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Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI200459B
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00:01 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider.
00:02 Before the break, 00:04 I was in a long build up to full of discussion 00:08 of a document called Laudato si'. 00:11 That came out under this present pope, 00:15 Pope Francis. 00:18 And on one level, I must say before I get further into it, 00:22 I have to admire Rome 00:26 and this particular pope 00:28 for bringing out a concern on this topic. 00:32 As I was trying to say before the break, 00:35 it's not serving the world well for people to deny 00:38 that there is something dangerous 00:42 for everybody's safety 00:43 in global weather change patterns. 00:46 There's something extreme, the Arctic is melting, 00:51 the ice is melting, the ice pack is melting. 00:53 Probably sea level rises. 00:57 And there are many cities in the world, 01:00 a threat for millions of people if the water rises just inches, 01:04 forget, you know, tens of feet. 01:07 But remember, 01:08 if the sea level rises say one foot, 01:14 that could just flood a few houses, 01:16 but when the storm surges, 01:18 when there are major storms 01:19 that difference can be accelerated 01:21 or become the difference 01:22 between just lapping on the houses 01:25 on the front street or sweeping back and, 01:28 and submerging most of the city. 01:31 So we, you know, we're in a difficult spot. 01:35 And I do think that it's a good thing 01:39 that a major church 01:41 is putting its prestige on the line 01:44 to raise the awareness on environmental concern. 01:49 I'm just certain in myself, 01:52 unfortunately, that given the claims of Rome, 01:56 given its political involvement, 01:58 giving its unceasing 02:03 chasing of dominance, 02:04 that it probably will not be good 02:07 for religious liberty. 02:11 But let me explain the logic of the document again. 02:15 It starts by... 02:16 As I previously said, 02:18 talking about the earth is like our little sister 02:20 who's dying, 02:21 but then, 02:23 after taking care of the pagan mysticism, 02:28 the Vestal Virgin type approach, 02:31 and I'm sure, that's why it's there. 02:33 We all sort of think of mother earth, 02:35 I can remember the ad for margarine years ago. 02:41 They had a woman dressed up as mother earth 02:43 and tastes the good butter and she says, 02:46 "Oh, this is my natural butter" 02:47 and they said, "It's margarine." 02:49 It's not good to deceive mother earth 02:52 she says, mother nature. 02:55 So this is an elemental appeal, 02:56 the Bible says the elemental spirits, 02:59 but then it moves a little further 03:02 and it starts quoting the Bible texts. 03:05 And very well I think, 03:08 because it says "In respecting creation 03:11 it's necessary to rediscover the rhythms 03:14 inscribed in nature by the Creator." 03:19 What would those rhythms be? 03:22 The Bible talks about from new moon to new moon, 03:24 from harvest to harvest, the cycle of the years, 03:27 the seasons, 03:29 but it also consistently speaks about the weekly cycle, 03:34 and from Sabbath unto Sabbath. 03:36 In fact, the promise is in, even in the new earth, 03:40 after everything is set right by Christ 03:43 and His eternal kingdom is established, 03:45 it says "They will come up from Sabbath 03:48 on unto Sabbath to worship in My holy mountain," 03:53 says the Lord. 03:54 You know, it's an interesting figure 03:55 and this document relates it to our present emergency. 03:58 It says, we need to see this natural rhythm 04:03 that the Creator has put in creation to save it. 04:07 And it says along those lines, 04:09 rest on the seventh-day Sabbath 04:12 is important, interesting. 04:16 Seventh-day Adventists might prick their ears up, 04:19 because we've always 04:21 from the beginning of our organization, 04:23 when we were organized after the Millerite movement, 04:26 we've known the importance, 04:28 we were convince biblically 04:31 of the importance of rediscovering 04:33 or going back to keeping the seventh-day Sabbath. 04:37 But Rome hasn't ever acknowledged that. 04:42 Sunday is the day 04:43 and as I said in another program, 04:48 on the document Dies Domini, 04:52 they said that the early Christians 04:54 didn't have any direct instructions 04:57 to change from Saturday to Sunday, 04:59 but they felt they had the authority 05:01 so they shifted it. 05:02 And people feel quite comfortable with it. 05:04 And we know that there was an element of Christianity 05:08 under Rome, 05:10 or under the Roman Empire, 05:11 particularly wanting to differentiate itself 05:14 from Jewishness, 05:16 wanted to make it western 05:17 or more palatable to the pagans 05:20 and to the non Jews, Sunday is suited. 05:23 Sunday was already a, you know, a heathen day of the sun. 05:28 There are lots of reasons, it's easy to explain, 05:32 harder to explain though 05:33 why now Rome is absolutely accepting these texts 05:37 and not challenging. 