Participants: Lincoln Steed (Host), Greg Hamilton
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI000133
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00:22 Welcome to the Liberty Insider.
00:25 This is the program that brings you up to date news, 00:27 views, information and discussion on religious 00:30 Liberty events around the world. 00:32 My name is Lincoln Steed, I'm Editor of Liberty Magazine 00:36 and my guest on the program is Greg Hamilton. 00:39 Greg, your among other jobs 00:42 you're the Director or the President 00:45 of the Northwest Religious Liberty Association. 00:47 You do a fantastic job in that area. 00:52 We work hard to be effective. 00:53 Not just with our Seventh-day Adventist membership 00:56 who you service for religious liberty concerns. 00:58 But in your dealings with State Government, 01:01 and now particularly in the State of Oregon. 01:03 You've had some fantastic context of light. 01:07 Maybe you want to show our viewers a story 01:09 that we ran recently in Liberty Magazine. 01:12 Well, it's a story about the repeal 01:15 of the religious dress bill 01:18 or the prohibition against religious dress, 01:20 that it was a law that emanated or began clear back in 1923 01:25 and it was influenced by the Ku Klux Klan, 01:29 which believed back then that .... 01:32 Or white Christian America. Or White Protestant America. 01:35 That, that Communism will infiltrate itself 01:38 through religious institutions, 01:39 specifically Catholic Religious Institutions. 01:42 Which I look back at today and I said, 01:44 I say to myself how? I mean it seems totally far fetched, 01:49 but nevertheless that's what they believe. 01:50 Well, they, the Ku Klux Klan proceeded communism. 01:54 They were always White Protestant America. 01:56 So, they were reflexly opposed 01:59 to peripheral or cast or fellowship. 02:02 And it was American exceptionalism run amok, 02:04 because it really didn't truly allow 02:05 for true religious freedom in America, 02:07 which included religious freedom for Catholics 02:09 which they seem to reject. Absolutely. 02:12 So, there was a case that when clear 02:13 the Supreme Court called Pierce. 02:15 Governor Pierce of Oregon Vs Society of Sisters 02:18 it was a Catholic school in Portland. 02:21 And that case went all the way to US Supreme Court 02:24 and in that case they tried to outlaw 02:26 all private religious schools. 02:28 At then a ninth to nothing decision 02:30 Supreme Court says you're nuts. 02:32 And rejected it and said this is unconstitutional, 02:35 so praise the Lord for that. 02:37 But with that there was a provision, 02:41 a statute that remained on the books 02:43 that was on the books in most states. 02:46 And over 87 years most of the states repealed those statutes 02:50 and that was a prohibition of wearing any religious dress 02:53 while teaching in public school, by public school teachers. 02:57 And this was significant because what it did 03:01 is not only disallow the teachers 03:04 to wear Religious Garb. 03:06 But it basically put forward an extreme separation of church 03:10 and state standard that, that discriminated against 03:14 Muslims from wearing their hijab and, 03:18 and from wearing their religious burqas, a religion dress. 03:22 In years, in recent years, this has become obvious. 03:25 In recent years it became obvious. 03:26 The goal of that legislation was Catholic nuns. 03:29 Nuns and priests to some degree I think? 03:31 But today that's, that's what hit the wall 03:35 in terms of court cases. 03:36 Oregon was only one of three states 03:38 that still had that statute left. 03:39 Okay Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Oregon, 03:43 Pennsylvania is not as problematic, 03:47 Nebraska is pretty bad and Oregon's was bad. 03:50 But what happened was when we passed 03:52 the Oregon Work Place Religious Freedom Act in 2009, 03:56 in working with speaker of the house Dave Hunt 03:59 for the state of Oregon who is now the Majority Leader 04:01 for the Democratic Party. 04:02 We have the privilege of honoring him at a recent 04:04 Liberty Insider in Washington DC last year. 04:06 In Washington DC last year, yes and I thank you for that. 04:08 And he appreciates that to this day. 04:10 But when it comes to the Oregon Work Place Religious Freedom Act 04:14 there was a provision at the end of the bill 04:16 that they had to keep in there. 