implementing a Sunday law.
00:16:37.74\00:16:42.31
Religious Liberty leaders
at both the General Conference
00:16:42.34\00:16:46.24
and the Division level
have investigated the facts
00:16:46.27\00:16:48.94
of this carefully.
00:16:48.97\00:16:50.96
We know where it originated.
00:16:50.99\00:16:53.71
We have
contacted the principals.
00:16:53.74\00:16:56.43
We have checked times,
locations, and where abouts.
00:16:56.46\00:17:00.14
The overall story is
quite clearly without substance.
00:17:00.17\00:17:06.05
Worse, there is
evidence of fabrication.
00:17:06.08\00:17:10.26
It has been said, and needs
to be repeated, that there is
00:17:10.29\00:17:15.09
currently no pending
Sunday legislation, nor any such
00:17:15.12\00:17:21.41
legislative proposal working
its way through congress,
00:17:21.44\00:17:24.55
nor is any likely just now.
00:17:24.58\00:17:28.38
Absent an
extraordinary catalyzing event,
00:17:28.41\00:17:32.22
any such proposal
would surely fail.
00:17:32.25\00:17:35.63
Unfortunately, I've heard
members respond to this with
00:17:35.66\00:17:39.58
a comment to the effect that
now they can relax and go about
00:17:39.61\00:17:43.22
business as usual.
00:17:43.25\00:17:44.77
They are in danger of confusing
the particular with the general.
00:17:44.80\00:17:49.72
Just because the particular
is not as they feared does not
00:17:49.75\00:17:54.01
at all speak to whether the
general condition allows for
00:17:54.04\00:17:56.94
such a thing.
00:17:56.97\00:17:57.94
So far as actual Sunday
legislation, the counsel given
00:17:57.95\00:18:02.29
to us is rather
plain as to the dynamic.
00:18:02.32\00:18:06.18
Quote: "To secure popularity
and patronage legislators will
00:18:06.21\00:18:13.01
yield to the
demand for a Sunday Law.
00:18:13.04\00:18:16.96
By the decree enforcing
the institution of the Papacy,
00:18:16.99\00:18:21.47
in violation of the Law of
God, our nation will disconnect
00:18:21.50\00:18:26.03
herself fully
from righteousness. "
00:18:26.06\00:18:30.06
This, written by Ellen G.
White, in Testimonies, Volume 5,
00:18:30.09\00:18:33.81
page 451.
00:18:33.84\00:18:35.70
Again, placing the Sunday Law
as a product of open legislative
00:18:35.73\00:18:40.22
action, she wrote that,
00:18:40.25\00:18:42.88
"When our nation in its
legislative counsels shall enact
00:18:42.91\00:18:46.97
laws to bind the consciences of
men in regard to their religious
00:18:47.00\00:18:50.92
privileges, enforcing
Sunday observance, and bringing
00:18:50.95\00:18:54.66
oppressive power to bear against
those who keep the seventh day
00:18:54.69\00:18:57.84
Sabbath, the law of God will,
to all intents and purposes,
00:18:57.87\00:19:02.62
be made void in our land,
and national apostasy will be
00:19:02.65\00:19:07.68
followed by national ruin. "
00:19:07.71\00:19:09.08
When I was younger we often
sang the hymn, "We Are Living,
00:19:09.11\00:19:15.63
We Are Dwelling, In A
Grand And Awful Time. "
00:19:15.66\00:19:20.22
Who can doubt we are living
in a grand and awful times?
00:19:20.25\00:19:24.39
Our day is the blackness of
a thousand burning oil wells
00:19:24.42\00:19:28.68
in Kuwait.
00:19:28.71\00:19:29.68
Our day is characterized by
ongoing genocides of hundreds
00:19:29.69\00:19:33.74
of thousands,
millions of people.
00:19:33.77\00:19:36.43
Our day is marked by the
systematic murder of the unborn,
00:19:36.46\00:19:40.89
or nearly born.
00:19:40.92\00:19:41.89
Our day is marked
by runaway technology,
00:19:41.90\00:19:45.20
By soldiers scanning irises
of of detainees in the streets,
00:19:45.23\00:19:49.25
and scientists
pursuing dreams of a chimera,
00:19:49.28\00:19:52.64
or human/animal hybrid.
00:19:52.67\00:19:54.39
Our day is marked by
e-mail viruses and bird flu
00:19:54.42\00:19:58.48
pandemic panic.
00:19:58.51\00:19:59.83
Our day is marked
by moral relativism.
00:19:59.86\00:20:04.08
Churches ordain openly gay
clergy, and a Church of England
00:20:04.11\00:20:08.95
prelate publicly appends
that elements of ceria law are
00:20:08.98\00:20:13.15
inevitable in his country.
00:20:13.18\00:20:14.92
We are beyond "God
is dead" discussions.
00:20:14.95\00:20:18.58
We are beyond arguments
over the voracity of scripture.
00:20:18.61\00:20:22.76
Our age is simultaneously
embracing the god of self,
00:20:22.79\00:20:27.73
and the self assumed authority
of an old mother church.
