Welcome back. Before the break
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we were talking on
"The Liberty Insider"
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about Liberty Magazine,
which is a very big part
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of my mindset, as
I host this program.
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And we're at that time of
the year where in a few months
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when we're putting
liberty in front of those people
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who believe in
religious liberty and willing
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to put their money where
their mouth is. Right, right.
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So the Seventh-Day
Adventist Church has
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a particular offering schedule.
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And we have been given--
Liberty Magazine has given
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the fourth Sabbath in January
as our official offering date.
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So every year, we
have the opportunity
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in the local church and
I mentioned the promotional
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material packet
that we put together.
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We send that to
every local church
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in United States and Canada.
Several thousand of them.
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Several thousand--
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And I do need to interject
that it's not just on that day,
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that's the
official day of it. Right.
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It is a several months spread
where we're encouraging people
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to put in front of the
membership and as I said
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to our viewers, any of their
churches or their organizations
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could share this
and be participants.
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Absolutely. No, if you
have a particular series
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that's going on in
January and your pastor says,
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"Well, you know, we're
not gonna be able to emphasize
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religious freedom on that date."
Well, then that doesn't mean
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we're not emphasizing
religious freedom this year.
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It just means we're gonna be
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doing it in
February instead of January.
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So absolutely it's
no, you're not tied to
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that particular date,
it's just the official date.
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Now you
mentioned the video. Yes.
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Tell us about the one this year.
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Well, we're emphasizing a story.
I had the opportunity to go
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and meet this young this
man. His name is Ben Ellis
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and he is working
his way through a school
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as a literature evangelist,
which means that he's going
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door to door and
selling Christian materials.
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Yeah, selling. It's not
always Bible material directly
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but things of moral character
might be bed time stories--
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Right, right. of moral
nature. And so he--yeah,
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so this is how he
spends his summers.
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He's studying to be a pastor,
theology major and so he--
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I know my father is a
pastor and worked his way.
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He spent similar
summers that way and it can be
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thankless work
I've heard. You know,
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it can be
discouraging but this young man
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has--seems like he
has such the passion that,
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you know, the personality
for it in that, first of all,
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you can tell his love
for Christ just in having
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a conversation with
him. But second of all,
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he really is friendly
and personable, you know,
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and so I think
it's been a good--
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But somebody wasn't
too friendly to him.
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Well,
unfortunately, he was working
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in the Southern United
States in a small town there.
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And I think as
usually as the standard,
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they had sent a
note, the conference--
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the local conference
had sent a note before him
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to the local community
government letting them know
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that they were gonna
be working in this area
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in this particular time.
Well, so Ben actually was
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the leader, the sort
of the student leader,
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yes, for this group.
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He was responsible for several
other literature evangelists,
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dropping them off and making
sure and coordinating that.
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So he had done
that in the morning.
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He shared with me that
they always start the day
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with prayer and Bible
study and really, you know,
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affirm each other.
And then he dropped off
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all his group and just as he'd
dropped off the last person,
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he sees behind
him flashing lights.
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And so, of course,
he stops and waits,
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and an officer comes
up and wanted to know
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what he was doing and, you know,
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why he felt it was
okay to be able to do this.
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And, evidently, you
know, they had heard about
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this individuals being
there in the community.
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He wanted to say
that when they first sent
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the letter letting them
know, letting the city know
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that they would be
there, they didn't receive
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any sort of response at
all. So I don't know if anyone
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read the letter or
not. It wasn't acknowledged.
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But anyway, the
next thing Ben knew
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he was being
handcuffed and put into jail.
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So this wasn't Andy of Mayberry.
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It wasn't. They were there.
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They had a mission--you
know, the police had a mission,
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an objective that
they were gonna do,
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which was to
arrest this young man
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for sharing his
witness. What was the charge?
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Um, I think it was, I
don't remember specifically
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what it was, but I
think it was not having
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the appropriate
licensing or permit
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or something
like that, which again
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they hadn't been told
that they needed to have.
