Social Pastor kicks out police showing up during church service

[Peter_Panner]

Pastors, ministers, rabbis, and religious ministry members are a joke of a profession. Just imagine your whole basis for a job involves commiting to the belief in a person who no one can prove ever existed. I respect police officers more.

Regardless of your opinion, religion has proven to save many peoples' lives.

 

[giusti825]

That's not accurate at all. If I choose to go to work with a flu, I can absolutely increase the risk I pose.

This happens all the time during flu season. The state doesn't come in to fine or arrest someone who goes to work sick. People generally do this because most Americans live paycheck to paycheck, dont have paid sick leave and dont have free access to adequate healthcare.

Again, that's a risk that can be modulated.

The risk of just about anything can be modulated. My issue is the state imposing restrictions on people with little to no risk of death (the vast majority) for the sake of select vulnerable small minority of the population. Closing people's businesses without complete compensation is destroying peoples livelihoods and the economy. It is also setting a precedent that the government can restrict your liberty in the face of a crisis, even if you disagree with the governments assessment of the risk posed to you.

This does almost nothing to help if the virus is allowed to propagate unchecked. That's not how any of this works. In your fantasy version of this, the obvious solution would involve Seniors, diabetics, people with aids, and anyone with any pulmonary, or vascular problems to hoard 18 months worth of non-perishable supplies and concoct a solution for sterilizing their home's inputs and outputs, as opposed to you wearing a mask sometimes and not standing nut to butt in the checkout line.

I dont care about the masks or longer lines. I am fine with the government and businesses requiring distancing and taking small measures to mitigate risk to the vulnerable population. Shutting down businesses, placing curfews and fining people who aren't committing a crime (actively harming others or depriving them of liberty) is an abuse of power by the state.

For the underlined portion: Its a bit ridiculous, right? At-risk population are just that, at risk. I didn't put them there, its just a fact of life. I should not be in any way punished or my life affected for a vulnerable minority that I had nothing to do with the creation of. The illness is out there and they can choose their level of risk accordingly. There are services like instacart and doordash nowadays; barricading yourself in your home has never been easier. If an individual needs to do so, they can. But the young and healthy population shouldn't be forced to face restrictions from the state for the sake of a vulnerable minority. Less than 2% of the confirmed cases of covid die from it, thats a risk many people are willing to take and thats also not considering that half of people are asymptomatic. There are many people who see a 98%+ survival rate as something that doesn't warrant rearranging their lives.

There are people unconcerned with the risk of death posed by murdering people too. I'm not sure that logic holds.

This is a disingenuous argument. There is a huge difference between actively killing someone through violence and just living your life during a pandemic where 50% of the people who get infected are asymptomatic. One requires malicious intent and is generally unavoidable by the deceased whereas the other can be easily avoided if the prospective deceased stays home until they are vaccinated.

I've seen that happen too, it's not funny. It's honest to god really sad. Seeing my friend lose her dad and her mom have to live out her final years alone because of weird political talking points rather than choosing to be with his family for another X number of years is so wasteful. If someone got blind sided by this, or took every precaution but life just had other plans... there's not much you can do about that. Watching someone choose to throw away a pretty good life with a total disregard for all the people that love them is affecting.

Sorry about your friends parents.

That said, obsessively trying to avoid an illness is a level of precaution some are not willing to take, especially when the death rate is incredibly low. If the death rate were far higher, I may be a bit more understanding of government intervention for a short period of time, but its been well over a year. This has got to stop. Any state restriction on an individual that is not the direct result of a police intervention or a sentence from a judge needs more justification.

People should be allowed to choose their own level of risk freely, without the intervention of the state unless they are inhibiting others freedoms.

 

[the ambush]

Regardless of your opinion, religion has proven to save many peoples' lives.

Couldn't a person state police officers have proven to save many lives, too?

 

[giusti825]

Why the fuck? Either the law applies to everybody or it doesn't.


If I threw a party over there and got shutdown, then church should get shut down too...Fair is fair, fuck putting that fucking cunt priest who over exaggerates shit on a pedestal, where the law doesn't apply to him....but regular citizens throwing parties will get shutdown? Fuck that.

Neither should be getting shut down. If people want to party, let them party.

 

[giusti825]

and that is exactly why we are still dealing with this over a yer later when it could have been ended in a few weeks if we all complied

We are dealing with it a year later precisely because it was not allowed to circulate through society for us to reach a herd immunity. The lockdowns and restrictions are what made this last so long, not the other way around. If the most vulnerable barricaded themselves in their homes while everyone else just lived life normally this wouldve been over by the fall. All we have done is lengthen the time it will take for society to reach herd immunity solely for the sake of not overwhelming hospitals.

I can understand the argument that more people would have died this way, but I disagree with mandating lockdowns and curfews for this long. It is antithetical to a free society.

