Welcome to Liberty Insider.
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This is a regular program
bringing you information,
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insights, discussion,
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and analysis of
religious liberty
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events in the United States
of course but around the world.
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My name is Lincoln Steed,
editor of Liberty Magazine,
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and my guest on this
program is Amjad Waryam Alam,
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pronounced badly
but I hope close enough.
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No, good to see
you're doing fine.
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You did a good job now.
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You know, you're
many faceted individual.
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You minister, an
evangelist, a singer,
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and a literature evangelist,
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someone who has great experience
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as a dedicated Christian,
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selling Christian
related materials door-to-door
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in at least two
countries I know in Thailand
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and now in the United States.
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What did you
discover in Thailand
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when you were
contacting the communities
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because, you know,
Thailand like many countries is
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a majority religious group
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and in Thailand it's Buddhist,
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I'm sure, right?
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Thailand, yeah,
it's a Buddhist country.
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So how did you
find the receptivity
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for another religious viewpoint?
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Of course Christianity but
it could have been any other.
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You know,
religious liberty argues
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that you should have
perfect freedom on that
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but social realities
mean that they were hurdles.
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How would you deal with that?
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I think when those
years I was there I felt
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that the Buddhist
people are very open,
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I felt that they
were open to listen.
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Only thing when
I had a challenge
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was the language barrier.
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See English is not there,
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you know that English
connects too many countries
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and many people, you know.
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Thailand had Thai language
and the Thai people are,
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they work in their own language.
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You had trouble picking up Thai?
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Yeah, we do have.
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I learned little bit, you know,
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to get by and also
to introduce our books,
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our publications, you
know, to canvass them and,
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but the problems were not there.
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There was no
problem approaching them
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and I went to
some of the churches,
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some of the
businesses, some of the,
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like local event on the street.
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Now where were you
based when you were there?
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I was in Thailand Mission
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for Seventh-day
Adventist headquarter
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like in Thai, Bangkok.
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Oh, Bangkok, that's
what I was thinking.
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Now, I know Bangkok fairly well,
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I've been there
maybe half dozen times.
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And I think Thailand...
Beautiful, big modern city.
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It is. Vibrant alive.
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Oh, beautiful
landscaping and people.
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They have grown over
the period, you know,
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they have grown a lot.
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And even I see
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Seventh-day Adventist
church is grown there.
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And I was a publishing,
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before I became a
publishing director
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I was a colporteur.
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I used to go and...
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Books salesman or door-to-door.
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Yeah door-to-door.
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Our first approach
used to be a health one
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and then we end up in
introducing Bible stories,
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children books, or
adults or Steps to Christ,
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and Great Controversy.
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I imagine even I touch
some of the schools, you know,
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and sold Great Controversy,
you know, to many of them.
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So you say, you
found no resistance
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to Great Controversy.
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There were some
places but it was not bad.
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It was okay.
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The good advantage
could have been better
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if I would have
known the language
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but it takes time, you know.
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Did you find in
Thailand a general knowledge
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of the larger world, where they,
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like Great Controversy
even have an interest
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that it implies
that you're curious
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about the history of
religion in the western world?
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I see one thing for sure,
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you know whoever
get to provisional
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if they have just understood
the idea and also the,
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that they become Christians
and they become, you know,
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very good
follower of Jesus Christ.
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And one thing is another
thing I found that the challenge
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they have is the
religion of course.
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The sensitivity is there.
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The Buddhist people are very
strong in their religion too.
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But it's still the
Christianity when they see it,
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it is very
different than other places.
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But one important
factor I want to bring them.
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The Buddhist people
believe in the education system
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what we
Seventh-day Adventist have.
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Our schools are full
of Buddhist students.
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We have a combined
international school.
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Do you think it's
connected to Buddhism
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or what is it a
national attitude
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that they expect quite away?
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Like religion wise?
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Well, let me tell you
what you triggered in my mind.
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Most westerners are familiar
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with what became a
movie the King and I.
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Yeah.
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And it's sort of a character,
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but they don't generally realize
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that was based on a real king
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and I wish I
could remember his name
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back about 100 years ago.
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And this was at the
period when the imperial powers
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were pushing against other,
you know, particularly in Asia,
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other independent
countries that they overwhelmed.
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But Thailand was
never colonized...
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Yeah.
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And the major
reason was that the king
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and I think others around him
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but then particular
that king celebrated in
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that musical recognized
the value of education
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for all of his people.
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His leadership was good. Right.
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And I think he
laid the foundation
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for very
progressive society today,
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whether it
derived just from that
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because I know
that was his view.
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You're right
because his leadership was,
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he promoted education,
he promoted education.
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But did it wasn't
because of him personally
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or was that already part
of the mindset of Buddhism.
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I don't think so
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but it's an
interesting connection.
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They're opened to Christianity,
they're open to other religion
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but the reason is this
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that there are lot of
western tourist school.
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That's a tourist place.
