Canada: 1,000 people protest COVID-19 physical closure of GraceLife church

[WorthyNewsBot]

Around 1,000 people attended a demonstration outside GraceLife Church in Alberta, Canada on Sunday, to protest against the government’s physical closing of the church’s premises on the grounds it had violated COVID-19 restrictions, Christian Headlines reports. GraceLife is led by Pastor James Coates, who was arrested and detained for holding services in contravention of coronavirus regulations; Coates’ trial is set for May 3.

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[teddyv]

Where did the 1000 people come from? Local new sources say 400-500 people. 

[Sparks]

13 hours ago, teddyv said:

Where did the 1000 people come from? Local new sources say 400-500 people. 

There are videos of it and you can see the crowds.  It looked great.  Videos are so handy to counter media claims.  As you can imagine, everyone has video cameras today.

I understand the church only has about 200 members, but the rest showed up to help out. 

 

[teddyv]

Just now, Sparks said:

There are videos of it and you can see the crowds.  It looked great.  Videos are so handy to counter media claims.

I understand the church only has about 200 members, but the rest showed up to help out. 

 

Yes, I can, and have seen videos, but they are isolated with very little overall context. This report (Christian Headlines) is the only place suggesting that many people. How did they get their count?

The article also leaves out that people attending were parking on private property (a local First Nations reservation) and many refusing to move for hours.

[Sparks]

13 minutes ago, teddyv said:

Yes, I can, and have seen videos, but they are isolated with very little overall context. This report (Christian Headlines) is the only place suggesting that many people. How did they get their count?

Usually, it's light algebra to get your count.   That's also how they get the count of lions, and tigers in the wild.   You can also safely triple whatever count the media says.

But that's just it, media chooses certain angles when they want to play things down.  You need to see uncut video.

16 minutes ago, teddyv said:

The article also leaves out that people attending were parking on private property (a local First Nations reservation) and many refusing to move for hours.

It gives the clue that there was no parking left.  Does this news of people standing up to keep a church open bother you?

[Justin Adams]

1 minute ago, Sparks said:

It gives the clue that there was no parking left.

Yes. On Irish farms they count the legs and divide by four...

[debrakay]

I read and article on CBN that the people who tore down the fencing around the church were not members of the congregation.  I am sure there are some very upset citizens about the fencing being constructed at the cost of the taxpayer.  Even the head of their health authority said they did not order the construction of a fence so it must have been the Mounties that decided to do it. 

"As protesters began tearing down the fencing around GraceLife, which was allegedly first approved by Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro, RCMP officers starting putting the barrier back up, according to a report from Western Standard. The outlet noted that “dozens of RCMP cruisers” blocked access to the roads leading to the GraceLife worship center. Shandro, it should be noted, has denied approving the barricade."

Now the Canadian government wants to postpone the Pastor's trial until July so they can get more covid evidence numbers tallied.  I believe the Alberta Mounties are using this church as a scapegoat and trying to use them to set an example of their power. No matter what, covid has done a terrible amount of damage across the world and it will take many years to repair the physical, mental, emotional, and economic damage done.

'They Can Take Our Facility, But We'll Just Find Another One': GraceLife Pastor Leads Church From Secret Location | CBN News

 

[teddyv]

6 hours ago, Sparks said:

Usually, it's light algebra to get your count.   That's also how they get the count of lions, and tigers in the wild.   You can also safely triple whatever count the media says.

So there were actually 3000 people there then?

6 hours ago, Sparks said:

But that's just it, media chooses certain angles when they want to play things down.  You need to see uncut video.

I did. Oh wait, it was Rebel Media. Does that count?

6 hours ago, Sparks said:

It gives the clue that there was no parking left.  Does this news of people standing up to keep a church open bother you?

The whole issue is ridiculous and they are just grandstanding. Virtually every other church in Canada seems to be able to operate within the various provincial restriction. Why are these people such special snowflakes?

[Sparks]

1 minute ago, teddyv said:

So there were actually 3000 people there then?

Do the light algebra.

2 minutes ago, teddyv said:

I did. Oh wait, it was Rebel Media. Does that count?

Whoever has the footage not edited down.

2 minutes ago, teddyv said:

The whole issue is ridiculous and they are just grandstanding. Virtually every other church in Canada seems to be able to operate within the various provincial restriction.

If you can visit a Walmart, you can visit a church to worship God.  God is worth grandstanding for, and He is an essential part of people's lives.   

Personally, I applaud them.  If I had been near to them, I would have joined them. 

7 minutes ago, teddyv said:

Why are these people such special snowflakes?

I don't think snowflakes is a term that applies to this situation.  It's a political term.

[teddyv]

1 minute ago, Sparks said:

I don't think snowflakes is a term that applies to this situation.  It's a political term.

This is absolutely political.