 

[the ambush]

I am pro police insofar as they prevent the deprivation of liberty from others. People who aren't harming others should not be harassed or even noticed by police. It's the reason drugs and prostitution should be legal.

I sent a PM.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

The pastor is spot on. This is what people will have to do to stop these overreaching Hellth Departments.

Edmonton, Canada threw a pastor in jail last month for 35 days because he preached in church.

The biggest threat to freedom is "public health."

I live in Edmonton. They didn’t throw him in jail for preaching. They arrested him because he constantly disobeyed regulations. If he had his congregation follow rules regarding capacity, social distancing and masks, just like every other church in the province, and did it over and over again then the situation wouldn’t have escalated the way it did. But week after week he’d cram in like 300 of his followers and tell them not to mask up.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Lol, this nut job again. He's in the news regularly.

Lake of Fire

 

[Papi Chulo]

I live in Edmonton. They didn’t throw him in jail for preaching. They arrested him because he constantly disobeyed regulations. If he had his congregation follow rules regarding capacity, social distancing and masks, just like every other church in the province, and did it over and over again then the situation wouldn’t have escalated the way it did. But week after week he’d cram in like 300 of his followers and tell them not to mask up.

He refused to sign a statement saying he would not preach and perform his pastoral duties for his congregation. So they would not let him go.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

He refused to sign a statement saying he would not preach and perform his pastoral duties for his congregation. So they would not let him go.

Not true. He was refused bail initially because he told the court that he would continue to refuse to follow guidelines:
-15% capacity
-physical distancing
-masks

I took my wife and kids to church on Easter Sunday. We’re Presbyterian. Everyone wore masks and it was at 15% capacity. About 8 minutes into the service there was an interruption when someone announced that some guy in the back was refusing to wear a mask so our Reverend asked him to leave, and the guy did.

At any point Pastor Coates and Grace Life Church could have just said “alright, we’ll follow the guidelines” that have been imposed on all churches (including mine) across the province since day one but instead this Pastor has decided he’s above the law, and now here we are, with the police barricading up the church.

 

[Handsome Bruce]

Religion aka organized crime calling someone nazi's lol.

This dude should call his God and tell him all about it. I'm sure his magical God will stop the cops from showing up again in the future.

Organized crime? There are certainly criminals like Joel Osteen and others who basically run fraud organizations, but this specific church doesn't seem to be very interested in criminal behavior and doesn't appear to make anywhere near the kind of money that mega-churches make.

You can find this on the Church's website:

We preach the gospel at the steps of City Hall. During the years, God shifted our ministry from preaching just to the poor and the homeless, to preaching to politicians and business people, that leave and enter City Hall. At the same time, every week, we feed thousands of homeless, and yet we have an opportunity to proclaim Jesus to all creation, to the rich and the poor. Since 2007, all have the chance through the preaching of salvation by repentance to receive His love, grace and mercy. He died for all who will believe and turn from their wicked ways.

https://www.streetchurch.ca/

 

[Papi Chulo]

Not true. He was refused bail initially because he told the court that he would continue to refuse to follow guidelines:
-15% capacity
-physical distancing
-masks

I took my wife and kids to church on Easter Sunday. We’re Presbyterian. Everyone wore masks and it was at 15% capacity. About 8 minutes into the service there was an interruption when someone announced that some guy in the back was refusing to wear a mask so our Reverend asked him to leave, and the guy did.

At any point Pastor Coates and Grace Life Church could have just said “alright, we’ll follow the guidelines” that have been imposed on all churches (including mine) across the province since day one but instead this Pastor has decided he’s above the law, and now here we are, with the police barricading up the church.

Initially thrown in prison for too many people showing up to worship God and hear him preach. Not his fault that hundreds come to hear him and worship God. He was kept in jail because he could not sign a statement saying he would not hold services and perform his pastoral duties.

https://edmonton.citynews.ca/2021/0...ating-public-health-orders-will-receive-bail/

He seems like a good pastor and many people want to hear him preach the word of God.

If you claim to know God, time for you to figure out who you serve. If you want this man's church shut down, unfortunately you are serving Satan instead of Jesus Christ.

 

[Peter_Panner]

Couldn't a person state police officers have proven to save many lives, too?

What is your point?

 

[the ambush]

Regardless of your opinion, religion has proven to save many peoples' lives.

What is your point?

I don't know.

 

[Day Drinking]

This happens all the time during flu season. The state doesn't come in to fine or arrest someone who goes to work sick. People generally do this because most Americans live paycheck to paycheck, dont have paid sick leave and dont have free access to adequate healthcare.



