Participants: Lincoln Steed (Host), John Graz
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI000186B
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00:06 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider.
00:08 Before the break with guest Dr. John Graz, 00:11 we were talking about the last Liberty Dinner 00:14 at the Canadian Embassy in Washington. 00:18 I really should explain where that embassy is. 00:22 Beautiful building, beautiful building. 00:23 Yeah. Not everybody 00:25 of course has had the privilege to be in Washington D.C. 00:27 But most people, I'm sure who are watching this program 00:29 have seen pictures of Washington and there's the U.S. capital, 00:33 sits up on a bit of a hill in Pennsylvania--I'm sorry, 00:36 I don't wanna reach to it-- 00:38 but Pennsylvania Avenue stretches 00:39 in front of the lower part of the capital 00:42 all the way down Pennsylvania Avenue. 00:48 And then of course, in another spoke almost parallel 00:51 is the reflecting pool, and the Washington monument. 00:55 So this is the very heart 00:56 of the historic Washington. One of biggest place, yeah. 00:59 And just about a block down Pennsylvania Avenue, 01:04 on the main boulevard, looking straight 01:06 at the capital is the Canadian Embassy, yeah. 01:08 And built in the same massive stone structure 01:13 that looks like it's always been there, 01:15 sort of a neo-classical style, is this Canadian Embassy. 01:18 And you don't know at first if it is a museum, 01:20 if it is a--that's beautiful. Yeah, yeah. 01:22 Beautiful building, yeah. 01:24 So, we were privileged to be able to use that facility, 01:27 and for them to host-- And it shows, 01:28 you know, the respect the Liberty Dinner receive now, yes. 01:33 Because being invited by an embassy, 01:35 it's not--knowing that, you know, 01:37 behind you have an Adventist church, 01:39 you have several organization and so on, 01:41 but still, you know, you have been invited. 01:42 We have been invited by the embassy. 01:44 And the ambassador was there, of course. 01:47 Now I should mention, I meant to before the break, 01:49 but we honored-- Richard Land. 01:54 Well, I was thinking about 01:56 saying something about the speaker, 01:58 the foreign minister, he was given an award. 02:02 It really wasn't to him personally, 02:04 it was really him representing the government. 02:07 We wanted to honor them 02:08 for their commitment to religious liberty. 02:10 But then, personally, we honored Dr. Richard Land, 02:14 the ethicist with the Southern Baptist, 02:16 and the religious liberty leader. 02:19 Now we don't always agree 02:20 with what he does-- Of course, of course. 02:22 But we know, that he is a champion 02:24 for religious freedom. 02:26 It's just that he applies it in ways 02:27 that we're sometimes uncomfortable with. 02:29 But the Baptists generally have 02:32 a very strong commitment to religious freedom-- 02:34 We honored several of them you know, 02:36 Denton Lotz, who is the President of the I.R.L.A. 02:38 but he was also a great voice 02:41 around the world for religious freedom. 02:43 He was honored and also Robert Ambassador Seiple, right. 02:47 And after he was honored 02:48 by the Richmond First Freedom Center, 02:53 it mean several of people 02:54 who received the award from our dinner, 02:58 received also award from some other organization. 03:02 And which is interesting that they mentioned in their C.V. 03:05 the award of religious freedom. Of course. 03:07 Given by us. It means, that you know, 03:09 it's not just an event. 03:11 It's an event which continues in time. 03:14 And of course, imagine that when you receive an award, 03:17 Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and so on received the award. 03:21 We sign, and we have the logo of the Liberty Magazine, 03:25 International Religious Liberty Association. 03:27 It means that's, that's not just one event, 03:30 it has something which continues. 03:32 Well, I believe that we leave 03:34 an imprint with the government, 03:35 with the ambassadors, with the other NGOs and so on. 03:39 Even if they don't always agree with us, 03:41 we're part of their history. Yeah. 03:43 I don't know that I've mentioned on this program before, 03:45 but I was really taken, 03:47 recently when I was reading a journalistic account 03:50 of the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. 03:55 The journalist said how with the crowd, 03:57 they surged into his private living quarter 04:00 the day that he died. 04:02 You know, the mob took over. 04:04 And there, in his inner quarters, 04:06 this journalist, first one to arrive they said, 04:09 there was very little there. 