Participants:
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI190454B
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00:01 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider
00:02 before the break with guest Greg Hamilton. 00:06 I am not, it doesn't take much doing, 00:08 I'm trying to extract some highlights 00:11 of your illustrious career 00:13 in religious liberty starting from... 00:15 We didn't quite start in the cradle, 00:16 but when you were young and what led you toward it. 00:19 And just before the break 00:21 you were talking about the Oregon, 00:23 what is it, the religious? 00:24 Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act. 00:25 Yeah, but it dealt 00:27 with religious garb a lot, right? 00:28 Well, it dealt with holy day accommodations for anybody 00:33 that had a particular Sabbath that they needed 00:36 to have accommodated in the workplace. 00:40 And that was interesting in and of itself, 00:41 we can talk more about the legal aspects in a minute 00:44 but what happened was, 00:47 we got the bill passed 00:48 in both the House and the Senate 00:50 and Governor Ted Kulongoski signed it, 00:53 but then immediately a number of religious minorities, 00:58 Sikhs, Hindus, Jewish sects, 01:03 and also Islamic sects wanted to repeal it, 01:07 because it didn't allow for the wearing 01:09 of any religious clothing or garb in the workplace... 01:12 Yeah, I guess, I was getting ahead of things. 01:13 In public schools, while teaching school. 01:16 And so teachers were basically barred from that 01:18 and they went back to that statute 01:21 in the bill that we passed and it remained. 01:26 Was a statute that went clear back to 1920, 01:28 and it was a statute 01:30 that was inspired by the Ku Klux Klan 01:32 in the state of Oregon at the time. 01:34 Governor Pierce was the governor 01:36 and both chambers in the House and the Senate, 01:39 Republicans and Democrats were basically owned 01:42 by the Ku Klux Klan 01:44 and claimed Ku Klux Klan membership, 01:46 it basically had become a very racist state. 01:49 And they believed that the greatest threat 01:53 to their sense of white supremacy 01:58 and if you will "Protestantism". 02:00 Well, that was Ku Klux Klan, it wasn't just racism, 02:03 it was a White Christian country. 02:09 And so by definition they were against Catholics and Jews. 02:12 Yes. Very much so. 02:14 And so, but they believed that communism. 02:17 I didn't wanna say Christian, Protestant, I meant Protestant. 02:19 Yeah, they believed that Communism 02:20 or Leninism at the time, 02:21 because of Lenin rising up in Russia 02:25 and creating a revolution there. 02:28 Would best or easiest to infiltrate 02:32 through Catholic schools and so they thought, 02:35 well, if it's through Catholic schools, 02:36 it might be even through Protestant schools too. 02:38 So they came up with this plan 02:41 and put a bill through the legislature 02:43 basically banning all religious schools. 02:45 All right, now go figure. 02:47 I mean, who would think of doing that? 02:48 And by the way it resulted in the greatest, 02:50 biggest religious freedom decision 02:53 by the US Supreme Court ever in American history. 02:56 It's called St. Mary's Academy 02:58 or Pierce v. Society of Sisters which is St. Mary's Academy 03:02 on 5th Street right there in Downtown Portland, Oregon. 03:05 And so they had, 03:08 the governor had signed the law, 03:11 the bill into law, 03:12 and it banned all religious schools, 03:15 so everybody was in a state of fear. 03:16 The Adventist Church came, 03:18 you know, wrote a Supreme Court brief, 03:21 it was one of the strongest ones actually, 03:24 and the Supreme Court ruled 9 to nothing against governor. 03:27 It said, are you nuts, you know, so that's, 03:30 that was interesting history but that, 03:32 there was a statute still remaining in our bill, 03:36 the Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act 03:39 that didn't allow any wearing of religious garb 03:42 or clothing in public school 03:43 while teachers were teaching in public school. 03:45 And it was aimed specifically at Catholic priests and nuns. 03:48 Okay, if they were to come in 03:50 and teach in public schools and so, 03:52 that still remained on the books. 03:54 And by the way there were still three states 03:56 that had that by the time 03:57 we passed the Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act. 04:00 Pennsylvania, Oregon and I believe Tennessee 04:04 were the three. 04:05 And so, the other two have been since repealed by the way, 04:09 but Oregon started that movement 04:11 to help the other states get it repealed. 04:13 And maybe for our viewers, 04:14 even though from time to time we've revisited the... 04:23 Religious freedom... 04:24 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. 04:26 Was passed on a federal level a long time ago, 04:28 what was it '96? 04:29 '93. 04:30 '93, it was in the 90s. 04:33 And it was declared unconstitutional 04:35 because it gained a lot of its... 04:37 And the Supreme Court decision called Boerne v. Flores, 1997. 04:40 Because it was piggybacked on inter-state commerce, right? 04:44 Yes. 04:45 Not because there was anything really wrong with the law 04:47 and since then, you as a major figure 04:51 and others tried to do the equivalent 04:53 by getting it state by state, right? 04:55 Yes, and we did that in Idaho in year 2000. 04:57 I know you had great success on it. 04:59 We had State Religious Freedom Restoration Act passed, 05:01 that was our first victory in 2000. 05:04 I'd come on board at the Union Conference office there 05:07 at the North Pacific Union in the year 1998, 05:10 and that was a huge victory for us 05:12 with Senator Grant Ipsen, who is now deceased. 05:15 And my good Mormon friend 05:18 who was just a dear, dear man. 05:20 Just a good soul and very conscientious person. 05:24 Now, when you got this through, 05:26 did you have any trouble with groups wanting to add, 05:30 add on bits and pieces to the basic bill 05:33 with their own agenda, 05:34 'cause that's the problem now in a nutshell? 