Participants: Lincoln Steed (Host), John Graz
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI000186A
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00:22 Welcome to the Liberty Insider.
00:24 This is a program bringing you up-to-date news, 00:26 views, and discussion on Religious Liberty events 00:30 in the United States and around the world. 00:32 My name is Lincoln Steed, Editor of Liberty Magazine. 00:36 And my guest on the program is Dr. John Graz, 00:40 the Director for religious liberty 00:42 for the Seventh Adventist World Church. 00:44 I'm very pleased to be with you again. 00:46 It's great, always great to have you on the program. 00:49 There are so many things that you and I have spoken about 00:53 in the past and things that we're 00:54 involved in presently. 00:57 One thing I want to discuss though, 00:59 for a few minutes here is a recent event 01:02 that both you and I attended and participated in, 01:05 in Washington D.C. at the Canadian Embassy. 01:08 It was the latest and I'm trying to remember was it the 10th or-- 01:13 Tenth, tenth. Tenth Liberty Dinner. 01:14 Tenth Annual Liberty Dinner, 01:17 originally begun to try to celebrate 01:20 Liberty's 100th Anniversary but it's now become 01:24 an ongoing event that is cosponsored 01:26 by the I.R.L.A. which you head. 01:28 Liberty Magazine. Liberty Magazine 01:30 and the North American Religious Liberty Association. 01:34 I thought this year it was a fantastic event, yeah. 01:38 What was your impressions of it, what stood up for you? 01:41 Yes, I think it was a very good event. 01:42 You know one of our goal was really to have the majority 01:46 of people outside of the church, 01:48 because really we want to reach people, 01:51 we have, you know, 01:52 to have also of big diplomatic representation. 01:56 It means diplomats, ambassadors, 01:59 member of the diplomatic court representing 02:02 several countries and so on and so on. 02:04 People from the government, the U.S. government, 02:06 people from the U.S. commission-- 02:07 We had all of those-- 02:09 We had all, we had all 02:10 and we have a fabulous group of people there. 02:13 And you know, the meeting was very good and, 02:16 and as a speaker we had the minister of foreign affairs 02:21 from the government of Canada, from Canada, John Baird-- 02:24 Which is the second ranking-- Yes, and he was-- 02:27 In federal government after the prime minister. 02:29 You know, that's interesting 02:30 that someone from the government, 02:33 not the U.S. government decided to come to Washington 02:38 not to meet the President of the U.S. 02:41 but to attend and to speak to a dinner organize by us, 02:46 and to a dinner which will give him the possibility, 02:51 the opportunity to speak about religious freedom, 02:54 about what they want to do in Canada 02:57 to promote and protect religious freedom. 02:59 That was really a big event and the press and the media, 03:02 you know, recognize that our dinner in Washington 03:06 has become really the dinner for religious freedom. 03:10 That's a dream. Yeah. 03:11 Now we've had a great track record with it. 03:14 We've had the U.S. ambassador 03:16 for religious freedom John Hanford-- 03:17 He was the first one, I remember. 03:19 And his predecessor, ambassador Seiple 03:22 was also another speaker but when he spoke, 03:24 he was out of the position. 03:27 But we had John Hanford, we've had Hillary Clinton, 03:30 and John McCain, John Kerry. 03:33 The recently appointed U.S. ambassador 03:36 for religious freedom-- Johnson Cook. 03:39 Trying to remember her first name. 03:40 Suzan Johnson-- Suzan Cook. 03:43 So you know, we've had great names and here now 03:45 to have the foreign minister for the Canadian government 03:50 at the Canadian embassy, very official of them. 03:53 Hosted by the Canadian embassy, 03:54 that is something that we did not even imagine you know, 03:57 when we start you remember how it happened. 04:01 We attend this, we were invited to Religious Freedom Dinner 04:04 and at the end you know, James Standish was with us 04:07 and I think James and you, you ask the question 04:10 "can we do that?" Yeah. And the answer was, 04:12 yeah, yes we should. 04:14 And with a small amount of money 04:15 because we are always dealing with a small budget-- 04:18 Well, that was the one thing liberty had at that moment. 04:19 We had some reserves-- Yeah, liberty-- 04:21 To put the money toward it. 04:23 But now it's--the cost is spread more equally, 04:28 so it's more doable in our own church. 