Post 174--Disrupting Church Services--Zombie Prohibition?

I am a writer. As such, I do a lot more than just writing this particular blog. I operate an extensive website I've told you about frequently--< www.SocialTheology.com >--as well as another blog--
<  ChristianMuslimWorld >--. Sometimes they overlap such as when I decide a certain article, either my own or a guest article, is suitable for the other vehicle as well. In all of them I occasionally share articles with you about the gradual pushing Christianity out of the way here in Canada, but also in other countries.  In some countries it is another religion that persecutes Christians. This is true especially in Muslim and Communist countries, but also happens in Buddhist and Hindu nations.

It also happens in Western countries, including Canada. However, in the West, it is often under the radar so that most  people do not notice. Hence they often feel that talking about persecution of Christians in Western countries is a matter of paranoia, a distorted imagination. I plan to exposing this dangerous tendency by giving it more coverage to show you it's not just paranoia or imagination. It happens. It's true. But usually it is done in such small steps and in such hidden ways that people either not notice or just shrug their shoulders as a non-issue that is blown all out of proportion.

And true enough, in many cases these are small issues that by themselves are not all that significant. However, when you pay attention and put them all in a row you have to come to the conclusion that there is definitely a tendency, an important tendency in Canada, for example, of slowly putting tiny screws on what on the surface look like minor issues.

And while in two paragraphs back I point to other religions plus Communism as the perpetrators, here in Canada it is mainly the people with secular or liberal agendas who are behind it all.  Note that I refer to"liberal," not to"Liberal" as in the Liberal Party, though that Party has its share of supporters for this movement. But it's not only those with such an agenda, there are also kind people among them whose secular or liberal definition of religion blinds them to its real nature. So, when anti-Christian measures come on the table, they don't even recognize them to be anti-Christian in however minute shape.

Today I treat you to an interview published by Lighthouse News, an online news source operated by ARPA--Association for Reformed Political Action, "Reformed" being another term for "Calvinistic," not the former Reform Party. It is also close to Presbyterianism, but that's for another time. You will profit the most from this interview if you also pursue the links in the document. 


                                 DISRUPTING CHURCH SERVICES

André Schutten, Director of Law and Policy - ARPA Canada

As we told you a few months ago on Lighthouse News, the federal government is making a move to eliminate so-called “zombie laws”. These are essentially old laws       which are no longer in effect. The most common reason for their obsolescence is that they’ve been struck down by the court. While those laws are technically still on the books, they have become unenforceable, so they need to be removed to reflect that reality. But earlier this month, the federal Liberals introduced a second bill to eliminate some other old laws, and one of those eliminations could have an impact on every single pastor, and every single church, mosque, synagogue, or Sikh temple in the country. This is a completely separate bill from the one we discussed back in March. On the feature today, ARPA’s Law and Policy Director, André Schutten, on what the government is doing with this latest bill.

LN: Andre, let’s start with some background on the difference between these two bills.

AS: So they have a zombie law [Bill C-39] already and that one targets all these old Criminal Code provisions that were ruled unconstitutional, right? And so, I’m not really sure what the government’s up to. It might be that they’re trying to pass other stuff through this one and they use that description as cover. So C-39, which is also that – unconstitutional provisions, right – it’s “An Act to amend the Criminal Code (unconstitutional provisions) and to make consequential amendments to other Acts” from the Minister of Justice. So that one is the zombie law one. So I don’t know what else they’re trying to do with C-51, but I imagine that what they’re trying to do is they’ve got this cover going on, and they’re saying “Look! All we’re doing is cleaning up the Code again, and we’re just taking care of anything that’s probably unconstitutional.” But what they’re doing with that is they’re also taking out sections that aren’t unconstitutional; that are actually good sections (but) they just don’t feel like debating them.

LN: And that brings us to the central issue here. Right now, the Criminal Code says you can’t harass or assault a clergyman or minister in connection with him performing his duties, on the way to or from a worship service for example. And… you can’t disturb or interrupt a worship service while it’s underway. That is specifically addressed in the Criminal Code. But section 14 of the new zombie law, Bill C-51, specifically moves to eliminate that part of the Criminal Code.

AS: Yeah, so this one clause – Clause 14 – is key to that. Clause 14 is the one that removes protections for worship services. Whether that’s Christian worship services or Islamic or Jewish or Hindu or Sikh worship services; it’s written very broadly and says that anyone who disrupts these worship services is “guilty of a criminal offence.” And that’s a good provision to have, and yet they’re removing it, for no apparent good reason anyway.

LN: ‘I’m looking at that clause and I looked at it initially and I went: “Wow. This is really big.” And then I got to thinking about it and in the government’s defense – and I’m not defending the government, but just to play devil’s advocate for a minute – what’s the last time this provision was ever used? I mean, this is an ancient law that said you’re not allowed to disrupt a church service. Could the argument be made that being a multicultural, pluralistic society, church services aren’t special enough to require a specific clause in the Criminal Code to protect the conduct there?

