Participants: Lincoln Steed (Host), Greg Hamilton
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI000129
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00:22 Welcome to the Liberty Insider.
00:24 This is the program that brings you up today news, 00:27 views, discussion and all around information 00:29 on Religious Liberty developments in our world. 00:32 My name is Lincoln Steed, Editor of the Liberty Magazine. 00:35 And my guest on the program is Greg Hamilton. 00:40 A good friend and a guest on this program before. 00:43 And you're the Director of the 00:45 Northwest Religious Liberty Association. 00:48 The mob. I am from Australia 00:51 you know the mob are the people, yes. 00:53 It's not bad to be a mob in Australia. 00:55 Yes. But more and more on our TV screens, 00:59 we are seeing the mob at play. 01:01 In some ways it's mob rule, 01:05 that displaced rulers in Egypt, 01:06 and on their way to do the same in Libya and so on. 01:11 How does the mob relate to the Christian? 01:13 Are we... grow up to be followers or leaders or, 01:16 how do we respond to a mob mentality? 01:18 We're called to be leaders, we are also called be followers. 01:21 It just depends on how the Lord calls you 01:23 and how the Lord leads you, we need both. 01:25 But when it comes to the mob or factionist, 01:29 the way James Madison referred to it. 01:31 If you go back to the constitutional, 01:34 constitutional founders. James Madison's biggest fear, 01:37 Alexandra Hamilton's biggest fear, 01:38 George Washington Franklin's, Adams, you name it. 01:41 All the leading constitutional founders, 01:43 their biggest fear when they wrote 01:44 the constitution was the fear of the people. 01:47 Absolutely, even we the people, 01:49 which is the preamble to the constitution. 01:52 That's why they instituted a strong central 01:54 or federal government, along with the ability to have 01:59 state sovereignty of states. And this is important because, 02:02 that's why they brought representative government then. 02:04 Yes. rather then the majoritarian rule. 02:07 So that no one faction would rule or trump out any other. 02:11 They thought that factions were actually healthy in a way, 02:14 so that no one could really out do the other. 02:17 They would check each other so to speak. 02:20 So, but their biggest fear was the mob. 02:23 That will the people run a mock 02:25 or what Madison referred to as the fickle will of the people. 02:28 Yeah. And that's an important concept 02:30 because when we talk about the fickle will of the people, 02:34 we have to ask ourselves, what kind of revolution 02:37 are we talking about in the Middle East? 02:39 What kind of revolution maybe brewing 02:42 right here in United States? Tea Party Movement. 02:45 We could talk about that, 02:46 what is the Tea Party Movement all about? 02:48 There is an article by David Brooks 02:52 in The New York Times. This is what he says 02:53 about the Tea Party. He wrote this back a year ago 02:57 and here's what he said. He said, in the near term 03:01 the Tea Party tendency will dominate the Republican Party, 03:04 it could be the ruin of the party he says, 03:06 pulling it in an angry direction 03:07 that suburban voters will not tolerate. 03:09 But he says don't underestimate 03:11 the deep reservoirs that public discussed. 03:14 If there is a double depreciation, 03:16 a long period of stagnation, a fiscal crisis, 03:19 a terrorist attack or some other major scandal or event. 03:22 The country could demand total constitutional change, 03:27 the abolishment of the constitution. 03:29 Now, what does that signify to us. 03:31 In our last program we talk about Apocalypse Now. 03:34 Well it proves to me we're in a revolutionary movement 03:37 even here in the United States. Yes, and I think 03:40 we have to be careful of those who call for return 03:43 to the original intend of the constitution. 03:46 I'm for returning to the original 03:47 intend of the constitution, but I find that most people 03:49 who talk about the original intent of the constitution 03:52 don't know what they're talking about. 03:54 In fact, those would hijack the Tea Party Movement. 03:58 People like Newt Gingrich and Glenn Beck 04:00 and Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee and others, 04:04 don't seem to understand when they call for original intent. 