Welcome back to
the Liberty Insider.
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Before the break
with guest Dr. John Graz,
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we were talking about
the last Liberty Dinner
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at the Canadian
Embassy in Washington.
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I really should
explain where that embassy is.
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Beautiful
building, beautiful building.
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Yeah. Not everybody
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of course has had the privilege
to be in Washington D.C.
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But most people, I'm sure
who are watching this program
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have seen pictures of Washington
and there's the U.S. capital,
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sits up on a bit of a hill
in Pennsylvania--I'm sorry,
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I don't wanna reach to it--
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but
Pennsylvania Avenue stretches
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in front of the
lower part of the capital
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all the way down
Pennsylvania Avenue.
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And then of course, in
another spoke almost parallel
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is the reflecting pool,
and the Washington monument.
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So this is the very heart
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of the historic Washington.
One of biggest place, yeah.
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And just about a block
down Pennsylvania Avenue,
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on the main
boulevard, looking straight
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at the capital is the
Canadian Embassy, yeah.
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And built in the same
massive stone structure
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that looks like
it's always been there,
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sort of a neo-classical
style, is this Canadian Embassy.
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And you don't know at
first if it is a museum,
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if it is a--that's
beautiful. Yeah, yeah.
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Beautiful building, yeah.
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So, we were privileged to
be able to use that facility,
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and for them to
host-- And it shows,
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you know, the respect the
Liberty Dinner receive now, yes.
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Because being
invited by an embassy,
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it's
not--knowing that, you know,
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behind you have
an Adventist church,
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you have several
organization and so on,
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but still, you know,
you have been invited.
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We have been
invited by the embassy.
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And the ambassador
was there, of course.
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Now I should mention, I
meant to before the break,
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but we honored-- Richard Land.
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Well, I was thinking about
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saying something
about the speaker,
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the foreign minister,
he was given an award.
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It really wasn't
to him personally,
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it was really him
representing the government.
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We wanted to honor them
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for their commitment
to religious liberty.
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But then, personally, we
honored Dr. Richard Land,
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the ethicist with
the Southern Baptist,
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and the
religious liberty leader.
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Now we don't always agree
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with what he does--
Of course, of course.
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But we know,
that he is a champion
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for religious freedom.
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It's just that he
applies it in ways
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that we're
sometimes uncomfortable with.
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But the Baptists generally have
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a very strong commitment
to religious freedom--
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We honored
several of them you know,
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Denton Lotz, who is the
President of the I.R.L.A.
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but he was also a great voice
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around the world
for religious freedom.
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He was honored and also
Robert Ambassador Seiple, right.
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And after he was honored
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by the Richmond
First Freedom Center,
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it mean several of people
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who received the
award from our dinner,
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received also award
from some other organization.
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And which is interesting that
they mentioned in their C.V.
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the award of
religious freedom. Of course.
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Given by us. It
means, that you know,
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it's not just an event.
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It's an event
which continues in time.
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And of course, imagine
that when you receive an award,
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Hillary Clinton, John Kerry
and so on received the award.
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We sign, and we have the
logo of the Liberty Magazine,
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International
Religious Liberty Association.
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It means that's,
that's not just one event,
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it has
something which continues.
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Well, I believe that we leave
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an imprint with the government,
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with the ambassadors,
with the other NGOs and so on.
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Even if they don't
always agree with us,
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we're part of
their history. Yeah.
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I don't know that I've mentioned
on this program before,
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but I was really taken,
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recently when I was
reading a journalistic account
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of the fall of
Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.
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The journalist
said how with the crowd,
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they surged into his
private living quarter
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the day that he died.
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You know, the mob took over.
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And there, in
his inner quarters,
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this journalist, first
one to arrive they said,
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there was very little there.
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Just some family
pictures on the wall,
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a picture of Condoleezza
Rice, which I thought was funny
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because he had, we
know, he had a thing for her.
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He sent her a mash letter once.
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So there's a
picture of Condoleezza Rice,
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and then the journalist
said very particularly,
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next to that was a
large framed certificate
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of his
membership in the I.C.P.A.
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Which again my father had done,
the International Commission
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for the
Prevention of Alcoholism,
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which for temperance is
the equivalent of the I.R.L.A.
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Yeah, yeah, right.
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And here, you know, we
never endorsed Gaddafi,
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but decades before, I remember--
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It was open to a
better health for his people.
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Met with him and
some of his associates,
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and he'd been signed up
and that was so important
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that he'd kept it in
his private quarters.
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It's the only
membership thing there.
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And so we're planting
ideas with these people, yeah.
