Participants: Lincoln Steed (Host), Greg Hamilton
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI000156
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00:22 Welcome to the "Liberty Insider."
00:25 My name is Lincoln Steed, Editor of Liberty Magazine. 00:28 And welcome you to the program that brings you 00:30 up to date news, views and discussion 00:33 on religious liberty issues around the world. 00:35 My guest on the program is Greg Hamilton, 00:37 President ofthe Northwest Religious Liberty Association, 00:42 up near Ciato, Washington there, 00:43 in the Northwest of the United States. 00:47 You and I have discussed many things before on this program. 00:50 And I hope that our viewers can come along for the ride, 00:53 because a lot of this is very complex. 00:55 Yes. 00:56 But those that are familiar 00:58 with American history and the American mindset 01:01 know that there's such a thing as American exceptionalism. 01:04 Yes. 01:05 It's alive and well, isn't it? 01:07 It's not just something for the history book. 01:09 Well, it's the idea that America is favored 01:11 by God to do good things, to advance democracy, 01:15 to advance liberal notions of democracy, 01:17 religious freedom, human rights around the world. 01:20 Which we talked about in our last program. 01:22 Now, I remember George Bush, he made a statement 01:24 that I laughed at, but it really was in some ways 01:27 the best expression of modern version of this. 01:30 He said, God has blessed the United States and he says, 01:33 and he couldn't have blessed more deserving people. 01:36 Yeah. George Bush said that. 01:37 Yeah, well, you know, and that's insulting 01:39 to the rest of the world community, that's true. 01:41 But in the sense, the world community 01:43 also recognizes that we have the leadership and the values 01:48 to go with that, that they want for themselves, okay? 01:52 So they don't want us to be selfish per se. 01:54 So that's why, I always say, 01:56 we as Seventh-day Adventist Christians 01:58 ought to be interested in evangelism overseas because 02:01 we're sharing what we have with religious freedom, 02:04 democracy, the freedom to evangelize. 02:08 They want that too, they want that same kind of freedom, 02:12 at least, we think they do. 02:14 But I think when it comes to America. 02:16 Freewill. Yes, there is this idea 02:20 however in the world that's called moral equivalents, 02:22 and that is, if the United States can go 02:25 and take out terrorists, then we can label America 02:28 as terrorists like the Ayatollah Khamenei in Iran 02:31 does, and calls us terrorists. 02:33 So therefore we can attack America at will, 02:35 we can do 0this and that. 02:37 And so therefore why shouldn't we develop nuclear weapons, 02:40 why shouldn't we be morally equivalent to Israel 02:44 or the United States or the rest of Europe 02:46 to develop our own nuclear missile system. 02:48 And so the idea of moral equivalence is a clash, 02:52 is in conflict with American exceptionalism. 02:56 And it's a concept that President Barack Obama, 02:59 which is maybe a new concept 03:02 to some here in the listening audience today, 03:05 and that is he believes very strongly 03:07 in American exceptionalism. Despite the fact 03:09 that he's been called un-American. 03:10 Even Newt Gingrich the other day 03:12 said that he doesn't even know 03:14 he is the President of his own country. 03:16 And Mitt Romney, who says, he is Apologizer-In-Chief. 03:19 Now I'm not here to defend Obama, 03:21 because clearly he has not only made some missteps 03:24 but he comes across 03:25 as if he is America's Apologizer-In-Chief, 03:29 so don't miss understand me there. 03:31 But where I'm going with this is simply this. 03:33 Well sometimes it's good to apologize and-- 03:36 Yes. I, it wasn't that long ago 03:39 that Japan made some very deep and public apologies 03:42 for what they did to Southeast Asia in World War II. 03:46 You don't think that was appropriate? 03:47 But Japan was the not the leader 03:48 of the then known world, there is this, 03:50 there is this axiom of power that if you're powerful, 03:52 you never apologize. 