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That is an interesting
commentary on law enforcement
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that even if that were the case,
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you don't typically get arrested
and I don't know when I was--
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to paint a wood
picture, you know, put over
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the front of the
car and spread eagle.
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It seemed like a-- I mean,
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that's a rather
severe way to apprehend you
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or to stop what you're
doing. Yes, absolutely,
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without any sort
of prior warning,
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with any
explanation as to, you know,
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you're not allowed to be able
to do this in this community.
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It does seem like a
bit of an extreme reaction.
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But Ben really took it,
you know, he shared with me
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that his primary
concern was the individuals
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that he'd dropped off.
I think there was maybe
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eight other young men that he'd
dropped off in the community.
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He wanted to make
sure that they were okay
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because he was
responsible for them.
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And then he talked
about, you know, he reminded me
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of Paul and Silas
singing in the prisons.
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And he said that
he was just, you know,
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today was gonna be about
witnessing and whether it was
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in the local community,
going door-to-door or in prison
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that was what he was gonna
do. And so he just seems to
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really have a
remarkable attitude about it.
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That said, it
shouldn't-- it's something
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that should not
have taken place.
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On the face of it, it seems
bizarre and I'm sure there are
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legal technicalities
that'll be worked out.
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But it resonated with me
because we had an article
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on Liberty, time gets
by but I'd say at least
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5 or 6 years ago, it
was Jehovah's witnesses
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I think who took the case
to court but they were not
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allowed to witness door-to-door
in a number of towns.
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So in this
particular town, I think
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there was an arrest there, too.
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And it went all the
way to the Supreme Court
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and they upheld
the right of anybody
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to witness door-to-door. Right.
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Yeah, no town can just put
up as they were doing then,
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you know, no door-to-door
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solicitation or whatever. Right.
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And you have a
right. And they have a right
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to close the
door on you and say,
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"We don't want to
hear." But-- Absolutely.
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But you can't be forbidden
from the public there of.
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And that's the
situation. One other aspect of
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the Religious Liberty Campaign
that we haven't mentioned,
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which is an important
aspect is that the Seventh-day
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Adventist Church has a legal
department that works to defend
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the religious
freedoms of individuals.
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And the
Religious Liberty Campaign
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helps in part to fund that.
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Well, Ben
received that type of help
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from the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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And I know that that was exactly
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what you were referring
to the Supreme Court case,
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is that this local
jurisdiction's ordinance was
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unconstitutional because in
fact the Supreme Court has said
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that, you know, individuals
do have the right to go
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door to door.
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So we would probably be upheld
as it works through the system.
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Yes. But, of course,
people don't understand
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that the law can be on your side
but if you have law officials
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that don't like
what you're doing,
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they can delay it,
in some cases for years,
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and effectively
disrupt, in this case,
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witnessing and
Bible books selling--
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Right. And if you don't
have, you know, the legal team
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from the Seventh-day Adventist
Church working with you
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to explain to you that
actually these are your rights
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or this or that,
you know, I mean,
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Ben Ellis certainly
couldn't have afforded to go
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and get an
attorney that, you know,
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practiced constitutional
law and, you know,
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could've been
able to-- and so again,
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it's fortunate that, you
know, he had the resources
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that he had and
again that's in part
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because of the Religious Liberty
Campaign and that funding--
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Absolutely. Yeah, we
didn't make the connection.
00:08:05.94\00:08:07.74
There's the magazine.
There is litigation in defense.
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And there's also some monies
that help put people in place
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that can speak in local
areas for religious liberty.
00:08:16.49\00:08:19.76
So it's more broad
based than just a magazine.
00:08:19.79\00:08:21.87
Right. But I think
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this is more than just
a case for this one town
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and this one group
of young people. Yes.
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Think about it. You
know, I'm sure the viewers,
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some of them must
have made a connection,
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you know, summer
school, summer time.