04:09 Newt Gingrich in his latest book, To Save America: 04:13 Stopping Obama's Secular-Socialist Machine. 04:15 I mean I can understand where he's coming from, 04:18 and even sympathize with it to a point. 04:21 He emphasizes there that, oh! By the way 04:23 we don't necessarily agree, 04:26 automatic degree that this is a socialist machine. 04:28 Right, right, right exactly, I agree with that. 04:31 But he emphasizes is that the amending process, 04:34 the constitutional amending process is flawed. 04:37 And he said, because this supreme court is so messed up, 04:40 so many supreme court decisions that maybe just maybe we need 04:45 a constitutional convention. And what will they 04:48 achieve with the constitution convention, 04:49 when you start tinkering with the constitution? 04:51 Well, what they intend. You'll end up rewriting it. 04:54 They intend to rewrite it along with their etiology. 04:57 Because they have an etiological view. 04:59 And idea that has to be historically pure, is flawed. 05:04 Remember the other day, not too long ago, now, 05:06 the members of the Congress read the Constitution, 05:09 that was a pitiful exercise. Oh! Yes. 05:11 First of all, very few of them seemed aware of it, 05:13 they were repeating in a meeting. 05:15 They didn't read the original constitution. 05:17 No. And they emitted some 05:18 on purpose because, yes, 05:19 they're an anachronistic elements in the constitution. 05:23 Now least of which is slavery, right the three fifths of 05:26 a person clause. Absolutely. 05:27 So it's not that the constitution is a bad document 05:30 but it was done with high ideals. 05:32 Right. And it's been refined 05:34 along the way or at least its implementation has been 05:37 refined along the way, to implement those ideals, 05:40 in my view. Well, I am not quite on the 05:43 living constitution view of some of the Supreme Court members. 05:48 But we've got to be careful. And I often say to 05:51 Seventh-day Adventists in Religious Liberty meetings. 05:53 Remember, the Constitution is a human document. 05:55 It's not divine, it's not infallible, 05:57 but it's a wonderful instrument of its times. 05:59 But in our times, with the agenda that 06:02 new congregations have, to go back 06:05 and to try to recover that original. 06:07 Just means to project their views back. 06:11 And worse, if they go back to rewrite it, 06:13 they again will rewrite it in their image. 06:18 And we have told the Seventh-day Adventists 06:20 that there is some prophetic indication, 06:22 that at the end of time the United States will actually 06:25 either rewrite or at least the repudiate 06:27 the principals of its Constitution. 06:29 Populism and, populism can do that. 06:33 Populism and demagoguery is becoming 06:36 really fashionable these days. Glenn Beck for example, 06:39 I mean he's a real hit, although I understood 06:42 in the latest polling that young people 06:44 have sort of dropped away from him. 06:46 Millions of young people. But Glenn Beck recently 06:50 said that the Black Robe Regiment. 06:53 He refers to the Black Robe Regiment as being 06:56 the type of model citizen, the type of revolutionaries 06:59 as we should be as Americans. Well, if you go back 07:01 and study who the Black Robe Regiment were. 07:05 They were your colonial preachers, 07:07 just prior to the Revolution. That called for independence 07:10 and a revolution from their pulpits. 07:13 Mad-ingly, mad-ingly so. And they did it justifiably. 07:18 But they also in the end, when it came to the... 07:21 What do you mean by justifiably? 07:23 Well they called for rebelling against England. 07:26 And they were making a correct political point 07:29 that it was absolutely incorrect as ministers of the 07:32 gospel for them to be doing that. 07:33 And you have written on that, we have the Liberty Magazine. 07:37 They had in some ways, that's your article in Liberty. 07:40 They had broken ranks from the religious revival of the 1750s, 07:45 right, besides personal spirituality, right. 07:47 And here they basically jump the rails 07:50 from the religious revival, yes. To wanting to change the state. 07:53 There was a split between Jonathan Edwards 07:56 and the more spiritualistic and gospel based 08:03 religion of John Calvin, Calvinism. 08:05 To a more radical form of religion that, 08:08 that sort of rejected some of 08:10 Calvinism and went on their own way. 08:12 And like Jonathan Mayhew and others. 