Welcome back to
the Liberty Insider
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before the break
with guest, Dr. John Graz.
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I was talking about
the Seventh International
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Religious Liberty
Conference of Congress
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in Punta Cana,
Dominican Republic,
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fantastic event
900 participants.
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Participants. Yeah.
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I was trying to think
how to characterize them
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because they were
government leaders,
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they were church
leaders, they were--
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N.G.O.'s, experts. N.G.O.'s.
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University Professors.
Procumbent of activists
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and people that are
involved in religious liberty.
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Some people might
ask not just why we,
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we were on beach there.
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Yeah, yeah.
Beautiful environment but--
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You know, I want to answer
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the question about the beach.
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You know, when you
organize a congress
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you have to find a
place where you can
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have minimum cost
of transportation]
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it means if you can
find a place where the hotels
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are very closed to the center,
to the conference center,
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that's a very good.
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And you don't find easily that.
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If you go to the--
we went to capital city
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and you know people who'd
have to walk or take the bus,
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the metro to go the meeting,
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but they are we had
everything on the same place.
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And beautiful
convention center. Everything.
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And beautiful convention center.
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And to hold out all of
these people you don't...
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And the price was fabulous too,
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it means you know, when you have
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all these factors
together you don't hesitate.
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Yeah, no, no, it was perfect.
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But lets talk about
not just why on the beach,
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and why such a nice environment.
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Some people might ask
even why such a conference?
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Yeah, that's good a question.
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I know one person made
a comment that I thought
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was interesting
they said, you know,
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what is it really accomplished.
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There is no one really
going out doing something
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at a local level
as result and I think
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that misses the point
of a global conference.
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Absolutely, you
know-- you know every time
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we can see that, every
time we have a congress,
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we have an
increasing of activities about
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religious freedom
after the Congress.
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It means even if you
don't have a decision
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we had a decision
during the festival of
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religious freedom which
was just after the Congress
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where everyone present
about 2000 people you know take,
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took a commitment to be an
ambassador of religious freedom.
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It means you
prepare really the ground
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and many-many people
you know after came to me
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and they say can
you visit us because
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we want to have a
regional congress.
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We want to have a
local congress they show
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something they can
duplicate to organize.
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It's a catalyst, an
international catalyst
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that works its way up
in a local region may be
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through localized
training session where people
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then go out and
contact legislators
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or local
community in different ways.
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We can't expect a
global event to do that,
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but it has an incredible
potential to catalyze and--
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Absolutely, we had
more than the seven, yeah,
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we have seven
division or regional president.
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They have to set--
Set a first time seven.
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And the
Adventist several leader,
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we are all though we had
also all the leader you know
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when they came back to
the, you know, what most of them
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you know came to me
know and say we want to do
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something like that
you know, you know region,
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we want to have exposure,
we want because they saw
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that might its an event
where you can put together
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religious people and
people from government
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and they can talk.
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Or you can put together
people from the government
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and university teacher or
professor and they can talk
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about what about what,
about religious freedom
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which is a very
important opportunity.
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The congress create
an opportunity, you know,
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to increase the work
about religious freedom
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and of course to
promote the concept
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at the level of government.
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When government
officials come they see
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they are welcome
and they have to explain
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what they are
doing in their country
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and they are
listening to the other people.
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And they are listening
religious leader talking about
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the problem of
religious freedom.
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So self reinforcing, isn't it?
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You know it gives something--
something new for them.
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They don't have a
lot of opportunity
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to attend such a meeting.
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You can read in the
news how many congress
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about religious
freedom with these dimension
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have been organized
in the world in 2012.
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Your right. There--there
are reasonable members
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of localized ones but I
think internationally not many.
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Even-- even between--
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Probably on--on one hand
you could number them I know.
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And not these
dimension, you know,
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I have never seen
and when I ask you know,
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I have friend with
many religious leader.
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I said, to them why you did
not organize such a big event
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for religious freedom
because you are in favor.
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Why do you-- you
don't plan to have,
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they smile and they say,
hey, it's not so easy to do
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even if they are represent
million and million of people.
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They have million members.
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They don't do that,
of course, you know,
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next year the catholic church
will organize big meeting.
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We will see that it will be
interesting in commemoration
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of the "Edict of
Milan" and they will have,
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they plan to have
five or six huge meeting.
