Participants:
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI190441A
|
00:26 Welcome to the Liberty Insider.
00:27 This is a program that for those of you 00:29 that have been watching for many years 00:31 has long brought you updates, analysis, 00:35 and I hope in plan and intend to be interesting conversation 00:39 on religious liberty issues in the US and around the world. 00:43 My name is Lincoln Steed, editor of Liberty magazine, 00:47 and my guest on the program is Dennis Seaton, 00:50 Legislative Liaison for the Church State Council 00:53 based in Sacramento, California in the US, 00:56 but working with several nearby states 00:59 on legislative issues. 01:01 I know from talking to you before, 01:03 while your own work 01:05 is very interesting and rewarding. 01:07 Something that you really want to encourage 01:10 is to motivate other people 01:12 to contact the legislators 01:15 and become community liaison so that we can... 01:18 Watch dogs if you like, 01:20 to help keep our system on course 01:22 and to be sensitive to religious liberty issues. 01:25 Correct. 01:28 What's your track record on that? 01:29 You think there's a reason for hope 01:31 that others will answer the challenge 01:33 and get involved? 01:35 I do think that there are other people 01:36 that are interested in getting out 01:38 and becoming part of their community. 01:40 And we've been working at this since 2012. 01:44 And we live in an environment or we live in a culture 01:49 that everybody's busy, they have three or four jobs, 01:51 and they know don't have time to get involved. 01:55 So typically, what we've asked people to do 01:57 is get involved by writing letters 01:59 and letting their elected officials 02:02 know where they stand on various different issues. 02:04 Now they can send emails too, can't they? 02:06 Well, that's, generally speaking, 02:08 the legislators prefer email. 02:10 Well, that's why I brought it up. 02:11 I know since 9/11... 02:13 Yes. 02:14 Letters carry the promise of white powder 02:17 and other substances so, 02:20 often, email is the best way to get through to them. 02:22 Yeah. 02:24 And we have avenue or we have a website 02:27 that we encourage people to go and sign up to, 02:29 and they can see the bills 02:30 that we're looking at on the federal level of... 02:32 What is your website? Say it for our viewers. 02:34 It's churchstate.org. 02:35 Churchstate.org. 02:37 Yes. And get involved. 02:40 And it will give them, on your side, 02:41 there's some information to start with. 02:43 Yes. 02:44 And maybe some motivation for them 02:46 to start these direct contacts. 02:48 Correct. 02:49 And then we also send out for the people 02:53 in the states that we work with, 02:55 we send out bulletins as such 02:57 to the churches to let them know 02:58 about the various different legislative initiatives. 03:01 But for a long time, the church has been, 03:04 the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been involved 03:06 in getting involved with legislators 03:08 and with people in their community. 03:10 So we began to get a bit more involved with that. 03:13 And we've been encouraging people 03:15 to get to know their elected officials, 03:18 not for the purpose 03:21 of asking them for something. 03:23 Typically, when you go in to a legislator's office, 03:28 the staffers and the elected official 03:32 are used to and accustomed to 03:35 and expect you to ask them for something. 03:37 And what we've been asking people to do 03:38 is just go be friendly. 03:40 So most people think that it's really intimidating 03:44 to go into a district office in California, 03:47 you can do that other states, 03:48 they don't necessarily have district offices, 03:50 but to talk with the staff members 03:53 at that office. 03:54 And so we've just suggested that you go, walk in and say, 03:58 "Hi, my name is Dennis. 04:00 And I just wanna thank you for the job that you do." 04:03 And when you do that, immediately, they go, "What?" 04:08 It's not... 04:09 Certainly or hardly an offensive approach 04:11 to get their interest bit disarmed. 04:13 And it's hardly ever that they get thanked 04:16 for doing the job that they're doing 04:17 and specifically the staff members. 04:20 So we have at least one person, 04:22 couple others that have taken up that charge 04:26 or that banner and said, 04:27 "Okay, we're gonna start going 04:29 to our elected officials' offices," 04:30 and beginning to talk to them about ways 04:33 that we can partner with them. 04:35 We can be a door opener for other people 04:39 or for other circumstances or other issues. 04:43 And not only we're asking them to get out 04:45 and get to know their elected officials, 04:47 we're also asking them to get out and know the people 04:49 in their community that are doing things. 