04:31 I think everybody recognizes, 04:32 this is an unequaled opportunity in Washington 04:35 to put ourselves forward 04:36 and to join with these other churches 04:39 and agencies that we routinely deal with. 04:41 It has, you know, I have say that it had change, 04:44 it has change totally the presence 04:47 and the image of the church 04:49 and our association in Washington. 04:51 People there and especially those who are involved 04:54 in religious freedom and when I say that, 04:57 it means people from the State department 05:01 where you have an office of religious freedom 05:03 and an ambassador of religious freedom. 05:05 People in the embassy, because every year 05:07 they have to write report about the country where they are, 05:11 about religious freedom. 05:13 And people from the U.S. commission, 05:15 you know, they come and they say that, 05:17 "hey, don't miss the dinner, the Religious Liberty Dinner." 05:21 And the food was very good this year I must say. 05:25 As we plan it--a number of those in our office you know, 05:29 work on the details and they're always very concerned 05:32 to make sure the meal is good 05:34 and they have always been good meals. 05:36 But I tell them I said, people aren't coming for the food, 05:39 we want it to be good food but they're coming to join 05:44 common cause on our shared commitment to religious liberty. 05:47 And as I said, Lincoln, there are not a lot of event. 05:50 This is why religious freedom offer to us 05:53 and to the Adventist Church and the association, 05:57 a fabulous opportunity to be on the front. 06:00 Because you know, if you do that on many other field, 06:03 you have the lot of competition. 06:05 We are strong in education, 06:06 but when we have to deal with Yale 06:09 and some big university, 06:10 we are almost nothing but we are not so strong. 06:13 Now in other part also, you know, 06:16 you have big, big, big competition. 06:19 But in religious freedom, 06:20 there is not a lot of big competition. 06:22 It means we create opportunities 06:26 for people who are not Adventist, 06:29 but who believe in religious freedom 06:31 to come and to speak. No, I agree with you. 06:33 By the way, you talk about ambassadors that were there. 06:37 We had quite a lot, and their presence gives 06:41 a perfect opportunity for us to speak 06:43 to that country through the proxy, the ambassador. 06:46 And I was very taken, I don't know if you remember, 06:49 the ambassador from Libya was there. 06:51 Yeah. We invited him to visit out headquarters. 06:54 Good, I hope he comes. Yeah. 06:55 But you know, that's a country 06:57 that just had a literal civil war. 06:59 Religious and political activists 07:02 overthrew the government. 07:03 We don't know quite where they're going now. 07:06 So at this pivotal moment in the history, 07:08 for the ambassador to come to a Religious Liberty Dinner 07:12 like this and hears our principles, 07:14 not in a methodical lecture form, 07:17 but you know, he would have to be, you know, 07:20 just focused on his meal and not listen to anything else 07:22 to miss the principles that we were outlining. 07:25 And you know in the past-- 07:26 That's a wonderful opportunity to influence that country. 07:28 You remember we had ambassador from Azerbaijan, 07:31 from countries where you know, 07:33 religious freedom is not really their, 07:35 their best achievement. 07:37 They were interested about the dinner. 07:40 From Morocco, from other countries. 07:42 Well, we've had some most interesting ambassadors. 07:44 I also noticed that the ambassador 07:46 from East Timor was there again. Yeah. 07:50 Which I know, followed from our visit there some years ago. 07:53 So if nothing else that tells me that we planted an awareness 07:57 of the value of religious liberty in that country. 07:59 And also you know, when you talk about countries like-- 08:03 some countries where the church have problem or challenge, 08:07 having the ambassador changed the way 08:09 they see our church and our organization. 08:13 Also you know, it goes beyond religious freedom. 08:16 It helps to have more religious freedom 08:19 just in building relations with people. 08:22 And you have to create event, you know, 08:24 people don't come naturally, 08:26 they don't come and visit you to ask you question. 08:29 You have to really to invite them. 08:31 And to do that, this is why we organize events 08:34 like Religious Liberty Dinner 08:36 or festival, congresses and so on. 08:39 Now I'll--if you'll indulge me and the viewers will indulge me, 08:42 I'll tell you a story that my father told me. 08:44 He was in charge of our World Churches, 08:47 Temperance Department for many years. 