08:14 These are the Black Robe Regiment. 08:16 There were the liberals of their time. 08:17 And the term was given, was developed by the 08:21 British as I remember. They made a comment 08:24 I think writing back to England you know that there was a 08:26 problem with the Black Robe Regiment. 08:28 Sort of the auxiliaries of the revolution for these ministers. 08:31 But my point is, that Glenn Beck doesn't 08:34 bothered to tell you there is Black Robe Regiment, 08:36 along with Patrick Henry in Virginia, 08:39 that opposed the ratifications 08:41 of the constitution. There was the faith at 08:42 that time yes. Yeah and because 08:43 it didn't have any mention of God 08:45 or any mention of Christian nation in it. 08:47 Right, okay and these very same people 08:50 argued for joining church and state radically in the 1830s, 08:54 so much so that James Madison could 08:56 write to Jasper Adams, a preacher. 08:59 Who advocated for the constitutionalisation 09:02 of Christianity nationwide. He says you don't understand, 09:06 you've forgotten that in the papal system, 09:09 government and religion are consolidated 09:12 and Madison said that is the worst 09:13 form of government there is. Yeah. 09:16 And of course at that time they were very well aware 09:18 of the old world church models/the papal system. 09:23 I think today it's hard to even invoke a truly protestant model 09:28 for thought in the United States, isn't it? 09:30 No, that's right, yeah. And Glenn Beck when he, 09:33 I can, I have a mental picture of that moment 09:35 when he introduced the idea of the Black Robe Regiment, 09:38 had them lined up behind him, didn't he? 09:40 Yes. On the DS. Yes. 09:42 And there were some of them we know there were 09:44 Religious leaders present day Religious leaders. 09:46 And he says, here is the present day Black Robe Regiment. 09:49 I will give Glenn Beck credit for one thing though, 09:51 during that time in DC, he grabbed 09:53 the mic from David Barton. 09:55 The famous historical revisionist 09:56 who really doesn't understand the original 09:58 intent of our nation's founding. 10:00 And David Barton was saying, we are a Christian nation, 10:02 the founders intended it to be that way. 10:04 And Glenn Beck grabbed the microphone from his hand, 10:06 he wouldn't even let him speak after that. 10:08 And he says no, we are not, we're a pluralistic nation 10:10 with many religions. That's good. 10:11 So Beck's not you know completely off, 10:16 but he, I think he means well 10:18 and I think he's kind of narcissistic. 10:20 He kind of likes to hear the sound of his own voice. 10:22 Well, what he's saying, 10:23 and again since we're speaking well of him. 10:27 Beck and others, many in society see there's a problem, 10:31 they see that we've lost our way, 10:33 judicially they might feel 10:35 governmental-y Spiritually, spiritually. 10:37 There is a moral malaise in the country, 10:39 yeah, that America's sense of 10:41 best place in the world. And they're right. 10:42 Yes, and they're right on that. Yeah. 10:43 Where many people in this situation get it wrong, 10:47 is the prescription. Yes. 10:48 How do you solve it? Right. 10:49 So, yes, we don't necessarily disagree with 10:52 Glenn Beck with the problem that he says. 10:54 But, this, the Black Robe Regiment 10:56 is not part of the solution. Yes. 10:58 Wasn't at the forming of the constitution, 11:01 not now either. There is a statement 11:03 in the great controversy by Ellen G. White 11:06 that I think is very appropriate to this moment. 11:08 She says, in order for the United States, 11:10 our country to form an image of the Beast, 11:12 that is the in the likeness of the Holy Roman Empire 11:15 with the church state model, where the church dominate 11:17 and control Kings and Empires. 11:19 Now image, this term comes from 11:21 Revelation 13, Revelation 13, 11:23 where it talks about the beast power 11:25 that persecuted the same, yes. 11:27 For thousands of years and in the new world 11:31 there would be an image or a pattern 11:33 established in the last days. Yes. 11:35 That would bring about a, what we as 11:38 Seventh-day Adventists have always 11:39 referred to as a Sunday law, National Sunday law. 11:41 Here's what he says, in order for United states 11:43 to form an image of the Beast, the religious power 11:46 must so control or the religious powers, 11:49 and I've run this by the biblical research institute. 