Participants: Lincoln Steed (Host), Greg Hamilton
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI000323B
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00:05 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider.
00:07 Before the break, with guest Gregory Hamilton, 00:10 we were getting into a pretty interesting discussion 00:13 that started off from whether Ellen White the pioneer 00:17 and the prophetic voice in Adventism. 00:20 Well, you know, 00:21 how is she related to political activism. 00:23 We know, with the temperance movement, 00:26 that she was front and center on that, 00:29 but it does raise a logic question, 00:31 particularly in light 00:32 of what's going on today in the US. 00:34 How active should Christian Seventh-day Adventist be 00:38 in political activism? 00:40 Well, you know, 00:42 my first experience in the political arena 00:46 actually was as a youth. 00:47 I was asked to get out the youth vote 00:50 for Gerald Ford in 1976, in Bakersfield, California. 00:54 And it was actually by my baseball coach 00:56 in Senior Babe Ruth, we called him Mr. Handy dance 01:02 because he owned a store called Handy Dance. 01:05 And we never figured out what his real name was, 01:09 because he never told anybody. 01:11 But he was an interesting guy, and he lived in Oildale, 01:15 but he was very politically active 01:16 with the Republican Party, staunch Republican. 01:19 And he was very angry with Nixon's resignation 01:24 from office, very bitter pill for him, 01:27 and so he wanted to make sure 01:28 that Gerald Ford got elected in 1976, okay? 01:32 This is against Jimmy Carter if you recall. 01:34 The peanut farmer, so to speak, 01:37 and this guy that came out of nowhere 01:40 who was once governor of Georgia-- 01:42 I want to throw a little lead here. 01:44 I attended Jimmy Carter's Sunday school class 01:47 only few weeks ago. 01:49 Now, he may not have been in the history books, the great-- 01:53 That must have been interesting. 01:54 Oh, fabulous. Wow! 01:56 And I was on the front row 01:57 and he was most of the time was close too. 01:58 Oh, what a privilege. Yeah. 02:00 So, I've got great respect for his moral stature. 02:03 But as a politician, you know, people can debate that. 02:05 Yeah, sure. 02:07 Actually, he was a very smart president. 02:08 I find the smarter they are though, 02:10 the more unpopular they are. 02:11 It does-- 02:12 Well, not just unpopular, ineffective. 02:14 Yeah, exactly. 02:15 Woodrow Wilson, arguably smart this president but-- 02:18 Yes. 02:20 Not only failures, I mean, 02:22 his style was autocratic to the extreme. 02:25 Well, and I think Congress tends to get offended 02:28 by very intelligent presidents, 02:29 I don't know why that is, but anyway-- 02:31 Anyhow, you're off your track. 02:32 Yeah, I basically, my job involved getting out yard signs 02:37 and highway signs and knocking on doors, 02:41 giving them leaflets, urging them to vote, 02:44 and of course, the leaflets 02:46 promoting Gerald Ford, that sort of thing. 02:47 It was a bitter pill when we lost, okay, 02:50 on election night. 02:51 And I will never forget that experience, 02:54 as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian. 02:56 Now, I know, because in my government class, 03:00 in my senior year of academy, 03:03 you know, there was a lot of people 03:04 question my involvement in that. 03:06 And I thought it was kind of unusual, 03:09 because, you know, I was raised in a family 03:11 where to be politically active was being, 03:14 was showing good citizenship as an American citizen. 03:17 And I guess my views growing up were different from my church's 03:23 in that regard, and I was-- 03:26 Well, the church had no political view per se, 03:30 but the aggregate of the membership 03:33 unfortunately-- 03:34 Can do what they want. 03:35 There's been a bias within our membership 03:37 toward a certain political-- 03:39 Actually, the latest Pew poll, 03:41 Pew forum on religion and public life 03:43 says it has flipped just the opposite. 03:46 Since the advent of Bill Clinton, 03:49 we've actually gone from about 60-40 Republican 03:54 over Democrat in our church, to nearly about 45-55. 04:00 But 55 predominately Democrat, and the reason why, 04:04 is because of the ethnic minority balance 04:08 within our church. 04:10 So our church is made up of 04:12 many wonderful ethnic minorities. 04:14 And the ethnic, the minors and the groups, 04:17 I don't think their views have changed. 04:19 But I mean, their tendency is there still. 04:21 Yes, and so, actually, 04:24 the Seventh-day Adventist Church 04:25 is predominately more Democrat than it is Republican. 04:28 And that's something a lot of people don't know 04:31 or understand. 04:33 Not that that really matters. 04:34 I mean, it's on an individual basis. 04:36 The church, officially-- Yeah. Right. 