05:36 Well, The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU, 05:38 you fought us tremendously including 05:40 with our Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act. 05:43 And by the way just to finish off 05:45 with the Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act, 05:47 when we, when the religious minorities, 05:50 the ethnic religious minorities 05:52 wanted to repeal our original victory 05:55 with the Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act, 05:57 we convinced them to stay on board. 06:01 After 10 years of effort to stay on board 06:03 to help us amend the bill 06:05 instead of repealing it, okay, 06:07 repealing the statute or the law 06:09 that we just passed the year before. 06:12 And so they decided to work with, 06:14 thanks to our representative Dave Hunt 06:16 who was a man called for such a time as that. 06:19 Former American Baptist Conference president nationwide 06:25 and he served as a short time 06:27 as speaker of the House there in Oregon. 06:29 And truly his power, 06:34 his consciousness 06:40 really worked in our behalf 06:41 and so we lobbied legislators day and night, 06:46 and the reason being 06:48 is because the ACLU 06:49 had convinced a number of Democratic legislators 06:52 to go ahead and repeal the bill. 06:55 That, because, but their reason was opposite. 06:59 Okay, their reason was they wanted 07:01 to keep the statute in there, 07:03 that the Ku Klux Klan put in there 07:07 regarding banning all religious garb 07:10 by public school teachers in public schools. 07:12 They wanted to keep that in place to ban that. 07:15 'Cause they kept religion out of the public schools. 07:17 In the name of the constitutional separation 07:18 of church and state which is an irony in itself. 07:21 But Attorney Steve Greene 07:23 from Willamette University School of Law 07:25 which is right across the street from Salem. 07:28 The Oregon legislature there in Salem 07:30 came to our defense 07:31 and he was the biggest proponent of the ACLU, 07:34 one of their chief spokesmen, okay. 07:36 So he backed them down 07:38 and yet we still had to convince legislators, 07:41 in fact, going into the, 07:44 both the House and the Senate for votes and debate. 07:47 We had a number of them, who said, 07:49 "No, we're gonna vote to repeal." 07:52 And when we got there, Dave Hunt even came to me, 07:55 the speaker of the House, he says, 07:57 "I don't know what's going to happen 07:59 but this does not look good." 08:00 And so, just sit in the chamber and we'll see how it comes out. 08:03 I had the worst ulcer I've ever heard in my life 08:06 when I was sitting up there in the chamber 08:08 and I'm telling you it was a miracle, 08:10 especially the Senate one. 08:11 We got it through the House just fine, 08:13 at 66% of the vote, okay. 08:16 But the Senate was the most dramatic 08:17 where one by one Democratic senators got up 08:20 and said, I've changed my mind and here's why. 08:25 And one of the reasons that drove them 08:26 to change their mind 08:28 was the fact that when they understood 08:30 the Ku Klux Klan historical connection, 08:34 that really convicted them. 08:36 And number two, the other reason, 08:37 this is the irony 08:39 is that there were a number of Republicans 08:41 who were very pro big business. 08:43 And they didn't want to accommodate anybody 08:45 for anything in the workplace. 08:46 It was all about the mighty dollar bill 08:49 and they said, "Oh, it affects small businesses." 08:51 So they voted against it, 08:53 but nevertheless as Democrats came through 08:56 and we had another 66% vote in the Senate. 08:58 You pulled it off. 09:00 So then we had our April Fool's Day 09:01 signing ceremony on April 1st with Governor Ted Kulongoski 09:05 with that famous... 09:06 That picture. 09:07 It's a beautiful picture on April 1. 09:09 And we can't show it here, 09:10 but go on the Liberty website and you'll see it. 09:12 Yeah, it's just amazing and... 09:14 But what... We're running out of time, 09:16 but one thing that I got out of that 09:18 and hearing it again from you, 09:20 this was not a simple thing, 09:22 it involved a lot of people, 09:23 and a lot of time, and a lot of persistence. 09:25 Yeah, it did. 09:28 And religious liberty 09:29 is not something to take casually? 09:31 No. 09:32 It rewards consistent and diligent effort, 09:33 doesn't it? 09:35 There's a lot of nuance and substance involved 09:36 when it comes to defending 09:38 and passing religious freedom bills. 09:41 I'm thankful for the career 09:44 that God has given me to be a sentinel 09:48 on the walls of religious freedom, 09:51 and I wouldn't trade that for anything. 09:56 I would do it all over again, 09:58 and I love the ministry of religious freedom. 10:01 And I would encourage you that if you are young, 10:05 and you're watching this program, 10:06 you're a boy or a girl, 10:09 and you want to champion 10:10 true religious freedom in this country, 10:12 you wanna be a true American patriot. 10:14 I would encourage you to go to school, 10:18 get your college degrees, whatever it takes, 10:21 become either an attorney, a historian, a business person, 10:25 a nurse, and doctor, whatever. 10:27 But set out to make your life goal 10:29 to champion religious freedom, both in your home, 10:34 in the workplace and at your state legislature. 10:38 Thank you. God bless. 10:46 Only a few years ago, it seems George Bush Sr. 10:49 was commenting that freedom and democracy 10:53 seems to be breaking out all over the world. 10:55 Well, those days are past, authoritarianism, 10:59 and despotism, and repression, 11:01 and visceral sort of nationalistic movements 11:05 are the order of the day in our day. 11:08 And often, very often religious conflict 11:12 is the center of this movement. 11:14 It's very unfortunate 11:15 that religion seems to be hastening 11:18 these bad tendencies. 11:20 Much better as we promote religious freedom, 11:23 and tolerance, and respect, 11:25 and allowance for all faiths of conscience. 11:27 Much better that that's the movement. 11:30 Much better that we work to the day for that 11:32 to break out all over. 11:36 For Liberty Insider, this is Lincoln Steed. |
Revised 2020-03-02