11:52 It can be an ecumenical forming of different churches. 11:54 Because it goes on to say that in context 11:57 throughout the rest of this chapter of God's Law Immutable. 11:59 The religious powers must so control the civil government 12:02 that the authority of the state will also be 12:04 employed by the church to accomplish their own end. 12:06 It doesn't say socialists, no, I am not defending socialists. 12:10 It doesn't say atheists, 12:11 it doesn't say secular humanists, 12:13 which Glenn Beck is always harping on. 12:15 Alright, yeah. It says the religious powers. 12:18 Could it be that the enemy is us? 12:22 Absolutely. You know, and not now, 12:25 meaning this, that in the end the reaction to immorality, 12:31 to Godlessness will be much stronger 12:34 than the problem itself. I believe that 12:37 and I think that's a clear model from history, 12:39 you know, yes, that's the way it tends to work. 12:44 I like that statement from Ellen White, it's amazing. 12:46 I wish more people were reading this book generally, 12:49 Ellen White, when she wrote this, 12:52 you know was it 120 years ago, 12:53 yes, said that this should be widely distributed. 12:56 Yes. And around the Seventh-day Adventist 12:58 members should be well advised to read 13:01 some of these final chapters, particular today. 13:03 Because they're being, they're being 13:06 played out before our eyes, and of course 13:08 while we believe that Ellen White 13:11 had divine insight given to her in writing this. 13:15 I mean it's absolutely based on the 13:17 biblical prophetic outline. It just explains it in way 13:21 that is more, well, it's not, 13:24 it was 20th century when it was written 13:26 but it's contemporary, but it's happening. 13:29 And I wished Seventh-day Adventists 13:31 would look at this, they're inclined to see, 13:33 as you say, secularism is the enemy 13:35 and the problem and some of them now, Islam. 13:38 These are all part of the dynamic 13:40 and they maybe even catalysts to empower 13:43 the conservative religious faction or the reaction, 13:46 the conservatives not that Robe. 13:48 A reactionary religious faction, 13:50 that I think that's how it will happen. 13:51 It's always been that way in the past. 13:54 Well, and I really believe that we have to 13:57 make a distinction when we talk about 13:58 revolution or mob like mentality. 14:01 We have to ask ourselves, 14:02 which revolutionary movement are we part of? 14:05 Absolutely. We'll be right back 14:07 after the break to continue this discussion, 14:10 very interesting discussion about 14:11 whether we follow the mob or follow the leader. 14:24 One hundred years, a long time to do anything 14:28 much less publish a magazine. But this year, 14:31 Liberty, the Seventh-day Adventist 14:33 voice of religious freedom, celebrates 100 years 14:37 of doing what it does best. Collecting, analyzing 14:40 and reporting the ebb and flow of religious expression 14:43 around the world. Issue after issue, 14:46 Liberty has taken on the tough assignments, 14:49 tracking down threats to religious freedom 14:51 and exposing the work of the devil 14:52 in every corner of the globe. 14:55 Governmental interference, personal attacks, 14:57 corporate assaults, even religious freedom issues 15:00 sequestered within the church community 15:02 itself have been clearly and honestly exposed. 15:05 Liberty exists for one purpose, to help God's people maintain 15:10 that all important separation of church and state, 15:13 while recognizing the dangers inherent in such a struggle. 15:17 During the past century, Liberty has experienced 15:19 challenges of its own, but it remains on the job. 15:23 Thanks to the inspired leadership 15:25 of a long line of dedicated Adventist editors, 15:27 three of whom represent almost half of the 15:29 Publication's existence and the foresight 15:32 of a little woman from New England. 15:34 One hundred years of struggle, one hundred years of victories. 15:38 Religious freedom isn't just about political machines 15:41 and cultural prejudices. It's about people, 15:45 fighting for the right to serve the God they love, 15:48 as their hearts and the Holy Spirit dictate. 15:51 Thanks to the prayers and generous support of 15:53 Seventh-Day Adventists everywhere. 