City Officials Threaten with Another Injunction

In a recent show of arrogance, 11 city officials came to a Street Church event, including City lawyer David Louis and City Hall corporate security, threatening Street Church Ministries with court injunctions preventing all peaceful demonstrations and all other operations on the streets of Calgary, including feeding the poor and providing the basic necessities of life to the homeless. Street Church Ministries says that the blatant bigotry against Christians is growing and is intolerable in a city where tolerance is supposed to be supreme.

“Calgary officials are so on fire for ‘tolerance’ when it comes to left wing minority groups to the point of flying the flag of the homosexual community on masts in front of City Hall which are supposed to be flying flags of our national and provincial associations, indicating where our city’s loyalty lies. They are going out of their way, breaking protocols and standards, to please some, while at the sametime are doing all that they can to oppose the public display of the very Judeo-Christian values that made our nation strong. I am interested in when the City will raise a flag for the Muslim Congress, or a Jewish Synagogue, or for that matter a flag for Jesus Christ”, stated Artur Pawlowski lead pastor, Street Church Ministries.

The ministry indicates that City officials are acting irresponsibly and seem to be operating on an anti-Christian agenda. Perhaps they have a point. After all, City police have protected the peaceful protests of homosexuals during their pride parade, marijuana activists during their marches, neo-nazis during their white supremacist marches, yet they have done just about everything possible to shut down the public work of this peaceful ministry that cares for the underprivileged. Perhaps some questions do need to be asked.

“Today I am asking a few of questions of our elected City officials, including the Mayor, Dave Bronconnier, ‘Do you think you are dictators in your private castles, or servants of the public? Isn’t high time for accountability and isn’t this truly a time to look closely at just how far we have moved away from the roots of our democracy that made this nation strong and free? What ever happened to standing on guard for thee?’”, questioned Mr. Pawlowski.

Many say that it is right for homosexuals to be treated with dignity and respect, and as fellow human beings we are all created equally and do deserve equal respect. But there comes a point when fair debate in any matter, where opinions diverge greatly, can turn hot and get heated up. Such was the case recently at the steps of City Hall after the pride walk in Calgary. Homosexuals without provocation maligned and attacked Street Church volunteers during a church service for the poor.

“The homosexual community repeatedly asks for more and more. More freedom, more tolerance, more rights, more this, more that, yet at the same time, there are some very visible and vocal activist homosexuals who are not honouring the rights of Christians. We desire nothing but good for those individuals who identify themselves as homosexuals, yet on Sunday September 6, 2009 they came to our peaceful demonstration, after their pride walk, and violently opposed us, mocking us, cursing at us, and even having to be restrained from burning down our ‘Jesus is King’ flag. Obviously tolerance is merely a word bandied about for their own gain as a weapon used against others to gain acceptance for their lifestyles, but not out of a true desire to be mutually tolerant. I am all for tolerance, but tolerance for all, equally applied”, stated Artur.

One thing is certain, if the City succeeds with their plans to place more injunctions against Street Church Ministries, they will be well on their way to creating a dictatorship, in our ‘fair’ city. Free speech is a basic fundamental of a free and democratic society and represents healthy and necessary discourse allowing all citizens to publicly air their deeply held convictions and opinions. Without this fundamental right, there no longer remains a fundamental mooring upon which democracy may stand.