03:53 In fact, that's one of the 48 laws of power, 03:56 written by Nathan, not Nathan Greene, 03:58 I forget his name, but anyway he is-- 03:59 It's probably written in-- Yeah. 04:00 Machiavelli's The Prince. 04:01 Yeah, definitely coming from that book, 04:04 yes, from along ago, yes. 04:05 But that's not necessarily an abrogation of leadership, 04:11 that could just be an acceptance of reality. 04:13 But I know where you're going 04:14 with this and many U.S Presidents said that, 04:18 that they would never apologize 04:19 for what America's done. 04:20 While the rest of the world sees 04:21 that a little differently. 04:23 But the American exceptionalism, 04:26 I think comes with the turf and yes, 04:29 Obama or even if he's Obama Hussein, 04:34 Barack Hussein Obama. 04:35 You know, they mock that in the right. 04:38 It's clearly, as the U.S. President 04:40 he advances U.S. interest and he is not coming 04:44 from another point of the compass. 04:46 That's why every president 04:47 because it advances America's interest. 04:49 Every president from George Washington 04:51 on has developed its own formula 04:54 for what's call "Just war theory," 04:55 which is interesting and-- 04:57 Catholic doctrine or let's be-- 04:59 let's prejudicial about it, a medieval doctrine. 05:02 Which Protestants. For another year. 05:04 Which Protestants readily adopted 05:05 and it comes from in a Catholic tradition, 05:08 St Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. 05:11 And in book by Yale Professor, Stephen L. Carter, 05:16 he's written a book called "The Violence of Peace, 05:18 America's Wars in the Age of Obama." 05:21 And it's very interesting because it details 05:23 Obama's childhood, growing up mostly in Catholic schools, 05:27 most people don't know that, 05:28 they assume that he is a Muslim which is not true, 05:31 okay. They assume-- 05:33 I think by the way as far as the U.S Constitution, 05:35 if it were true, it still not a dis-qualifier. 05:38 Yes, he's grandmother was Catholic, okay. 05:41 He is wife came out of a Catholic tradition, 05:44 then became an atheist. 05:46 And so he went to school, 05:47 Muslim schooling was in Catholic schools in Ohio. 05:50 And most people don't realize that as Stephen Carter 05:53 brings out that Obama "Just war theory" 05:55 is very much predicated on catholic views 05:59 of "Just war theory" which is this. 06:01 And it's the idea that if there is a humanitarian crisis 06:06 anywhere in the world. 06:08 Let's say, Obama had been Bill Clinton in the 90s, 06:11 he would have gonna into Rwanda, 06:13 for example, into Africa and consider that a just war. 06:16 What Obama has done essentially 06:18 in the name of "Just war theory" 06:20 has gone way beyond 06:21 even the threshold of George W. Bush after 9/11. 06:25 And that's this idea that anywhere 06:27 there is humanitarian crisis were dictator 06:30 or a system in a country is persecuting its own people 06:35 the United States has an obligation, 06:37 even as duty, a right to go in and intervene 06:41 and take out those dictators, those leaders like in Libya. 06:46 I think what you're describing 06:48 it's obvious to all us that observe 06:50 the American system and these two Presidents, 06:53 George Bush was more doctrine and special interest. 06:56 Yes. Oil and so on. 06:58 Right. And Obama applies 06:59 a sort of a moral, a more abstract, 07:02 moral judgment on world affairs. 07:04 But he said, and I've read the speech in great detail 07:07 in Chicago before the outbreak of the Iraq war. 07:13 He said, he said, I'm not against war, 07:16 I'm against stupid wars. 07:17 Well, that-- And so he made a very clear 07:20 that he is not opposed to war. 07:22 But he also-- So, you misread him on Iraq. 07:24 He just opposed it 'cause it was for the wrong purpose 07:26 and militarily seen silly at the time to him. 07:29 But Obama's really not that much different 07:30 than Bush in the sense. Not in the, 07:32 at the end results. And that's what Stephen Carter 07:34 argues. This Yale Law Professor 07:36 whose specialty is in foreign policy 07:38 and human rights and "Just war theory". 