04:10 Just some family pictures on the wall, 04:13 a picture of Condoleezza Rice, which I thought was funny 04:15 because he had, we know, he had a thing for her. 04:17 He sent her a mash letter once. 04:19 So there's a picture of Condoleezza Rice, 04:21 and then the journalist said very particularly, 04:24 next to that was a large framed certificate 04:31 of his membership in the I.C.P.A. 04:34 Which again my father had done, the International Commission 04:37 for the Prevention of Alcoholism, 04:39 which for temperance is the equivalent of the I.R.L.A. 04:41 Yeah, yeah, right. 04:43 And here, you know, we never endorsed Gaddafi, 04:46 but decades before, I remember-- 04:49 It was open to a better health for his people. 04:50 Met with him and some of his associates, 04:53 and he'd been signed up and that was so important 04:56 that he'd kept it in his private quarters. 04:58 It's the only membership thing there. 05:00 And so we're planting ideas with these people, yeah. 05:04 And in this case about dinner, the idea of the high and exalted 05:08 and irrevocable value of religious liberty. 05:11 And you know, that's so important to say 05:14 thank you to people who are defending religious freedom. 05:17 They are defending our rights. They are defending us. 05:20 And as I said, that they don't have a lot of opportunity. 05:24 They don't meet a lot of people saying, 05:26 thank you for defending religious freedom. 05:28 I remember visiting China and so on, you know. 05:31 When I visit country, 05:32 I talk with people who are defending religious freedom. 05:35 Most of the time, they are just in margin of the society, 05:39 because that's not like if you defend economy, and so on, 05:42 you know, aberrant things, you are defending minorities. 05:46 One day I remember, I was in a country in Europe 05:49 and someone came and I knew 05:51 that he had very strong political ambition. 05:55 He wanted to be-- to run for president. 05:58 And he said "you know, 05:59 I want to organize an association 06:03 for defending religious freedom." 06:05 And I said to him "think twice, if you are interested having 06:11 a great political career, it may be not the best thing. 06:15 Because if you defend religious freedom, 06:17 you will have to defend people who are not popular, 06:22 and you may lose vote." 06:24 And he thought you know, 06:25 and I continued "but you have to be very convinced"-- 06:27 Sounds like the rich young ruler. 06:29 Very committed. 06:31 It means you have to be committed enough to say, okay, 06:33 I will probably lose the election 06:35 but I will continue to defend religious freedom. Yeah. 06:38 And the guy look at me, and that was the end. 06:41 I've never, never heard anything about his association, 06:45 because you know, when you defend some values, 06:48 don't expect you will get a lot of support. 06:51 And these people are making the sacrifice 06:54 like our good friend who died in January, 06:57 Professor Abdelfattah Amor. You know, he is a Muslim, 07:01 defender of religious freedom around the world. 07:03 He was the Special Rapporteur for the United Nations. 07:06 United Nations Special Rapporteur, 07:07 you know, he said something one day which really moved me. 07:11 He said you know, "You are sincere. 07:15 I make a difference with many, many organization. 07:18 Your organization. You are sincere, 07:21 when you defend religious freedom." 07:24 It was beautiful. The correct prize-- 07:26 Yeah, yeah, exactly. It means, time to time. 07:29 Nobody was doing that. We have to do, 07:32 we have to create event and to say publicly, 07:35 "thank you for defending religious freedom." 07:38 And I think also that we should also remember those in the past, 07:43 gave their life for freedom today. 07:46 And that we go to the Festival of Religious Freedom you know, 07:49 say thank you for those who gave their life. 07:52 Because very often you know, I ask people, 07:54 "what did you do for religious freedom?" 07:57 Now you visit churches, 07:59 you talk about religious freedom, 08:00 they look at you and say "hey, 08:02 what did you do for your freedom?" 08:05 And people say "what did we do?" Did you die? 08:08 Did someone died for that? 08:10 Do you know someone here that you-- "no." 08:13 What did you do? But we do not do anything, 08:17 we just get it. Okay, you got it. 08:20 What did you say when you receive a gift? 08:22 Is it a gift? Yes, it's an important gift. 08:24 What did you say? We say thank you. 08:26 Have you already said this thank you-- 08:28 We need to be part of the dynamic of this. 08:30 Not just to suffer for it, but to proclaim it. 08:33 Yeah, and we have to create event 08:35 and to say publicly thank you, 08:39 and of course more we have people better it is. 08:43 And it's the just reward of those 08:46 who are taking risk to defend our rights. 