James White, an Arizona pastor and apologist, referenced passages from Leviticus. He shot down arguments from people who say sexual activities are “just what I do in my bedroom.” White said, “No, entire nations are defiled by violating God’s law about the blessing that he has given to us in human sexuality.”
Governments, too, must heed God’s rules and order, White said. “A governmental bureaucrat [who] says ‘That’s what you have to believe’ is putting themselves directly against the authority of Christ…and they need to be told that.”
People facing religious persecution should counter secular authorities with these words, according to White: “With all due respect to your position, you do not have the authority to contradict the very Word of God… [which] tells me what is right and wrong. That Word tells me that God created us in his image — male and female. Jesus confirmed that… and if you dare stand against him, you will stand before him someday, and you will have no one to intercede for you.’”
Canadian Pastors Also Sound the Alarm
Among the clergy warning about Bill C-4 are Canadian pastors who’ve been arrested and even jailed for defying COVID-related public-health orders. Coates, who was imprisoned after refusing to close his Edmonton church, says about the Canadian bill, “I believe our government is capitalizing on a politically expedient segment of its constituency in an effort to further dismantle Western civilization as we know it. To do this, it must outlaw its very foundation, which is rooted in a Judeo-Christian worldview. Bill C-4 is another brick laid in this effort and is evidence that our government is under the judgment of God.”
That legislation, he adds, is “anything but loving” if it essentially shuts “the LGBT community off from the saving and transforming message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Coates warns that “unless the tide of totalitarianism is stemmed, Christians can expect persecution to increase.”
Calgary Pastor Tim Stephens, who also was jailed for holding in-person worship, says totalitarianism is the “new prevailing worldview” and “is absolutely intolerant to opposing beliefs.” He adds, “Much of the church in Canada believes that compliance and compromise will promote peace and freedom, but this attitude only feeds the beast and will increase persecution and eliminate freedom.”
Artur Pawlowski, another Calgary pastor, warns that Bill C-4 is “straight from Soviet Russia” and promises to “always preach the whole Bible.” Pawlowski, who was arrested for defying lockdown orders, says, “If someone comes to me asking for help, for therapy…I’ll never turn that individual away. And if it costs me, so be it. But every hurting person who is asking me for help, I’ll not turn away.”
