[World News] The moment that local governments in the Western world began to issue guidance or full-on mandates for religious gatherings in the early days of the pandemic, many were concerned that society had stepped onto a slippery slope.Fast-forward 15 months later, and we’re seeing pastors arrested in front of their children after their "underground" church services were discovered by a police helicopter.
This is the stuff of tyranny and totalitarianism, not Western-style democracy. Yet here we are.
This week, Pastor Tim Stephens of Fairview Baptist Church was arrested outside his home as his distressed children cried, all for holding a church service discovered the day before by a police helicopter.
.@ATSoos and @KianSimone44 were on scene as police in Calgary, Alberta arrested Pastor Tim Stephens of Fairview Baptist Church for a second time on new charges stemming from his hosting of ’underground’ church services the past two weekends.
FULL REPORT: https://t.co/hjRBNFjZ7G pic.twitter.com/IKNm4TItLv
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) June 15, 2021
The conservative Canadian website Rebel News reported that it is unclear if the helicopters were searching for unauthorized church services or just happened to notice the gathering. The outlet said that while police vehicles were later seen circling the service, which included group worship and a sermon from Pastor Stephens, they did not move in and attempt to stop the gathering.
The minister was arrested the following day for violating a court order that restricted him from holding services. Rebel News notes that the weekend prior, the church was effectively seized by Alberta Health Services for failing to adhere to local regulations regarding attendance, social distancing, and masks.
Stephens is being represented by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.
Jay Cameron, a lawyer for the firm, blamed Jason Kenney, premier of the Canadian province of Alberga, for the arrest, according to the Calgary Herald.
"It appears that Premier Kenney’s government is targeting its enemies, those who are speaking out against lockdown restrictions and for Charter freedoms," Cameron said, according to the newspaper.
"Locking out Fairview Baptist congregants and arresting Pastor Tim Stephens has everything to do with punishing dissent, and nothing to do with public safety."
Stephens has had several run-ins with the law for holding services in violation of local COVID-19 restrictions (as have other Canadian pastors). After Stephens was arrested in May, Alberta Health Services was forced to drop the charges after discovering the health order he had been accused of violating had been served to someone else by mistake, The Calgary Herald noted.
