Rebel News Podcast - Patterns of Religious Persecution from the Healthcare Deep State

00:00:00.000 Hey Rebels, you're listening to a free audio-only recording of my weekly Wednesday night show,

00:00:04.080 The Gun Show. Tonight my guest is my Rebel colleague, Vancouver-based Drea Humphrey,

00:00:10.080 and we're talking about how these COVID regulations and restrictions on gatherings

00:00:15.340 are an attack on religious freedom. Drea's done some great work with the churches in British

00:00:22.060 Columbia, and as an outsider looking in, you would think, of course, the far left-wing radicals in

00:00:27.120 BC. Of course, they don't care about religious freedom, but this kind of thing is happening in

00:00:31.040 Alberta too. Now, if you like to listen to the show, then I promise you're going to love watching it,

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00:01:36.880 Are these new COVID restrictions being used to persecute religious people?

00:01:56.200 I'm Sheila Gunn-Reed, and you're watching The Gunn Show.

00:01:59.420 Oh hi everybody, I'm back in my home studio today, however briefly, but the interview for

00:02:21.460 this week's gun show was actually filmed yesterday, so Tuesday at Rebel HQ in Toronto when I was there

00:02:29.040 to celebrate our sixth birthday with my friends and colleagues at the company. And over our six

00:02:36.800 years of existence, I'm proud to say that one of the main focuses of a lot of my work has been

00:02:43.500 religious freedom, both here in Canada and North America and also abroad. I even traveled to Iraqi

00:02:50.540 Kurdistan to document how our SaveTheChristians.com initiative and crowdfunding is helping

00:02:59.660 Christians return to their Indigenous homeland after the ISIS genocide against them. However,

00:03:05.900 I think one of the more chilling aspects of the COVID-19 restrictions on all of our lives

00:03:12.800 and gatherings is that it frequently inhibits the fundamental freedom of religion that all

00:03:19.800 Canadians have. And it's never been more evident than in British Columbia where churches are

00:03:25.360 closed, but bars, pubs, Costco's, Walmart's, and almost everything else is completely open. And my friend

00:03:33.480 and colleague Drea Humphrey has been the one telling the stories of how churches in BC are fighting

00:03:40.860 back and how the province is trying to stop churches from fighting back with expensive fines and injunctions

00:03:49.460 against them. So joining me now in an interview we recorded in the beautiful Rebel News HQ boardroom

00:03:56.400 is Vancouver-based Rebel reporter, Drea Humphrey. Take a listen.

00:04:15.720 Drea and I are both in the Toronto office celebrating our birthday party and it's been a crazy year.

00:04:21.200 And one of the things both she and I have focused on a lot is the persecution of religious people

00:04:29.080 during the pandemic and the crackdown on churches. And I think it's been particularly egregious in

00:04:37.040 British Columbia. And that's why you have so many stories. I was just writing some down before we

00:04:42.300 started about the persecution of people of faith during the pandemic. What's the situation with churches

00:04:49.900 right now as we're filming this? We're filming this Tuesday afternoon. Well, the discrimination is

00:04:56.560 quite blatant in British Columbia because largely everything is open. Nearly everything is open.

00:05:03.760 You can go to a fun park inside and the kids can all go on the arcade and then go go-karting.

00:05:11.060 You can go for dinner. You can go to a pub and drink. But you can't sit down at a church six feet away

00:05:19.820 from another family and listen to the pastor because all religious gatherings are banned in British

00:05:27.420 Columbia. Except if you are pretending to go to church. In the case of filming a movie, you can film a

00:05:37.040 movie inside a church where people are pretending to engage in a religious service. That's perfectly

00:05:41.700 safe. But actually attending a religious service is not. Yes, that's actually happening. And perhaps

00:05:47.820 actually the most, the churches getting the most punished in BC would be around the Langley-Abbotsford

00:05:57.660 area. There's three of them where Dr. Bonnie Henry, our public health officer, has actually filed for

00:06:03.320 an injunction. I'll talk about that in just a second. But in the same city as one of those churches,

00:06:10.520 I caught a movie or a TV show being filmed in a church just down the road. I mean, it's ridiculous.

