Welcome to the Liberty Insider.
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This is a program
bringing you discussion,
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news, up-to-date information
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and analysis of
religious liberty events
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mostly in the United States
but around the whole world.
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My name is Lincoln Steed,
Editor of Liberty Magazine
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and my guest on the
program is Melissa Reid,
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Associate Editor
of Liberty Magazine.
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So this is sort of
an inside talk program.
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And welcome, Melissa. Thank you.
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It's a pleasure to be here.
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Liberty Magazine is
rather important for me
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and I hope for you.
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Absolutely. And a
New Year is important.
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As we're recording this,
we're just beginning 2016
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and for a lot of people
the New Year means many things,
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resolutions and so on.
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But for Liberty,
what does it mean?
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The beginning of the year. Yeah.
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Well, the beginning of the year
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is always an
exciting time for us
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because it's a time
where we are able to reach
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church members with the
message of religious freedom
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and really sort of
start off a campaign season
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that we like to think of
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really involving local
churches in our message
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doing some fund raising
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so that we can share
our magazine and our message
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with thought leaders
across the United States.
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And how does this differ
from the public television
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appeals which...
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Well--
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I love public
television but I must admit
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their appeals seem endless.
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Right.
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And I sometime wonder
because they are getting funding
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from many sources.
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How does it differ
with Liberty Magazine?
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Well, that's probably a
biggest one right there.
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The clue of it--
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Yeah, the
funding for many sources
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is not true for Liberty.
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The campaign is
really our one shot
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at fundraising for the
year and it really determines,
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you know, how effective we
can be in the work that we do
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because, you know,
however much money means
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however many
magazines that we can send out.
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And, you know, this
program is connected
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by my continuing presence,
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and mentioned
at Liberty Magazine
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to what we're
doing with the magazine.
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So it's not just
print, there this television,
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there's radio
program, there's the internet
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but at the center
of it is the magazine
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and we only have the
single source of funding.
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The money that comes
in during this time period
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when we are promoting it
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and as you
mentioned church members
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but this is a TV program
that goes out to everybody.
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Sure.
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And I wish that we
could spread the good news
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that anybody can help
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what we are doing
with Liberty Magazine.
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Right. Well, it's really easy.
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Individuals seem to do
is just visit our website
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and they can participate
in the campaign as well.
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That's LibertyMagazine.org
is where our website is located
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and there is just, you
know, a button there that says,
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you know, donate or
participate in various ways.
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You can also see...
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I think we will probably
get to it a little bit later,
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but you can also see the
story that we are highlighting
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in this year's campaign message.
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We send a packet of
promotional material
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to all of our local
churches and we usually feature
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a particular story of
religious discrimination.
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And so you can if you are
not attending a local church
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or they have chosen not to
participate for some reason,
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then you can see that material
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and hear that
story online as well.
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Well, we could
send that to any church
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or civic
organization or any club
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that wants to promote it.
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Absolutely. Right.
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And its, actually they can just
download it from the website.
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Right.
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They're all at one or they
have to get each bit separately,
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don't they, from the website?
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We don't have it as a packet.
Correct. Not as a packet. Yes.
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So they could do that or
if that seems too complicated,
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we would be happy
to mail them the pack.
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Yeah.
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But they can get,
you can get the address
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from Liberty Magazine.
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Liberty Magazine.
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For a second I
thought, we put magazine,
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LibertyMagazine.org.
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Right. Yes.
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Just under the
campaign resources tab
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or the contact us
and just give us a call
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and we will walk you
through the whole process.
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Now we do this a lot but
I would like you to outline
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who do we send
Liberty Magazine to?
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Right. Well, I use the term--
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Who are the targets? Yeah.
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I use the term thought leaders
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and that's one
that we usually use.
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But what we mean
by that is individuals
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that are making decisions
about our personal freedoms,
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about our liberties
on the federal government
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and the state government,
even in your local community.
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A lot of times, you know,
we always have people asking,
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"Oh, you know, you're
sending one to the president,
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are you sending one to
this member of Congress?"
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Which we are, we have a
list that we refer to as,
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you know, our priority
list and we keep that updated
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so that as
individuals go through,
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you know, office positions
or serve different terms
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that, you know, we
keep those positions active
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and the subscriptions current.