05:38 So it says along those lines, Sabbath day. 05:40 Then it says it's not a mere anthem for, 05:43 you know, it's not a matter of just man only. 05:46 It says it's rest for creation, 05:48 for the animals, for everything. 05:50 And a number of times it comes back 05:53 and reiterates the commands in the Bible 05:56 to keep the seventh-day Sabbath. 05:59 And only about two-thirds of the way 06:01 through this very long document about 120, 130 pages, 06:05 does it say that "In keeping the Eucharistic Sunday, 06:09 we're essentially keeping the seventh-day Sabbath." 06:13 Well, it seems to me rhythm is very important 06:16 and you jog rhythm slightly and it's not in rhythm anymore, 06:19 you know, an earth 06:21 that's spinning a little if you tap it, 06:23 or if you change the cycle slightly, 06:26 it'll wobble. 06:27 So it's illogical 06:29 but consistent with the Sunday observance. 06:33 So as a Seventh-day Adventist, 06:37 as someone concerned about religious liberty, 06:40 as somebody very concerned about the environment, again, 06:44 as a Seventh-day Adventist 06:45 we should have been front and center 06:47 in speaking about the environment though 06:49 that I am quite certain 06:51 that this document is going to push the world 06:56 into religious absolutism. 06:58 I do expect and hope 07:01 that the Sabbath will be discussed 07:03 again globally, I'm sure of it. 07:05 The pope, as you would expect 07:07 is not letting this matter ride. 07:10 There was a plan 07:12 and I don't know when this program will come out 07:14 but the next meeting in Rome, 07:16 as many world leaders will come, 07:19 as I remember is set for May. 07:23 There will be others 07:24 and I expect that some of these, 07:27 one of these meetings, 07:28 the US will be front and center 07:30 and pushing in connection with Rome, 07:33 but at the moment the US is a holdout. 07:35 But there is a groundswell of support for this. 07:39 And not just from religionists, 07:41 remember Greta Thornburg, 07:42 this young teen activist from Scandinavia, 07:47 created a lot of interest all around the world, 07:51 and I noticed, even in Islamic countries. 07:54 They were seeing it as their religious duty 07:56 to support the ecological movement. 08:00 There is a groundswell and as she stood before the UN, 08:02 she says "How dare you take away our future 08:05 and deny the reality of this." 08:07 I think this is an unstoppable movement 08:10 of self preservation 08:12 that Rome correctly has seen 08:14 to have a theological implication 08:16 and is going to throw its political pressure behind, 08:20 it's as much influence as it can gain and yet, 08:25 as a Seventh-day Adventist Protestant Christian, 08:27 I know that there's this fatal flaw, 08:30 actually two fatal flaws that work here. 08:33 First of all, in recognizing the seventh-day Sabbath, 08:36 then it twists it to Sunday. 08:39 If the rhythm inscribed in nature 08:41 was so important by God 08:43 that He specified a day, it's... 08:46 can hardly be inconsequential 08:49 that man moves it to another day. 08:51 And then the other fatal flaw, 08:53 which has always been an allure 08:56 for megalithic religious power 09:00 is to use its moral influence 09:04 in a politically abusive way 09:07 to compel and it's very significant to me 09:10 that at the very end of time, 09:12 and Revelation speaks about people 09:16 not being able to buy or sell 09:18 unless they get a certain mark of compliance 09:22 with the requirements of a major world power. 09:26 This might be it, this might be it. 09:29 And I do believe 09:30 that the language of these documents, 09:32 starting with Ad Tuendam Fidem, 09:38 and particularly Memory and Reconciliation, 09:40 and Caritas in veritate, 09:42 they're increasing the logic for compulsion to a good thing 09:47 for our survival. 09:49 And that will be a hard call 09:52 for independently minded people, 09:55 knowing that God created us 09:56 with this moral independence to resist. 10:00 It's very likely, as the Bible says, 10:04 that essentially the whole world 10:06 will be given over to a deception 10:09 and to an obvious necessity of survival, 10:12 but a deception nevertheless. 10:15 And as I read my Bible, as I read prophecy, 10:18 after I look at the different players, 10:20 including an old power, weakened, 10:24 several hundred years ago, 10:26 but strengthening again 10:27 in political and religious influence, 10:29 I think the convergence of necessity 10:32 is going to create a situation 10:34 where it will be very hard for the global powers 10:38 to resist the temptation 10:40 to compel people against their will, 10:43 to worship in a certain way, as they say, 10:47 "For the survival of our species," 10:50 but it probably will be wrong 10:53 and incredibly against 10:55 the principle of freedom of conscience. 10:58 I'll be back shortly. 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Revised 2020-05-07