Participants: Lincoln Steed (Host), Alan Reinach
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI000135
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00:22 Welcome to the Liberty Insider.
00:25 This is a program that brings you discussion 00:27 and lot of up-to-date news and information 00:29 and background information on Religious Liberty events 00:34 in the United States and overseas. 00:36 Today on the program I have with me is guest 00:38 Alan Reinach from the Church State Council. 00:41 You're an attorney Alan, 00:42 so I know you can speak authoritatively 00:44 on lot of the legal issues relating to freedom of religion 00:49 in the United States particularly. 00:51 You know the Post Office has a bad reputation doesn't it? 00:55 We've a saying, 'Going Postal'. 00:57 Well, I was about to say that. 00:58 I've been tempted to go postal, go postal. 00:59 I get so frustrated working with the Post Office. 01:01 As oppose to just a figure of speech, 01:03 they've been some postal employees 01:04 that have gone seriously postal, 01:06 mail them or mail them all around. 01:07 I think it's just reflective of how important 01:10 this institution is or this aspect of the government 01:13 A lot of people work many hours and under difficult conditions 01:17 to get out an increasing massive mail. 01:20 And we have to admire the dedicated workers who do. 01:22 You know there's a statement what is it? 01:23 Neither rain nor hail nor sleet 01:25 will stop the postman from his, his rounds. 01:27 And we depend on it, on, on, 01:31 on religious accommodation cases though, 01:34 I've noticed that an unusually large number 01:37 of those concern the Post Office. 01:39 We have, the Post Office is our best customer 01:42 when it comes to having problems with postal employees 01:48 needing to keep the Sabbath. 01:50 We've more problems with the Post Office 01:53 than probably the next ten biggest employers put together. 01:57 That must be for two basic reasons, 01:58 they've such a complex schedule 02:00 and constant activity that makes it difficult. 02:03 But they seem to be resistant to, 02:06 to accommodating someone by shuffling 02:08 the schedules to allow, 02:10 for in this case Sabbath observance from Sunday, 02:13 Friday, until Sunday and Saturday. 02:15 You have a very arcane system that management 02:20 and the Labor Union has contrived 02:23 that make it almost impossible 02:26 to provide accommodation for individual Adventist. 02:29 Yeah, that's unfortunate. 02:30 Now, there's a case that you were sharing with me 02:32 before the program in Loma Linda, California. 02:36 Well. A particular Post Office. 02:38 Up until the month of April of this year of 2011, 02:45 there were three communities in the United States 02:47 all Seventh-day Adventist communities, 02:50 where there was no Saturday mail delivery. 02:52 Were because they were predominantly 02:54 Adventist communities for generations. 02:57 The mail has been delivered on Sunday, 03:00 those three communities Collegedale, Tennessee, 03:03 Angwin California, Loma Linda, California, 03:06 home to Adventist College Towns. 03:10 In April, the Post Office in Loma Linda 03:15 began without any public comment without any public hearings, 03:18 or input of any kind, 03:20 arbitrarily ended Sunday mail delivery 03:24 and went to Saturday mail delivery. 03:26 One of the ironic things about this decision 03:30 is it for several years the Post Office 03:33 has been pushing in Congress 03:35 to eliminate Saturday mail delivery entirely. 03:39 This came to my mind when you told me about this. 03:41 This is backing the trend, isn't it? 03:43 Now, you know the community, 03:46 the Adventist community in Loma Linda, 03:49 for the most part is not all that concerned 03:52 about whether they get their mail on Saturday 03:55 or they get their mail on Sunday. 03:56 That's not really a huge emotional 03:59 or spiritual issue for them. 04:02 What has been lost in all of the public debate in the, 04:06 in the stories whether they're from the local newspapers 04:09 of even from the Adventist News? 04:12 Is it, there are four Seventh-day Adventist 04:15 Sabbath observing mail carriers in this Post Office, 04:19 who you know, coveted been able to work there 04:23 so that they could have Sabbath off. 04:26 And now they're gonna have to start working on Saturday. 04:28 So as the conditions were changed on them. 04:30 It's not like they, they walked in off the street 04:32 and has to be employed 04:33 and then immediately had a Sabbath problem. 04:36 It's been an arrangement that they've been accommodated gladly 04:40 for years and suddenly the rules have changed 04:42 on them, haven't they? 04:43 The Post-Office, whenever I've had dealings 04:47 with the Post Office with employees in Southern California 04:52 and we're trying to get them accommodated. 