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But a lot of times,
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when we look to
our church members
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and our local
readers to really let us know
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who in the community is
sort of the decision makers,
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who are the influential people?
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You know, is it
their city council member,
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is it their, you know, somebody
that sits on the school board
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or things like that.
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You all are able to identify
those individuals much better
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than we are and a lot of
times, they are making decisions
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that affect us more than,
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you know, what's
happening in Washington DC.
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Absolutely, the
local government,
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for all, you know,
the presidential election
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is rising up in
front of the whole nation
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and that's
important but day-to-day
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its really local
government that makes
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more of a difference in
someone's day-to-day life.
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Absolutely.
Absolutely. And those--
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We want those people
to know these principles.
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Absolutely.
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And what I actually
encourage a lot of people to do
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is to sort of, you
know, you can give us a call
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and we can send
you some magazines
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and if you are
sponsoring a subscription
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for like your local, you
know, city council member
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or something like that,
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actually take an
issue into their office
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and explain to
them, we sponsored...
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Our local church, the local
Seventh-day Adventist Church
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has sponsored this
subscription for you
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and so you are gonna be
getting that for this next year.
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Because lot of
times the subscriptions
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will just start
and they are not sure,
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of course, they are
getting the information
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but they are a
bit curious about,
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you know, how that came about
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and so it's a way to
really start a relationship.
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Right.
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Most people don't understand
how relatively easy it is
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to connect with
their local or state
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or even federal officials.
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Absolutely. Even in Washington.
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Once you get past
the metal detectors
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and all that stuff
and though you can wander
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the hallways of power
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and go into a
Congressman or Senator's office
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and talk to their,
to their assistants
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and perhaps the Congressman
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might even be in the foyer.
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I see that happens a
lot they are in the hallway.
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Yeah. More times
than you would expect.
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You can stop them and say
appreciate what you're doing,
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give them the Liberty Magazine.
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Sure.
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It's another tool to make
that contact as you are saying.
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Right. Right. Absolutely.
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And, you know, I know
that you hear these stories
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just like I do
because a lot of times
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people at the church level
will sponsor a subscription.
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Again, you can do that
online if you are not attending
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a local
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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Just go to the website
and say that you want to do
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a gift subscription, but the...
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A lot of times people are,
you know, sort of wondering
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well, do you ever hear
back from the individuals
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that we're sponsoring
the subscriptions for?
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Oh, yeah. I've
gotten wonderful letters.
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Wonderful letters.
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Very appreciative,
people are very appreciative.
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They are always curious.
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And then, you know,
how they got on this list,
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but then very appreciative...
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We had lots of situations
where individuals are retiring
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from their position.
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I think about the
judges, we've had that happen
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several times
where they are saying,
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"Can I get this at home now?
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You know, I've been
getting it for decades
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while I'm sitting there and
serving this in the position."
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Every few months I
get a letter like that.
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Yeah.
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And I think you've
even had situations
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or people have
talked about specific issues
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they have been
dealing with in their work
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and Liberty has sort of been
a real guide force for them.
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You know, I was told
by one of the legislators
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in New England which...
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Trying to remember
the state, but anyhow,
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it's a New England
state and they said...
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And I don't want to
give too many particulars
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because it's very complicated.
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But they said that it was
because of reading Liberty
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that they took
this position on it
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and they said it
was Liberty Magazine
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that was really
the guiding light.
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Yeah. Yeah.
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But even if they
don't follow liberty,
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that's their choice to make.
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We want them to be
informed on the principles
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that historically and biblically
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underscore religious freedom
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and then they can go from there.
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We can't force or direct anyone.
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Liberty is not, you
know, one track thing,
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its information reform.
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It's a resource. Yes.
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Absolutely.
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Now I agree but
just over the years
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and working together
and working with Liberty
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for over a decade now,
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I just really have
been impressed the way
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that God will inspire
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or sort of put it in the
right place at the right time.
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A lot of times, you
know, we will see it in offices
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when we are going to, you
know, to meet with someone
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on a particular issue
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and it will have
already been there
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before we got there and
I think that's really neat.
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You keep saying something...
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We talk about the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
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but I really
want to make it wider.