AS: So, in reviewing some of the transcripts from the House of Commons on debate on this, Mr. Tom Kmiec – he’s a Member of Parliament from Alberta – he pointed out that this section has actually just been used a couple of weeks ago right here in Ottawa, where somebody has been charged under this provision. So in that sense, it is still a “live” section of the Criminal Code; it is being used.

And I think what’s driving the desire to remove this section from the Criminal Code is an attitude that a religious service is no different than a university lecture for example. And why should we give special protection to religious ceremonies if we don’t give it to, you know, a university lecture? And you can imagine, right, it’s been in the news; professor Jordan Peterson for example tried to give a lecture at McMaster University, the University of Toronto, (and) elsewhere, (and) he gets shouted down by protestors, right?

And so some people might say, “Well why – if we’re not gonna give criminal law protection to Jordan Peterson to give his lecture – why would we give it to a minister to give his sermon?” And I’d say that fundamentally the two are very, very different. A university lecture is one thing, but a religious service is something at a much different level. It’s something much more profound going on. And whether you’re Christian or not, I would say that protection ought to be there for a Muslim service – like a prayer service as a mosque – or it should be there for a Jewish service at a synagogue, or at a Christian service at a church. And I think that the government should not be afraid that this section is in any way unconstitutional; it certainly never has been ruled unconstitutional. So we should keep it.

And we need it in today’s society. Again, thinking of the Jordan Petersons of this country that get shouted down (while) giving a lecture, it’s not that hard to imagine that we might one day see people disrupting – in big ways – Christian services where orthodox teaching is being preached from the pulpit.

LN: Is this a fundamental shift in Canadian society? I mean, here we have on the one hand a government that pushes through (Bill) C-16, (that) says you have to use whatever pronouns somebody says they want to be described as, and on the other hand they’re removing this historical context of protection for religious services. It seems to me that there’s a fundamental reshaping of society going on here.

AS: Yeah, I think so. Absolutely. It seems to me there’s this fear of our Christian heritage. There’s this fear of our Christian past. And while I would say it’s absolutely true that the history of this particular section does have to do with Christianity and the Christian faith and protecting church services, that doesn’t mean that it has no value today. Even though we are definitely not a Christian nation anymore, we definitely should be protecting (the) Christian faith but also, again, other faiths should be protected in this respect as well.

And the counter-argument might be made that “Well, you know, we took out those sections but don’t worry; there’s still a section about criminal trespass,” right? So people can be charged under criminal trespass. But that, again, shows a total ignorance of what a worship service is. Now I can’t speak for the Jewish faith or the Muslim faith or the Sikh faith, but certainly for the Christian faith, our worship services are public events. It’s a public worship service. So, you know, we can’t exactly criminally charge protestors who come to a church service if we’re so public about our worship. Our worship is open to the public; we want other people to be able to come. They’re welcome in our church buildings. We want them to hear the Gospel. We want them to get to know Jesus Christ. But yeah, if they’re going to be disruptive and so on then we want to be able to also have the criminal law protection to make sure that that doesn’t happen. So we see ignorance of the Christian faith here, we see the ignorance of our history here. We see ignorance of the possible risks to not just the Christian faith but to all faiths with the approach being taken here. And I think that’s problematic all around.

LN: Is there anything we can do stop C-51? I mean, how do you mount a legal challenge on something that takes something away? It’s kind of a complicated piece.

AS: Indeed. We can’t exactly make a claim that – I don’t think – that we have a constitutional right to this provision. At the same time, we can make the argument that there is no constitutional reason to remove this provision. And so, certainly we are going to apply to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights – that’s where this bill is now – so that’s the Committee stage in the House of Commons, and we’re going to lobby to get that Clause 14 removed. We haven’t looked at the rest of the bill yet, so there might be good parts in the rest of the bill, I’m not going to condemn the entire bill, but this one clause – clause 14, which removes protection for our pastors and our worship services – definitely has to be cut out of that bill. https://arpacanada.ca/lighthouse-news/disrupting-church-services/#lhn-article-7442

Post 76—Stories of Persecution

A number of posts ago, I promised I would occasionally include stories about the persecution suffered by Christians. Those who study that scientifically, mostly Christians, tell us that Christianity is the most persecuted of all religions today.

There are several reasons for this situation. One is that oppressive governments of various stripes fear Christians as potential rivals. 

Another reason is that established religions and ideologies get nervous and jealous when another religion in their neighbourhood expands—and the later is the case with Christianity in many places. For example, China is expected soon to become the country with the largest Christian population. According to some estimates, there are already 100 million Christians in the country, which compares with 87 million members of the Chinese Communist Party (Barnabas Prayer, September 16, 2015).  That, no doubt, is a major reason for Chinese persecution and harassment of Christians, along with their residual Communist heritage. 

