Participants:
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI210509B
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00:06 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider,
00:08 before the break with Liberty editor Bettina Crouse, 00:13 and that's hard for me to say because I was Liberty 00:15 editor for 22 years. 00:17 But with Bettina, we were talking about 00:19 her philosophy on editing 00:21 and dealing with religious liberty, 00:23 editing Liberty Magazine. 00:26 And this is my chance to suss out 00:30 what she's likely to do as editor. 00:33 Bettina, let me put a challenge to you though. 00:36 I believe that sooner rather than later, 00:39 so by definition, within your editorship, 00:42 you're going to face a major civil liberties 00:45 crisis in the United States. 00:47 Okay. 00:48 One evidence and it's coming from several angles, 00:51 but I'd like your thoughts on it. 00:53 You know, at a recent Davos meeting of all of the money 00:58 people in the world and many leaders, 01:01 they spoke 01:05 and really suggested that they're about to enter 01:09 the great reset, great financial reset 01:13 and the slogan of this is that you will own 01:16 nothing and you will be happy. 01:20 Now, I've heard that before, that's the communist slogan, 01:25 but we clearly are at the point of collapse 01:28 of the economic system that's characterized the West. 01:32 It's collapsed before 01:34 and it's destined for collapse because it's based on nothing 01:37 since Richard Nixon took us off the gold standard in '71. 01:42 It's a confidence game, 01:43 where money is made by the banks 01:46 and the governments and the whole thing 01:48 is just sort of blowing up 01:51 and inflation is one of the signs. 01:53 But with COVID giving away 5 trillion dollars 01:56 of typed in money, not real, 02:00 not connected to production or anything, 02:02 I believe they've shown their hand. 02:04 This is the end game, 02:05 they're really actually speeding it along now. 02:08 It will not be the same 02:10 when there are masses of people, 02:12 basically wards of the state, 02:16 little bit like in the Great Depression, 02:19 when people were in WPA camps. 02:22 I'm sure you know many Seventh-day Adventists 02:25 were harassed and even a few of them given 02:28 fake executions for not working 02:30 on Sabbath in a work camp that was very 02:32 akin to a detention camp. 02:35 We will have the same sort of thing, 02:36 where property is taken away or maybe fritted away 02:40 with economic collapse 02:41 and then people are told by the government 02:44 what to do, given a regular salary, 02:47 but work and controlled 02:49 and basically they're vassals of the state. 02:51 That's clearly what they're planning. 02:54 Well, you know, Lincoln, I'm not an economist, 02:56 but if what you say comes to pass, 03:00 I think the key idea is that in times of fear 03:03 and turmoil, 03:05 people are more prepared to give up their rights. 03:08 I mean, you see in the aftermath of 9/11. 03:12 Of course. 03:14 I mean, we recently 03:15 commemorated an anniversary of that. 03:18 The passage of the Patriot Act, 03:21 you know, an act that massively increased 03:24 government reach and surveillance powers, 03:28 it sailed through congress 03:30 in less than seven weeks after 9/11, 03:33 all in the name of preventing terrorism. 03:38 You know, we saw it at the beginning of COVID, 03:40 now, you know, clearly public health measures 03:42 were needed and necessary and they are necessary. 03:47 But it was intriguing to see how people 03:50 were prepared to give up rights, 03:53 you know, rights of association, 03:56 you know, right to live their lives 03:59 as they've always lived them because of a culture 04:02 or an environment of fear. 04:04 And so, you know, what I have learned from you, Lincoln, 04:08 is that one of the roles of Liberty Magazine 04:12 is to help people remain vigilant. 04:15 Right. 04:16 And to, I believe as Jesus told the Pharisees, 04:20 we should to some degree study the seasons. 04:23 Now, it's watching global warming disrupt the seasons. 04:27 But, you know, we're used to analyzing some things, 04:30 freedom should be the same. 04:31 We should be aware of these giant shifts in public 04:34 attitude toward something as important 04:37 as religious freedom or civil liberties generally. 04:40 But, of course, it's the first freedom, religious liberty. 04:43 Yeah. 04:45 There's a sociologist, but I believe 04:47 his name's Jared Davis, 04:48 who writes about this concept called Creeping Normalism. 04:52 And it's this idea that incrementally, 04:54 things can change for the worst in society, 04:57 you know, whether it's roads, 04:58 whether it's infrastructure of other kinds, 05:01 whether it's the economy. 05:03 And then people accept a new baseline 05:06 of normality over time, until one day, 05:09 you know, after the passage of a significant period, 05:13 they wake up and realize that normal 05:15 is no longer what is used to be. 05:17 Well, that's the old story, I've told it many times of, 05:19 you know, the frog and the very slowly warming water. 05:23 You adapt to anything. 