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And in this case about dinner,
the idea of the high and exalted
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and irrevocable
value of religious liberty.
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And you know,
that's so important to say
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thank you to people who are
defending religious freedom.
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They are defending our
rights. They are defending us.
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And as I said, that they
don't have a lot of opportunity.
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They don't meet a
lot of people saying,
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thank you for
defending religious freedom.
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I remember visiting
China and so on, you know.
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When I visit country,
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I talk with people who are
defending religious freedom.
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Most of the time, they are
just in margin of the society,
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because that's not like if
you defend economy, and so on,
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you know, aberrant things,
you are defending minorities.
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One day I remember, I
was in a country in Europe
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and someone came and I knew
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that he had very
strong political ambition.
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He wanted to be--
to run for president.
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And he said "you know,
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I want to
organize an association
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for defending
religious freedom."
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And I said to him "think twice,
if you are interested having
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a great political career,
it may be not the best thing.
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Because if you
defend religious freedom,
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you will have to defend
people who are not popular,
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and you may lose vote."
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And he thought you know,
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and I continued "but you
have to be very convinced"--
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Sounds like the
rich young ruler.
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Very committed.
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It means you have to be
committed enough to say, okay,
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I will probably
lose the election
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but I will continue to
defend religious freedom. Yeah.
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And the guy look at
me, and that was the end.
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I've never, never heard
anything about his association,
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because you know, when
you defend some values,
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don't expect you
will get a lot of support.
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And these people
are making the sacrifice
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like our good
friend who died in January,
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Professor Abdelfattah
Amor. You know, he is a Muslim,
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defender of religious
freedom around the world.
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He was the Special Rapporteur
for the United Nations.
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United Nations
Special Rapporteur,
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you know, he said something
one day which really moved me.
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He said you
know, "You are sincere.
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I make a difference
with many, many organization.
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Your
organization. You are sincere,
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when you defend
religious freedom."
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It was beautiful.
The correct prize--
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Yeah, yeah, exactly.
It means, time to time.
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Nobody was doing
that. We have to do,
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we have to create
event and to say publicly,
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"thank you for
defending religious freedom."
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And I think also that we should
also remember those in the past,
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gave their life
for freedom today.
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And that we go to the Festival
of Religious Freedom you know,
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say thank you for
those who gave their life.
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Because very often
you know, I ask people,
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"what did you do
for religious freedom?"
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Now you visit churches,
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you talk about
religious freedom,
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they look at you and say "hey,
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what did you do
for your freedom?"
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And people say "what
did we do?" Did you die?
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Did someone died for that?
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Do you know someone
here that you-- "no."
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What did you do? But
we do not do anything,
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we just get it.
Okay, you got it.
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What did you say
when you receive a gift?
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Is it a gift? Yes,
it's an important gift.
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What did you
say? We say thank you.
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Have you already
said this thank you--
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We need to be part
of the dynamic of this.
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Not just to suffer for
it, but to proclaim it.
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Yeah, and we
have to create event
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and to say publicly thank you,
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and of course more we
have people better it is.
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And it's the
just reward of those
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who are taking risk
to defend our rights.
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I hope we can
communicate this to our viewers.
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Maybe in some
way they can carry on
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what we're talking about.
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Either to be part of organizing
a big festival type event
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or certainly
within our own church,
00:09:02.55\00:09:05.32
and if you're watching
in different countries,
00:09:05.35\00:09:07.93
maybe they could organize
something like a Liberty Dinner.
00:09:07.96\00:09:10.94
It doesn't have to be
in their nation's capital,
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maybe it could be with the mayor
of the local town. Exactly.
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Meet with the mayor and invite
some of the leading people
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in the town there and
put on a dinner and again,
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put before them the
value of religious freedom.
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Thank you that this
town is standing for it,
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and this is
what-- There is one day,
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one day every
week which should be
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the day of religious
freedom in every church,
00:09:32.39\00:09:34.25
in every Adventist churches.
00:09:34.28\00:09:36.04
You know, that's
not a big problem
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to invite an official
and to give him a reward,
00:09:37.47\00:09:40.68
a plaque, or to
organizes a dinner
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with not 300 people
but maybe why, 30 people.
00:09:43.51\00:09:47.56
You select
people in the community
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who did
something. You invite them.
00:09:50.41\00:09:52.69
You give an
award. And you start,
00:09:52.72\00:09:55.05
you know, to encourage people.
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You start, you show that you
are a part of that community.
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You are not isolated,
00:09:59.48\00:10:01.49
and you want to help
defend value for everyone,
00:10:01.52\00:10:04.97
not just for
you. That's possible.
00:10:05.00\00:10:06.91
Many things are possible.
