Welcome back to
the Liberty Insider.
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Before the break, with
guest Gregory Hamilton,
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we were getting into a
pretty interesting discussion
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that started off from
whether Ellen White the pioneer
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and the prophetic
voice in Adventism.
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Well, you know,
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how is she related
to political activism.
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We know, with the
temperance movement,
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that she was front
and center on that,
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but it does
raise a logic question,
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particularly in light
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of what's going
on today in the US.
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How active should Christian
Seventh-day Adventist be
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in political activism?
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Well, you know,
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my first experience
in the political arena
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actually was as a youth.
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I was asked to
get out the youth vote
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for Gerald Ford in 1976,
in Bakersfield, California.
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And it was actually
by my baseball coach
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in Senior Babe Ruth, we
called him Mr. Handy dance
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because he owned a
store called Handy Dance.
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And we never figured
out what his real name was,
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because he never told anybody.
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But he was an interesting
guy, and he lived in Oildale,
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but he was very
politically active
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with the Republican
Party, staunch Republican.
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And he was very angry
with Nixon's resignation
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from office, very
bitter pill for him,
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and so he wanted to make sure
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that Gerald Ford got
elected in 1976, okay?
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This is against
Jimmy Carter if you recall.
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The peanut farmer, so to speak,
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and this guy that
came out of nowhere
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who was once
governor of Georgia--
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I want to throw
a little lead here.
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I attended Jimmy
Carter's Sunday school class
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only few weeks ago.
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Now, he may not have been in
the history books, the great--
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That must have been interesting.
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Oh, fabulous. Wow!
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And I was on the front row
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and he was most of
the time was close too.
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Oh, what a privilege. Yeah.
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So, I've got great
respect for his moral stature.
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But as a politician, you
know, people can debate that.
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Yeah, sure.
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Actually, he was a
very smart president.
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I find the
smarter they are though,
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the more unpopular they are.
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It does--
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Well, not just
unpopular, ineffective.
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Yeah, exactly.
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Woodrow Wilson, arguably
smart this president but--
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Yes.
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Not only failures, I mean,
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his style was
autocratic to the extreme.
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Well, and I think
Congress tends to get offended
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by very intelligent presidents,
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I don't know why
that is, but anyway--
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Anyhow, you're off your track.
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Yeah, I basically, my job
involved getting out yard signs
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and highway signs
and knocking on doors,
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giving them
leaflets, urging them to vote,
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and of course, the leaflets
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promoting Gerald
Ford, that sort of thing.
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It was a bitter
pill when we lost, okay,
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on election night.
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And I will never
forget that experience,
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as a Seventh-day
Adventist Christian.
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Now, I know, because
in my government class,
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in my senior year of academy,
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you know, there
was a lot of people
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question my involvement in that.
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And I thought it
was kind of unusual,
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because, you know, I
was raised in a family
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where to be
politically active was being,
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was showing good citizenship
as an American citizen.
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And I guess my views growing up
were different from my church's
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in that regard, and I was--
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Well, the church had
no political view per se,
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but the
aggregate of the membership
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unfortunately--
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Can do what they want.
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There's been a bias
within our membership
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toward a certain political--
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Actually, the latest Pew poll,
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Pew forum on
religion and public life
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says it has
flipped just the opposite.
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Since the
advent of Bill Clinton,
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we've actually gone
from about 60-40 Republican
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over Democrat in our
church, to nearly about 45-55.
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But 55 predominately
Democrat, and the reason why,
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is because of the
ethnic minority balance
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within our church.
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So our church is made up of
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many wonderful
ethnic minorities.
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And the ethnic, the
minors and the groups,
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I don't think
their views have changed.
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But I mean, their
tendency is there still.
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Yes, and so, actually,
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the Seventh-day Adventist Church
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is predominately more
Democrat than it is Republican.
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And that's something a
lot of people don't know
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or understand.
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Not that that really matters.
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I mean, it's on
an individual basis.
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The church,
officially-- Yeah. Right.
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And with very few
exceptions, doesn't enter
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into the Pattison
political fray at all.
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Right.
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She goes on
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and fundamentals of Christian
education report 475, she says,
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"The Lord would have his
people bury political questions
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on these themes,
silent is eloquence.
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Christ calls upon His followers
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to come into unity in
the pure Gospel principles
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which are plainly
revealed in the Word of God."
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So we can say right there,
that the Gospel is number one.
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In other words,
our first priority
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is preaching the gospel
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and not getting
involved in politics.
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All right, so
that much is clear.
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But nowhere does she say so far,
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that we should not vote.
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She then says, "We
cannot, with safety,
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vote for political parties
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for we do not know
whom we are voting for."
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Now, we'll come to
that in full length
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in another program here.
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And I want to
address that and talk about
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how political parties
have shaped over the years,
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that how they've been
completely transformed
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and a lot of
people don't understand
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this particular transformation.