04:18 It was this very statute, this prohibition against 04:20 wearing religious dress in public schools 04:22 by public school teachers. 04:24 If we had, if we had not included that, 04:27 the bill would have been unconstitutional, 04:29 the ACIU would've proclaimed it as such 04:31 and our Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act 04:33 would not have passed. 04:35 So, we had to kill two birds with one stone 04:37 or maybe with two stones. Not kill him, yeah. 04:39 Free too but, yes they're free too, 04:41 there you go, that's better. They're freeing too but. 04:43 Better analogy, but the point is, 04:45 is that then we pledge to go right back to the table 04:48 and work with religious minorities 04:50 including religious majorities, 04:52 who maybe weren't as effected by it 04:54 such as Christians but clearly Hindus, 04:57 Jews wear yamakas and Muslims were deeply effected by this. 05:04 And Sikhs also were heavily involved in 05:06 getting this statute repealed. 05:08 So, we all came together as a religious community 05:11 for the whole state, we helped spear that 05:14 with along with Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon. 05:16 The National Sikh Organization of Washington DC, 05:22 we worked with the Muslim Trust Organization in Portland 05:25 which is the largest Muslims Organization there 05:28 with Wajdi and the Attorney Saba. 05:31 And that was fun working with them and. And.... 05:34 It was very effective wasn't it? 05:35 Yes, and also our Jewish friends and our Hindu friends 05:38 and also Catholics, evangelical Protestants. 05:41 We all came together united together 05:44 and the Governor gladly signed it. 05:47 And, but in the process he said, 05:49 he bit concerned before he signed it was that 05:52 we make sure that we put in policy guidelines 05:56 for each public school district and in each public school. 06:00 So, they invited me to serve with some attorneys, 06:02 including some ACIU Attorneys 06:04 and heads of education in the state, to state level, 06:09 the Bureau of Labor and Industries, 06:10 the Labor Department is one that headed up these meetings 06:13 and we crafted out policy. 06:15 Attorney Steven Green from Willamette school of law, 06:18 is the one that basically hammered of the Language 06:21 but in that policy meeting there were some in the group 06:24 and I won't name names or organizations, 06:26 that tried to steer it away form the original intent of the bill. 06:30 Okay, that would have essentially destroyed it 06:33 and would have brought it up back, 06:36 back to the courts that would have automatically 06:38 triggered it back to the courts for them to say 06:40 what you're doing is unconstitutional. 06:42 Was that in their intend or were they just... 06:43 I think it was their intent, I think it was their intent 06:46 and I made several repeals and speeches. 06:49 Steve Green and I saw it the same way 06:52 and fortunately thank God for Steve Green. 06:54 He rewrote several provisions of it, 06:56 there were other contributions 06:57 by other people that were very important. 07:00 So, the Lord brought me into a room 07:03 where I can actually establish State Policy for public schools, 07:06 it was very exciting. So, out of this ten year effort 07:10 for Oregon Work Place Religious Freedom Act, 07:12 came this other bill effort that coincided the next year 07:15 and we did it in one month. 07:17 We had a one month short session of February 07:19 to get this bill passed, it seem like an impossibility, 07:22 in fact many legislators got up and when the bill was 07:25 on the house floor, the senate floor. 07:26 They said, we need to delay this. 07:28 We need a better look at this bill 07:30 and to study it longer for the more, 07:32 the full session in 2011, and speaker Dave Hunt says, 07:36 you're just gonna talk over the same things 07:38 that you already know about. 07:39 They just gonna give you more time to kill the bill. 07:42 This is an absolutely necessary to reverse the ugly, 07:45 the stain of history of this prohibition against 07:50 religious dress on religious people. 07:53 This violates the free exercise 07:54 of religion according to the constitution. 07:57 You would have thought, one would have thought 07:58 that this would be a fairly non controversial thing, 08:00 but you did need to have allies, 08:03 you did need to push consistently 08:06 toward it and it succeeded in that. 08:07 If we didn't handle this, if we hadn't have repealed it. 08:10 We received a letter from the department of justice okay, 08:14 from Obama's head of the justice department 08:17 saying that they were going to look into this 08:21 and make sure this was over returned from the Federal level. 