00:20:27.76\00:20:31.60
Our day is one marked by
peak oil, global warming,
00:20:31.63\00:20:36.08
and economic meltdown.
00:20:36.11\00:20:38.07
Ours is a time of global
jihad, the terror by day,
00:20:38.10\00:20:42.33
and the shock of Noah by night.
00:20:42.36\00:20:44.61
We have embraced
torture as a necessity.
00:20:44.64\00:20:48.00
Far better, some should
say, that some should die than
00:20:48.03\00:20:52.59
the nation perish.
00:20:52.62\00:20:53.78
Religion in the United
States now not only seeks a
00:20:53.81\00:20:58.29
level playing field, but a
seat at the table of power,
00:20:58.32\00:21:02.49
and our politicians talk
faith and politics in ways
00:21:02.52\00:21:06.79
that still amaze.
00:21:06.82\00:21:08.15
In short, we are clearly living
through the events foretold
00:21:08.18\00:21:14.75
in Revelation Chapter 13.
00:21:14.78\00:21:17.39
A certain beast power has
recovered from a mortal wound,
00:21:17.42\00:21:21.98
as verse 3 says it would,
and all the world marveled.
00:21:22.01\00:21:26.70
A lamblike beast with
two horns, long identified by
00:21:26.73\00:21:31.16
Adventists as the
characteristics of Protestantism
00:21:31.19\00:21:35.05
and Republicanism, or a power
deriving from the governed,
00:21:35.08\00:21:39.28
is now speaking very much like
a dragon, and who can now doubt
00:21:39.31\00:21:46.33
that the United States
lacks the will to compel others,
00:21:46.36\00:21:50.62
or to punish if they resist?
00:21:50.65\00:21:52.90
As the chapter describes in
detail, we have come a long way
00:21:52.93\00:21:57.48
since the early
days of Alonzo T. Jones
00:21:57.51\00:22:00.50
and the beginnings of
our Religious Liberty work,
00:22:00.53\00:22:02.57
but in some ways not
so far as we may think.
00:22:02.60\00:22:06.21
Over 120 years ago, they were
fighting seemingly unstoppable
00:22:06.24\00:22:12.11
Sunday Law legislation
in the U.S. Congress.
00:22:12.14\00:22:15.57
The National Reform
Movement had mobilized its own
00:22:15.60\00:22:18.68
moral majority of religionists,
and was baying for a Sunday Law.
00:22:18.71\00:22:23.79
For years the issue was advanced
as Adventists and some brave
00:22:23.82\00:22:29.99
others stood in the way.
00:22:30.02\00:22:31.21
At one point A. T. Jones even
testified to our position before
00:22:31.24\00:22:35.23
a Congressional Committee, but
the Sunday Law issue persisted,
00:22:35.26\00:22:39.95
and was again a
major proposal in 1906,
00:22:39.98\00:22:43.10
the year Liberty Magazine began.
00:22:43.13\00:22:45.50
In his presentations to
Adventists, A. T. Jones made
00:22:45.53\00:22:50.34
much of the government
decision to close the 1893
00:22:50.37\00:22:54.78
Chicago World's Fair on Sunday.
00:22:54.81\00:22:57.46
The Senate and House accepted
an amendment closing the
00:22:57.49\00:23:01.80
exposition on the Sabbath
Day, as the wording supplied by
00:23:01.83\00:23:05.73
Senator Kee put it.
00:23:05.76\00:23:07.71
For Jones, this put Adventists
squarely into the proclamation
00:23:07.74\00:23:13.14
of the Third Angels' Message.
00:23:13.17\00:23:14.46
He seized on the loud cry of
that third angel as being a work
00:23:14.49\00:23:20.17
for Adventists amid fulfilling
Church/State Developments.
00:23:20.20\00:23:23.78
Of course, the Loud Cry is
a familiar, if distantly used,
00:23:23.81\00:23:29.08
terminology for
Seventh-day Adventists.
00:23:29.11\00:23:31.37
When speaking of it we evoke
the times of Pentecost for a
00:23:31.40\00:23:35.24
last proclamation of
Christ's soon return.
00:23:35.27\00:23:37.71
If we have any inkling
that these are prophetic times,
00:23:37.74\00:23:42.98
any evidence to think
that a lamblike beast might be
00:23:43.01\00:23:47.53
prepared to legislate religious
practice, any reason to think
00:23:47.56\00:23:52.13
that the Lord's coming
draws near, we must "cry aloud
00:23:52.16\00:23:56.63
and spare not"
as the Bible says.
00:23:56.66\00:24:00.22
Most weekends in the year I am
at a different church preaching
00:24:00.25\00:24:03.18
and holding afternoon seminars.
00:24:03.21\00:24:04.94
Invariably the questions asked
veer toward conspiracy theories:
00:24:04.97\00:24:10.38
Masons, Illuminati, secret
Jesuit dealings within our
00:24:10.41\00:24:14.48
church, the U.N. taking
over the U.S. and so on.