04:54 What do the Post Office lawyers and what do their people tell me 04:59 Maybe we can transfer them to Loma Linda. 05:01 And I laughed because of course I know that you know, 05:04 typically there are no openings in Loma Linda. 05:07 But people, Adventists who work for the Post-Office, 05:10 in one case, 05:11 one of the mail carriers, Ruth Gomez. 05:13 She had been working for 9 years 05:16 in another Post Office in Southern California, 05:20 delivering mail struggling to get as many Saturdays off 05:24 as she could using her vacation time 05:26 and trying to swap with other people, 05:29 and doing everything she could to avoid working 05:31 on Saturday with some success. 05:34 But, but not, you know, 05:35 still having to work Saturdays from time to time. 05:38 Finally, finally after 9 years, 05:42 she gets transferred to Loma Linda 05:44 and she shows up there, and she has told that 05:47 they're going to start delivering mail on Saturday. 05:49 So, the timing is very close on this, 05:50 you hadn't been their alone. 05:51 As soon as she got there, 05:52 she gets the letter that in one month. 05:54 Cruel order isn't it. 05:55 Now, Art Cortina, who is an elder 05:57 in his church in Fontana I believe it is. 06:01 Art has been a mail carrier for 25 years. 06:04 He's been at the Loma Linda Post Office 06:06 for more than a decade. 06:08 And has, he's very active in his local church, 06:11 he's had to resign his teaching as you know 06:15 Sabbath school teacher and a number of other positions 06:19 in the church, because he cannot in good conscience, 06:22 teach the young people to observe the Sabbath 06:26 and the teachings of the church when he knows that 06:28 he's gonna have to now go in and work on Saturdays 06:32 and deliver mail. 06:33 He just can't do it, it has, had a devastating impact 06:37 on these Adventist mail carriers. 06:41 Well, you know that's a personal issue 06:43 whether he would continue to work or resign his job. 06:47 But it seems very... 06:48 After 25 years, you gonna tell somebody to quit their job, 06:51 loose their home you know 06:52 I'm not gonna tell him about. 06:53 but, I'm trying to bring it back to the employer, 06:56 it seems that a government agency, 07:01 of a government that says, 07:02 it respects religious commitment of citizens 07:07 and there is a accommodation promised, 07:09 they just sort of cut them off with the pass, 07:11 this is not right, this is antithetical 07:13 to the principles of the constitution, isn't it? 07:15 Absolutely, and, and what's more? 07:17 And has there been a good faith effort to try 07:20 to arrange some accommodation for these employees. 07:23 Okay, look, at the low level, 07:27 we've them filed their EEO complaints right away 07:33 and a lawyer gets assigned. 07:35 And they'd say, okay, here's how the system works 07:37 and you can do this, you can do that, 07:39 you can try to swap, you can use vacation time 07:42 and all that, great. 07:44 So you can avoid working some Saturdays, it's true. 07:49 But there's no way that you can fully accommodate 07:52 in their system, one mail carrier much less four. 07:56 So it's inevitable that by changing 07:59 from Sunday to Saturday delivery either these folks 08:02 are gonna start working on Saturdays 08:04 or they're gonna get fired. Or transferred? 08:07 No, if you get transferred, you loose all of your seniority 08:12 within that Post Office that's the bizarre thing 08:16 about the way the Post Office works. 08:18 And so if you're transferred, 08:20 you've less chance of getting Saturday off, not more chance. 08:23 Well, I was about to say that seniority per se 08:25 that might be the cost of your faith. 08:28 But if it means that it's harder to get the accommodation 08:31 then there's a double, double trouble. 08:33 This system is designed against giving people 08:36 accommodation and that's bizarre. 08:38 And I do here because many of these cases 08:39 someone can't get it because they're not senior enough. Right 08:42 And that's, that's unfair 08:44 from the point of religious accommodation. 08:46 Not necessarily for the rights within, 08:48 I think seniority concept is good for loyal workers 08:51 within an organization but it's working 08:53 against religious accommodation. 08:55 In this case, my basic premise is that the decision 08:59 to change from Sunday to Saturday mail delivery 09:03 was itself discriminatory and it cannot stand. 09:07 Yeah, that's a dangerous, 09:11 it might be true but that's a very troubling situation. 09:13 It had a desperate, it had a desperate impact 09:16 on Seventh-day Adventist workers. 09:18 The Post Office knows Loma Linda 09:21 is a Seventh-day Adventist community, 09:23 it's well known, they know, that it attracts Adventists 09:27 who don't want to work on Saturday for religious reasons. 