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I feel, you know that
people go for holidays.
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Their tourist industry is
very, very strong, you know,
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there're people like I
have seen planes full of white
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and other people, you
know, coming in the country,
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and then they speak English.
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You know, that English is
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and they want
to, you know, learn.
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It's an
interesting country though
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because very few people I
think have a strategic view
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where other countries are.
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But Thailand sits just
below Vietnam and for years
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there was a bloody war
that the US was involved
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with millions of people killed.
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It's right on the
border with Thailand
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remains stable and open.
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On the other side Myanmar
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where there was a
very oppressive system.
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Not very religious but
it was down on all religions
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but where today
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there's
persecution of the Rohingyas,
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a Muslim minority in Myanmar.
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So there's intolerance,
military regime there,
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it continued all around.
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And ongoing war and yet Thailand
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was this
cultural island of bliss
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and modernity and openness.
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Openness is that, I think
they always wanted to grow.
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You know, they wanted
to build this country.
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They wanted to always take
it to the highest level of,
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you know, and they
wanted to grow their economy,
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you know, that time.
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And it helped.
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You know, they welcome
people from all over the world
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to come in Thailand and work.
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There are many, many
foreigners and many nationality
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you'll find in there.
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And that gives us
lot of opportunity
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to sell them books, you
know, give literature evangelism
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and, that's why we
have our churches there too
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and they are grown, you know.
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So you had a good
experience even though
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there was a language barrier.
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Going door to door... Oh, yeah.
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..and you didn't see
overt religious conflict,
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religious liberty was
functioning quite well.
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No, no, no there
was no much problem
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and even we had in
fact we have a hospital.
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People are actually, you
know, believe in seven day.
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Many places even in
Pakistan and in Thailand,
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that in seven day
they will be healed.
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They do not understand
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what is
Seventh-day Adventist means.
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You know, but they say
if they come to the hospital
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seven day is the last day.
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Well, that is a good model.
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Remember Jesus went
around healing people
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and then He taught them.
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You know...
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We've got to take care
of people's immediate needs.
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There's no good saying
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God loves you in all the aspect.
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You know, continue to
heavy diseases and live badly
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and that we don't
care a long as accept,
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of course it's a
holistic approach.
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Yeah, that's one thing is we say
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that our approach to health
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is a very good approach
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because some health publications
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and our hospitals and
our clinics, you know,
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those give lot of opportunity
for us to touch the people
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or touch the heart of
people for the love of Jesus,
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you know, he has shown us.
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Now I don't know
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if you remember
not very long ago,
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long term king of
Thailand, was it Bhumibol?
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Think that was his name.
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He died.
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Yeah, he just not
long ago recently.
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Few months.
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He was a good king. Yes.
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It always struck me
that the reverence the Thai
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showed to their king was
pretty much like a religion.
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He was connected to the people.
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He was in their heart, you know,
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that and this is the
reason they have lot of respect
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for their leader
and for their king.
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And you never came across,
we know the reason why you
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or anyone in your role
would criticize the king
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but we were aware
that was a total no, no
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if you appeared to
malign the royal family,
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whatever bad
things would happen.
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No, not in generally.
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But, you know,
it's still a country.
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Little bit things
happen anywhere and...
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They may have a little
bit of a constitutional crisis
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with the Prime Minister Thaksin,
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I think who was involved
in some nefarious dealings
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but still it's a
very stable country.
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There was a
trouble in the government
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and a lot of things changed,
you know, they also had their,
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you know, problems which
also took the country down
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but they are still
coming up and but things happen.
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You know, it's
as other countries.
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Oh, yeah.
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The world is the dynamic
place, nothing is static.
00:11:35.66\00:11:36.99
Yeah, nothing is static.
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But I think good
underlying characteristics
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of government organization
and of religious attitudes
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they will continue through
the dislocations of the moment.
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One thing is as I say
again and again one thing,
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one thing because all
other things are happening.
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They are very
respectful, you know,
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that whenever
you go meet people,
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they say sa-wat-dii
kha they join their hands
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and they will
give you lot of respect
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and they show
humbleness that's what I saw.
00:12:06.39\00:12:11.16
Yeah, good.
00:12:11.19\00:12:13.23
And that gives us a
chance to talk to them
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and to push them and
tell what we wanted to tell.
00:12:15.43\00:12:19.83
Yeah.
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Did you...
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I know you're a
singing evangelist,
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you didn't sing
in Thailand, did you?
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Singing, no in
Thailand because mostly
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as I said people
speak Thai language
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and my Thai was very little.
00:12:31.75\00:12:36.22
But I'm sure you
could order a good meal
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in the restaurant there?
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Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Sure, sure.
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I love Thai food.
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Stay with us, we'll
take a short break now
00:12:43.43\00:12:44.76
and after that we'll
be back further with Amjad
00:12:44.79\00:12:48.53
to discuss religious liberty
in his personal experience.
00:12:48.56\00:12:52.57
Thank you so much.
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