04:51 So now when you start doing that, 04:53 all kinds of things begin to happen. 04:55 One person that we have that's working has shown up 04:58 at a variety of different community events 05:00 that are part of what the elected officials do, 05:03 as well as 05:05 what other organizations are doing in the community. 05:07 And so as she gets out and about, 05:09 then she has these experiences 05:12 where she meets people from different walks of life 05:17 with different positions 05:19 and what needs to be done in their community. 05:22 And in California, 05:23 there's lots of human trafficking. 05:25 And so this is something that she's gotten involved with 05:28 and getting more involved with. 05:29 And that's also then began to bleed over into society. 05:32 And after a while 05:33 the legislators and the other public officials 05:35 get to know about our side. 05:37 That's correct. 05:38 And so the contacts become even easier. 05:40 And it grows. Yes. Yeah. 05:42 And so we've started doing that. 05:45 But we've also began to look at, 05:46 you know, what is our responsibility 05:48 as individuals? 05:50 Who do we represent? 05:51 And how can we make a difference 05:55 in our communities? 05:57 And we can do that by partnering 05:58 with not only elected officials but with other organizations. 06:02 So when we look at what's going on, 06:04 we look at the homeless... 06:07 What's happening with homelessness? 06:08 Well, how can we help? 06:13 One of the largest growing groups 06:16 of, not homeless people, 06:18 but people that have food insecurities 06:20 are not the children. 06:23 Well, they're not small children, 06:25 but they're college students. 06:27 That's the fastest growing... Well, that's just true. 06:30 I remember when I was in college. 06:31 I was at the... 06:33 I mean, this is not to make light of it, 06:35 but it's a good story to tell. 06:36 When I was actually doing my graduate studies, 06:41 it was the oil crisis time, and I lost my part time job, 06:45 and I didn't wanna go bothering my parents. 06:47 So I used to go pick field corn at the college 06:50 that they fed to the cows. 06:52 And no amount of boiling would ever soften that down, 06:55 but that's what I was eating for weeks, 06:57 my main food. 06:59 And so the question is we as a group of people, 07:03 and speaking about here in the United States 07:05 because that's where I work, 07:07 or in California, or in Arizona, 07:09 or in Nevada, Utah, or in Hawaii, 07:11 do we have a responsibility to look 07:13 at what's happening in our community, 07:15 address those issues, and how can we do it? 07:17 Now, you know, we work for religious liberty directly. 07:21 But in our church, Seventh-day Adventist Church, 07:26 the sub department that's responsible 07:28 for that is called public affairs 07:29 and religious liberty, which broadens that a bit. 07:32 As I think it naturally can be, anyhow. 07:34 So what you're saying, 07:37 these public contacts, 07:38 keeping an eye out for civil and religious liberties, 07:40 generally, 07:42 can easily embrace social concerns 07:45 where we, you know, concern for the homeless 07:49 and just the moral 07:52 and clear functioning of society, 07:54 we can be a help and watchdogs in many and vary ways, right? 08:00 Now I'm a little personally cautious 08:02 of social gospel 08:04 or a sort of a do-goodism Christianity 08:07 that, well, that may do good things, 08:08 but sort of sidetracks the whole concern. 08:12 But that's more a matter of bias 08:16 and ignoring as Jesus says, 08:18 you know, you do this and that, 08:19 but, you know, ignore the things of the Spirit. 08:22 But we are as Christians, 08:24 and as good citizens of any country, 08:26 I think called to have a concern for our fellowman 08:29 and to ease the situation of anyone we can, right? 08:34 I believe that to be the case. 08:36 And I think that the people that we come in contact with 08:42 are going to know who we are 08:47 based on how we represent ourselves 08:49 and what we do to make a difference 08:51 in their lives. 08:53 And so when you're looking at people, 08:55 oftentimes, we characterize the homeless 08:57 or people with hunger issues 08:59 as people who do don't want to have a job 09:01 or they're having a mental illness 09:03 or they have a variety of different issues, 09:05 that are all their problems 09:07 and their problems are their problems, 09:08 they're not our problems. 09:10 Yeah. 09:11 The question is, how can we make a difference? 09:12 You know, 09:14 there are extraordinary personal stories often, 09:17 but I know in the US, it's relatively easy 09:20 for many people to have, say a divorce, 09:24 and the husband can end up homeless 09:26 if he's not careful. 09:27 And he's lost a little grip with watching his business. 