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How can we open this wonderful
religious Liberty material,
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Liberty Magazine, a resource,
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how can we
involve other churches?
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Right. Well, the first--
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Not only churches but, you know,
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churches are a prime
avenue for religious freedom.
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Sure. Sure.
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Well, the first way is to
go to our website because...
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Or you can give us a call.
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Go to our website get
our contact information.
00:10:00.43\00:10:02.30
You can give us a call
and we would love to send you
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a complimentary issue.
00:10:04.43\00:10:05.77
Again the website is
www.LibertyMagazine.org.
00:10:05.80\00:10:11.17
But not only do we
have the magazine available,
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you know, in a print edition
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but we actually publish
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the entirety of our
magazine for free online.
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And so, you know, if
you are curious about
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a particular topic you could
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or, you know, just
want to sort of check us out
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then go to our website
and read the current issue.
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But not only do we
have the current issue there
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we have archives,
we have probably...
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We have over a decade of back
issues available there online.
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I think it's
probably 30 years now.
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It's
incredible. It's incredible.
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So we have it
back to the beginning
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of electronic top setting,
that's what it boils down to.
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And its just
incredible resource.
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Again, we have this
show available on our website
00:10:50.31\00:10:54.02
the Liberty Insider.
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You can go and watch if you've
missed a particular episode.
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You can go and watch it--
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I missed few of the
most-- I was present but not--
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but yeah, I never had watched
one, that's the irony of this.
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Yeah.
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Again, another way is,
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you know, if you
are listening at home
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and you would love to
have us come and speak
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at a local community event...
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That's what I was
hoping you would say.
00:11:16.20\00:11:17.64
Well, again on our website
00:11:17.67\00:11:20.14
you can email us and
we will happily arrange
00:11:20.18\00:11:23.11
somebody to come and present.
00:11:23.14\00:11:24.88
Right. Right.
00:11:24.91\00:11:26.25
Not just on Liberty Magazine,
00:11:26.28\00:11:27.78
but on religious
liberty in general.
00:11:27.82\00:11:29.15
Right. Right. Right.
00:11:29.18\00:11:30.52
And these are issues that
concern all people of faith
00:11:30.55\00:11:33.36
and beyond that all people
00:11:33.39\00:11:35.36
particularly in
the United States that
00:11:35.39\00:11:36.79
have constitutional interest
00:11:36.83\00:11:38.76
and understand the value
00:11:38.79\00:11:40.13
from a
constitutional point of view
00:11:40.16\00:11:41.70
over religious liberty.
00:11:41.73\00:11:43.06
Absolutely. We'll talk to them.
00:11:43.10\00:11:44.43
I think not only from a
constitutional point of view,
00:11:44.47\00:11:46.33
but from a Christian
perspective as well, you know.
00:11:46.37\00:11:48.20
That was my first point.
00:11:48.24\00:11:49.57
Even many people that may not
buy directly religious point...
00:11:49.60\00:11:55.11
As Hillary Clinton once said
00:11:55.14\00:11:56.75
"You can pretty much tell
00:11:56.78\00:11:58.11
civil liberties by
the constitutional...
00:11:58.15\00:12:01.68
By the state of
religious liberty.
00:12:01.72\00:12:03.52
It reflects in a
larger freedom issue."
00:12:03.55\00:12:06.39
Now, one thing I really
love about the publication
00:12:06.42\00:12:08.79
is that while it's sponsored
by a particular faith group,
00:12:08.82\00:12:12.59
we really stand, you can see
00:12:12.63\00:12:14.96
just by looking at the magazine,
00:12:15.00\00:12:16.33
the type of issues
that we are covering,
00:12:16.36\00:12:18.50
the authors that we use,
the cases that we highlight.
00:12:18.53\00:12:22.34
We're really standing
for individual freedom
00:12:22.37\00:12:24.27
for all people.
00:12:24.31\00:12:25.64
Yeah, it's not tunnel
vision on Seventh-day Adventism
00:12:25.67\00:12:27.01
by any stretch.
00:12:27.04\00:12:28.38
We'll take a break
and be back shortly.
00:12:28.41\00:12:29.74
So stay with us.
00:12:29.78\00:12:31.11