00:06:17.000 There was a full pack church, lots of trailers, lots of vehicles, and that's okay. Now tell me about the

00:06:25.320 injunction. Yeah. So what happened was with the JCCF, a few of the churches came forward and went to the

00:06:32.600 courts and tried to have their right to be open, just like support groups in BC. Support groups are

00:06:38.920 able to have 50 people inside at a time with a COVID-19 safety plan in place. So they filed a

00:06:47.160 petition to be able to do that. And three churches put their name on the petition, but there were other

00:06:53.480 churches behind it. And in response to that, our public health officer actually filed for an injunction

00:07:02.840 to give the police the right to, or if it gets granted, they would be able to arrest people who

00:07:10.920 are attending church there. But get this, also arrest anyone the police feel or have reason to believe

00:07:19.080 was going to attend. So whether or not they show up or not, what does that mean? Does that mean you wrote

00:07:25.560 something on Facebook and now you're getting arrested? I mean, it's just nuts that this is

00:07:29.640 happening in Canada and that this is what this public health officer thinks is okay.

00:07:36.120 Now, it's interesting that you brought up support groups because a lot of support groups, let's just say

00:07:41.880 Alcoholics Anonymous, NA, a lot of those take place in the basement of a church. And so 50 people can go

00:07:50.360 to a support group in the basement of a church in British Columbia, and yet they can't go upstairs

00:07:57.080 and sit in the pews. Yeah. So to me, what is it? It's religion. It's religion that spreads the virus,

00:08:05.240 because there's no other way to explain that. And also, why can churches, I heard somebody else say

00:08:12.200 this, but why can churches be trusted to have an AA meeting or have a daycare in their church,

00:08:18.840 but they can't be trusted to follow COVID safety plans when they're preaching?

00:08:24.760 In Alberta here, I've covered some churches who are being targeted by the Alberta Health Services

00:08:34.280 for not for being open because our churches are allowed to be open with reduced capacity,

00:08:39.160 but for either being over capacity or for not being particularly strict and uptight on the mask,

00:08:46.920 the wearing of masks. And for me, when I see these churches, I see that they're actually being

00:08:52.200 compliant with human rights legislation. What like don't ask, don't tell kind of thing with human

00:08:58.120 rights legislation with regard to wearing the masks. And over the weekend, I was at a church west of

00:09:06.040 Edmonton, Grace Life Church, where the church has been, because they have decided that if worshipers

00:09:15.240 want to come, we are not turning anybody away at 15% capacity. And if you don't want to wear a mask and

00:09:23.320 you say that you're exempt, that's good enough for them, as the law states. And that church has been

00:09:29.400 ordered closed by an executive order of the public health officer, Dean Hinshaw. However, they remain

00:09:37.640 open. Last weekend, the pastor there, Pastor James Coates, was arrested. And again, this week,

00:09:47.800 he was, we're filming this on Tuesday. So Tuesday morning, he was to appear before Justice of the

00:09:53.560 Peace. He did hold service again on Sunday. I was there. They welcomed me. And it was great to be in

00:10:01.160 a young, vibrant, normal church full of people and no masks. But the RCMP decided not to arrest him

00:10:10.840 there. And they wanted him to turn himself in today, Tuesday, the first business day after the long

00:10:16.920 weekend. And so today he's, I suppose, turning himself in his lawyers with the Justice Center

00:10:22.040 for Constitutional Freedoms. But I never thought that I would see a day, particularly in Jason

00:10:27.160 Kenny's conservative Alberta, where pastors are being arrested for not turning away their congregants.

00:10:37.880 Yeah. And you were on scene, a very similar situation with the Riverside Calvary Church.

00:10:44.680 Mm hmm. Yeah. So with them, they've got a really good COVID-19 plan in place. They do about three

00:10:51.960 services to make sure that the congregants are split up. They have, most of them are masking,

00:10:59.160 and they have, they do contact tracing, like you have to sign up online and everything like that. But

00:11:04.840 still, they have the police out their door and got the fines and everything like that. They were left

00:11:10.600 alone for a few weeks. But there was somebody else. And I find this ironic too. So a spa owner,

00:11:17.320 I believe, or no, sorry, a hair salon owner in the same plaza, she's got her business open,

00:11:22.840 she's got her customers, and she's come complaining, kept complaining over and over that, you know,

00:11:29.080 people are going to church. So I don't know how one business looks at anybody else for having people

00:11:35.080 over and does that. So they ended up getting fined again. But also when I was at Harvest Ministry

00:11:43.320 Church in Kelowna, I think that that was a really good example of, you know, just the other side of

00:11:50.520 the story with this, how much churches have to offer communities. I mean, there was more than, I think

00:11:57.480 there was four people who were actually brave enough to come forward and tell their story about

00:12:02.840 where they thought they would be if that church wasn't taking the stance of being open. And

00:12:07.320 most of it was suicide. There's one gentleman who had just weeks before came off the streets of East

00:12:13.240 Side Vancouver and was doing heroin. And so again, the simple request of being recognized or treated

00:12:21.160 like a support group, or even as a pub at this point, it's not too much to ask.