05:25 Which, of course, 05:26 the scientific principle has been debunked 05:28 because if a frog is left in water that is warming, 05:31 it will to try to escape. 05:33 Well, maybe. 05:36 Frog remains. 05:37 But, talk about warming water 05:39 and I didn't plan on mentioning this and so you're the vehicle 05:43 to enable my comment. 05:46 Only a few days ago 05:47 I spoke at a little camp meeting in Washington State, 05:52 but I flew into Portland, Oregon. 05:54 And have you started traveling yet since the... 05:58 No. No, I haven't. 06:00 It's an adventure and amongst other things, 06:02 rental cars are fantastically expensive. 06:05 I've been quoted $1000 plus for three or four days. 06:10 Very hard to get a car less than $100. 06:14 But anyhow, I rented a car there and I did get 06:16 a relatively reasonable price. 06:19 And not like the old days 06:22 where you lined up at a counter, 06:24 now, it's sort of like an Apple Store, where you line up near 06:27 the cars and then different agents with the pad come. 06:31 And this African, he appeared an African fellow came 06:35 and helped me, really was very pleasant. 06:37 And I joked with him, I said, "I'm not sure 06:39 if I'm going to order an iPad 06:41 or a chicken sandwich here." 06:45 Two companies that are doing it that way. 06:50 So we were talking freely, then I asked him 06:53 when we got to the car where he is from. 06:54 He said he's from Rwanda. 06:57 And with very little prompting from me beyond just asking 07:01 where he is from, he told me that he's been telling 07:06 his fellow workers that he's getting 07:08 a bad feeling because he says 07:10 what's happening in the US reminds him 07:12 of what happened in Rwanda before the genocide. 07:17 In terms of the polarization of attitude, 07:19 is that what he meant? 07:21 Yes. 07:22 Well, not just polarization, 07:24 the murderous type anger. 07:28 You can go on many, usually right wing, 07:32 well, in this case it had to be right wing websites 07:34 and I hear it over and over again, 07:36 "The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat." 07:38 That is just not civil language. 07:42 Right. 07:43 And years ago in an editorial I wrote that the difference 07:47 between the right wing hate radio or the hate radio rather 07:52 that preceded the genocide in Rwanda 07:54 and right wing hate radio is one of green, not of kind. 07:59 Well, and I think this is one of the important tasks 08:02 of Liberty Magazine. 08:03 And that is to, you know, restraint the rhetoric, 08:07 to help people know how to engage in civil, 08:12 courteous dialogue about different issues. 08:15 Yeah. 08:16 And that is I think, one of the more challenging tasks 08:21 ahead of Liberty Magazine going forward. 08:24 And you're watching the time like I am. 08:26 It's drifting away quickly for this program 08:29 and you've almost given your charter there. 08:32 But what do you see the biggest challenge that's ahead of you, 08:37 apart from assembling the first few issues? 08:39 And I feel for you because I went through it too. 08:43 You sit at a desk and, you know, where do you start? 08:47 Yes. 08:48 No, but I think it is as we've been talking about it. 08:50 It's learning how to thread the needle, 08:53 learning how to approach inherently contentious issues, 08:57 things that people feel deeply and emotionally about, 09:00 without appearing to be putting 09:03 your thumbs on the political scale. 09:06 To be able to discuss things in a way that doesn't trigger 09:11 these destructive emotions. 09:13 Very well put, and I tried that for a long time. 09:17 On this program it can be a little bit more provocative. 09:20 But yes, Liberty should not be in the business 09:22 of offending people unless the truth itself offends them. 09:27 But you're promoting an egalitarian view 09:30 of religious liberty, that in some ways is even 09:34 different than our profession as Seventh-day Adventist. 09:38 That's got its own emphasis, but we are in the broad scope 09:42 encouraging people to see this as a God given 09:45 right that they should exercise 09:47 and we're all the way with them on that, right? 09:51 Thanks very much, Bettina, we'll talk again. 09:53 God bless. 09:59 There are many difficult things that each 10:01 of us will see in our lifetime. 10:03 One of the most difficult for me, 10:05 just a few days ago in my home town of Hagerstown, 10:08 Maryland, I drove past the Review 10:11 and Herald Publishing House where I first began working 10:14 and saw the bulldozers destroying it. 10:16 Hard to take. 10:18 Only a few months ago now, 10:20 I attended my retirement resignation 10:23 and then a new editor of Liberty Magazine was chosen. 10:27 Not hard, particularly seeing a competent editor picking up 10:33 where I left off 10:34 and I know Bettina Crouse will do very well, 10:37 very well indeed. 10:40 Charlton Heston was famously quoted as saying, 10:43 "Only out of my cold dead fingers." 10:45 I'm not dead and hopefully not cold. 10:47 And in fact my heart is warmed to know that what AT Jones 10:51 and other pioneers started and established 10:54 is being carried on powerfully for religious liberty. 10:58 For Liberty Insider, this is Lincoln Steed. |
Revised 2021-10-21