15:56 Liberty will continue to accomplish 15:58 its work of providing timely information, 16:00 spirit-filled inspiration and heaven sent encouragement 16:03 to all who long to live and work in a world bound 16:08 together by the God ordained bonds of religious freedom. 16:22 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider. 16:24 Before the break we were talking about 16:26 mob rule and how that relates to the American Constitution 16:29 or how the mob was, was put aside by 16:36 the very foresightful framers of the constitution. 16:39 But in the Bible, where do we find the mob dynamic 16:43 illustrated in the life of Jesus? 16:45 Mark chapter 15, in regard to Christ's trial 16:48 before Pilate is very insightful. 16:50 Because it talks about how the crowd 16:52 demanded in exchange for Barabbas, 16:57 okay, which was the custom at that time. 17:00 And they asked or demanded somewhat 17:02 of Pilate this exchange, that you've allowed, 17:05 that is custom. We demand that you 17:07 release Barabbas unto it. The insurrectionist, 17:11 the one who, the zealot that wanted 17:12 to basically overthrow Rome. 17:15 Okay, and restore Zion in their midst. 17:17 And essentially the people of Israel who follow 17:20 Christ thought that He would do that, 17:22 that if he was a Messiah he would drive out Rome from, 17:25 that's the great irony. I know that. 17:26 Even the disciples followed Him 17:27 on that basis for that motive, that somehow you know, 17:30 we're on this grand revolutionary tour. 17:33 He is going to overthrow Rome, we're gonna establish Zion here, 17:35 we're gonna conquer the world 17:37 and be his right men in his Kingdom. 17:39 The secretary of defense, secretary of state, 17:41 chief of staff, secretary of treasury. 17:43 I mean Judas had it all figured out, 17:45 but Judas in the end lost because 17:49 he wanted to try to force the hand of Christ 17:51 to prove that he was the Messiah. 17:53 And to do the things that he expected, 17:54 which was to throw out Rome from their midst and conquer them. 17:58 But he didn't fulfill those promises. 18:00 Ultimately Judas lost because he was not 18:02 spiritually in harmony with the thinking of Christ. 18:04 He made a huge tactical mistake, but I would like to think that 18:08 even after trying to force the hand of Christ like that, 18:13 if he then repented as Peter did after that denial. 18:16 I don't think it was beyond for him. 18:19 But he was never spiritually in harmony with Christ. 18:22 No, but where I'm going with this 18:23 has very little to do with Judas, 18:25 when I look at the trial before Pilate, 18:27 they first of all asked a question then demanded. 18:30 And then Pilate comes back with a question of his own. 18:33 And he says do you want me to released you 18:35 The King of Jews, knowing it was out of 18:37 envy that the Chief Priests had handed Jesus over to him. 18:41 And it was the church or the religious leaders 18:45 who were making demands of the state. 18:47 Now, mind you this was an occupying country, 18:50 Rome and Jerusalem, okay and Israel. 18:54 So the Sanhedrin represented both church and state, 18:57 because it was the religious leaders 18:59 were also the political leaders so to speak, 19:03 that's right from the Islamic world. 19:04 But they were weaker, they were the weaker factor here. 19:08 Rome controlled them and ruled over them. 19:11 So they had to do everything through Rome essentially. 19:14 And they were not allowed to execute 19:16 capital punishment right. But here is this crowd its, 19:22 and many of them were paid off by the Sanhedrin. 19:26 I did my undergraduate degree in Communications at 19:28 Portland State University with a little bit of 19:30 Journalism and Political Science mingled in there. 19:33 But one of the dynamics is, 19:36 that I studied was crowd dynamics. 19:38 And in this scene, the crowd is stirred up 19:41 by the chief priests, okay, 19:44 to not only make demands but to get louder and louder 19:47 until Pilate finally gives in. Okay. 19:51 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, 19:52 Pilate released Barabbas to them. 19:54 And in the midst of all that they shouted 19:56 crucify him, crucify him, we have no King but Jesus. 19:59 So the crowd dynamics represents a certain type of revolution. 20:03 But I've asked myself, where were the disciples? 20:06 Judas had already hung himself. Peter denied Christ three times. 