09:30 The decision was clearly discriminatory, 09:33 if the Post Office was subject to punitive damages, 09:37 this is a punitive damages case 09:39 if ever there was one, it was blatant. 09:41 Now, this is only in Loma Linda, not at Collegedale or not at.... 09:43 Right, only in Loma Linda. 09:44 Now, you know, the Post Office claims, 09:48 that there are two reasons why they wanted to do this, 09:52 one is for an improvement in service 09:54 and that's get a little bit sticky as far as how that works 09:58 but it would be very insignificant improvement. 10:01 And the other is to save money 10:03 which is also rather insignificant cost savings. 10:08 My postal workers pointed out to me, 10:11 that the Post Office has been funding NASCAR, 10:14 they funded Lance Armstrong, you know, 10:17 the champion cyclist for many years. 10:21 They spend millions and millions and millions 10:23 of dollars on NASCAR, and Lance Armstrong. 10:26 It was public relations, isn't it? 10:27 And they're gonna save, you know, a few shackles, 10:30 a few pennies by on the back of these Adventist. 10:34 Money spend on Lance Armstrong and others 10:36 that's for public relations to put a good image. 10:39 And here, they're working in a manner 10:41 calculated to bring poor public relations. 10:44 So, may be a little expense they would be well spend 10:46 to carry favor with the community. 10:49 But it could make, if for few reasons 10:51 you and I don't understand 10:52 is decided to almost offend this local community. 10:58 Well, now that gets into speculation that I'm not, 11:01 I'm not prepared to deliver. 11:03 Good loyally response, but we hope that's not true. 11:05 We hope that there is on going respect 11:07 in this particular location as it should be anywhere for, 11:11 for deeply held religious faith. 11:13 Well, one of the reasons why I wanted to do this topic 11:17 with you is because the media has lost sight 11:20 of these four individuals whose lives, 11:24 who are suffering greatly because of this decision. 11:28 You know, I'm not concerned about whether there are citizens 11:33 who live in Loma Linda who are upset or not upset about 11:37 whether they're gonna get their mail on Saturday or Sunday 11:40 that to me is not a crucial issue. 11:45 But when Art Cortina, when Ruth Gomez are told 11:50 that you either violate your faith, 11:52 or you're out on the street with out a job. 11:55 This, and I know, and I've spend time with them. 11:58 I know what they're going through. 12:00 I know how much pain this is causing them and their families, 12:04 that's where my heart goes out to. 12:06 And frankly, I want to urge those watching this program 12:10 to pray about this situation because you know 12:13 we've got to get this decision reversed. 12:16 They've got to go back to the Sunday mail delivery 12:20 as long as they are gonna have weekend. 12:22 Or some charitable arrangement within the postal system 12:26 where they're not forced to compromise their faith. 12:29 The system won't accommodate four mail carriers 12:31 in a Post Office, they just won't. 12:34 That's a shame, a country that guarantees religious freedom, 12:38 by constitution, by history and really by common agreement 12:42 with most people, even those that are uncomfortable 12:44 with State Aid for religion. 12:46 They believe this is a country of religious freedom. 12:49 We'll be back after the break to discuss a little bit more 12:51 about not just this case but what is the plight of workers, 12:55 in the work place on religious freedom issues. 13:06 One hundred years, a long time to do anything 13:10 much less publish a magazine, but this year Liberty, 13:14 the Seventh-day Adventist voice of religious freedom, 13:16 celebrates one hundred years of doing what it does best, 13:20 collecting, analyzing, and reporting the ebb and flow 13:24 of religious expression around the world. 13:26 Issue after issue, Liberty has taken on the tough assignments, 13:30 tracking down threats to religious freedom and exposing 13:33 the work of the devil in every corner of the globe. 13:36 Governmental interference, personal attacks, 13:39 corporate assaults, even religious freedom issues 13:42 sequestered within the church community itself 13:44 have been clearly and honestly exposed. 13:47 Liberty exists for one purpose to help God's people 13:51 maintain that all important separation of Church and State, 13:54 while recognizing the dangers inherent in such a struggle. 13:58 During the past century, Liberty has experienced challenges 14:02 of its own, but it remains on the job. 14:05 Thanks to the inspired leadership 14:06 of a long line of dedicated Adventist Editors, 14:09 three of whom represent almost half 14:11 of the publications existence and the foresight 14:13 of a little woman from New England. 