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But even here,
she's basically saying,
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be independent.
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Don't be loyal to
any particular party.
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You know, vote your conscience.
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So she's not saying
we shouldn't vote at all.
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Nowhere does she
say, "Don't vote."
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She's basically telling
us in a very subtle way,
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how to vote.
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It's implied, which,
a lot of people miss.
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We cannot, with safety,
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take part in any
political schemes.
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Now what does
she mean by schemes?
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All right. Schemes
is very interesting.
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Schemes, to do dirty
tricks behind the scene,
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to undermine, and to
get behind a movement
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that tries to soil
somebody else's reputation.
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But we know the
big scheme around,
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I don't know, offhand,
the year that was written,
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but the big political
issue that troubled her.
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And it was a
debate from the pulpit,
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was the gold and
silver standard issue.
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It was Williams Jennings Bryan
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who gave that famous
Cross of Gold speech.
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And so half the
pastors and the church workers
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were for the gold standard
and half for the silver,
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and they got up
and held fort on it
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as though it was a moral issue.
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And I think Ellen
White saw it as a scheme.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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It's a good
example, historical example.
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We also should
point out to our viewers
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that as a
church, if a local church
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seeks to invite
a local congressman
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during election or
the opposing campaigner,
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they have to invite
both, to meet IRS standards.
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And our church
actually approves that
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in the North
American Division Manual,
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if you invite both.
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Now, you know,
it's all right to both
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if people want to, you know,
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those candidates want
to say what they want.
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Okay.
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But we cannot--
Playing with fire.
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It is, it is. But it is allowed.
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It's just that we
cannot endorse any candidate
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and you can't just invite
one without inviting the other.
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The North
American Division Manual
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for Seventh-day
Adventist Church says just that.
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And so I just--
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And we're playing
into the sensibility,
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it's faded now, but
ten years or so ago,
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many of the
politically active churches
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wanted to get
through the Jones Bill,
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that would allow unrestricted
and very partisan activity--
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Explain the Jones Bill,
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because the Jones Bill
is actually a recent bill,
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goes back to even
the Newt Gingrich era
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of being speaker of the
House of Representatives.
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And Donald Trump is
even advocated for this,
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that churches be able to
use 25 percent of their funds,
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their budget for politicking
to actually endorse candidates.
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That's, you know,
nothing against Trump here,
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but I'm just saying that
that's really problematic here.
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And we have to understand that.
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I'm not saying pro or for Trump
in my statement here at all,
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I'm just saying
that that's a bad policy,
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and we need to recognize
that, at least as a church.
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It's not a road
we want to go down.
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I think safety clearly lies
in keeping church activities
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separate from
government political activity.
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Absolutely, absolutely.
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But the question
we're discussing,
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we need to get
it back on course,
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is the individual Adventist,
the individual Christian,
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how involved or
participatory they'd be
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in the political process?
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Well, and Ellen White
addresses that, she says,
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"We cannot labor to please
men in reference to voting,
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who will use their influence
to repress religious liberty
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and to set an operation,
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oppressive measures to
lead or compel their fellow men
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to keep Sunday as the Sabbath."
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And the reason
why she says that,
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and then she says,
she goes on, she says.
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"It is the spurious
Sabbath, it is a spurious day,
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and the members
of the Lord's family
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cannot participate with
the men who exalt this day
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and violate the law of God
by trampling upon a Sabbath.
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The people of
God are not to vote."
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Now she doesn't
say we shouldn't vote.
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She says in context,
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"We are not to vote to
place such men in office.
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For when they do this,
they're partakers of them,
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with them, of the sins
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which they
commit while in office."
00:10:05.37\00:10:07.54
So just to kind of turn
the table on that, she's saying
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that those who are clearly
not for religious freedom,
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those who in the campaign
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who are running against
religious freedom, so to speak,
00:10:19.81\00:10:23.25
we need to be very careful of.
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If we're going to vote,
how to vote is very important.
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We should vote for people
who champion religious freedom,
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specifically, the
constitutional separation
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of church and state,
00:10:34.33\00:10:35.66
and the free
exercise of religion.
00:10:35.70\00:10:37.63
That is very important.
Well, that's a central point.
00:10:37.67\00:10:42.20
But I think we've got to
beware of encouraging people
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to sort of vote for
a litmus test issue,
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because that's been the downfall
00:10:48.51\00:10:49.84
of the religious right,
00:10:49.88\00:10:51.21
like an abortion or something.
00:10:51.25\00:10:52.58
They'll vote a
very unsavory character
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and with other agenda
items that are dangerous.
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As long as they are on this--
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And we could do
the same, conceivably,
00:11:01.36\00:11:03.63
even on
religious liberty issues.
00:11:03.66\00:11:05.83
Well, I think religious liberty
00:11:05.86\00:11:07.20
is so interrelated
to all civil liberties.
00:11:07.23\00:11:09.80
I mean, it is vital.