09:31 I know families that have a major health illness 09:36 and other are uninsured or badly insured, 09:38 they can lose their home and be... 09:40 And if there is no relatives around, 09:42 maybe essentially homeless... 09:45 Great disasters can befall people 09:47 that you wouldn't think of 09:49 as sort of the undeserving poor, right? 09:52 There's a tenuousness even in a first class, 09:57 first world country like the United States, 09:59 Australia, where I come from, and so on. 10:01 You might have a lot but in one sweep, you can be... 10:04 You have nothing. 10:07 We were talking last night a little bit about this. 10:09 And you mentioned that 10:11 it's difficult in today's environment, 10:14 for most people in the United States 10:16 to have an event in their life 10:20 that would require them to come up with $400. 10:22 I've seen the statistics. Yeah. 10:25 And that is a reality. 10:27 So when you then talk about a child 10:31 that has to go to the hospital, or a spouse, or a parent, 10:36 and you can take one event, 10:40 and it will completely destroy your entire life 10:42 because there's no money. 10:44 Yeah. 10:45 And, you know, people generally cope with this 10:46 by running up the credit card or something. 10:48 But there's often a limit to that. 10:51 And then in a moment, everything sort of vanishes. 10:55 Just to beg the question and... 10:57 Well, it does make a question. 10:58 What it does is it allows us an opportunity. 11:00 So when you look at... 11:02 When you see the homeless, you see the hunger, 11:03 you see the people that are being trafficked, 11:06 and it's not just for sexual purposes, 11:10 you've got people who come here on a legitimate... 11:15 They have made arrangements to come here to work, 11:18 their passports are taken away from them, 11:20 and they're endangered in that particular service. 11:22 Yeah, it's basically a form of slavery, 11:25 modern slavery. 11:26 And so the question here is that 11:28 with all of these things happening around us, 11:31 how can we as one person make a difference. 11:33 And it's very difficult for one person 11:35 to make a difference. 11:37 But it's not so impossible when you begin 11:39 to combine the one person's efforts 11:42 with many efforts. 11:44 Yeah. 11:45 And then when you begin to look at those issues 11:46 that are in your community, 11:48 generally speaking, 11:51 when you look at the statistics, 11:52 most Americans are suspicious of politicians and government 11:56 and whether or not they're actually doing anything. 11:59 So the question is, 12:01 then why would we want to engage 12:05 a group of people we don't trust. 12:07 Well, generally speaking, 12:08 when you really meet the legislators, 12:10 or the staffers, or the people that are there, 12:12 generally speaking, they go into public service 12:14 because they wanna make a difference. 12:16 And so if we go 12:17 with that particular perspective, 12:18 we thank them for their service... 12:20 And this is... 12:22 I better call you up short. 12:23 You mean, they don't go into politics 12:24 to make a lot of money or to rip off the community? 12:27 Yeah, I don't... 12:28 Generally speaking, that's true. 12:30 Unfortunately, politicians are getting 12:32 a lot of bad press lately, some of them deserved, 12:34 but it's worth mentioning, 12:35 and you've observed that the high number 12:40 of these public officials really are motivated 12:43 by serving one way or another 12:45 the community as always they say 12:46 giving back sometimes. 12:48 But then that is our responsibility 12:50 as the corporate group 12:52 of the citizens of the United States 12:54 is to hold that group accountable. 12:56 And the best way that you can do that 12:58 is just to watch what they're doing 13:00 if they're on the money side, 13:02 then there's this brief period of time 13:05 that they have to get your vote. 13:06 - Yeah. - And so... 13:07 And what you also I think in doing 13:09 and by encouraging people to interact, 13:10 you help to keep them connected to reality. 13:13 The elected officials, that's correct. 13:15 Yeah. 13:16 And, you know, I go enough to Washington DC, 13:18 there's a little bit of an ivory tower there 13:20 that can start to envelop them 13:21 and, you know, 13:23 if they're not careful pretty soon 13:25 they're throwing rolls of paper 13:30 or toilet paper out into the crowd. 13:32 Okay. Okay, now. 13:34 But I think the way you're talking about, 13:36 how can we get involved? 13:38 So the best way to maybe have this discussion 13:40 or leave people that we're talking to 13:47 with an idea of what they can do 13:48 is that when people move to helping other people, 13:53 it actually makes a difference in their life. 13:55 Absolutely. 13:57 We'll take a break. 13:59 We'll be back shortly. |
Revised 2019-06-28