14:16 100 years of struggle, 100 years of victories, 14:20 religious freedom isn't just about political machines 14:23 and cultural prejudices. 14:25 It's about people fighting for the right to serve the God 14:29 they love as their hearts and the Holy Spirit dictate. 14:33 Thanks to the prayers and generous support 14:35 of Seventh-day Adventists everywhere. 14:37 Liberty will continue to accomplish its work 14:40 of providing timely information, spirit filled inspiration, 14:43 and heaven sent encouragement to all who long to live 14:47 and work in a world bound together 14:50 by the God ordained bonds of religious freedom. 15:04 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider. 15:06 Before the break I was talking with guest Attorney Alan Reinach 15:09 about an unusual case with the Post Office 15:12 in Loma Linda, California. 15:13 And we got talking what generally about religious 15:17 accommodation in the United States 15:19 and I want to bring it even more close at hand. 15:22 We're in clearly in the middle of an economic downturn 15:25 whether it's, still, added to turn up a little. 15:28 But these are...these are tough times. 15:31 We've lost 8 million jobs, I don't care how well 15:34 the stock market is rallying, we still are, 15:38 it's very tough times for many, many Americans. 15:41 Absolutely, and what that means is that the employee 15:43 is in a tighter situation in their work place, 15:47 there scene is expendable. 15:50 And more and more work employees, 15:52 employers rather are more likely to say, 15:55 well if you don't do what I say go out. 15:57 And I'm sure you're seeing more cases of this discrimination. 16:03 I'm buried Lincoln. I'm weary, I'm buried, we're overwhelmed 16:07 with a number of people not just Seventh-day Adventists 16:11 but of many faiths who are being fired 16:14 because of their religion. 16:17 People being fired for their religious expression, 16:20 but especially if you can't work 24/7, 16:24 there's a problems in the hiring process. 16:27 Increasingly we're seeing online applications. 16:30 We saw one where if you didn't say yes, 16:33 you know, are you available 24/7? 16:35 The application program terminated. Yeah. 16:38 You were terminated. 16:39 Yeah, Will Matus refined this but I think it's spreading. 16:42 To a fine art. Yeah, and it's turning back, 16:45 it in my view Labor Laws up to a century ago 16:50 not just threatening people's religious 16:52 accommodation but now, now.... 16:54 People of any faith, if you wanted to go to church, 16:56 I don't care, if it's Friday, if it's Saturday, 16:59 if it's Sunday. 17:00 If you want to be a part of a regular weekly worship 17:02 service more and more companies will refuse to hire you 17:06 or will fire you. 17:07 Yeah. It's outrageous, we think we have 17:10 religious freedom in this country. 17:11 And we can't even keep our jobs and practice our faith. 17:16 Well, this country is codified religious freedom very nicely. 17:19 But there's always been a tension between that 17:22 and business interest, because this is a capitalist country, 17:25 apart from a Democratic Representative Government 17:28 but it's founded on capitalism. 17:30 Isn't that the religion of the Public Religion of America, 17:33 there's the almighty dollar? 17:35 We're getting into philosophy. 17:37 Now for a number of years the Seventh-day Adventist... 17:39 Protestant work ethic. 17:40 The Seventh-day Adventist church has expended 17:42 a lot of energy and direct expense through, 17:46 through employees in trying to argue with the coalition. 17:49 Now I think of a 50 other groups. 17:51 Right. For I think about six, seven years now, 17:54 for the work place is called a Workplace Religious Freedom Act. 17:57 I have to say, it's not going anywhere very quickly 18:00 on a federal level but did you want to discuss 18:03 this because it seems to me this is more needed 18:04 than ever before. 18:06 It is crucially needed that we have 18:08 the Workplace Religious Freedom Act. 18:10 And frankly because we've not had much success 18:14 convincing Congress. 18:16 There has been more and more energy devoted 18:18 to taking a new look at State Laws 18:21 and tweaking State Laws to make them stronger. 18:24 And that will work in some states, 18:27 it won't work universally. 18:29 But the law generally provides for what's known as a reasonable 18:35 accommodation short of an undue hardship. 18:38 Well, that's a fine balance except the Supreme Court 18:41 going back to a TWA case in 1977 neutered 18:46 the undue hardship requirement 18:48 and said it really doesn't amount to very much. 18:50 Any, any sort of hardship really is enough 18:55 for the company to deny the religious accommodation. 18:58 And so this proposed Legislation, 19:01 the Workplace Religious Freedom Act 19:04 would turn the obligation the other way round. 