07:41 Obama says, "there are those in the world 07:43 who are not amenable to reason," okay. 07:46 So, if there were those who are not amenable to reason, 07:48 especially dictators who are persecuting 07:50 and killing their own people. 07:51 Then he argues that we have an obligation to go in. 07:54 Now that is pretty scary when you think about it. 07:57 What happened in Libya, sure it was a weak target. 08:00 But we went in there, we led from behind 08:03 with Europe sort of supposedly taking 08:06 the lead and in reality, the technology 08:09 and even the drones is what won the day in Libya 08:12 and arming the rebels in Libya. 08:15 But Hillary Clinton follows 08:17 on the heels of Obama's thinking, 08:19 because in the Clinton administration she was, 08:23 of course, the first lady 08:24 for those eight years for those two terms. 08:27 And she saw what happened in Rwanda 08:29 and even Bill Clinton himself says, 08:31 "The biggest mistake I ever made in my presidency 08:33 was not intervening in Rwanda." 08:35 Well, it was the moral lapse 08:37 I think by the most of the free world, 08:38 whether or not it should have been a war. 08:40 But they could have, they were many interventions 08:43 in Rwanda that would have fallen short of war, 08:45 they could have sent armed forces 08:48 into extract or to protect people, it wouldn't have. 08:51 I don't think Rwanda even with a full blown 08:55 intervention would have been war. 08:56 We're doing that in Nigeria, 08:57 we're doing that in Sierra Leone, 08:59 and we're doing that in all different places in Africa. 09:01 The Rwanda would have been a police 09:02 keeping proposition rather than a war, an invasion. 09:08 Hillary Clinton in a article in the Foreign Policy magazine 09:12 called "What Ails America," which is an interesting title. 09:16 But she has an article in here 09:18 called "America's Pacific Century," 09:20 about the Pacific Rim and dealing mainly with China 09:23 and Indochina and India and Micronesia, 09:28 Indonesia and all those areas, the Philippians and so on. 09:31 And she says, "The future of geopolitics 09:33 will be decided in Asia, not in Afghanistan or Iraq, 09:35 and the United States should be right 09:37 at the center of the action." 09:39 What she argues is as we have to place ourselves 09:42 not only in this strategic position 09:44 to make China abide by international norm, 09:47 sort to speak in this democratic 09:50 liberal world order that Obama and Hillary 09:54 have sort to develop along 09:55 with many presidents before them. 09:58 But she also extrapolates and explains 10:02 why humanitarian intervention is so necessary. 10:06 She argues that essentially humanitarian intervention 10:09 is necessary because it puts a check on dictators 10:12 and any nation that refuses, and she says, 10:16 it's even a more powerful check than even 10:18 what the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 10:20 or even its own, her own state department 10:23 could do in calling for human rights reforms and so on. 10:28 But what's the difference between that mindset 10:31 and what the Soviet Union had, which for itself 10:34 is a custodian of socialist aspirations of the common man? 10:40 What's the difference between where they thought 10:42 that they should intervene in any number of freedoms 10:45 struggles, where people are rising up 10:46 against usually disputes. 10:48 And the explanation is simple, it comes back 10:50 to American exceptionalism, the idea. 10:52 Right, it comes back to an assumption of exceptionalism. 10:55 Yes, And from a point of religious freedom and-- 10:59 The idea that they denounce to God 11:02 but we have accepted God 11:03 and therefore God is leading our nation. 11:05 Well, you and I might feel that the United States worships 11:07 the one true God but every system feels that. 11:11 I'm saying that's the paradigm. 11:13 Yeah, communism felt that it worshiped 11:14 the one true God of human progress. 11:18 Yeah, In Saudi Arabia, they feel, they worship Allah, 11:21 the one true God and Mohammad is his prophet 11:23 and so got right on their side-- 11:25 But I'm saying that's the model, 11:26 that's the paradigm, Yeah, that is the model. 