00:24:14.51\00:24:17.54
It is true that after an event,
history often reveals hidden
00:24:17.57\00:24:23.14
forces at work, but in the
developing crisis before us
00:24:23.17\00:24:27.49
things are clearer
than they have ever been.
00:24:27.52\00:24:30.04
We know the agenda in
the great controversy between
00:24:30.07\00:24:33.65
God and Satan.
00:24:33.68\00:24:34.79
We know how it will end.
00:24:34.82\00:24:36.76
We need to worry less
about provocative improvable,
00:24:36.79\00:24:40.81
and more about how we
will respond to the events that
00:24:40.84\00:24:43.93
clearly signal that the world
is, in the words of Ellen White,
00:24:43.96\00:24:48.88
"on the verge of a
stupendous crisis. "
00:24:48.91\00:24:52.06
"Now learn this parable from
the fig tree," instructed Jesus,
00:24:52.09\00:24:56.06
"when its branch has already
become tender and puts forth
00:24:56.09\00:25:00.41
leaves, you know
that summer is near.
00:25:00.44\00:25:03.75
So you also.
00:25:03.78\00:25:06.70
When you see these things
happening, know that it is near;
00:25:06.73\00:25:12.04
at the very doors. "
00:25:12.07\00:25:14.77
Well, that is what it is,
but I hope our viewers, Charles,
00:25:14.80\00:25:20.02
could see how important it is to
not get carried away in rumors
00:25:20.05\00:25:25.22
that you can't prove, or that
seem to fulfill your fantasies,
00:25:25.25\00:25:27.98
but to look at some of the
specifics of what the Bible
00:25:28.01\00:25:30.55
says and clear advice from
pioneers who understood the
00:25:30.58\00:25:35.95
Catholic/Protestant dynamic,
and the role that America
00:25:35.98\00:25:38.93
should play in prophecy.
00:25:38.96\00:25:40.20
And we know that the Sunday
Law is not going to come in
00:25:40.23\00:25:43.92
overnight because one individual
in Washington does something.
00:25:43.95\00:25:49.28
It's going to be something
the people in the country want
00:25:49.31\00:25:52.13
and they force it on
Congress and the President.
00:25:52.16\00:25:54.88
And we are still in
a Democratic system,
00:25:54.91\00:25:58.64
a Constitutional government.
00:25:58.67\00:26:00.70
Its not been suspended.
00:26:00.73\00:26:02.54
There are mechanisms where
people can react and let their
00:26:02.57\00:26:06.53
opinions be known.
00:26:06.56\00:26:07.53
We need some sort of
a conditioning process,
00:26:07.54\00:26:10.08
which could be a national
emergency, a sudden emergency
00:26:10.11\00:26:13.51
that certainly could get
people in a receptive mood,
00:26:13.54\00:26:16.54
but right now there's no
surprise like that likely
00:26:16.57\00:26:20.19
to be spring on us.
00:26:20.22\00:26:21.25
What we're living
through, which I remarked about
00:26:21.28\00:26:24.38
a little bit earlier, is moving
away from a Protestant mindset
00:26:24.41\00:26:30.40
simultaneous with
misunderstanding what the
00:26:30.43\00:26:34.96
American Constitutional system
really is, how it's to work,
00:26:34.99\00:26:38.60
and how it should relate
to other Church/State players.
00:26:38.63\00:26:42.84
A Papal visit to the
United States means many things
00:26:45.72\00:26:50.09
to many people.
00:26:50.12\00:26:51.34
One thing that it often means
is that there will be rumors.
00:26:51.37\00:26:56.33
During this past visit
there were rumors throughout the
00:26:56.36\00:27:01.74
country that the Pope came over
here and one of the items on his
00:27:01.77\00:27:06.94
agenda was to promote
a National Sunday Law.
00:27:06.97\00:27:10.93
This rumor went
throughout this country,
00:27:10.96\00:27:14.37
went throughout the world,
00:27:14.40\00:27:16.11
but despite many
efforts to discredit the rumor,
00:27:16.14\00:27:20.58
it has been believed.
00:27:20.61\00:27:22.66
It's been believed by
Seventh-day Adventists, who wish
00:27:22.69\00:27:26.86
more than anything else
that a Sunday law would come,
00:27:26.89\00:27:29.19
because that would prove
to them that the Second Coming
00:27:29.22\00:27:32.12
was imminent.
00:27:32.15\00:27:33.12
Unfortunately, we have to
look at prophecy in perspective.
00:27:33.13\00:27:39.61
We have to look at
Sunday laws in perspective,
00:27:39.64\00:27:42.98
and realize that the Sunday law
will come when people want it
00:27:43.01\00:27:46.76
to come, not because there's
a small group of political and
00:27:46.79\00:27:51.85
religious leaders who
are secretly going to push it
00:27:51.88\00:27:55.13
through Congress and have
it signed by the President
00:27:55.16\00:27:57.99
of the United States.
00:27:58.02\00:27:59.45
For Liberty
Insider, I am Charles Eusey.
00:28:01.30\00:28:05.10
Thank you for joining us.
00:28:05.13\00:28:07.09