19:07 That you get it unless they could show why... 19:09 A genuine, the burden ought to be on the company 19:14 to provide you the accommodation unless it would be 19:17 a real hardship, significant difficulty or expense. 19:22 That's what the standard should be, that standard 19:25 was written into the Americans with Disabilities Act. 19:28 And it has meant that literally 19:30 thousands and thousands of Americans 19:32 with various disabilities have been able to either obtain 19:36 or retain jobs that they would otherwise have lost. 19:41 As I've seem some of the cases, 19:43 it seems to me they're very similar 19:44 to this post office. 19:45 Often an employer will, will accommodate say 19:51 Seventh-day Adventist who want Sabbath's off. 19:53 They will give them one, or maybe two, 19:55 or three Sabbath's off but not the others. 19:58 Now, if that's your principle, if that's your, 20:00 your deeply held conviction. 20:03 It's really not helping you much to give you some, 20:05 right, as the issue is, is your overall practice, 20:09 it isn't, you know, it's not, like, like the view 20:13 that the Catholics have storing up made in heaven, 20:15 you know, with some indulgences. 20:16 Now, you have to obey God, God gives requirements for... 20:22 practice of religion and now you worship Him. 20:24 And He doesn't say, you know, honor me a little bit here 20:27 but you can dishonor me another time, 20:28 so they have consistently. 20:30 We, first of all, we have, we have a, an illusion that 20:34 somewhere in large companies, somebody actually 20:38 understands the law. 20:39 For the most part that simply not true. 20:42 I've taken the testimony of human resources professionals, 20:47 and I've asked them, have you ever had 20:49 any training on religion, religious discrimination 20:51 or religious accommodation? 20:52 No. Do you have any books that you refer 20:56 to when this problem arose? 20:57 Did you consult with anything? 20:59 No. so, they don't consult with their lawyers, 21:02 they don't have the manuals and the books to tell them 21:06 what they're supposed to do. 21:07 They have no clue, and so companies typically think 21:10 well reasonable accommodation, okay, that means, 21:13 we can give you off sometimes on Saturday 21:16 but we don't have to give you every Saturday off 21:18 that would be unreasonable in their mind. 21:20 And this is what they're doing, 21:22 this is what I was trying to explain. 21:23 Exactly, exactly. 21:24 And it's, and it may even if it's well intentioned, 21:26 it's not really giving the accommodation that should be. 21:29 Now look, the political problem is very basic, okay. 21:34 The Republicans for all that they mouth off about, 21:38 you know, being family values and pro-religion, 21:42 they're in the pocket of business 21:44 and they will sacrifice religion. 21:48 It is so. Okay, you can say whatever you want, 21:51 they'll put business interest ahead of religious interest 21:54 every time. 21:55 The Democrats on the other hand, you know, 21:58 they have expressed awareness of the need 22:01 to build bridges with the faith community but guess what? 22:04 They don't, you know, they professed to be in favor 22:07 of civil rights, except for religious freedom rights. 22:10 So, you know, we've had sponsorship 22:13 from both parties but the reality is neither 22:15 party cares enough. 22:17 Well, there you're getting to the nitty-gritty, 22:19 and I've said on this program before that 22:21 the Workplace Religious Freedom Act, 22:24 didn't just have a big coalition of religious groups 22:26 pushing it, it had good bipartisan support. 22:29 It has had very strongly. 22:30 And for a long time, I couldn't figure why doesn't they go 22:32 through we? 22:33 And these were not just, you know, middle or lower level 22:36 ranking people, they were the top party leaders, Lincoln. 22:39 I think you put your finger on it that they have some interest 22:43 but not a conviction to follow through on it on both parties. 22:45 Probably the most significant Supreme Court decision 22:49 in recent memory was a case called Citizens United 22:52 that held the corporations or persons, 22:56 their free speech rights are protected 22:58 and therefore they can donate as much money 23:01 as they want to political campaigns. 23:03 What the Supreme Court did, was essentially validate corporate 23:08 ownership of our political system. 23:10 That's the most unfortunate decision of the Supreme Court 23:14 in recent years in my view. 23:15 It is very unfortunate decision, you bet, you know, 23:20 the old line from Rowan and Martin's Laugh, 23:23 and you bet your sweet bippy that our politicians 23:26 are bought and paid for, by the large corporate interest. 