A third reason is ruthless ambitions and militant interpretation of some religions, as, e.g. ISIS, Boko Haram in Nigeria and, increasingly, Hindu nationalists in India.  Often behind such persecution is a long history of western colonialism / imperialism and its subtle attempt to impose secularism that has finally come home to roost.

Today’s stories are taken from Barnabas Prayer  (Sept/ Oct., 2015).  For Barnabas itself, see < barnabasaid.org >.

Many Christians in Tanzania are facing serious harassment for trying to engage in the butchery trade, which Muslims seek to control absolutely. There is no Tanzanian law against slaughtering pigs and selling pork (a forbidden meat according to Islamic law), but when Muslims complain, the authorities will often respond as if the Christians were doing something illegal.  In Kigoma, five Christians were arrested in June just for being found in possession of pork meat.  Tanzanian Muslims often claim that only they have the right to slaughter animals for meat, although this is not the case according to Tanzanian law. Yet, in Geita, on May 18, a Christian was arrested just for engaging in butchery work, and in Kagera, a man was offered the choice of paying a fine or going to jail for killing his own cow, eating part of it and selling the rest (September 8, 2015).  I am going to discuss parallel Nigerian situations like this one in the next post to show you that,  as exotic as this sounds to a Canadian, in communities with powerful Muslims this is a common situation.

According to reports, ISIS trains boys aged 8-15 how to kill. They are taught to shoot at close range and made to behead plastic dolls with swords so that they will be able to behead infidels (i.e., mostly Christians). Some of the children have been captured by ISIS. Others are lured to join it with sweets, toys and money, and then turned into killers and suicide bombers (October 17, 2015).

Two Syrian Christian families who sought asylum in Sweden have been persecuted by Syrian Muslims sharing the same communal asylum house and forced to move out. The Muslims banned the Christians from using the communal areas of the house, which accommodated around 890 asylum seekers, and made them hide their crosses. Pray that the Swedish authorities will have wisdom in the arrangements they make and will not unwittingly cause further distress or danger to Christians who have made their way there seeking peace and freedom (September 4, 2015).

Our next story is a prayer:  Almighty God, we pray to you for the many Iraqi Christian women and girls captured by ISIS and sold as slaves. We pray for the Yazidi and other non-Muslim women also sold into slavery by ISIS… who organize the slave-markets and even offered female slaves as prizes in a Qur’an-memorizing competition in June (October 18, 2015).

Tens of thousands of Burundian Christian women and children have fled political violence in their homeland since April to seek refuge in neighbouring Tanzania. The camp facilities are overflowing and there are severe shortages of food and shelter. At the time of writing 55,000 were sleeping in the open air. There is normally a rainy season in November-December, which will make life even worse for those who have no shelter. Tanzanian churches are striving to bring aid to the refugees, but are very poor themselves and had little to share with others. Ask…the Lord to meet the needs of the refugees, who are arriving at the rate of 2500 a day (October 28, 2015)!

In North Korea, Christianity is seen as the foremost threat to the ideology of Juche--total dependence on the ruling Kim family and the state. It is estimated that 100,000 Christians are incarcerated in labour camps, only because of their love for the Lord, clothed in rags, hungry and malnourished, beaten and abused. “But God also comforted me and brought a secret fellowship into existence, says Hae-Woo, one survivor of the labour camps. “Every Sunday we would gather in the toilets and pray (October 29, 2015).

Barnabas Aid reports that “the existential threat to the Christian presence in the Middle East is now being recognized as a cause for concern even by the secular Western media.”  It passes on to us a NY Times reported in July that two-thirds of Iraqi Christians have fled since 2003; a third of Syrian Christians have fled since 2011; the Lebanese Christian population dropped from 78% to 34% during the last century (September 1, 2015).  Their report on the Christian population is horrible, but the new recognition by the press is a rare piece of good news. Similar encouraging trends are in evidence by the fact that both Canadian and American governments have established offices to monitor religious freedom around the world.

I suspect that many Western secularists cannot understand why these Christians are so stubborn in their faith. Why not just change to the majority faith?  What’s the big deal?  Well, these people are often born again and have experienced and met the living Saviour. They are not about to trade Him in for some mythical fanciful idolatry, whether state religion, pagan religion or for the current world’s crop of the most haughty religions, namely Islam and secularism. 

In addition, not all self-declared Christians are born again or are even Christian. Some are adherents to forms of Christianity, including the citizens of “Christendom,” that have in effect become tribal religions that are tied up so closely with their identity that they cannot imagine letting it go for another identity, even under pressure.  Jesus told Nicodemus, a leader among the Jews of his days, that in order to enter the Kingdom of God, you must be born again. Calling Abraham your father is no guarantee. I am happy that I am not responsible for ferreting all this out!  

But if you call yourself a Christian and insist on acting like one, no matter where or what kind, you are potentially subject to persecution, whether physical or legal or in some form of discrimination or all of these.  Even in the so-called “tolerant” but secular West.