20:10 So, was so sorry for what he did, 20:12 he went and wept and mourned in Gethsemane. 20:15 Came back and the garden of Gethsemane. 20:19 And the rest of the disciples led by John 20:22 were at a distance viewing the trial. 20:26 And I find that interesting because what made up the mob, 20:29 Ellen White says that they were like wild, 20:31 ravening beasts, bellowing beasts, 20:34 that were like inspired by Satan. 20:36 They had got caught up into this revolution. 20:39 Okay. The disciples even though 20:41 they were confused about the Kingdom, 20:43 and the nature of Christ's Kingdom 20:45 nevertheless were being preserved 20:48 for another revolution, the day of Pentecost. 20:50 The preaching of the true Kingdom of Christ, 20:54 the preaching of a true Christ, and not a counterfeit Messiah. 20:58 And this is interesting because when you look at the 21:00 whole picture you don't think they 21:02 should have interjected themselves there. 21:04 No, I don't, because I think that the Lord was preserving 21:07 them for a especial time, a especial moment 21:10 to where they wouldn't be tripping themselves up. 21:13 I think if they had to expose themselves this time. 21:15 Not only would they have been arrested, 21:17 in fact that was their biggest fear 21:18 that they would be arrested. Okay, because the soldiers 21:21 were looking for them and so on, but they were hiding out 21:24 in a way that eventually they went back 21:26 the upper room to hide out. But they wanted to make sure 21:30 that they weren't overly exposed. 21:33 And if the Lord actually led them to do that 21:35 and I think for us, we have to ask ourselves 21:38 and we are getting caught up in the Glenn Beck crowd, 21:40 the Newt Gingrich cut crowd, the Michael Moore, 21:43 the Keith Olbermann crowd. I say take a snow shovel 21:47 and shove them all out of your living window, 21:49 our living room windows. 21:51 And shove those personalities out the door. 21:54 Okay. And insert the big picture 21:57 of the great controversy, insert Jesus Christ. 22:00 We need to be focused on Jesus 22:01 and not false charismatic revolutions 22:04 that leave us down a primrose path. 22:07 You know what happened, happened in the Bible 22:09 and God clearly protected those disciples 22:14 the upper and then they went out. 22:16 But remember after they came out they are in the temple, 22:18 Peter and John appeared in very similar thing 22:21 with the authorities were after them, 22:24 and the crowd could have easily turned again them, 22:26 but they stood on their principles 22:29 and neither could touch them. But you said later on, 22:32 that's important, well. The Lord was preserving them 22:35 for a certain mission and ministry at a certain time. 22:38 And I think that we need to be careful, 22:39 yes, we need to be active in a ministry today, 22:41 I am not suggesting we shouldn't be active, 22:43 that's not what I am suggesting. What I am suggesting is 22:46 that we don't hold on to our political prejudices 22:50 and make that the center of our lives, 22:52 absolutely, or even the gospel itself. 22:53 And that's what I see happening among Christianity 22:56 and even among our own members. 22:58 We shouldn't repeat what the crowd is saying. 23:00 Right. But there are times when the crowd is saying 23:03 something opposite, whether the crowd is at a 23:07 Glenn Beck rally or perhaps even within our church environment. 23:12 And even in the religious environment the majority 23:14 are nearly always wrong, yes, and I think we have to 23:18 stand for principle as Ellen White wrote 23:21 and the Bible makes it very plain. 23:24 We have to stand up and be counted. 23:25 And sometimes that may appear 23:27 like the crowd will then turn on us. 23:29 But the crowd dynamic is very interesting 23:31 and I think if one or two people had yelled against 23:34 the crowd and stood up. Pilate would have been felt 23:37 more empowered, and that moment might 23:39 have been turned back, even though Christ clearly 23:43 was determined to lose his. I mean it was determined 23:47 that He would have to give his life. 23:49 But that moment didn't have to come up 23:50 the way it was. I think, I think we can 23:51 get into a false sense of nationalism like this crowd did 23:54 with the chief priests and rulers and the mob. 23:57 And that sense of emotionalism, which I see happening 24:01 in the evangelical world. That sense of emotionalism 24:05 eventually, I think will lead to revolution 24:08 or revolutionary aspirations. Unthinking aspirations, 24:12 we are not thinking about what they're really doing, 24:15 which is easily manipulated and controlled by Satan himself. 