Check It Out: Stay home and watch TV

By Joan Janzen

In a previous article I repeated John Diefenbaker’s famous quote: “I am Canadian, a free Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship God in my own way, free to stand for what I think is right, free to oppose what I believe is wrong …” Once again, a situation in Canada is challenging those freedoms.

Many Canadians had not heard the name Sean Feucht until recently when the American worship leader came to Canada to conduct services from coast to coast. CBC reported permits for his shows on public land were pulled in some eastern Canadian cities and municipalities. A CBC article reported, “Some oppose his affiliation with the MAGA political movement”.

Nevertheless, I took the time to listen to the worship service he conducted in a church in Montreal, and there was no mention of anything political. He preached the gospel, and his listeners joined him in worshiping Jesus.

The CBC article continued to explain, “Amid backlash from the public, Parks Canada East cancelled his permit, citing safety concerns”. However, the safety concerns appeared to come from outside the church when one of the protesters threw a smoke bomb at the musician’s head.

Before the service began, police entered the church wearing flak jackets with the intent to stop the musician from entering the church. However, according to 176(1) of the Criminal Code, it’s an indictable offence to obstruct or prevent an officiant from celebrating a religious service.

Nevertheless, Sean Feucht did enter the church, at which time the police told the pastor he needed a permit. Now, anyone who regularly frequents a church knows a permit is not necessary when inviting a guest speaker or musician into their assembly. But in Canada, where we’re “free to worship”, the city of Montreal is fining the pastor $2500. These tactics would be expected in communist countries, but not in Canada.

When a farmer near a small town in Ontario made his property available for Sean to hold a worship service, he was told by authorities he couldn’t have more than 200 people on his farm.

After doing a bit of homework, I found out what this supposedly dangerous musician does besides sing. For the past twenty years, he and his team have been rescuing children from being trafficked in India, and then sponsoring them. The leader of the team was once a rescued child.

The host of the National Telegraph podcast pointed out Section 2 of the Charter, which guarantees freedom of religion and expression. “The charter applies to speech we like and speech we don’t like. You have to stop people from shutting down things they don’t like,” he said.

Even though some people are saying the musician shouldn’t be allowed in the country, the podcast’s host said, “We let 17,500 people with criminal records into our country. And our Minister of Public Safety wrote a letter in favour of letting a guy involved in a terrorist group into Canada.” Yet somehow, a worship leader is being accused of posing a huge threat.

Sean Feucht said in an online interview, “The world is watching this, and they think Canada is crazy. We didn't come in here trying to provoke controversy. We came in here doing what we’ve been doing for the last three years. This is our third year bringing worship here, but this is the first year we’ve seen this kind of response.”

David Krayden reminded his listeners on his Stand on Guard podcast that our country was birthed on Christian values, which is why there are 25 scripture verses etched on the Peace Tower. Those verses were meant to guide the nation and its leaders, reminding them of a higher authority and the importance of justice and peace.

CBC interviewed the CEO of the Yuck Yuck Comedy club in Toronto. He was asked how do we draw the line when it comes to allowing someone to perform that makes a lot of people feel the message is inappropriate.

The CEO said the only time that you can really censor somebody is under the condition that what they’re saying is potentially violent or if they’re a convicted felon. “Other than that they’re just saying things you don’t agree with.”

The interviewer asked the CEO what he would say to someone who feels the message makes them feel unsafe in their neighbourhood. The CEO answered, “I would say you have an agenda which is not really what you need to have. These people aren’t going to cause any violence; you just don’t agree with what they say. When people start to cancel people that’s completely unacceptable.”

The interviewer asked what the CEO would say to someone who felt angry or threatened by a comedian or musician on stage. The CEO replied, “Stay home and watch TV”.

Opposing municipalities and cities, Parks Canada and protest groups could avoid creating this national embarrassment if they would only “stay home and watch TV”. Then Canadians could be free to speak without fear, free to worship God in their own way, free to stand up for what they think is right and free to oppose what they believe is wrong.