08:24 So, we were glad that we're able to handle our own business 08:27 and clean up our own books there in Oregon. 08:29 Now, you alluded before to the workplace religious free act. 08:35 I'm trying to think what the term was 08:36 at the state level, same title. 08:38 We call it ORWRFA, I said if ORFA, we call it or WRFA. 08:42 Well, the Seventh-day Adventist church 08:44 in coalition with about thirty or fifty as many as 08:47 fifty other churches and civil rights groups has been 08:51 trying to push that through at the Federal level? 08:54 Yes, but many, many years with not much success. 08:56 Yes, but you, you got a similar version 08:59 through at the state level. 09:01 Well, and the reason why we did is we eliminated the, 09:04 the kitchen sink approach to a bill. 09:06 I mean, that was basically the way 09:08 the original federal bill was. 09:09 This idea that we give benefits to pharmacists 09:13 who want to be exempt from dispensing the plan B pill 09:18 for abortions and so on and so forth. 09:20 And we understood that, 09:21 we were for a comprehensive bill. 09:24 But we decided that legislatively, 09:26 politically we couldn't get it pass that way, 09:29 we had to face political realities 09:31 with a strongly democratically controlled house incident 09:35 and a strong democratic governor, 09:37 there is no way on earth that 09:38 we could get something like that passed. 09:40 So, we had to look up political realities, 09:42 get rid of that kitchen sink language, 09:44 narrow it down to just religious holy days, 09:48 okay like Sabbath keeping or Sunday keeping 09:50 or Friday prayers for Muslims. 09:52 This is in the work place again, yes, in the work place. 09:54 And, and also when it came to religious dress 10:00 in the work place, now that's the general work place 10:02 not public schools that's why we had to do that gabbery 10:07 appeal bill following that the next year, 10:09 because it didn't effect public schools 10:13 and you think we could have lump that all in one bill? 10:15 But that's what we got fought 10:16 by the American Civil Liberties Union. 10:18 So, we had to approach it in a two step process 10:22 and it flummox the ACLU. 10:24 It was a tactic that, that speaker of the house 10:27 Dave Hunt put forward, he was a American Baptist. 10:30 I think was truly a champion for religious freedom, 10:33 called for such a time as this. 10:35 I mean I think the Lord has truly led him to be 10:39 a real champion for religious freedom 10:40 at the Oregon Legislature. 10:41 And I wish that we as Religious Liberty program 10:45 nationwide could foster that more fully 10:49 at the State Legislature, finding out who those people 10:52 are that are balanced, not far right wing 10:54 extreme religious right or left. 10:56 You know and Dave, that's what Dave Hunt was. 10:58 He was bound... 10:59 North American Religious Liberty Association 11:01 took an action recently to do that. 11:02 It's the state level's problem. Whatever possible. 11:06 We urged the North American division 11:07 to establish government relations programs 11:10 in every state in United States and every province in Canada 11:13 and also in Bermuda. And the reason being 11:16 is because we only have essentially 11:19 six bonafide government relations programs 11:22 in the North American division. 11:23 That means, think about that, that means forty four states 11:26 with no government relations for us. 11:27 Which government, Canada 11:28 and the United States and Bermuda. 11:29 Well, I'm speaking just the United States right now, 11:31 states, out of fifty states. 11:33 But when you say the North American Division 11:34 some of our viewers might not know. 11:35 That's true. The area you're talking about. 11:36 Okay. Administratively is Canada 11:38 and United States and Bermuda, 11:40 but you're really narrowing it even more in the United States. 11:42 In the United States we have fifty states. 11:44 In the United States we only have six bonafide 11:47 Government Relations Programs okay. 11:49 We need more. And forty-four without, 11:51 we have, we have eight in the Southern Union area, 11:55 eight states that have programs that are just started okay 11:59 and they're in the process of being more 12:01 organized and better trained. 