08:49 And there was a period when an unnamed country, 08:52 I won't name it even though I think I know which one it was, 08:55 in the Middle-East closed down our church and imprisoned 08:59 the few pastors and closed down the church. 09:02 And they came to the Temperance Department 09:04 and said "can you help?" 09:05 So my father went to the ambassador in Washington, 09:09 pitched what we were doing 09:11 and he wasn't in religious liberty 09:12 but he basically pitched religious liberty. 09:14 And he said that "I'm going to your country, 09:16 can you help me set up meetings with the government ministers?" 09:20 The ambassador said, "of course I can." 09:22 "I'm going tomorrow." He says "I will arrange everything." 09:24 So the net effect was when my father went, 09:27 the government ministries were all lined up 09:29 vying for attention to talk to him. 09:31 He met with the head of State. Our church was reopened. 09:35 Not only did they release the pastors, 09:39 but most of these government ministries 09:41 all signed up for the Temperance Department, 09:43 or the Temperance Movement, they had a conference like 09:47 we held for religious liberty and everything was set straight. 09:51 And I believe the same dynamic works for us now. 09:54 When we have these contacts with the ambassadors, 09:57 that's the key to that country. Yeah. 09:59 They're not the rulers but they're your conduit. 10:01 And especially you know, 10:03 ambassador in Washington it means when they-- 10:05 One of more influential embassies, yeah. 10:07 When the country give you this position, 10:09 it means you are really high-- 10:11 Very often they're a personal associate 10:14 of the ruler or the ruling party. 10:15 You know, which was interesting is I was sitting at the table 10:18 with the Minister of Foreign Affair from Canada 10:20 and he spokes also-- speaks also French. 10:24 We speak French and English and that was very interesting 10:28 and I saw that he is really very-- 10:31 he believe really in religious freedom for all. 10:34 It mean that is the point, 10:35 the common point we have with him. 10:37 And we really have to encourage to these people 10:41 who believe in religious freedom. 10:43 And the Prime Minister of Canada too you know, 10:45 clearly, openly said that they want 10:47 to have an office about religious freedom. 10:50 No, no, but the Prime Minister. 10:53 In previous statements, absolutely. Yes, yes. 10:55 It means the Minister of Foreign Affair 10:58 also mentioned the Prime Minister. 11:00 It's so important to be behind, 11:02 you know, government or countries 11:05 when they defend religious freedom, 11:07 because you cannot just defend 11:09 religious freedom in your country. 11:10 There are many international meetings 11:13 you know, and if nobody there, defend clearly these values, 11:18 that will be forgotten and people say 11:20 why we should have religious freedom at home 11:22 because you know, nobody is interested outside. 11:25 But if you want to stop persecution, 11:28 you cannot do that just through the N.G.O. 11:31 This is what I said, you know, when I spoke. 11:34 NGOs like International Religious Liberty Association 11:39 needs the support of government to be more efficient. 11:42 Absolutely. 11:45 You were leader to the situation that really set us 11:49 on a track to holding the event in the Canadian Embassy. 11:55 About a year ago, we heard that the Canadian Government 11:58 were establishing this new office of religious freedom. 12:03 That they want to project 12:04 religious liberty values around the world. 12:06 And the best I could say is, 12:08 it sounds very similar to me like 12:10 the United States Government establishing 12:11 the U.S. Ambassador for religious freedom. 12:14 They're trying to situate candidate 12:17 in the same international dynamic where they can speak 12:20 with more authority to the situation. 12:23 And I see this as a reflection 12:25 on the growing diversity of Canadian culture. 12:29 In the United States we say we're a mixing pot, 12:32 which we have been. 12:33 But most people don't realize 12:35 that in Canada as in the United States, 12:37 a much higher percentage of the population 12:40 are foreign born than before. 12:43 And more foreign born people 12:45 in Canada than in the United States. 12:47 So it's in their interest to project 12:49 this value internationally. 12:51 We'll be back after a break to discuss a little more on this 12:54 and perhaps widen our discussion 12:56 into some other areas of interest. 12:58 Be right back, stay with us. |
Revised 2014-12-17