24:18 Absolutely. And we need to be true 24:21 to what God wants for us to do 24:23 and back to the point I was trying to make. 24:25 The crowd, whether it's our friends, 24:28 whether it's our fellow church members, 24:30 whether it's our fellow citizens of any country. 24:33 Will often say something and repeated among themselves 24:36 which becomes self-free, reinforcing that point of 24:40 referenced needs to be God. On Religious Liberty 24:43 it needs to be the principles that are embodied there. 24:46 And regardless of what people say, 24:48 we have to stick with it. Let me give you another 24:50 example of that and mind you, I'll just state right up front, 24:53 and some people may not appreciate this 24:56 but I am a Republican and I will just 24:58 state it right up front, for very good reasons, 25:00 but this is not a paid message. Yeah, that's right. 25:03 But I will tell you something on rights to be whatever 25:06 but on Religious Liberty and as Church members 25:08 those are secondary and we are not to advance 25:12 those particular loyalties. What I was trying to say 25:15 is essentially when you look at certain events there, 25:19 you cannot just say that the Republican Party 25:22 or the Democratic Party are the problem. 25:23 Because, when you look at labor unions 25:25 these days, I will give you an example, 25:27 which will talk about on another program. 25:30 Scott Brown, who was the guy who took over 25:32 the senate seat of Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. 25:36 Was backed by nearly 60% of the AFL-CIO Unions in Massachusetts. 25:42 Republican, Tea Party, The Tea Party has gone 25:45 after Labor Union Members, especially unemployed 25:48 blue collar Labor Union Members. 25:50 In Washington State, the Olympia, 25:52 I had a situation where five of the eighteen senators, 25:55 of the eighteen Republican senators were four, 25:58 forced unionization bill of all private 26:02 and religious childcare centers, as well as public, 26:05 state childcare centers. So, what I am saying is that 26:08 labor unions are starting to attract 26:11 some Republicans and... Right the issue is 26:13 labor unions, not Democrats or Republicans, 26:15 is that what you are trying to say. 26:17 Now on Religious Liberty we've had historic stand 26:22 against labor unions not because we're against labor, 26:25 right, but the dynamic of the labor union can restrict into. 26:29 Because of the economy, labor unions are taking 26:31 a really big hit right now. But what we are looking at 26:35 revolution, we are talking about revolution here. 26:39 We are talking about a movement that if we get caught up 26:43 with our own political prejudices 26:45 and we lose sight of what Jesus 26:47 is trying to teach us, then we lose. 26:52 As Jesus began his earthly ministry 26:54 He stood up there as a young man in the synagogue, in Nazareth, 26:58 read from the Prophet Azariah, and it says, 27:00 people were impressed. They heard Him gladly. 27:05 A few minutes later after he had taken the 27:08 role of a prophet to himself, they were offended 27:11 and rushed him toward the edge of a cliff 27:13 and would have killed him. But he was providentially 27:16 removed from their midst. It's interesting how quickly 27:19 and easily the mob or the crowd can change. 27:22 Jesus had stood there on the mount of blessing, 27:26 given the Sermon on the Mount and the crowd heard him gladly 27:30 because He spoke with authority. But some of those same people 27:33 almost certainly were present there in Pilate's courtyard, 27:37 as he asked the crowd what would you have me do with the man? 27:41 And they said crucify him, crucify him. 27:44 We need to be careful that we don't respond with the crowd. 27:48 The crowd which is nearly always wrong, 27:50 which moves with the force that is beyond the individual. 27:54 We need to be calculatedly Pro-Christ, 27:58 Pro-Religious Liberty, 27:59 Pro-independent thought for ourselves, 28:03 and serve God and answer correct. 28:06 For Liberty Insider, this is Lincoln Steed. |
Revised 2014-12-17