Participants: Lincoln Steed (Host), Kim Peckham
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI000273A
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00:19 Welcome to the "Liberty Insider."
00:21 This is the program bringing you up-to-date news, views 00:24 and discussion on religious liberty events 00:27 around the world 00:29 and in the United States on occasion. 00:31 My name is Lincoln Steed, Editor of Liberty Magazine 00:35 and my guest on the program is Kim Peckham 00:39 and you are a man of many talents 00:41 but I will at least pin you down by saying 00:43 that you've carried the communications function 00:46 at the Review and Herald Publishing Association, 00:49 near where I live in Hagerstown, Maryland. 00:52 An institution that we may talk about later, 00:54 that's in transition. 00:55 Let's say. Let's say that. 00:57 Well, Kim, let's talk about things 00:59 and I will go back to one of your earliest involvements 01:02 with Liberty Magazine. 01:04 You've got many skills 01:06 and one of them you could visualize 01:07 and put together some great promotional material on video 01:11 and I needed help one year in putting together 01:14 that is Liberty promotional video. 01:18 I don't make to many pretensions 01:21 because they can't be fulfilled 01:22 but I had filmed myself 01:24 interviewing Pastor Anthony Alexander 01:28 who had been released from jail in Sri Lanka 01:30 on terrorism changers, 01:32 then done some rowing footage 01:33 and I wanted you to make it a great video. 01:36 Yeah, we put together the pieces on that. 01:38 I remember you were part of it, 01:40 you focused on America's dedication to religious liberty 01:46 from the earliest, earliest days 01:48 we went down there to the Jefferson Memorial in D.C. 01:52 and did some shots down there and-- 01:54 I had forgotten that. I see its coming back. 01:57 Yeah, of course, that I forgotten too 01:59 and then you had that great story. 02:04 What was the-- remind me, 02:06 that's the part I forgotten was a story-- 02:08 Well, Pastor Alexander and I've mentioned it 02:10 recently even in some sermons as I traveled around. 02:12 So wonderful story started off very badly in Sri Lanka 02:16 at that time country driven by civil war 02:21 and in my mind I'm says my age as I think of Sri Lanka 02:24 as Ceylon that it's a country in the modern ear 02:29 fell into civil war between the Buddhist 02:31 and the Hindus and two ethnic groups 02:34 and the Guerrillas the Tamil Tiger Guerrillas 02:38 had actually attacked 02:39 the capital of Colombo at one point. 02:41 They destroyed jetliners at the airport, terrific thing. 02:46 And here Seventh-day Adventists 02:48 and in particular this Seventh-day Adventist 02:51 teacher and pastor Anthony Alexander 02:53 was teaching at a boarding school 02:56 in the middle of the civil war. 02:58 One of his student came from the outlying area, 03:02 the government identified the student 03:03 as actually a member of the Tamil Tiger Guerrillas 03:06 and here a Christian teaching a Tamil Tiger 03:10 he must be part of the same thing 03:11 and he was arrested and charged with terrorism 03:14 and this was before 9/11. 03:17 So what was he upshot with this pastor? 03:19 Well, the upshot took a while to shoot 03:24 but at least two years as I remember 03:26 his trial dragged on, 03:29 our lawyers and others went across and met with the-- 03:33 well, they usually just sat and caught and listen 03:35 but they came back very depressed 03:36 that they thought if he was lucky 03:39 he wouldn't get the death penalty 03:40 but that was the risk. 03:42 He was in jail all that time and just when we thought 03:46 that it was last without any warning 03:48 he was suddenly released pending a further trial 03:51 and he was spirited to the US 03:54 and he has finished his-- continued his ministry there 03:56 but we say God's leading in his providential release 04:00 but the context was horrible. 04:03 Before 9/11 for a Christian teacher 04:06 in another country doing what God had called him to do, 04:08 not middling in politics at all here accused of terrorism. 04:14 Well, it seems like often the ideas of religious liberty 04:17 get caught up in politics lately. 04:19 Well, nearly always. 04:21 The two things you don't talk about are religion and politics 04:24 and when you are talking religious liberty 04:26 it does involve those things. 04:28 So they assumed it because he was teaching 04:31 he who had a political interest in the Tamil Tigers then. 04:35 Yes, and very often Christian missionaries, 04:40 particularly those coming from the United States 04:41 they seen as agents of imperialism 04:45 or the opposition. 04:48 So there is baggage to the situation 04:51 even if that person is very squeaky clean 04:54 and purely biblically based and mission oriented. 04:59 It's a difficult situation. 05:01 But to say you put that video together, right, remember? 