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What are the young
people doing in the summer?
00:08:33.89\00:08:37.01
They could be
offered a summer camp
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and that could be good
exercise or fellowship.
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It could also be--
all sorts of strange
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and wonderful things
happen with young people.
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They turn to beach,
spring break and so on.
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You know, this has
got to be very good
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for upstanding young
people who want to develop
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a sense of comradery of course.
00:08:55.87\00:08:57.84
They want to
witness for their faith.
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They want to share it and
make a little bit of money
00:08:59.75\00:09:01.71
for their school. Yes.
00:09:01.74\00:09:03.33
As you said at the
outset, nobody is getting
00:09:03.36\00:09:05.30
rich of this hardly. Yes.
00:09:05.33\00:09:07.46
But it does usually provide
an adequate scholarship to help
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with their
school studies. Right.
00:09:12.20\00:09:14.37
So I think on every level,
this is good for the society.
00:09:14.40\00:09:16.94
It's good for
these individuals. Right.
00:09:16.97\00:09:18.80
And if they're
promoting something that anybody
00:09:18.83\00:09:21.68
doesn't like, they
say, "No, thank you."
00:09:21.71\00:09:23.08
And they go away. Absolutely.
00:09:23.11\00:09:24.48
So to have the power of law
and the heavy arm of the law.
00:09:24.51\00:09:29.12
You know the
police, by and large,
00:09:29.15\00:09:31.00
I think are good
spirited public servants.
00:09:31.03\00:09:33.54
But we all know the
cases in little town,
00:09:33.57\00:09:36.31
they can sometimes
push the limits a bit,
00:09:36.34\00:09:38.64
and be a little heavy handed.
00:09:38.67\00:09:42.19
And I think that's
what happened here.
00:09:42.22\00:09:43.96
I think that's exactly the case.
00:09:43.99\00:09:45.36
And, I mean, this
is the individual story
00:09:45.39\00:09:47.46
that we're
highlighting. But I do know
00:09:47.49\00:09:50.37
that there have been
other situations recently,
00:09:50.40\00:09:53.03
particularly, in the
Southern United States
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that this has happened. That
there are these local ordinances
00:09:54.62\00:09:58.17
that are
contradictory to actually
00:09:58.20\00:09:59.89
sort of the
national standard of law.
00:09:59.92\00:10:01.78
And so, you know, this is
not just a unique situation.
00:10:01.81\00:10:06.07
So this is a very good video
00:10:06.10\00:10:07.47
to include with our
campaign to remind people
00:10:07.50\00:10:09.68
it's not theoretical-- Yes.
00:10:09.71\00:10:11.58
things are happening constantly
that should catch our attention
00:10:11.61\00:10:15.65
and we should defend
these people to enable religious
00:10:15.68\00:10:18.58
freedom for all
of us. Absolutely.
00:10:18.61\00:10:20.64
I was just gonna
say, if for some reason
00:10:20.67\00:10:25.05
or if you would like to
have a copy of this video,
00:10:25.08\00:10:28.74
if you would like to
promote religious freedom
00:10:28.77\00:10:30.20
there in your
community. And again the sermon
00:10:30.23\00:10:33.37
that I mentioned earlier is
also available on the same DVD.
00:10:33.40\00:10:36.39
We're very happy to
send you a copy of that.
00:10:36.42\00:10:38.86
Again, I mentioned
the website earlier
00:10:38.89\00:10:40.43
but I'll do it again now.
And it has our address on it,
00:10:40.46\00:10:42.97
doesn't it? Yes.
00:10:43.00\00:10:44.37
So it's www.libertymagazine.org.
You can just send us
00:10:44.40\00:10:48.81
a request through that
way and we'd be very happy
00:10:48.84\00:10:51.16
to send you a copy
of this DVD for free.
00:10:51.19\00:10:54.23
Now something that
I need to tell people.