12:03 But what our program is a Capital Pastor Program 12:07 where we ask conference presidents to cooperate with us 12:11 in having a pastor who happens to serve at a capital church 12:16 have that built into the actual resume job 12:20 description for that church. 12:22 So he takes a particular interest 12:23 in connecting with the legislature. 12:25 No, why he doesn't have to look over his shoulder 12:26 as to whether he is doing evangelism or whatever. 12:28 And we find that proactive pastors 12:30 who were really good at doing many things well, 12:34 work well in those situations. 12:35 It's a wonderful opportunity to witness I think 12:37 and communicate our Religious Liberty 12:41 and a particular churches view point to the Legislators. 12:44 We'll be back after a short break 12:46 to continue with Greg Hamilton and discussing how he 12:51 in his area and church leaders everywhere 12:53 can communicate with government leaders. 13:03 One-hundred years, a long time to do anything 13:07 much less publish a magazine, but this year Liberty, 13:11 the Seventh-day Adventist voice of religious freedom, 13:14 celebrates one hundred years of doing what it does best, 13:17 collecting, analyzing, and reporting the ebb 13:20 and flow of religious expression around the world. 13:23 Issue after issue. 13:25 Liberty has taken on the tough assignments, 13:28 tracking down threats to religious freedom 13:30 and exposing the work of the devil 13:31 in every corner of the globe. 13:33 Governmental interference, personal attacks, 13:36 corporate assaults, even religious freedom issues 13:39 sequestered within the church community itself 13:41 have been clearly and honestly exposed. 13:44 Liberty exists for one purpose to help God's people 13:48 maintain that all important separation of Church and State, 13:52 while recognizing the dangers inherent in such a struggle. 13:56 During the past century, Liberty has experienced 13:58 challenges of its own, but it remains on the job. 14:02 Thanks to the inspired leadership 14:03 of a long line of dedicated Adventist Editors, 14:06 three of whom represent almost half of the publications 14:08 existence and the foresight of a little woman from New England. 14:13 One hundred years of struggle, one hundred years of victories, 14:17 religious freedom isn't just about 14:19 political machines and cultural prejudices. 14:22 It's about people fighting for the right to serve the God 14:26 they love as their hearts and the Holy Spirit dictate. 14:30 Thanks to the prayers and generous support 14:32 of Seventh-Day Adventists everywhere. 14:34 Liberty will continue to accomplish 14:36 its work of providing timely information, 14:39 spirit filled inspiration, and heaven sent encouragement 14:42 to all who long to live and work in a world bound together 14:47 by the God ordained bonds of religious freedom. 15:01 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider. 15:03 Before the break with guest Greg Hamilton, 15:06 we were talking about, in fact we were almost celebrating, 15:10 some of the fantastic stuffs that happened 15:12 in your area and particularly in Oregon, 15:14 with the passage of this religious garb legislation 15:18 and then the Workplace Religious Freedom Act for Oregon. 15:23 What I really would like to talk as we go on from this, 15:26 is explain a little bit to our viewers that difference 15:29 between what not on this program, 15:31 this particular segment but on this program 15:34 before we condemned syncretistic religion 15:37 and ecumenical movement that sort of blends 15:40 all religions together and compromises. 15:42 We believe in having an eucmenical spirit. 15:45 But it doesn't necessarily mean that we've to join them 15:49 on numerous issues, we got to keep our integrity. 15:51 Yes, that's what I want to bring out, 15:53 when we're in coalition as you were 15:55 on the religious garb issue, which is definitely something 15:59 that the freedom, freedom of religion 16:01 and upholding the constitution would come on, 16:03 we united there on a common principle 16:06 that benefits all and compromises nobody. 16:08 Yes. So, I think 16:10 it's our Christian duty as well as our Charter 16:12 and Religious Liberty to be involved 16:14 in the government relations. 