{"id":60457,"date":"2021-04-15T10:45:13","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T14:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=60457"},"modified":"2021-04-15T10:46:29","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T14:46:29","slug":"you-know-the-draconian-lockdowns-against-places-of-worship-is-specifically-designed-to-shut-them-down-by-depriving-them-of-congregants-and-donations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=60457","title":{"rendered":"You know the draconian lockdowns against places of worship is specifically designed to shut them down by depriving them of congregants and donations. Especially the Christian churches!<\/b>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why are Christians who just want to worship being called Covid conspiracy theorists waging a holy war on lockdown?<\/h1>\n

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FILE PHOTO: Holy Bible \u00a9 Roberto Machado Noa \/ LightRocket via Getty Images<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

RT.com<\/p>\n

By\u00a0Jani Allan<\/strong>, a writer and talk show host. She has written for the London Sunday Times, the Spectator, the Daily Mail and various other British publications. Her memoir Jani Confidential was published by Jacana Media.<\/em><\/p>\n

A Canadian pastor was thrown in jail and his church closed when he refused to limit capacity on his congregation. Why is the state clamping down so heavily on people who just want to practice their religion?<\/p>\n

The case of Pastor James Coates has become one of the most controversial cases of freedom of religion versus Covid-19 in the world.<\/p>\n

Pastor Coates, of GraceLife church in Alberta, Canada, was arrested on February 16\u00a0and sent to prison. He spent almost five weeks behind bars. For two weeks, he was in a\u00a0cell<\/a>\u00a0on his own which he was only allowed to leave twice for 15 minutes.\u00a0His crime was failing to place capacity restrictions upon the congregants in his church.<\/p>\n

Pastor Coates told<\/a>\u00a0the court, \u201cI am not a political revolutionary. I am simply here in obedience with Jesus Christ; it is this obedience that puts me at odds with the law<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, John Carpay, the crime he was jailed for is not punishable by prison time.\u00a0\u201cPastor Coates is defending freedom of association and freedom of peaceful assembly, which are freedoms exercised by the entire population, not just churchgoers<\/em>,\u201d\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Mr. Carpay.<\/p>\n

The story becomes even more Orwellian.<\/p>\n

Last week, in a dawn raid, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, private security contractors and a fencing company moved to execute an Alberta Health Services closure notice by\u00a0fencing off<\/a>\u00a0the church.\u00a0There were three fences, and no advance warning of any kind. Nothing was said to Pastor Coates or to his lawyers. Erin Coates, the pastor\u2019s wife, posted images\u00a0of the fence going up on Instagram.<\/p>\n