SWAT Team Arrests Christian Pastor

[Wade]

Yet strangely enough that is permitted. Bars, strop clubs, and casinos remain open. What is curtailed is church.

That would be an incorrect statement. Casinos are not permitted to be open. Bars and night clubs may only be open as drive-thru or take-out. Not sure where you have been getting your information from. Also, I can't so much as buy coffee at a take-out place and offer it to you and wade at the same time. Only my household and one person from another household that lives alone may "gather" regardless of purpose or religion.

Josh's statement was true in BC until a couple weeks ago they called for a "circuit breaker" and stopped indoor dining. Casinos had indoor dining and so were open until then too.

[Signtist]

I just thought of my shortsightness after I posted. Not every province is the same.

[Wade]

I just thought of my shortsightness after I posted. Not every province is the same.

Thank you for your humbleness and being willing to admit that.

I can't understand why so many "Christians" don't want to believe what is actually happening or accept it when they don't live here? Rather a casting of judgement, doubt, and suspicion... I can't help but wonder if the motivation is fear of Covid? I don't know? Nor do I understand? Why would we lie about government oppression on the church?

[Signtist]

It's government oppression on individuals, religious organizations, businesses, and well every organization and person in Canada. It's not only oppression of churches. I think It's fascinating to watch the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms begin legal proceedings against 5 provinces. Their arguments are compelling and science based.

[Josh]

Yet strangely enough that is permitted. Bars, strop clubs, and casinos remain open. What is curtailed is church.

That would be an incorrect statement. Casinos are not permitted to be open. Bars and night clubs may only be open as drive-thru or take-out. Not sure where you have been getting your information from. Also, I can't so much as buy coffee at a take-out place and offer it to you and wade at the same time. Only my household and one person from another household that lives alone may "gather" regardless of purpose or religion.

I’m speaking of Alberta / BC which is what I have the most exposure to (and Wade). Yes, I understand Ontario is really really restricted - whilst I don’t agree with it, Ontario does seem much less religiously targeted.

My church’s small community in Quebec is being forced out of existence as they won’t allow them to operate a school anymore, with no church or school and no way to ever meet, we don’t really have a community.

[Josh]

It's government oppression on individuals, religious organizations, businesses, and well every organization and person in Canada. It's not only oppression of churches. I think It's fascinating to watch the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms begin legal proceedings against 5 provinces. Their arguments are compelling and science based.

One thing that troubles me is knowing the only reason America isn’t the same way is because my neighbours are unruly people who will ignore and rebel against government edicts. I used to think this was a bad thing. Now I don’t know what to think.

Likewise the counties I spend my time in are rebellious against state level authorities and thus we have a lot more freedoms. I called the county before hosting my wedding and the county officials encouraged me to go ahead with it. The state at the time said any such thing was a no no. I decided the authority I would recognise is the one most local to me.

[puttincomputers]

I live in BC. The only way to dine in at a restaurant here is if you are a student or university worker and the restaurant is on your campus and open to university students or university workers. There are certain dining establishments on campus that are only open to certain portions of the student body because it is the only place they can eat and it is indoors. Even then, most of the restaurants on campus don't allow indoor dining even if you are a student or worker.

We haven't had in-person classes in over a year. Students were beginning to hibernate even before the province told us to. The student population took a major hit and my huge university is like a ghost town. Last summer the wildlife started taking over, and I expect that to happen again this summer. It's rather weird watching the wildlife take over while at the same time construction workers are working at a breakneck pace to build huge new buildings. That's right, this is the perfect time to tear down or rehabilitate dilapidated or seismically unsafe buildings and build new buildings. Want to build a new wing on your church or rehabilitate it? Now is the perfect time to do it. Skip the wood, go with some other building material.

I have been off campus maybe 5 times in the past year (other than going out to get my mail or to visit my bubble friend).

Oh, and my church? We have been meeting online for the duration, except for a single in person test one Sunday which was sparsely attended. During that time we have lost around 5 members, but amazingly, none of them died from CoVid. There were either very old or they got cancer and quickly kicked the bucket. That said, the old folks love being able to join in via zoom, even when the tech boggles their minds. We have people joining from all over the world that would otherwise never be able to join in. At the end of each service, the pastor creates zoom rooms for random conversations and then randomly assigns participants to each one. About half the church stays for those rooms and the comradery is amazing.

[puttincomputers]

It's government oppression on individuals, religious organizations, businesses, and well every organization and person in Canada. It's not only oppression of churches. I think It's fascinating to watch the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms begin legal proceedings against 5 provinces. Their arguments are compelling and science based.

The "Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms" claims to be non-partisan, but they are funded by right-wing hacks and typically only take on cases for ultra-conservative or libertarian clients. You should see how they defended some people who wanted some extremely sketchy license plates, plates that I cannot repeat here.

[ohio jones]

That's right, this is the perfect time to tear down or rehabilitate dilapidated or seismically unsafe buildings and build new buildings. Want to build a new wing on your church or rehabilitate it? Now is the perfect time to do it. Skip the wood, go with some other building material.

If the building project isn't already in the pipeline, don't expect to get it scheduled anytime soon. Cost escalation isn't the only factor; supply side disruptions and labor shortages are slowing things down too. I'm working with contractors in about 8 states right now, and all of them are facing the same challenges.

[Josh]

I live in BC. The only way to dine in at a restaurant here is if you are a student or university worker and the restaurant is on your campus and open to university students or university workers. There are certain dining establishments on campus that are only open to certain portions of the student body because it is the only place they can eat and it is indoors. Even then, most of the restaurants on campus don't allow indoor dining even if you are a student or worker.

We haven't had in-person classes in over a year. Students were beginning to hibernate even before the province told us to. The student population took a major hit and my huge university is like a ghost town. Last summer the wildlife started taking over, and I expect that to happen again this summer. It's rather weird watching the wildlife take over while at the same time construction workers are working at a breakneck pace to build huge new buildings. That's right, this is the perfect time to tear down or rehabilitate dilapidated or seismically unsafe buildings and build new buildings. Want to build a new wing on your church or rehabilitate it? Now is the perfect time to do it. Skip the wood, go with some other building material.

I have been off campus maybe 5 times in the past year (other than going out to get my mail or to visit my bubble friend).

Oh, and my church? We have been meeting online for the duration, except for a single in person test one Sunday which was sparsely attended. During that time we have lost around 5 members, but amazingly, none of them died from CoVid. There were either very old or they got cancer and quickly kicked the bucket. That said, the old folks love being able to join in via zoom, even when the tech boggles their minds. We have people joining from all over the world that would otherwise never be able to join in. At the end of each service, the pastor creates zoom rooms for random conversations and then randomly assigns participants to each one. About half the church stays for those rooms and the comradery is amazing.

We have been meeting in person for a year, and during that time, nobody died of covid.

Wade’s point remains: casinos, strip clubs, and ski slopes remain open, despite the latter being identified as a source of an outbreak and transmission. Keeping churches closed is irrational. They aren’t a cause of spread.