00:12:27.240 You know, I had a similar experience with a church that is so essential to the congregants. And that

00:12:35.560 was the church in Prince Albert that we are helping through fightthefines.com. They got a $14,000

00:12:43.480 fine. And then one of their evangelists also received a $3,000 fine for the crime of not singing

00:12:50.520 or of not wearing masks when they were singing. And this is one of the poorest churches I've

00:12:58.280 ever been to in my entire life. They are downtown Prince Albert. A lot of their ministry is to

00:13:06.520 indigenous and Aboriginal people in some of the reserves. So a lot of the people that they help

00:13:12.520 because of where they're at, people struggling with homelessness, mental illness, and addiction,

00:13:18.280 and all of those three sort of always go hand in hand. They don't have the money to be paying this

00:13:26.280 fine. But not only that, to ask a church, even if they had the money to divert their funds that are

00:13:35.240 meant for saving lives, because that's what they're doing, to give it to the provincial government for the

00:13:41.080 crime of not wearing masks. I mean, truly, truly outrageous and unkind. When I was at Grace Life

00:13:50.360 Church over the weekend, they really did address some of the controversy that you often hear from

00:13:56.760 other Christians who say, well, isn't staying home and engaging in online services, isn't that

00:14:05.240 loving your neighbor? Yeah, I think that's the number one thing that people at home who don't want to

00:14:12.760 ruffle any feathers. But I think it's a surprising response. Number one, if you're comfortable and

00:14:17.720 you're feeling spiritually fed from home on Zoom, great. Just because a church is open to the people who

00:14:24.040 aren't like you, doesn't mean you're forced to go there on Sunday. You can still stay home. These churches

00:14:31.160 have the online option. But I am surprised that so many are forgetting how much the church does. And

00:14:38.600 again, in BC, the contrast between literally almost everything being open but the church should be

00:14:45.160 enough to say what's going on here. Well, and you know, just say that the only way you can love your

00:14:54.520 neighbor is by staying home denies people a sense of community. And so many people, church is their

00:15:03.400 community. And for a lot of people, when they are cut off from their co-workers because everybody's

00:15:09.240 working from home, they can't see their parents because their parents are elderly and they're in a

00:15:15.160 nursing home. Church is their solace and their community and their family. And

00:15:24.040 if you're comfortable, like you say, engaging in online services and that's all you need,

00:15:29.640 fine. But that's not all what everybody needs. I wanted to ask you about 100 Mile Baptist

00:15:34.520 because you have been really, I think you're probably doing more important work fighting

00:15:43.480 for religious freedom. It reminds me of my burger, my eating for freedom on the burger beat.

00:15:49.480 No, that was...

00:15:50.440 I mean, I did, we did help a lot of small businesses, but you have been traveling all

00:15:56.760 around British Columbia on the religious freedom beat. You went all the way to 100 Mile Baptist.

00:16:03.960 What happened there? Yeah, so 100 Mile Baptist, it was quite interesting. It's a small place and

00:16:10.200 it seemed like the police just really, the RCMP, really went militant there. So it was immediately,

00:16:17.880 they were getting threatened, the pastor was being threatened with arrest, you know, like the period

00:16:23.320 of education is over and it goes right to that. And then of course, they have the fines as well.

00:16:27.800 And, you know, in my opinion, it was harassment, what they were receiving there. So they stuck to

00:16:35.640 the part of the criminal code where it says that, you know, you can't interrupt religious services.

00:16:41.560 I think that's section one. Oh, I'm going to ruin it, but 176. Justin will find it.

00:16:47.800 Yes. Yeah. So they stuck to that and they kind of held their guns, but every day

00:16:53.320 the RCMP was showing up and taking down license plates and really intimidating the churchgoers.

00:16:59.240 When I ended up showing up there, I tried to ask a question, the RCMP took off

00:17:05.800 and drove out of the parking lot and left and actually did leave them alone after that.

00:17:10.520 They didn't respond to my media inquiry, but they did leave them alone for, for I think a few weeks,

00:17:16.920 which was not what they were getting before. But I have heard that the RCMP has come back.

00:17:23.320 They do tend to kind of leave them alone. But when they're asked, they say they're there

00:17:28.440 for an investigation. So they're gathering evidence and they are still taking license plates. So, yeah.