04:38 And with very few exceptions, doesn't enter 04:41 into the Pattison political fray at all. 04:44 Right. 04:46 She goes on 04:47 and fundamentals of Christian education report 475, she says, 04:50 "The Lord would have his people bury political questions 04:52 on these themes, silent is eloquence. 04:55 Christ calls upon His followers 04:57 to come into unity in the pure Gospel principles 05:00 which are plainly revealed in the Word of God." 05:02 So we can say right there, that the Gospel is number one. 05:05 In other words, our first priority 05:07 is preaching the gospel 05:09 and not getting involved in politics. 05:11 All right, so that much is clear. 05:13 But nowhere does she say so far, 05:15 that we should not vote. 05:18 She then says, "We cannot, with safety, 05:20 vote for political parties 05:22 for we do not know whom we are voting for." 05:25 Now, we'll come to that in full length 05:27 in another program here. 05:28 And I want to address that and talk about 05:31 how political parties have shaped over the years, 05:35 that how they've been completely transformed 05:37 and a lot of people don't understand 05:39 this particular transformation. 05:41 But even here, she's basically saying, 05:45 be independent. 05:46 Don't be loyal to any particular party. 05:50 You know, vote your conscience. 05:52 So she's not saying we shouldn't vote at all. 05:55 Nowhere does she say, "Don't vote." 05:57 She's basically telling us in a very subtle way, 06:01 how to vote. 06:02 It's implied, which, a lot of people miss. 06:06 We cannot, with safety, 06:07 take part in any political schemes. 06:09 Now what does she mean by schemes? 06:11 All right. Schemes is very interesting. 06:14 Schemes, to do dirty tricks behind the scene, 06:19 to undermine, and to get behind a movement 06:25 that tries to soil somebody else's reputation. 06:28 But we know the big scheme around, 06:30 I don't know, offhand, the year that was written, 06:33 but the big political issue that troubled her. 06:36 And it was a debate from the pulpit, 06:39 was the gold and silver standard issue. 06:43 It was Williams Jennings Bryan 06:45 who gave that famous Cross of Gold speech. 06:47 And so half the pastors and the church workers 06:53 were for the gold standard and half for the silver, 06:55 and they got up and held fort on it 06:56 as though it was a moral issue. 06:58 And I think Ellen White saw it as a scheme. 07:01 Yeah, absolutely. 07:02 It's a good example, historical example. 07:07 We also should point out to our viewers 07:09 that as a church, if a local church 07:13 seeks to invite a local congressman 07:18 during election or the opposing campaigner, 07:23 they have to invite both, to meet IRS standards. 07:27 And our church actually approves that 07:29 in the North American Division Manual, 07:31 if you invite both. 07:32 Now, you know, it's all right to both 07:36 if people want to, you know, 07:38 those candidates want to say what they want. 07:40 Okay. 07:41 But we cannot-- Playing with fire. 07:43 It is, it is. But it is allowed. 07:45 It's just that we cannot endorse any candidate 07:51 and you can't just invite one without inviting the other. 07:53 The North American Division Manual 07:55 for Seventh-day Adventist Church says just that. 07:57 And so I just-- 07:59 And we're playing into the sensibility, 08:02 it's faded now, but ten years or so ago, 08:05 many of the politically active churches 08:07 wanted to get through the Jones Bill, 08:09 that would allow unrestricted and very partisan activity-- 08:14 Explain the Jones Bill, 08:15 because the Jones Bill is actually a recent bill, 08:18 goes back to even the Newt Gingrich era 08:21 of being speaker of the House of Representatives. 08:26 And Donald Trump is even advocated for this, 08:28 that churches be able to use 25 percent of their funds, 08:33 their budget for politicking to actually endorse candidates. 08:39 That's, you know, nothing against Trump here, 08:41 but I'm just saying that that's really problematic here. 08:45 And we have to understand that. 08:47 I'm not saying pro or for Trump in my statement here at all, 08:52 I'm just saying that that's a bad policy, 08:54 and we need to recognize that, at least as a church. 08:58 It's not a road we want to go down. 08:59 I think safety clearly lies in keeping church activities 09:04 separate from government political activity. 09:07 Absolutely, absolutely. 09:08 But the question we're discussing, 09:10 we need to get it back on course, 09:12 is the individual Adventist, the individual Christian, 09:15 how involved or participatory they'd be 09:19 in the political process? 09:20 Well, and Ellen White addresses that, she says, 09:23 "We cannot labor to please men in reference to voting, 09:26 who will use their influence to repress religious liberty 09:29 and to set an operation, 09:31 oppressive measures to lead or compel their fellow men 09:33 to keep Sunday as the Sabbath." 