11:27 But I think we're entering into enchanted ground, 11:30 to agree with the American exceptionalism, 11:32 it's a historical fact but it's theological, 11:35 it's theologically suspect. 11:37 Because even if God did once favor 11:40 as He did once favor Israel. 11:43 At a time of national apostasy or deviance from those norms, 11:46 you can think that you're God's agent, you could be doing 11:48 the very evil thing as we know at the very end 11:51 of prophecy compelling people to a false worship. 11:54 Yes, Well, and yes, and that's taking this to the end game 11:58 scenario which is what we're talking about it-- 12:00 So we should be suspicious of this 12:02 and I know you agreed with this. 12:03 But when Hillary Clinton advocated that we enter Libya, 12:07 Obama at first opposed it, and one of the things 12:10 that Hillary said is that we can lead from behind. 12:13 Let Europe take the front, let America look good 12:16 in the eyes of the world, let's restore our image 12:19 in the world as being benevolent and not somebody 12:23 that wants to just come in with boots 12:26 on the ground and take over countries. 12:28 Because that's essentially the message that Bush 12:31 sort of sent to Iraq and Afghanistan 12:33 when he first entered. 12:34 And essentially why Obama wants to extract 12:37 our country out of Afghanistan and Iraq. 12:42 You know, I have a strong -- you and I share 12:46 strong views on religious liberty. 12:47 Right, But we probably have greater divergence 12:50 on describing political actions. 12:52 It seems to me that the West took on Libya 12:55 for very different reasons 12:56 than why it took on other countries. 12:59 We'll be back after the break to continue this discussion 13:02 because this is the dynamics stuff that's concerned 13:04 with today's new headlines. 13:05 We'll be right back. 13:15 One-hundred years, a long time to do anything, 13:19 much less publish a magazine, but this year, 13:22 Liberty, the Seventh-day Adventist 13:24 voice of religious freedom, celebrates one hundred years 13:28 of doing what it does best, collecting, analyzing, 13:31 and reporting the ebb and flow of religious expression 13:34 around the world. 13:36 Issue after issue, Liberty has taken 13:38 on the tough assignments, tracking down threats 13:41 to religious freedom and exposing 13:42 the work of the devil in every corner of the globe. 13:46 Governmental interference, personal attacks, 13:48 corporate assaults, even religious freedom issues 13:51 sequestered within the Church community itself 13:53 have been clearly and honestly exposed. 13:56 Liberty exists for one purpose, to help God's 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14:52 and heaven sent encouragement to all who long to live 14:56 and work in a world bound together by the God 15:00 ordained bonds of religious freedom. 15:13 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider. 15:15 Before the break with our guest Greg Hamilton, 15:18 we were talking about a lot of things 15:20 and we settled on Libya. 15:21 Recent events in Libya, and it reminds me 15:23 that when we talked about American exceptionalism, 15:27 the new Republic which was distinctly isolationist 15:31 ironically actually had a military adventure to send 15:34 a naval expeditionary force against the Barbary pirates, 15:39 that ended inclusively. 15:40 But then it was ended with the treaty of Tripoli, 15:43 which is the capital of present day Libya. 15:46 And in spite of that treaty, as you well know, 15:48 we've featured at Liberty and we -- a number of us talk 15:51 about it regularly. 15:52 It said, there that the United States 15:53 is in no wise founded upon Christianity and it's equally 15:57 for the Muslim and the Christians 15:59 and so on, and Jews, Right. 16:01 But, you know, this thing with modern day Libya 16:04 is very problematic to me and I -- Yes, you know, 16:08 Gaddafi is the bad boy of international politics 16:12 and dictator was hated by the other dictators. 