00:17:35.960 You know, I, I do give a lot of credit to the BC churches because here in Alberta, we are not seeing

00:17:42.600 a lot of churches that are being non-compliant to the 15% capacity. Now, is that a symptom of the

00:17:51.000 fact that people just don't go to church anymore? So it's a number that they can easily meet.

00:17:55.560 That could be some of it. But in British Columbia, there are quite a few churches that are fighting

00:18:01.720 back really in Alberta here. It's maybe two, maybe three, and they're both

00:18:07.320 both, um, either Grace Life Church or affiliated with Grace Life Church in La Crete. Um, and I think

00:18:15.720 on the flip side, that's why the burger rebellion was so successful is because it was, it started

00:18:21.720 with one restaurant owner and then it was two restaurant owners and it was 10 restaurant owners

00:18:25.320 and it was all the customers. And then it was the food suppliers who were donating their time and

00:18:29.800 supplies to keep the restaurants going.

00:18:31.720 In Alberta, it's really just Pastor James Coates and the sister church in La Crete who are standing

00:18:38.840 up, um, at least quite publicly in an act of civil disobedience. There might be others doing it

00:18:44.680 quietly and God bless them for that. But Pastor James Coates has been arrested for this in Alberta.

00:18:52.440 Why do you think that it's other Christian leaders? I mean, I look at this through a Christian

00:19:00.760 worldview and I'm sure you do. And we have plenty of viewers from all different faith backgrounds and

00:19:05.080 people who are not of any sort of, um, religious background, but also care deeply about freedom

00:19:13.160 and conscience rights. Um, but why do you think that, you know, as Christians, we're really a church

00:19:21.160 soaked in the blood of martyrs. Why now are we so compliant to what the state calls us to do?

00:19:27.800 Well, I think it's a comfort thing and I think sometimes it's fear and, and I think maybe

00:19:33.960 sometimes it's education because if you're only looking at the mainstream media to follow what's

00:19:40.120 happening in the church, you may believe that these churches are super sweaters, which they have not

00:19:45.640 been proven to be in Canada. Um, you may believe that they're just reckless and, and that they're not

00:19:53.000 doing what God is calling them to do. Um, so, you know, having a more round education, but then I also

00:20:00.680 started thinking, well, overall the church in Canada hasn't really taken a big stand against persecution

00:20:08.040 of Christians, even outside of the world. That's true. We've been very, um, comfortable in Canada and,

00:20:15.080 you know, out of sight, out of mind. And I think when people are at home safe in their own bubble,

00:20:20.280 they're doing the same thing here. Not everybody's home is a sanctuary. Not everybody's home is somewhat

00:20:25.640 healthy to be. And sometimes the church is exactly where people need to be and Christians should be

00:20:31.720 standing up for that. I think you might be right on the whole issue of education, um, and what persecution

00:20:41.720 really looks like. I know there are a lot of people who, even Christians, who are completely unaware of the

00:20:48.520 persecution of the Christian church around the world, unaware of the genocide that took place in

00:20:54.200 northern Iraq, unaware of the fact that China is currently rewriting the Bible as we speak, and, and making

00:21:00.520 the Catholics in China be loyal to the communist state as opposed, as opposed to the Pope in Rome. And so, I think a

00:21:08.280 lot of people are just completely tuned out to that. And I think because of that, they don't recognize

00:21:15.080 persecution at home when it's happening. And over the weekend, Pastor, Pastor James Coates also gave a

00:21:23.720 very interesting sermon at Grace Life. And as he was preaching from the pulpit, he was under the impression that

00:21:30.520 he would be arrested that, that day as he got off the pulpit. And he said, it really doesn't matter if

00:21:39.080 what's happening here today is persecution. It doesn't matter because we're still doing what we're

00:21:45.640 supposed to be doing. Right. Uh, Riverside Calgary at the last Sunday, a couple of days ago, uh, Pastor

00:21:52.280 Brent said, you know, I'm preaching and I don't know if this is the last one I'm going to be able to preach.

00:21:57.080 I mean, these pastors are preaching the gospel, not knowing, or they're preaching the gospel like

00:22:02.360 it's their last day. Yeah. Yeah. Um, now, just to make sure that my Catholic brothers and sisters

00:22:10.920 out there don't feel as though I've completely abandoned you for the Protestants. Um, Drea,

00:22:16.680 you've covered the pilgrimage of the parishioners to the Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver because

00:22:27.400 the cathedral is closed, which is horrific for me to say out loud as a Catholic, but

00:22:32.520 the cathedral is closed. So they are having a weekly pilgrimage to outside the cathedral to gather

00:22:42.040 together and to say mass and there's the priests are in attendance. Yeah. So, uh, every Sunday,

00:22:50.120 rain or shine, they've been out there, I think for, uh, ever since actually November when the restriction

00:22:57.880 on the churches came out. So they're out there, rain and shine and they're out, um, across the

00:23:02.760 cathedral and a priest does show up. I think the priests alternate, but it does show that priests

00:23:08.360 are supporting this as well. They do their worship out there as well. Mark Donnelly is usually present.