09:35 And the reason why she says that, 09:37 and then she says, she goes on, she says. 09:40 "It is the spurious Sabbath, it is a spurious day, 09:44 and the members of the Lord's family 09:46 cannot participate with the men who exalt this day 09:48 and violate the law of God by trampling upon a Sabbath. 09:51 The people of God are not to vote." 09:53 Now she doesn't say we shouldn't vote. 09:55 She says in context, 09:57 "We are not to vote to place such men in office. 10:00 For when they do this, they're partakers of them, 10:04 with them, of the sins 10:05 which they commit while in office." 10:07 So just to kind of turn the table on that, she's saying 10:12 that those who are clearly not for religious freedom, 10:15 those who in the campaign 10:19 who are running against religious freedom, so to speak, 10:23 we need to be very careful of. 10:25 If we're going to vote, how to vote is very important. 10:28 We should vote for people who champion religious freedom, 10:32 specifically, the constitutional separation 10:34 of church and state, 10:35 and the free exercise of religion. 10:37 That is very important. Well, that's a central point. 10:42 But I think we've got to beware of encouraging people 10:46 to sort of vote for a litmus test issue, 10:48 because that's been the downfall 10:49 of the religious right, 10:51 like an abortion or something. 10:52 They'll vote a very unsavory character 10:56 and with other agenda items that are dangerous. 10:59 As long as they are on this-- 11:01 And we could do the same, conceivably, 11:03 even on religious liberty issues. 11:05 Well, I think religious liberty 11:07 is so interrelated to all civil liberties. 11:09 I mean, it is vital. 11:12 But Ellen White emphasizes that more than anything else. 11:14 So in a way, it is kind of by default 11:18 a litmus test within our church 11:20 I mean, shouldn't that be our number one interest-- 11:22 Yes. Yeah, absolutely. To preserve religious freedom? 11:25 And I think we should encourage people 11:27 to vote their conscience 11:30 and to look very closely at the character of the people. 11:34 But also Ellen White sets it up in a way, 11:37 because who could be confident that nowadays 11:40 when politicians say, you know, it's a generalization, 11:43 whatever it takes to get elected. 11:45 You know, you could, in good faith, 11:47 vote for someone. 11:48 But nine times out of ten, 11:50 they'll act a little differently when they're in. 11:51 So you're going to share in the sin 11:55 by proxy of this person? 11:56 That's a very high hurdle to be, sort of, 12:00 culpable for someone that acts on the empowerment 12:03 that you give them. 12:04 Now, some say, you know, well, what if my view is different? 12:07 What if I still believe that, you know, I should not vote? 12:12 Well, that's your privilege. 12:13 This is not a hard and fast conclusion on my part 12:20 that you should vote, not at all. 12:22 In fact, we can differ 12:24 and we should be able to differ. 12:27 If you choose to stay home 12:29 and not vote in this particular election, 12:30 which clearly is going to be between Donald Trump 12:33 and likely Hillary Clinton, that's your business. 12:36 I agree. 12:38 That's within the Protestant tradition. 12:40 That's one within the Adventist tradition. 12:44 And that's a protest vote, but for me, I choose to vote, 12:48 because I believe it's good citizenship. 12:50 Thank you so much. 12:52 You know, I cannot emphasize this subject more. 12:55 And when it comes to the issue of voting, 12:58 we have to vote our conscience. 13:00 Any discussion of political action 13:03 and the necessity of voting by Christians, 13:07 any discussion like that among Seventh-day Adventists 13:10 has to take into account that Pioneer founder Ellen White, 13:16 was very much to the full in the whole anti-alcohol, 13:20 anti-tobacco, what became known as the Prohibition Movement. 13:25 In fact, on one occasion, 13:27 she said that this was such an important issue, 13:30 that if necessary, 13:32 Seventh-day Adventists should vote on Sabbath. 13:35 Much of our religious accommodation 13:37 involves around asking for an exemption from work 13:40 and other secular worldly things 13:43 because of the Sabbath issue. 13:45 But if there is an overwhelming moral imperative, 13:49 or if there is a cow in the well, you are to do it. 13:54 It's a very big point, to what degree 13:57 Christians should be involved in the voting process. 14:01 But for Seventh-day Adventists, it was settled early on, 14:04 moral issues demand an involvement. 14:09 Citizenship, perhaps, 14:11 requires or pulls us toward involvement, 14:15 but moral issues absolutely demand 14:18 and make it an imperative that we have our voice heard 14:22 as Christians in the community. 14:25 For Liberty Insider, this is Lincoln Steed. |
Revised 2016-07-28