16:15 Who is now dead. 16:16 And said that he would die in his own country, 16:20 which he did. 16:21 At the hands of his own people. 16:24 Yes, you know, he was leaving with a convey of ten vehicles 16:32 and predators picked them all off, 16:34 killed 95 of his 100 bodyguards 16:37 and then he was picked up by a mob. 16:41 It was rather predictable the way it went. 16:43 But I think we can easily see that the NATO and U.S. 16:48 were involved into deal with that because with Libya, 16:51 because of the oil. 16:52 And they're not quite so bold in dealing with Syria 16:54 because there is no special interest there, 16:57 other than it's proximity to Iraq. 17:00 People, very few people seem to look at the map 17:03 and we see that were encircling Iran for example 17:08 and that we're picking off what the Neocons 17:11 used to have as their list of countries to take over. 17:14 So there is a global agenda clearly being carried on 17:16 it's for the old way we used hegemony for control, 17:21 and I think tying up some of the assets which most, 17:25 which can be summarized in oil. 17:27 I don't think it will be long before 17:30 we intervene even in Syria -- Oh, no, probably. 17:32 For humanitarian reasons, the same way 17:34 we went into Libya. 17:35 And the reason why I say that-- 17:36 That's on the list, it was on the list 17:38 of countries that George Bush had. 17:39 The reason I say that because there is one element 17:42 here that we haven't look at 17:44 and that is the transformation of the Arab League. 17:47 The transformation of the Arab League so much 17:48 so that the Arab League led basically by Saudi Arabia says, 17:53 "We can do business with Israel, but we will not do 17:55 business with Hamas, we will not do business 17:57 with Hezbollah, we will not do business with Syria." 18:00 And the reason being is because they're all tied 18:03 to Iran and the Muslim-- 18:06 the Shiite Muslims whom they hate. 18:08 You see the rest of the world. 18:09 That Saudi Arabia are Sunni. 18:10 The rest of the Muslim world including Indonesia 18:13 are all Sunni, the Muslims, so it represents 80% 18:17 of all the Muslim world are Sunnis and it goes back 18:21 to the whole dispute 18:22 as to who's the rightful heir of Mohammad. 18:24 So and which is -- It's more than a doctrinal difference, 18:27 it goes to the legitimacy of the Saudi regime, 18:31 because they claimed to be custodians 18:33 of the holy place so they're tracing their lineage back. 18:36 But this is the key because the Arab League 18:38 is the first one to really given that huge signal, 18:42 urging the United States and the United Nations 18:44 through the U.N. Security Council 18:46 and its allied powers with NATO, the European powers, 18:51 to come in and intervene in this humanitarian crisis. 18:54 The people in Libya are being persecuted by the dictator, 18:56 they're gonna be annihilated, 18:57 especially the one town, Misrata. 18:59 And so Hillary Clinton urged 19:03 Barack Obama to intervene, okay. 19:05 And he did, but he was very reluctant 19:07 and didn't want to do it at first. 19:09 And so Hillary Clinton, when Gaddafi was killed 19:12 and everything was restored so to speak with the rebels 19:16 ruling the country and trying 19:17 to get their constitutional act together. 19:19 She waltzed in and was received like a hero in Libya. 19:24 Even, I mean, she had protection by CIA 19:26 and other people, personnel and secret service detail. 19:29 But when she was surrounded by rebels, 19:32 they could have killed her in the spot, 19:33 but she was welcomed back like that conquering hero. 19:35 Yes, I noticed that moment. 19:37 Yeah, and it was very interesting because usually 19:39 that's only reserved for presidents, 19:40 but it was interesting that the Secretary of State 19:42 Hillary Clinton took on that role because-- 19:45 Was an analogist with little or no right there in Bosnia, 19:48 wasn't it, yes, appeared with the troops. 19:51 Correct, And so it's like Hillary Clinton is getting 19:55 most of the credit for this, which I find interesting. 19:58 Now, whether she runs for president or not, 20:00 she says, she's not. 20:01 She would have to make a bold bid 20:02 against Barack Obama. 