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"Edict of Milan"
Yeah, Edict of Milan.
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yeah, that was
the first document
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and the first Edict
about religious freedom.
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And they plan to
have huge--concert,
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we will talk about
probably one day but you know,
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they may, they
have the potential to do
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even with may be 100 or 200
or may be one million people
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and we will be very happy.
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You know, if you
had one million people
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saying we love
religious freedom.
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We want to definite to keep it,
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but the congress is
different than the festival.
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Festival is a mass
meeting the congress
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is a selected group of parties.
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It's a specialist,
government and religious.
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And we had from almost
every countries of Inter
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and the Central
America represented by
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the minister of religious
affairs from the government.
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Now there was
putting them together.
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You can imagine after
you visit the countries
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and you talk with the government
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and they remember
the congress you organize
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they look at you
in the different way.
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This connection stay with you
and this is jumping a little bit
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in another program I
would like to talk about
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liberty dinner
that we recently had,
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and I noticed
there for the third time,
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I think it was the second time.
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We had the ambassador
from East Timor, you remember.
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Yeah, we visited East Timor.
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We visited the president
and--and then leadership.
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The ambassador
form Libya to this time.
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But--but because of
that visit some years ago,
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now the ambassador
keeps up in contact with us.
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And so I am sure
with this conference
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when this governmental
representative are there,
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now we are in they
radar, they are in our circle.
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And you know,
already people talk about
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the next congress and
the next congress because
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every five years we
have congress, you know,
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and have also to say that we
have a little budget to do that,
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its not you know million
coming from gift and so no, no,
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we do that with a
very small amount of money.
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We try to do
our best fortunately
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the general conference
help us and sometime we have
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some help but not
a lot-- not a lot.
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It means already
having such a big event.
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It's already in
itself a miracle.
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Well, money is
necessary, but I think
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what really makes it
happen, motivated activsts
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at all levels and we need
to work with this network.
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And, you know, now we talk about
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the Adventist
church is involved.
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They are
supporting with, you know,
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the association and some other,
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you know it give another image
about the Adventist church.
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You know people use to
see the Adventist church
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as a proselytizing specially in
Latin America doing that also,
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of course, building
school and building hospital,
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but they don't really
expect the Adventist church
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on the field of human
rights and religious freedom.
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They believe that we are
weak on that and suddenly
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they discover that we are
able as a church as, you know,
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someone say that
we are small church
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and some we are able to
become to be the champion
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on defending
values a Christian values
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but the human right values
for all not just for us for all.
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And you can be sure
that it makes a difference
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and I remember
one of my good friend
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who was a leader in
France and in Europe
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in Christian
leader was a president of
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the European
conference of Christian churches
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and he wrote a book, no a
book was written about him.
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It was interview and he
said, in the book, he said,
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you know I admire the
Adventist church because
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they are defending
religious freedom for all.
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Saying that writing that
in Europe, you don't know
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European contacts
were, if you're small church
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you're very often
assimilated or confused
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with cult and
sect, that's a fabulous.
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Well, we need to be recognized
as defenders not because
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we're Adventist but
because we believe in the Bible,
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it's just thoroughly biblical.
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Yeah, yeah exactly when
people ask us why are you
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defending religious freedom.
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You know I take
the Bible and I said,
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yes of course,
you have humanistic
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tradition but we're
defending religious freedom
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for all not because
there is humanistic tradition
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but because
it's a gift from God.
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It's a gift from
God from the beginning
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and you open the
book of the Bible
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the first pages of the
Bible and you have the freedom
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of choice as a gift of God.
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And we believe that
this gift is not just for us
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that it's a gift for everyone.
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And one thing that,
two things that impress me
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with this conference as it began
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you had Denton Lotz,
00:10:00.66\00:10:02.55
he is the president of the IRLA.
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Right? Yeah.
00:10:04.76\00:10:06.10
He gave a presentation
and then ambassador Cipal.
00:10:06.11\00:10:09.94
The first U.S. ambassador
for religious freedom,
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now there's been two after him.
00:10:13.22\00:10:15.23
In their presentation
they both emphasized
00:10:15.24\00:10:18.19
what you and I've
just been talking about
00:10:18.20\00:10:19.56
the spiritual religious
motivation that lies behind
00:10:19.57\00:10:23.33
the religious liberty
initiative and I thought
00:10:23.34\00:10:25.13
that was very
appropriate for the conference.
