I occasionally read Nathan Giede's column in The Citizen, just as I occasionally watch a televangelist on TV.
Some might say this is done for comic relief; I tend to think of it as know thy enemy. Enemy? Yes, to many others and me the right wing of evangelicals are indeed an enemy as the United States shows so well today.
Nathan once again tells us "the faith of millions of Canadians (evangelicals) have long been under attack."
Just how is that happening?
I headed out for a tour of the churches of Prince George. By each, angry mobs were gathering with torches and pitchforks. By the Anglican church, a minister was trying against all odds to defend his church and stop the mob from entering; at the cathedral on the hill, a few priests had set up a barricade and were trying to fend off an angry horde. A fellow normally stationed by the hospital was running for his life to seek shelter in a nearby church. The bible bookstore had been looted and was on fire.
Now, none of this was happening.
Prince George has many Christian churches, almost too many to count. We have one mosque and no synagogue; we do have two Sikh temples. To the best of my knowledge, no Prince George resident has been prevented from attending any place of worship of his choice nor has any such person been attacked as he was a member of any particular faith.
So where are these attacks that Giede rails about?
Simply put, they do not exist, certainly not in Canada.
What does exist is a rearguard action by a number of evangelicals and others to defend the privileges they have over and above those of other faiths or no religious belief. The right of the Rainbow communities to equal treatment under the law and in society, free of discrimination is seen as a diminishment of the evangelical's God-given rights to discriminate at will.
Their inability to teach their religion in public schools? An attack on their faith, they claim. Likewise the ability to place religious displays in public places. With our changing demographics, these privileges now are mere anachronisms of time past. Not to be forgotten, but to history, not current affairs.
I am tired of those like Giede claiming victim status. Back in the 1970s, the days of the Moral Majority and Jerry Falwell, a meeting was held of evangelical preachers. They were upset that the LGBT communities had used the word "victim" to describe their plight. It was determined that evangelicals should "take back" that word, to claim victim status as they were loosing their privileges to discriminate against others. By falsely claiming to be victims, they could gain political ground. Every televangelist took up the cry, just like Mr. Giede. It was all bunk.
So, Mr. Giede, show me how you and others like you are "under attack."
It is a false claim and you know it.
Willow Arune
Prince George