23:29 And if you think they can afford to, to you know, 23:33 counter those interests and they need particular very, 23:37 very difficult. 23:38 You know, as we're sitting here today, 23:40 the Senate next, the efforts to reign in tax benefits 23:46 for the big oil companies that are hurting us with you know, 23:51 gouging us with their prices at the gas pump. 23:55 And we're subsidizing them to gouge us, that is so insane. 24:00 Yeah, these are the matter of public policy 24:02 that we may or may not differ with on this program. 24:05 But when you compare it to what's done on religion, 24:08 I think there it's very telling. 24:11 There's a clearly demonstrated lack of concern 24:15 about the deep moral issue of religious accommodation 24:18 and yet business interest sort of trump. 24:20 And that's unfortunate regardless of whether or not 24:24 business controls the government maybe 24:26 that's the choice of the citizenry, 24:27 maybe that's the way it always has been. 24:29 But it's wrong when, when, when people's convictions 24:32 are sort of swept aside in favor of a big of money 24:35 and favor shown else where. 24:37 You know, at the risk of appearing two partisan here 24:42 But we're not partisan, we need 24:43 Well, we, we, no we we're not. 24:46 To equal opportunity criticizes. Criticize both the parties. 24:49 It's not the group party, it's a matter of 24:50 and we wouldn't even have this conversation perhaps 24:53 in some other countries, whether you have a country 24:56 as the United States that has a certain history 24:59 but then in it's founding document, the constitution, 25:02 it's enshrined to principle, not just a religious worship 25:08 and that's another program we heard the President 25:11 saying in our freedom of worship. 25:12 Now, Religious Liberty means that the government 25:15 will not fund it and you're free in your practice 25:17 of that religion. 25:18 But look, you pointed out maybe, you know, maybe, 25:21 we wanted this way as far as having 25:23 corporate domination in America. 25:25 And you know, we've always had this philosophy, you know, 25:28 what's good for General Motors is good for America that, 25:30 that we want to do what's good for big business. 25:33 I've wondered, well how it is, that right on the heels 25:38 of Wall Street ripping off Main Street 25:41 and trashing our economy that we've a populist movement 25:45 known as the Tea Party that's essentially doing the bidding 25:49 of Wall Street at the expense of their own self interest. 25:53 And what I've come to understand is it there is a very strong 25:57 affinity in American religion for capitalism 26:01 as an expression of American as part of his religion. 26:04 It's a whole different program and I think that's a 26:05 great fallacy, a grand fallacy that people bought into. 26:09 But somehow Capitalism is Biblical. 26:11 Communism, Capitalism, right, Holisms, a man structures 26:15 some better than others perhaps in a logical sense 26:18 or humanistic sense. 26:19 But God's system, the system of freedom of conscience 26:22 is above all of them and it should trump. 26:24 Liberty of conscience should trump but sadly it doesn't. 26:28 And the freedom of workers to practice their faith 26:32 and keep their jobs has been sacrificed 26:35 to the interest of corporations. 26:36 And frankly this is the critical religious freedom issue 26:41 in America today, is the rights of workers to keep their faith 26:45 Workplace Religious Freedom. 26:49 The Bible gives a number of clear markers that 26:52 we would expect to see at the very end of time 26:54 just before the return of Jesus Christ. 26:56 One of those predictions is for massive economic collapse. 27:01 And I don't know about you but what we saw 27:03 a couple of years ago when the global economy took 27:06 a more than a nosedive, a swan dive off the precipice. 27:12 That economic collapse has put a great deal of tension 27:16 between capital and labor. 27:18 It has put a great deal of stress on those 27:21 in the workplace, who're attempting 27:22 to stand for their faith. 27:24 Even though the law may defend them as it does 27:27 in the United States in particular. 27:29 There's often social pressures, there's often marginalization 27:32 and the threat that, yes indeed you may loose your job 27:36 because of your religious faith. 27:38 Somehow, we need to look to God's spirit as well as 27:42 to the law. 27:43 And realize that it's important to win this battle, 27:46 it's important to remain faithful. 27:48 It is not just a passing phase, this is something 27:52 that may indeed characterize capital and labor issues 27:56 right until the very end of time. 27:58 And as always through the ages, 28:00 it's important for God's people, people of faith, 28:04 to remain faithful and true. 28:07 For Liberty Insider this is Lincoln Steed. |
Revised 2014-12-17