00:23:14.840 And so he was the former, uh, Vancouver Canadian anthem singer for the Canucks. Um, so he is usually

00:23:23.960 present there and leads them in, uh, worship as well. It's quite a somber thing to see, you know,

00:23:30.360 um, to see the Christians out on their knees in the rain, um, you know, praying and worshiping,

00:23:36.600 and they can't do it across the street or they can't do it, um, in anywhere, any place of worship

00:23:43.240 right now. And, um, there was one, uh, disabled elderly lady who actually had just found out about

00:23:51.480 that, that, and she was so excited because she was going on about how all of her support systems

00:23:57.880 have come to an end. And so she said, I will be here in my wheelchair unless it's snowing. I'm so happy

00:24:04.200 that this gathering is taking place. So, um, I really, really enjoyed doing that report and

00:24:10.600 seeing them there taking that stand. As a Catholic myself, and as someone who has traveled to the

00:24:15.480 Middle East to see the persecution of Christians firsthand, Christians barred from attending their

00:24:21.720 churches and practicing their faith, it alarms me to see even a fraction of that creeping in here.

00:24:31.800 When I know that many of the Christians there who face persecution would love to come here because

00:24:40.120 they've been promised that this is a place where you can worship freely and the state is not going to

00:24:46.520 harass you for it. Um, we're supposed to be a safe haven for the religiously persecuted. And right

00:24:54.360 now, because of the coronavirus, our religious are persecuted. Absolutely. And is it because of

00:25:00.200 the coronavirus? Because again, in BC, one of the gatherings we are allowed, last I checked,

00:25:05.880 was a drive-in ceremony. And I have been unable to find any churches doing that. So do they really

00:25:13.080 think that type of sermon is going to spread COVID? Like what's happening here? Are, are people just

00:25:19.080 getting comfortable, you know, at home and doing it on zoom or whatnot? But it's super alarming. Like

00:25:25.800 you said, we've done a lot of work out there. I haven't done the type of work that you have, but you

00:25:33.240 know, I've been on the beat with communist China and things like that. And so to just see a taste of that

00:25:40.440 happening in the land of the free. And we're not noticing. We're not noticing and we're cheering it

00:25:46.120 on in many ways. We're told it's, it's compassion for our fellow man to stomp on the rights of our

00:25:53.320 friends and neighbors. Yeah. And it's, it's actually really alarming and really terrifying and, and

00:25:58.920 hopefully there'll be a shift. Well, Drea, thank you so much for coming on the show. Um, it's a pleasure as

00:26:05.560 always. Um, and it's a treat to talk about something that is so important to both you and I, and I think

00:26:11.720 to our viewers at home, again, even if you're not religious, um, I think most of the people who

00:26:17.240 support us and tune into us are here because they care deeply about freedom for everybody,

00:26:22.200 not just for themselves and for people who believe and think just like them. Um, so thanks again, Drea,

00:26:28.680 and, uh, let's get back to our birthday party. Yeah. Thank you guys. And, and special thank you

00:26:33.880 to the people who are not religious, but totally get it. Yeah. It's always nice to see those comments

00:26:39.080 online. Yeah. Thanks. Like Drea and I both tried to explain at the end of our interview, the freedom to

00:26:52.760 not believe is actually the very same freedom as religious freedom. It's the freedom to believe

00:27:00.200 whatever you want, completely unmolested by the state to worship or for that matter, not worship

00:27:07.320 to gather or not gather. And you cannot have freedom of conscience unless you give it to everybody,

00:27:16.120 even those that don't believe the same as you and would even dare to criticize the way that you

00:27:23.480 believe. Well, everybody, that's the show for tonight. Thank you so much as always for tuning in.

00:27:29.240 I'll see everybody back here in the same time, in the same place next week, or you know what not,

00:27:35.400 I'm not going to make that promise because who even knows where I'll be next these days. But remember,

00:27:41.720 don't let the government tell you that you've had too much to think.

Rebel News Podcast - February 18, 2021

Patterns of Religious Persecution from the Healthcare Deep State ｜ Drea Humphrey

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