00:10:06.94\00:10:08.39
If you don't have the
money to organize a congress,
00:10:08.42\00:10:11.00
you can invite
someone and have a lecture,
00:10:11.03\00:10:13.38
public lecture
about religious freedom.
00:10:13.41\00:10:16.00
And you can invite
three people you select,
00:10:16.03\00:10:18.54
university professors and so on,
00:10:18.57\00:10:20.36
and have a panel
about religious freedom.
00:10:20.39\00:10:23.34
Will not cost a lot,
you will have publicity,
00:10:23.37\00:10:27.54
people will start
to think about that.
00:10:27.57\00:10:29.93
I hope our listeners,
our viewers are thinking,
00:10:29.96\00:10:33.85
because the possibilities
of this are endless.
00:10:33.88\00:10:36.86
You know, some of the most
radically changing movements
00:10:36.89\00:10:41.63
in society and
history have started with--
00:10:41.66\00:10:44.49
you know, now it's popular
to use the term "cell" an idea
00:10:44.52\00:10:47.88
that someone's got
here and they spread it
00:10:47.91\00:10:50.57
to another group,
and that group spreads--
00:10:50.60\00:10:52.46
you know the
potential for something
00:10:52.49\00:10:53.86
to just blossom into a
phenomenon is unlimited.
00:10:53.89\00:10:56.44
If people catch an
imagination, the idea.
00:10:56.47\00:11:01.11
And yes, we did
this in Washington,
00:11:01.14\00:11:02.94
yes, we've had these festivals
in this or that country,
00:11:02.97\00:11:05.31
but it could happen everywhere.
00:11:05.34\00:11:06.71
Yeah, and people are interested
in having this kind of meeting,
00:11:06.74\00:11:10.09
Religious Freedom
Dinner in many countries,
00:11:10.12\00:11:13.31
like I talk about Philippines,
and they are interested.
00:11:13.34\00:11:16.16
And it will be
reinforcing to the governance
00:11:16.19\00:11:18.98
in those
countries. They will cherish
00:11:19.01\00:11:20.45
religious liberty in a
way that they have not before.
00:11:20.48\00:11:23.08
You know, when we defend values
00:11:23.11\00:11:25.10
so important like
religious freedom,
00:11:25.13\00:11:27.33
we should not be
shy to organize meeting
00:11:27.36\00:11:30.89
and to invite people,
to give reward to those
00:11:30.92\00:11:34.35
who did something very
well to protect our rights.
00:11:34.38\00:11:37.71
That is not just something
we should do, we must do that.
00:11:37.74\00:11:41.10
We must say
thank you for all those
00:11:41.13\00:11:44.83
who defend this important
values, religious freedom.
00:11:44.86\00:11:48.50
One of the strongest
memories I have of growing up
00:11:50.66\00:11:53.49
with Seventh Day
Adventist is this part
00:11:53.52\00:11:55.92
of the pathfinder curriculum,
having to learn the 23rd Psalm.
00:11:55.95\00:12:01.50
I'll of course never
forget it. I remember not only
00:12:01.53\00:12:05.23
"The Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not want",
00:12:05.26\00:12:08.10
but there's that line that says
"Thou preparest a table for me
00:12:08.13\00:12:11.76
in the presence
of mine enemies."
00:12:11.79\00:12:14.14
Well, when I think about
the Religious Liberty Dinner,
00:12:14.17\00:12:17.40
I don't think about
enemies, but I do believe that,
00:12:17.43\00:12:22.83
We don't know
what the state will do.
00:12:22.86\00:12:25.84
We don't know what
those other activists
00:12:25.87\00:12:30.41
that we share the
table with at such events
00:12:30.44\00:12:33.12
as the Religious
Liberty Dinner will do.
00:12:33.15\00:12:35.39
But we do know
that when we sit down
00:12:35.42\00:12:38.45
in such an
environment, the Lord,
00:12:38.48\00:12:40.55
our shepherd is with us.
00:12:40.58\00:12:43.44
The religious liberty
endeavor I think is a grand one.
00:12:43.47\00:12:46.83
That we are
representing God to countries,
00:12:46.86\00:12:50.78
to political apparatus
and to other religions.
00:12:50.81\00:12:55.82
It's our privilege,
it's our duty to share
00:12:55.85\00:12:59.16
and break bread together.
00:12:59.19\00:13:01.01
And most
importantly, to share the love
00:13:01.04\00:13:03.48
and the freedom
that God gives to us.
00:13:03.51\00:13:05.39
For Liberty Insider,
this is Lincoln Steed.
00:13:07.60\00:13:10.78