08:50 I hope we can communicate this to our viewers. 08:53 Maybe in some way they can carry on 08:56 what we're talking about. 08:57 Either to be part of organizing a big festival type event 09:02 or certainly within our own church, 09:05 and if you're watching in different countries, 09:07 maybe they could organize something like a Liberty Dinner. 09:10 It doesn't have to be in their nation's capital, 09:13 maybe it could be with the mayor of the local town. Exactly. 09:16 Meet with the mayor and invite some of the leading people 09:20 in the town there and put on a dinner and again, 09:23 put before them the value of religious freedom. 09:25 Thank you that this town is standing for it, 09:28 and this is what-- There is one day, 09:29 one day every week which should be 09:32 the day of religious freedom in every church, 09:34 in every Adventist churches. 09:36 You know, that's not a big problem 09:37 to invite an official and to give him a reward, 09:40 a plaque, or to organizes a dinner 09:43 with not 300 people but maybe why, 30 people. 09:47 You select people in the community 09:50 who did something. You invite them. 09:52 You give an award. And you start, 09:55 you know, to encourage people. 09:56 You start, you show that you are a part of that community. 09:59 You are not isolated, 10:01 and you want to help defend value for everyone, 10:05 not just for you. That's possible. 10:06 Many things are possible. 10:08 If you don't have the money to organize a congress, 10:11 you can invite someone and have a lecture, 10:13 public lecture about religious freedom. 10:16 And you can invite three people you select, 10:18 university professors and so on, 10:20 and have a panel about religious freedom. 10:23 Will not cost a lot, you will have publicity, 10:27 people will start to think about that. 10:29 I hope our listeners, our viewers are thinking, 10:33 because the possibilities of this are endless. 10:36 You know, some of the most radically changing movements 10:41 in society and history have started with-- 10:44 you know, now it's popular to use the term "cell" an idea 10:47 that someone's got here and they spread it 10:50 to another group, and that group spreads-- 10:52 you know the potential for something 10:53 to just blossom into a phenomenon is unlimited. 10:56 If people catch an imagination, the idea. 11:01 And yes, we did this in Washington, 11:02 yes, we've had these festivals in this or that country, 11:05 but it could happen everywhere. 11:06 Yeah, and people are interested in having this kind of meeting, 11:10 Religious Freedom Dinner in many countries, 11:13 like I talk about Philippines, and they are interested. 11:16 And it will be reinforcing to the governance 11:19 in those countries. They will cherish 11:20 religious liberty in a way that they have not before. 11:23 You know, when we defend values 11:25 so important like religious freedom, 11:27 we should not be shy to organize meeting 11:30 and to invite people, to give reward to those 11:34 who did something very well to protect our rights. 11:37 That is not just something we should do, we must do that. 11:41 We must say thank you for all those 11:44 who defend this important values, religious freedom. 11:50 One of the strongest memories I have of growing up 11:53 with Seventh Day Adventist is this part 11:55 of the pathfinder curriculum, having to learn the 23rd Psalm. 12:01 I'll of course never forget it. I remember not only 12:05 "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want", 12:08 but there's that line that says "Thou preparest a table for me 12:11 in the presence of mine enemies." 12:14 Well, when I think about the Religious Liberty Dinner, 12:17 I don't think about enemies, but I do believe that, 12:22 We don't know what the state will do. 12:25 We don't know what those other activists 12:30 that we share the table with at such events 12:33 as the Religious Liberty Dinner will do. 12:35 But we do know that when we sit down 12:38 in such an environment, the Lord, 12:40 our shepherd is with us. 12:43 The religious liberty endeavor I think is a grand one. 12:46 That we are representing God to countries, 12:50 to political apparatus and to other religions. 12:55 It's our privilege, it's our duty to share 12:59 and break bread together. 13:01 And most importantly, to share the love 13:03 and the freedom that God gives to us. 13:07 For Liberty Insider, this is Lincoln Steed. |
Revised 2014-12-17