05:03 I do, I know, its all bits that are coming back. 05:06 And as I was telling you before the program 05:09 it obviously worked because of any-- 05:13 I was gonna say promotional but that sort of a crossword 05:15 but if any informational video 05:18 that we had and we do want to air 05:21 at least that one got the best response. 05:24 It connected with our donors in a very efficient way. 05:28 Have you speculated on why that was because-- 05:30 I think it because you put it together. 05:31 Well, I'm glad. 05:33 Let's, let's go with that by all means 05:35 but I mean its almost surprising 05:37 because here is a situation on the other side of the world 05:41 and why would that connect with your people 05:44 who are mostly in North America. 05:46 Why would they say, 05:47 you know, any identify with this poor man over-- 05:52 Now I'm getting the benefit on the video. 05:53 We have a whole spectrum of materials 05:56 during that time of the year, the video was one element. 05:59 I think another visual element we had I was sure and a poster 06:04 that we sent out 06:06 mostly to Seventh-day Adventist churches 06:08 and that poster showed a young girl behind a mess, 06:14 screen sort of a barbwire screen. 06:17 And I do know, you know this too, 06:19 you sort of go through 06:22 an emotional contact with people 06:23 when you use young children and animals. 06:27 Right? 06:28 Yeah, so the next year we will use a puppy dog. 06:31 I keep telling our people to do that but we haven't featured 06:34 but next year our video will feature a dog 06:37 that was forbidden to go to the kennels 06:40 on Sabbath I think. 06:43 Silly dog. That's silly. 06:44 We-- now it is very serious stuff 06:49 but at the same time as you know it's our obligation 06:53 as stewards and custodians of the care 06:56 in this case of the magazine and the message. 07:00 You know, we want to maximize the effect 07:02 and put it in a way 07:03 that's emotionally appealing to people 07:05 and I think it was something about that story 07:09 and the visuals that came with it that did connect 07:12 and I'm always looking for that. 07:15 And our latest issue of Liberty Magazine 07:18 has on the cover a refugee fleeing 07:22 from the murderer's intent of ISIL, 07:27 this terrorist Jihadi group in-- 07:32 from Syria coming into Iraq. 07:34 And, you know, I think that that should appeal 07:37 to people the same way. 07:38 Now I think you were telling me this several days ago 07:41 that their policy is almost religious cleansing 07:45 that they are-- 07:46 No, it's not always it is. 07:49 And yeah, we may even have a whole discussion on that 07:53 but, yes, its worth remembering 07:55 for those that are watching this program 07:57 and I hope it is not too longer leg 08:00 between us filming it and it going out 08:02 but things are not likely to change much 08:05 but it's only a few weeks ago now that the city of Mosul 08:09 and as I remember that's the second largest city 08:11 in Iraq was over run by this group 08:16 and there were many Christians in Mosul 08:18 and many other religious minorities other than Muslims 08:21 and all of them were rounded up, 08:25 all of them were threatened. 08:26 Christians immediately were told that they must wear, 08:30 it was a funny letter and I don't know why? 08:31 I think it was an "M" like the star 08:33 of David in Hitler's Germany. 08:36 They had to wear that. 08:37 They were told that, that they had a choice initially 08:40 of convert to Islam 08:41 or pay the demi, the religious tax 08:44 but within a few hours not have been the same day 08:47 then it was harden to, you become a Muslim or you die. 08:53 And those that didn't immediately flee were killed 08:57 and many thousands of Christians were killed. 08:59 There are no Christian in Mosul anymore, none. 09:02 There is the points you covered there 09:04 it's so reminiscent like the middle ages 09:06 where those who were dissenting with the main church 09:11 were actually had to wear a yellow cross on their clothes 09:15 and were sometimes outright killed 09:18 if they didn't get and run. 09:20 And I've said this on this program before 09:22 and I don't think this program can be accused 09:25 of being of excusing these sort of things, 09:29 particularly at the moment with Jihadi's 09:31 and so called radical of fundamentalists Islamism 09:36 but in the bigger context we know that many religions 09:40 and certainly Christianity 09:42 in the middle ages of acted similarly. 09:46 This is why we need Liberty Magazine and religious freedom 09:48 because the natural tendency of monolithic religious society 09:54 is to persecute the opposition. 09:57 Yeah, I'm always proud of Liberty that it functions 10:01 or like to keep that in our minds, 10:04 you know, a sort of like you may say, 10:06 well, we don't really need police 10:07 because everyone in my neighborhood is nice. 10:09 But there is always this sort of this reminder 10:13 that there is this standard that we need to be aware of 10:16 and that needs to be-- we need to be reminded of it, 10:19 protect it even though right now 10:22 sometimes it doesn't--it seems like are long way from ISIL 10:25 right now in that situation. 