16:15 Our purpose for government relations is to provide 16:18 a public ministry that literally in the public eye 16:22 and in the public realm so to speak, 16:26 defends and advances Religious Freedom for all 16:29 people of faith, not just for Seventh-day Adventists. 16:31 If we were just to represent our church. 16:34 in fact I'll never forget, I'll never forget there, 16:37 I went to the Oregon Legislature thirteen years ago, 16:40 David Leslie, I met him at the Oregon Legislature 16:42 and gave him my business card and he says 16:44 oh! so you're here to defend 16:47 the Religious Freedom of Seventh-day Adventists. 16:49 I said no, we're here to defend the Religious Freedom of 16:52 all religions in the state of Oregon. 16:54 And I said that's our mission and purpose, 16:57 he says really, well that's essentials our purpose 17:00 is to defend religious freedom and civil rights. 17:02 so we've had a common, 17:04 friendly working relationship ever since. 17:06 So, that's been a blessing and we've to remember that 17:10 if we're just here to defend Religious Freedom 17:13 for Seventh-day Adventists alone and Christians alone, 17:16 okay then we're forgetting that 17:18 if we do not defend the rights of religious minorities 17:22 then we may be next. Right. 17:25 And that's the problem that I see is that there is 17:28 so much this idea of Religious freedom is being defined 17:31 and classified by harmful religious elements. 17:36 That essentially seeks to narrow that definition to only them 17:40 and not certain religious minorities. 17:42 In fact if you think about it, if we were doing what you said 17:44 like just pushing to get a law to benefit us 17:47 or our members in, in a certain work place situation. 17:50 If we were pushing that we got to threw 17:52 a certain administration, and then later when 17:54 there is change of administration, 17:55 another church would come in and push to get this may be 17:59 and to get rid of ours. Then it would be them against us 18:03 and who ever your patron is 18:04 and it would just full apart into religious warfare. 18:06 That's why we have to be non partisan. 18:08 Now, what I mean by non partisan, 18:09 when we go about our government relations services 18:12 with working with legislators. Our Capo Pastors in Alaska, 18:16 Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, 18:18 including our Attorney our team of Attorneys. 18:20 Our goal is to make sure that they understand 18:24 this is just business, that we've got to go in there 18:27 and when we meet with them we may be siding 18:30 on the right on a particular issue. 18:32 Okay like the bill that we had in the other program 18:35 I told you about, Forced Unionization 18:37 of all Child Care Centers including private and religious, 18:41 not just public and state owned. 18:43 So, when we went in there we were definitely siding 18:46 with the right or the Republican right 18:47 for the most part except for five Republican Senators 18:51 that were dead set and they were all Catholics 18:54 in supporting this Forced Unionization Bill. 18:57 But we're issue oriented, we could be siding with them 18:59 on that issue and maybe with their political 19:02 counterparts on another issue. 19:03 Correct and so some call it the strange bedfellows analogy, 19:08 but I don't like to use that I really believe its called 19:10 standing up for what is right because it is right. 19:12 Standing up for truth and finding a broad 19:15 based coalition and even if it's only a narrow coalition, 19:18 making your argument persuasive. 19:20 For not only a moral cause but a just cause 19:23 and that's the essence of what we do. 19:26 And the only complication I can see not of what you did there, 19:29 but there was a case recently 19:32 in California proposition 8. Oh! Yes. 19:34 Now, sometimes things are little bit more complex 19:37 then just pushing our view with a particular party. 19:40 Right. We could by promoting, 19:43 in that case it was a moral view point on, 19:47 it was in a larger context. Right. 19:49 By pushing that particular thing, 19:50 I believe we're at risk of inadvertently 19:53 empowering a larger agenda, 19:56 that was perhaps more problematic for us. 20:01 but generally speaking what you say is absolutely right to, 20:04 to put our view to any party on this particular issue 20:09 is not being a bad fellow. It's witnessing the power, 20:14 yes, what pulled in absolutely as he got appeared before 20:19 Felix and Agrippa and Caesar, that's our obligation. 