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Yeah, because you know,
very often we think that
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human right has
nothing to do with religion
00:10:31.63\00:10:34.45
and we portray the religious
organization are against
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human rights but
we have to show that,
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that's not true and we have
a long tradition and for us,
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I often say that you know,
religious freedom is a gift
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from God but also
it's a prophetic mission
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from the Advent for
the Adventist church.
00:10:50.97\00:10:53.23
We receive the
banner of religious freedom,
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you know Ellen White say,
00:10:56.15\00:10:57.75
From the pioneers,
from the reformers.
00:10:57.76\00:11:00.59
From the reformers
and from-- she said that
00:11:00.60\00:11:02.74
the pioneer of
the gospel church,
00:11:02.75\00:11:05.36
you know, the banner,
and on the banner you have
00:11:05.37\00:11:08.71
the truths but
not only the truths,
00:11:08.72\00:11:11.54
the truths and
religiously liberty.
00:11:11.55\00:11:14.26
And there is no other,
I think there is no other,
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church or religious organization
00:11:17.56\00:11:19.48
who can which have such
commitment for religion.
00:11:19.49\00:11:24.63
We may forget time to time
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but really the
commitment, the tradition.
00:11:26.37\00:11:28.42
And it's the interrelated.
00:11:28.43\00:11:29.55
Tied up with there,
prophetic view point but
00:11:29.56\00:11:31.78
The origins of the church,
the experience that are...
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And we'll do that
until the end. Until the end.
00:11:34.87\00:11:37.52
Yes it's important
for us to have meeting
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like a congress
of religious freedom.
00:11:40.53\00:11:42.80
And we have
that every five years
00:11:42.81\00:11:45.38
and we have to
continue and this is why we plan
00:11:45.39\00:11:47.69
already and know
the congress for 2015,
00:11:47.70\00:11:52.07
no, no, exactly 2017.
00:11:52.08\00:11:54.64
And I just would
like you to think about us
00:11:54.65\00:11:57.54
and to pray for
these big events.
00:11:57.55\00:12:02.21
There's something that I
want to share with anyone
00:12:02.22\00:12:04.33
that's ever
traveled or wanted to travel.
00:12:04.34\00:12:07.30
The beach at Punta Cana,
00:12:07.31\00:12:08.80
Dominican Republic is exemplary.
00:12:08.81\00:12:11.86
The water is so
crystal clear and inviting,
00:12:11.87\00:12:14.63
it would take a
stronger will in yours or mine
00:12:14.64\00:12:17.65
to stay away from
it, but let me also share
00:12:17.66\00:12:20.33
with you the fact
that the biggest yet ever
00:12:20.34\00:12:24.01
Religious
Liberty Congress run by
00:12:24.02\00:12:26.52
the International
Religious Liberty Association
00:12:26.53\00:12:28.90
held at Punta Cana
was almost exclusively
00:12:28.91\00:12:32.56
conducted indoors and
I never saw any of our
00:12:32.57\00:12:35.83
attendees
swimming in that beach.
00:12:35.84\00:12:38.97
I'm sure many of them
wish too but all of them
00:12:38.98\00:12:42.41
were compelled to come
and join in those meetings,
00:12:42.42\00:12:45.85
to participate in other
discussion and to find skills
00:12:45.86\00:12:49.88
that they could
use to go back to their
00:12:49.89\00:12:51.42
different countries
and to spread the word
00:12:51.43\00:12:53.85
that religious
liberty is God's way.
00:12:53.86\00:12:56.65
Religious liberty is
the way of human progress,
00:12:56.66\00:13:00.60
that religious
liberty is the way to protect
00:13:00.61\00:13:02.76
the dignity of human kind.
00:13:02.77\00:13:05.47
It was a privilege to
participate in such an event.
00:13:05.48\00:13:08.59
It wasn't immaterial
that the beach was wonderful
00:13:08.60\00:13:11.13
and adverting but
it was central that
00:13:11.14\00:13:13.77
the principles
of religious freedom
00:13:13.78\00:13:15.52
were inspiring and
encouraging to all.
00:13:15.53\00:13:19.93
For Liberty Insider,
this is Lincoln Steed.
00:13:19.94\00:13:22.55