00:10:54.26\00:10:56.73
I always do this. Apart
from some basic office expenses,
00:10:56.76\00:11:02.87
the promotion we're
talking about, and the monies
00:11:02.90\00:11:04.64
that come in, that's
it to enable what we do.
00:11:04.67\00:11:07.57
It's the
printing, the development,
00:11:07.60\00:11:09.09
the distribution,
even the promotion
00:11:09.12\00:11:10.66
for the campaign-- Right.
00:11:10.69\00:11:12.06
all of that comes
out of that basket.
00:11:12.09\00:11:13.92
And, you know, I'm able to put
00:11:13.95\00:11:17.20
food on my family as
President Bush said, no, but,
00:11:17.23\00:11:21.40
you know, we paid enough to live
00:11:21.43\00:11:22.80
but nobody is
getting rich of this
00:11:22.83\00:11:24.76
and the
distribution of Liberty Magazine
00:11:24.79\00:11:27.19
is only to the degree
that this offering enables it.
00:11:27.22\00:11:29.98
Right. Now
you're absolutely right
00:11:30.01\00:11:31.46
and that's why I really
do appeal to our viewers
00:11:31.49\00:11:35.93
to help us continue
this ministry that's been
00:11:35.96\00:11:38.84
so vital to the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:11:38.87\00:11:41.45
but also has been
vital to our own individual
00:11:41.48\00:11:43.68
religious freedoms.
We need to make sure
00:11:43.71\00:11:46.02
that less and
less situations happen
00:11:46.05\00:11:47.96
where individual's
rights are violated.
00:11:47.99\00:11:50.22
Their religious
freedoms are violated.
00:11:50.25\00:11:52.27
And by putting
Liberty Magazine in the hands
00:11:52.30\00:11:55.05
of those local
thought leaders, this is a way
00:11:55.08\00:11:58.27
that we can really
prevent these situations
00:11:58.30\00:12:01.50
from occurring in the future.
00:12:01.53\00:12:03.60
One of the more enjoyable
aspects of being Liberty editor
00:12:05.73\00:12:09.04
is reading the letters
that come in regularly,
00:12:09.07\00:12:12.01
positive and negative.
Some of the negative ones
00:12:12.04\00:12:16.32
are actually the most
positive. It's very nice
00:12:16.35\00:12:19.39
for people to write in as they
did with the last editorial,
00:12:19.42\00:12:21.53
and say, "It's
great." And someone said,
00:12:21.56\00:12:23.73
"It should be
reprinted and sent out broadly."
00:12:23.76\00:12:26.26
Well, Liberty is a
broad distribution.
00:12:26.29\00:12:29.11
But the negative ones, I
find, are the most invigorating,
00:12:29.14\00:12:33.40
because to--as I
often do read a letter
00:12:33.43\00:12:36.21
where someone says, "I
get Liberty all the time,
00:12:36.24\00:12:38.98
I read it from cover to cover.
I don't quite agree with all
00:12:39.01\00:12:42.21
that you people are saying.
I differ with this article.
00:12:42.24\00:12:45.17
I differ with that. But I still
00:12:45.20\00:12:46.82
read Liberty
Magazine." That tells me
00:12:46.85\00:12:49.76
that we are engaging the people
00:12:49.79\00:12:53.09
that might have different
views in a positive way
00:12:53.12\00:12:55.40
that may one day
persuade them much better
00:12:55.43\00:12:59.34
than sending
something to someone
00:12:59.37\00:13:01.06
who already thinks as you
do. During our Liberty Campaign,
00:13:01.09\00:13:04.77
which comes once a year, we
have an incredible opportunity
00:13:04.80\00:13:08.61
to again empower those
people who are hovering
00:13:08.64\00:13:14.02
as it were between a
pro and a con opinion.
00:13:14.05\00:13:16.72
We want them to be persuaded.
00:13:16.75\00:13:18.69
For "Liberty
Insider," this is Lincoln Steed.
00:13:20.34\00:13:23.88