20:23 Yeah, we've to be careful of jumping 20:25 into things all hard, we've to be careful pick 20:28 and choose our issues very carefully. 20:30 And that's what we seek to do, that's what we strive to do. 20:33 In our government relations work, 20:35 one of the things we strive to do 20:37 is to come to the rescue of other religions even 20:40 if that single religion is, that religion is singled out. 20:44 Let me give you an example in Oregon again, 20:47 Bob Bestani, who used to be, is retired since, 20:49 but I just loved working with him. 20:51 He was the attorney and lobbyist 20:54 for the Oregon Catholic Conference 20:55 that answered to the US Conference 20:57 of Catholic Bishops in Washington DC. 21:00 And there was a situation where, it was right around after 9/11 21:04 and homeland security bills were been proposed 21:06 by Governors all across the nation 21:08 in different states and all the states. 21:10 And it was no different in Oregon, 21:12 the Governor Kulongoski at the time said that 21:16 he put forward a bill that basically allowed 21:21 the co-optation of all private and religious schools 21:25 and churches and gymnasiums and so on. 21:28 In case there is an attack on the nation okay. 21:32 And in the bill though it made no exemptions for, 21:36 especially for Catholic schools and churches, 21:39 for the performing of abortions okay, 21:42 for blood transfusions that sort of thing. 21:45 Yet, it wanted that exemption. 21:48 And he said, I just happen to walk into the capital. 21:50 I knew nothing about the bill, 21:52 should have known about the bill but I didn't. 21:54 And he said are you aware of this bill 21:56 it's just been popped in on us, it's a surprise bill 22:00 that the Governor has put forward 22:02 and they're having a hearing 22:04 in twenty minutes and I need you there. 22:06 So he had a chance to go through it? 22:08 He said, he said I just found out about it. 22:09 I have no notes, you have no notes, 22:11 but we're gonna sign up to testify. 22:13 Bob was a strong Italian fellow, 22:16 but a fun fellow, I used to have a lot of lunches with him. 22:18 And he was one of those guys that can literally, 22:20 is so well respected because he had worked there 22:22 at the Oregon Legislature for like thirty years. 22:24 But he literally blow by a receptionist 22:27 at a Legislature's office, blow by a Legislative aid 22:30 and walk right in and even open the door of a Legislator. 22:33 He was that well respected, nobody said no to Bob 22:36 and he would march in and basically tell the Legislator, 22:39 how high to jump or you know 22:41 he is the Queen Esther of the court. 22:42 He basically gave them their marching orders, 22:44 that's how powerful he was. But on this particular occasion, 22:48 on this particular bill I saw the light of what he was saying, 22:51 and so we testified it together. 22:53 And it was funny because I'll never forget the chairman 22:55 and the vice chairman of the committee hearing. 23:00 They said oh! A Catholic and an Adventist testifying together. 23:05 They knew I was an Adventist, the Legislators know that 23:08 I'm an Adventist there. I don't hide that fact 23:09 even though we present ourselves 23:11 as the North West Religious Liberty Association. 23:13 But we testified and they said, wow! That is wonderful 23:18 to see that kind of harmony and, and, and we didn't even 23:23 think about this, the governor must not have 23:24 thought about that, and when it came back 23:27 they tabled the bill, they didn't even vote it out 23:29 of the committee to go the floor. 23:31 They tabled it, it came back rewritten through 23:34 Legislative counsel with that exemption language, 23:37 and it protected all people of faith 23:39 who happen to be against blood transfusions 23:42 and other things like that. 23:44 And so opposed to abortion and other things, 23:46 so it was a wonderful opportunity. 23:48 So, that came into fruition, the bill was passed, 23:52 no problem, governor signed it. 23:54 And it was a great opportunity to hold hands 23:57 even with the Catholic Church. 23:58 And I was gonna say a little early but you gave me 24:00 the perfect illustration, obviously on this program 24:04 which is not just Religious Liberty as the legal construct, 24:08 we're presenting our churches view point on prophecy and so. 24:12 We often have said things about problems areas there 24:15 in the Roman Catholic Church, Islam and so on as well. 24:17 Right. We've deep doctrine differences. 