10:27 Well, this is turning into a discussion of ISIL. 10:29 So I will tell you but I wrote an editorial 10:33 and that's just come out in our current issue 10:37 for the beginning of 2015 10:40 and I had to comment on it. 10:43 You can turn on your TV almost any day now 10:46 and there will be something on ISIL. 10:48 It's the talk of the town. 10:49 Yes. 10:51 But an aspect that I thought needed to be brought out 10:54 and it is discussed now but at that time it was latent. 10:58 Was the idea that here is a group in coming from Syria 11:04 or into Iraq they call the Islamic State of Syria 11:11 and Iraq or the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant 11:17 which is the area between Turkey and Egypt 11:22 or as the Bible puts it the glorious land, 11:25 that's the holy land. 11:26 So that's their claim but there is lot of discussion 11:30 and dismay about it. 11:31 I noticed the Pope of Rome even deviated a little 11:35 from the calls for peace 11:37 and restraint and he said 11:40 that they needed to be attacked which is interesting. 11:43 And I thought in a curious way, no ones much remarked on it, 11:45 that's not dissimilar 11:47 from I think Pope Urban 11:49 declaring the crusades, you know. 11:52 Heaven demands it said, Urban, you know, go there. 11:57 So there whole civilized, 11:58 quite civilized world is confronted by this 12:00 but what I believe is the real danger. 12:02 It's not what they're doing there 12:04 which is just stabilizing to the error 12:06 and probably never has a chance of becoming 12:11 the global caliphate that they demand. 12:13 But it can change the map of the Middle East. 12:16 But the real danger is the young men and women 12:20 who are fighting there, 12:23 they come from your neighborhood 12:24 and my neighborhood. 12:25 They might even be someone from Hagerstown there. 12:28 Are you sure? 12:29 I'm not sure about Hagerstown but it's not impossible. 12:33 It's already been noted that these beheading videos, 12:37 so far there are nearly always a person 12:39 with an English accent. 12:41 They seem like they come from booming endless of world. 12:43 Yes. 12:44 They are not locals, 12:46 these are Islamic fundamentalist adventurers, 12:51 young people usually from Australia, 12:53 from Canada, from England, from the US, Germany, 12:59 all throughout Europe. 13:01 They've been recruited from allover. 13:03 Now I went and looked online 13:05 and did some research on ISIL 13:07 and they don't really know the number 13:10 but it's a time they were gathering figures, 13:12 they were guessing maybe 15,000 of them 13:14 and 7,000 of them were Saudi Arabians 13:17 which should tell something 13:19 but the overwhelming this is the largest group 13:23 but beyond that there were a couple of hundred, 13:26 five of six hundred from the US I think, 13:28 from all over the major countries. 13:31 Now they are there now 13:34 and unless the bombing kills all of them 13:36 they will come back just as soldiers 13:38 come back from all wars. 13:40 They will come back with clearly a very radical agenda. 13:44 They will come back with military training. 13:45 They will come back with unresolved antagonisms 13:49 toward the west and the religions of the west 13:53 something will happen. 13:55 Not to mention the appeals that are being put out 13:58 on the internet too our neighborhoods 14:00 and many of those young people can't or won't go 14:04 but they share those attitudes 14:06 and so I wrote this. 14:07 I said, this is the danger. 14:09 It will put religious liberty under severe stress. 14:12 How the authorities going to deal 14:14 with this up bubbling of violence in our community 14:18 from these Jihadi's? 14:21 Is my neighborhood 14:23 and are the so called civilized countries 14:26 going to have the patience to root them out one at a time 14:31 or will there be some blanket 14:33 prohibition of the whole class of people 14:35 or a class of religious thinking? 14:38 Because there has been a shift since 9/11 14:42 to saying fundamentalism is dangerous 14:45 whether it's Christianity or Islam. 14:46 It's called extremism 14:48 as how so is referred to, extremism. 14:50 Extremism. 14:51 So if you're religious but you don't-- 14:55 not too serious about it 14:56 you are okay but if your religion 14:59 is central to your life, 15:00 you are seen as potentially dangerous. 15:01 Exactly, that seems to be 15:03 that to the picture that's been painted here, 15:04 if you care about religion you are somehow dangerous 15:08 and if you just don't take it too seriously 15:11 then you are welcome in our area. 15:14 Yeah, so how would you communicate this 15:16 if you had to do a video of this sort of thing? 15:19 What's the image that we should, 15:21 that we should seize upon? 15:24 Sorry, I'll give you a moment to think about it. 15:26 Let's-- we'll come back after a break 15:29 and continue this program. 15:30 So stay with us for this discussion. |
Revised 2015-09-03