00:11:09.83\00:11:12.27
But Ellen White emphasizes
that more than anything else.
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So in a way, it
is kind of by default
00:11:14.94\00:11:18.11
a litmus test within our church
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I mean, shouldn't that
be our number one interest--
00:11:20.88\00:11:22.81
Yes. Yeah, absolutely. To
preserve religious freedom?
00:11:22.84\00:11:25.38
And I think we
should encourage people
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to vote their conscience
00:11:27.88\00:11:30.72
and to look very closely at
the character of the people.
00:11:30.75\00:11:34.16
But also Ellen
White sets it up in a way,
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because who could be
confident that nowadays
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when politicians say, you
know, it's a generalization,
00:11:40.46\00:11:43.93
whatever it
takes to get elected.
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You know, you
could, in good faith,
00:11:45.93\00:11:47.27
vote for someone.
00:11:47.30\00:11:48.64
But nine times out of ten,
00:11:48.67\00:11:50.01
they'll act a little
differently when they're in.
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So you're going
to share in the sin
00:11:51.41\00:11:55.18
by proxy of this person?
00:11:55.21\00:11:56.78
That's a very high
hurdle to be, sort of,
00:11:56.81\00:12:00.68
culpable for someone
that acts on the empowerment
00:12:00.72\00:12:03.42
that you give them.
00:12:03.45\00:12:04.79
Now, some say, you know, well,
what if my view is different?
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What if I still believe that,
you know, I should not vote?
00:12:07.76\00:12:12.36
Well, that's your privilege.
00:12:12.39\00:12:13.80
This is not a hard and
fast conclusion on my part
00:12:13.83\00:12:19.97
that you should
vote, not at all.
00:12:20.00\00:12:22.17
In fact, we can differ
00:12:22.20\00:12:24.94
and we should be able to differ.
00:12:24.97\00:12:27.38
If you choose to stay home
00:12:27.41\00:12:29.11
and not vote in
this particular election,
00:12:29.14\00:12:30.91
which clearly is going
to be between Donald Trump
00:12:30.95\00:12:33.78
and likely Hillary
Clinton, that's your business.
00:12:33.82\00:12:36.92
I agree.
00:12:36.95\00:12:38.85
That's within the
Protestant tradition.
00:12:38.89\00:12:40.69
That's one within
the Adventist tradition.
00:12:40.72\00:12:44.59
And that's a protest vote,
but for me, I choose to vote,
00:12:44.63\00:12:48.13
because I believe
it's good citizenship.
00:12:48.16\00:12:50.83
Thank you so much.
00:12:50.87\00:12:52.53
You know, I cannot
emphasize this subject more.
00:12:52.57\00:12:55.90
And when it comes
to the issue of voting,
00:12:55.94\00:12:58.41
we have to vote our conscience.
00:12:58.44\00:13:00.91
Any discussion
of political action
00:13:00.94\00:13:03.58
and the necessity of
voting by Christians,
00:13:03.61\00:13:07.45
any discussion like that
among Seventh-day Adventists
00:13:07.48\00:13:10.22
has to take into account that
Pioneer founder Ellen White,
00:13:10.25\00:13:16.83
was very much to the full
in the whole anti-alcohol,
00:13:16.86\00:13:20.83
anti-tobacco, what became known
as the Prohibition Movement.
00:13:20.86\00:13:25.30
In fact, on one occasion,
00:13:25.33\00:13:27.20
she said that this was
such an important issue,
00:13:27.24\00:13:30.81
that if necessary,
00:13:30.84\00:13:32.17
Seventh-day Adventists
should vote on Sabbath.
00:13:32.21\00:13:35.94
Much of our
religious accommodation
00:13:35.98\00:13:37.71
involves around asking
for an exemption from work
00:13:37.75\00:13:40.55
and other secular worldly things
00:13:40.58\00:13:43.45
because of the Sabbath issue.
00:13:43.49\00:13:45.32
But if there is an
overwhelming moral imperative,
00:13:45.35\00:13:48.99
or if there is a cow in
the well, you are to do it.
00:13:49.02\00:13:54.03
It's a very big
point, to what degree
00:13:54.06\00:13:57.83
Christians should be
involved in the voting process.
00:13:57.87\00:14:01.04
But for Seventh-day Adventists,
it was settled early on,
00:14:01.07\00:14:04.41
moral issues
demand an involvement.
00:14:04.44\00:14:08.98
Citizenship, perhaps,
00:14:09.01\00:14:11.21
requires or pulls
us toward involvement,
00:14:11.25\00:14:15.05
but moral issues
absolutely demand
00:14:15.08\00:14:18.35
and make it an imperative
that we have our voice heard
00:14:18.39\00:14:22.59
as Christians in the community.
00:14:22.62\00:14:25.63
For Liberty Insider,
this is Lincoln Steed.
00:14:25.66\00:14:28.56