The risk of just about anything can be modulated. My issue is the state imposing restrictions on people with little to no risk of death (the vast majority) for the sake of select vulnerable small minority of the population. Closing people's businesses without complete compensation is destroying peoples livelihoods and the economy. It is also setting a precedent that the government can restrict your liberty in the face of a crisis, even if you disagree with the governments assessment of the risk posed to you.



I dont care about the masks or longer lines. I am fine with the government and businesses requiring distancing and taking small measures to mitigate risk to the vulnerable population. Shutting down businesses, placing curfews and fining people who aren't committing a crime (actively harming others or depriving them of liberty) is an abuse of power by the state.

For the underlined portion: Its a bit ridiculous, right? At-risk population are just that, at risk. I didn't put them there, its just a fact of life. I should not be in any way punished or my life affected for a vulnerable minority that I had nothing to do with the creation of. The illness is out there and they can choose their level of risk accordingly. There are services like instacart and doordash nowadays; barricading yourself in your home has never been easier. If an individual needs to do so, they can. But the young and healthy population shouldn't be forced to face restrictions from the state for the sake of a vulnerable minority. Less than 2% of the confirmed cases of covid die from it, thats a risk many people are willing to take and thats also not considering that half of people are asymptomatic. There are many people who see a 98%+ survival rate as something that doesn't warrant rearranging their lives.



This is a disingenuous argument. There is a huge difference between actively killing someone through violence and just living your life during a pandemic where 50% of the people who get infected are asymptomatic. One requires malicious intent and is generally unavoidable by the deceased whereas the other can be easily avoided if the prospective deceased stays home until they are vaccinated.



Sorry about your friends parents.

That said, obsessively trying to avoid an illness is a level of precaution some are not willing to take, especially when the death rate is incredibly low. If the death rate were far higher, I may be a bit more understanding of government intervention for a short period of time, but its been well over a year. This has got to stop. Any state restriction on an individual that is not the direct result of a police intervention or a sentence from a judge needs more justification.

People should be allowed to choose their own level of risk freely, without the intervention of the state unless they are inhibiting others freedoms.

The government has always been able to restrict your liberty during a crisis. For example, the Draft.

 

[rearnakedchoke]

Initially thrown in prison for too many people showing up to worship God and hear him preach. Not his fault that hundreds come to hear him and worship God. He was kept in jail because he could not sign a statement saying he would not hold services and perform his pastoral duties.

https://edmonton.citynews.ca/2021/0...ating-public-health-orders-will-receive-bail/

He seems like a good pastor and many people want to hear him preach the word of God.

If you claim to know God, time for you to figure out who you serve. If you want this man's church shut down, unfortunately you are serving Satan instead of Jesus Christ.

He is being advised to follow the covid guidelines by fellow religious leaders of synagogues and mosques. If other religious groups can follow the guidelines, this guy can.

 

[boxingskills]

Organized crime? There are certainly criminals like Joel Osteen and others who basically run fraud organizations, but this specific church doesn't seem to be very interested in criminal behavior and doesn't appear to make anywhere near the kind of money that mega-churches make.

You can find this on the Church's website:

We preach the gospel at the steps of City Hall. During the years, God shifted our ministry from preaching just to the poor and the homeless, to preaching to politicians and business people, that leave and enter City Hall. At the same time, every week, we feed thousands of homeless, and yet we have an opportunity to proclaim Jesus to all creation, to the rich and the poor. Since 2007, all have the chance through the preaching of salvation by repentance to receive His love, grace and mercy. He died for all who will believe and turn from their wicked ways.

https://www.streetchurch.ca/

Religion is a front for a lot of people to grift or hide behind religious beliefs for criminal purposes or cult purposes. It clearly does way more harm than good.
I'm sure the Pastor below handed out a few free meals in between buying every expensive thing he could find with his successful grift.

 

[Papi Chulo]

He is being advised to follow the covid guidelines by fellow religious leaders of synagogues and mosques. If other religious groups can follow the guidelines, this guy can.

Pastor James Coates knows that Jesus Christ is king, not the government. He won't neglect the gathering of the saints to worship the Lord, and he won't kick 500 or so people out of the worship service who want to hear the Gospel of Christ and worship our Lord together as the Bible commands us to. James Coates serves Christ, not power hungry health departments.

 

[rearnakedchoke]

Pastor James Coates knows that Jesus Christ is king, not the government. He won't neglect the gathering of the saints to worship the Lord, and he won't kick 500 or so people out of the worship service who want to hear the Gospel of Christ and worship our Lord together as the Bible commands us to. James Coates serves Christ, not power hungry health departments.

Obey the government. For god is the one who put it there?

 

[Papi Chulo]

Obey the government. For god is the one who put it there?

If their government in Canada has freedom for religion and peaceful assembly, then they are actually obeying their government, and the tyrants in the Health Department and the Premier are wrong.