20:04 Some of my friends back on the West coast, 20:07 including my friend Richard, who -- 20:09 I won't name his last name. 20:11 I really believe -- has this theory, he really believes 20:13 that Hillary Clinton is gonna throw in her hat 20:15 after January and actually run for presidency. 20:18 And I've just to be a devil's advocate I said, no, 20:22 I don't think she is. 20:23 But I find it interesting because-- 20:25 It would be bad form, 20:26 usually the sitting president gets the nomination. 20:29 Here's the elements I'm talking about, 20:31 Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai in his speech to the loya jirga 20:35 advocated a stronger alliance with the United States 20:39 and even western powers, which is an irony, 20:43 because over the last couple years 20:44 he's been denouncing the United States. 20:46 Well, yes and no, remember, Karzai is in some ways, 20:51 to use a rough word, a western plant, 20:53 he was a lobbyist for one of the old companies. 20:55 So he represents the global oil interest. 20:59 But you have, you have all of these Middle East countries 21:01 lining up and starting to behave. 21:03 You have Jordan calling for Syria's President Assad 21:06 to step down and Turkey 21:08 calling for Assad to step down. 21:10 Saudi Arabia calling for ecumenical revival. 21:15 We're in a revolutionary movement. 21:17 Yes, The world is influx greater than any time 21:20 in our life times, I can assure you on that. 21:23 If you look at history, you've got to go back 21:25 hundreds of years to see anything like it. 21:28 Hillary Clinton has been pressuring Egypt 21:31 to get its constitutional system in order, 21:35 saying, you need to decide with the people, 21:36 your military order is, is running amok, 21:40 you need to let the people have their way and their say. 21:43 She saying the same thing to Pakistan 21:45 with the Haqqani network. 21:46 She's pressuring Iran with their nuclear ambitions. 21:51 But the big key here is the Arab League 21:54 jumping into this whole scenario. 21:56 They have become more Pro-West than I've ever seen 21:59 them before and I think, I think that key. 22:02 I don't think they're Pro-West but they're playing along. 22:05 But they used to be Pro-Soviet Union during the Cold War, 22:09 those ties are gone and forever eviscerated, 22:12 they had the hardest time releasing themselves 22:16 from the control of the Soviet Union. 22:18 The only place that Soviet Union 22:21 still has a place is with Iran 22:24 and the Shiite influence with Hezbollah, 22:26 with Hamas in the Gaza strip 22:29 that keep giving Israel problems. 22:32 And that's the only place and it's still 22:34 a very much of a problem. 22:36 But those key areas I think are instrumental 22:40 in helping us to see that a global western alliance 22:44 is widening and especially in the Middles East. 22:47 It's globalism, Yes, Where I saw the change 22:50 on the Arab League was during the Bush era, 22:54 Cheney flew to Riyadh, met with King Abdullah. 23:00 And he read the right act on Iranian nuclear aspirations 23:04 and immediately he left, they ordered up a nuclear program 23:07 and shifted their behavior. 23:09 I think that's the movement. 23:11 They realized there is a mortal threat 23:12 within their region and that they need to play along 23:16 with the U.S. interest. 23:17 But I don't think that they're Pro-West. 23:19 The other wildcard and I think you might 23:22 have been mentioned in outside 23:23 discussion before this program. 23:26 The Pope of Rome has made some 23:29 incredible statements of late. 23:31 His speech at Regensburg, which went horribly awry, 23:34 I think was designed to create 23:36 some sort of common ground with Islam 23:38 as well as condemn the reformation. 23:41 But recently he said that's his life goal 23:44 to bring some sort of rapprochement 23:47 between Islam and Christianity. 23:49 Yes, absolutely, So there is something afoot. 23:53 We never quite know the Vatican's 23:56 methods because they're largely secret 23:58 but they're very active, very active. 