24:19 Oh! Absolutely. 24:20 When we're dealing with the religious freedom 24:24 for all in the society very often in fact most of the time 24:29 we're in coalition with groups like Roman Catholic Church. 24:34 Sometimes, but on religious Civil Religious Liberty, 24:38 depends on the issues. Yeah. When I say it very often, 24:40 I didn't say always. Yes, yes, yes that's good, 24:43 there are differences that pop up from time to time. 24:45 Yes. But of recent years, we have a similar concern 24:49 to enable Religious Liberty and I'm thinking globally 24:51 not just the United States. Yeah. 24:53 More and more and we said earlier in another program 24:56 you know Christians have become a persecuted, 24:58 yes, probably the most persecuted group in the world. 25:01 So, we find ourselves in alliance with churches like the 25:04 Roman Catholic church pushing 25:06 for a basic principle of freedom for all. 25:08 And you never know because, 25:09 this is another interesting point, 25:10 the Oregon Catholic Conference they had an official stand 25:13 on the separation of the church state 25:15 that's almost identical to ours. And in contrary to 25:19 the US Conference of Catholics Bishops, 25:20 apparently they allow their local state 25:23 conference establishments and their lobbing organizations 25:28 to come up with different language, 25:29 to be somewhat autonomous. I thought that was interesting, 25:32 I never known that before, I thought that they all walked 25:34 in lockstep but apparently not. 25:36 So, they were, Bob was very much 25:38 for the separation of church and state and very much 25:41 along the lines that we believe in. 25:43 You know, I'll make a passing statement, 25:45 we don't have much time left but just as Islam 25:49 at root doesn't really believe that the state should be 25:52 free of religious control. Right. 25:55 At root, the church is the state. 25:57 Yeah, the Roman Catholic Church has a view on the subsidiarity 26:00 where the ultimate authority is the church, 26:03 but they're not anymore at least in the west interested 26:06 in having the church move in on the stake. 26:08 So, under that model we're under perfect agreement 26:11 to argue for laws that equally protect 26:13 all religions and their practice of faith. 26:17 And in that note it's very important to remember 26:19 that when it come to religious freedom we are for protecting 26:22 the freedom of all people of faith. 26:25 That's important concept that's why we're called 26:27 the North West Religious Liberty Association. 26:29 It's also the charter and declaration 26:32 of principles of Liberty Magazine. 26:34 It's the charter and principles of 26:36 the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide, 26:38 from the general conference on down. 26:40 So, I'm proud to be a part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 26:43 in championing religious freedom for all people of faith. 26:47 If we don't my friends, what did we really have to speak about, 26:50 we don't have much of a ministry in the real world if we don't. 26:54 If we do not defend others, how can we defend ourselves? 26:58 Whenever I think of witnessing to legislators 27:02 and dealing with laws that have effect on 27:04 how we practice our Christianity and indeed our conscious 27:09 before other people. I must think of Paul 27:12 before the legislators of his time, 27:15 I mean they were ruling more by direct rule, 27:17 there was King Agrippa, Governor Felix. 27:20 But the reality is that against the leaders of his time 27:25 Paul was quite prepared to stand up 27:27 and speak out for truth. We need to do the same today 27:31 particularly in a democracy through the representative 27:35 forms of government, it's out privilege, 27:37 our duty as Christians to speak to them, 27:40 sometimes through agents like Greg Hamilton, 27:43 sometimes directly ourselves. 27:45 But always, we should argue for truth, 27:49 we should not compromise our beliefs, 27:51 we should not accept to some are saying 27:52 that well we can talk about religion, we can't convert, 27:57 we can't change other people's religion, 27:59 of course we can change. Of course we should 28:01 expect full religious freedom and of course always 28:04 we should speak honestly about the God that we serve. 28:09 This is Lincoln Steed for Liberty Insider. |
Revised 2014-12-17