24:00 And this global alliance is taking shape 24:03 in many other ways too. 24:05 You look at Pakistan in the Atlantic Monthly. 24:08 There is an article about what to do about Pakistan. 24:12 The worst possible ally. 24:14 Yeah, the worst possible ally, and it's interesting 24:17 because it seems like 24:18 whether it's Pakistan, Afghanistan, Jordan, Turkey, 24:21 all of these countries through U.S. influence in a love, 24:25 hate relationship, so to speak, 24:27 are coming around so to speak. 24:29 And when you talk about American exceptionalism 24:31 and America being in this hegemony, 24:34 I don't think that it's influence is lessening, 24:36 what I think that's happening is happening, 24:38 it's influence is actually growing and it's decided 24:42 to take a so called lesser role taking out 24:45 more of a diplomatic role 24:46 while others do the heavier lifting. 24:48 Yeah, that's true of necessity 24:50 and I think also it's Obama's -- President Obama's style. 24:54 Peace making and at the same-- 24:57 He's disarmed a lot of the opposition 24:59 by his conciliatory manner even, 25:02 you know, was it Teddy Roosevelt 25:05 walks softly and carry a big stick. 25:08 Yes, That's absolutely Obama's style. 25:10 Well, and if you look at the "Just war theory" 25:13 that Obama has in Stephen Carter's book 25:16 "The Violence of Peace America's Wars 25:17 in the Age of Obama." 25:18 You begin to understand that his whole Catholic 25:21 background regarding "Just war theory" 25:23 follows St. Augustine's the closest. 25:25 If you remember the Donatist issue in North Africa 25:28 during the time of St. Augustine, 25:31 where they were absolutely determined that Jesus Christ 25:36 human nature did not fit into a Trinitarian scheme 25:40 that the Catholic Church had come up within its councils. 25:44 And Augustine says, they must be reformed 25:47 and if they will not be reformed through 25:50 preaching and teaching, then like a good shepherd, 25:53 we should also require the state to come in 25:56 and spank them, so to speak, 25:58 force them at the point of a sword. 26:00 We're headed back to the future, isn't it? Yes. 26:02 We're heading in that direction. 26:03 And that's what we see, yeah. 26:05 We've had a very good article, series of articles 26:08 in Liberty Magazine recently on persecution, 26:10 the prosectorium pulse, By David Trim. 26:12 Prosectorium pulse. 26:13 He's now a Facebook friend of mine. 26:15 Good, So, you know, the history 26:18 doesn't absolutely repeat itself but certain attitudes 26:21 of these major players, who in the case of the Vatican 26:24 goes back a long, long way, they have not changed. 26:27 And we've seen these things 26:28 worked out with the speed of light. 26:30 Ellen White speaking to Adventists 26:32 of the last movements will be rapid ones. 26:34 I think, I think what we see as a movement towards 26:37 establishing religious freedom and human rights 26:39 almost in the name of force. 26:41 And I think that's dangerous for the future 26:43 for the world and I think it's prophetic. 26:48 About sixty miles South of Baghdad are some ruins. 26:54 Many centuries ago those ruins were the city of Babylon, 26:57 the biblical city of Babylon. 27:00 The historic city of Babylon that was the greatest city 27:03 then known on upon the earth. 27:05 Today it's a ruin, today it may even be a place 27:09 where no one can live because of the depleted uranium 27:12 from the war that the United States 27:15 felt forced to wage against modern day Iraq. 27:20 When I think of what's happened there and see 27:22 the continuing actions of the United States, 27:25 not always through war, but through diplomatic means, 27:28 I'm reminded that this lamb like 27:30 beast of Revelation 13 is to be reckoned with. 27:35 It may not have edifice of Ancient Babylon, 27:38 but it is a modern power exercising civil power. 27:42 And behind it lies a religious sensibility. 27:46 At some point in the future, like ancient Babylon, 27:50 the United States may well fall victim to the temptation 27:54 to compel people to behave 27:58 and to worship in a certain way. 28:02 This is Lincoln Steed for Liberty Insider. |
Revised 2014-12-17