{"id":1981114,"date":"2023-07-24T08:04:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T12:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pastor-exiles-family-to-kenya-to-escape-canadian-persecution-of-christians\/"},"modified":"2023-07-24T08:06:53","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T12:06:53","slug":"pastor-exiles-family-to-kenya-to-escape-canadian-persecution-of-christians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pastor-exiles-family-to-kenya-to-escape-canadian-persecution-of-christians\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastor sends family to Kenya to flee Christian persecution in Canada."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpastor-exiles-family-to-kenya-to-escape-canadian-persecution-of-christians%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1981114&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2>A Canadian Pastor&#8217;s Fight for Freedom<\/h2>\n<p>A Canadian pastor has taken <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-lawmakers-push-back-against-vaccine-passports\/\" title=\"GOP lawmakers push-back against vaccine passports\">drastic measures<\/a> to protect his family&#8217;s freedom \u2064after facing government persecution for attending a protest. Harold\u2063 Ristau, a decorated veteran and seminary professor, participated in a trucker convoy against lockdowns last February. Now, he and his family have\u2062 been forced to relocate to Kenya to escape the government&#8217;s\u200c oppressive\u200b response to Covid dissent.<\/p>\n<p>Ristau is part of a lawsuit arguing that the government&#8217;s treatment of dissent as terrorism violated Canadians&#8217; fundamental rights. \u200bThe fight is far from over,\u200d according to Marty\u200b Moore,\u200c a lawyer \u200bfor the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), who is litigating Ristau&#8217;s case. Lockdown litigation is expected to continue for \u200bseveral \u200dmore years.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no protection, if\u200b a pandemic started tomorrow, from future \u200dmandates. So that&#8217;s why I was really open to coming here,&#8221; said Elise Ristau, Harold&#8217;s wife, in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jpmorgan-ceo-who-once-said-he-could-beat-trump-in-an-election-now-admits-hes-worried-about-former-president\/\" title=\"JPMorgan CEO, once confident against Trump, now concerned about ex-President.\">recent video interview<\/a> from Kenya.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In addition to facing government repression, the Ristau family \u2064has also dealt with social ostracism and discrimination. \u200bTheir children were mocked at school for their religious and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republicans-seek-transparency-on-metas-content-moderation-policy-on-threads\/\" title=\"House Republicans want Meta to be transparent about its content moderation policy on threads.\">political\u200c views<\/a>. After enduring over two years of severe repression, the Ristaus made \u2063the\u2062 difficult decision to \u200cmove to Kenya last August.<\/p>\n<h3>Confiscating Dissenters&#8217; Life Savings<\/h3>\n<p>The Canadian government has used debanking to punish\u2063 dissent, freezing \u2063the bank accounts\u2062 of convoy participants and their supporters. This collaboration between the government and banks has been described as fascist. Similar actions have been taken in other Western\u200c countries, with banks \u200dclosing accounts over individuals&#8217; political views.<\/p>\n<h3>Treating a\u200d Veteran Like a Terrorist<\/h3>\n<p>Ristau&#8217;s experience highlights the government&#8217;s alarming treatment of peaceful protesters as terrorists. He faced threats to his security clearance and the confiscation of his \u2062<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-first-100-days-promote-big-government\/\" title=\"Biden\u2019s first 100 days promote Big Government\">retirement savings<\/a> and\u2064 children&#8217;s college funds. The government&#8217;s use \u200cof anti-terrorism measures against peaceful demonstrators has caused serious damage to Ristau&#8217;s reputation, career, and friendships.<\/p>\n<h3>State-Run Western Churches<\/h3>\n<p>Lockdowns in Canada\u2063 have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pastor-exiles-family-to-kenya-to-escape-canadian-persecution-of-christians\/\" title=\"Pastor sends family to Kenya to flee Christian persecution in Canada.\">disproportionately targeted churches<\/a>, while allowing other\u200c establishments to remain open. The government&#8217;s restrictions on worship have caused deep divisions within the church.\u200c Many \u2062pastors have failed to\u200c seek reconciliation and repentance, as commanded in \u2063the Bible.<\/p>\n<h3>Religious Freedom Better in Africa<\/h3>\n<p>The Ristaus&#8217; decision to move to Kenya was influenced by the difficulty of raising their children in a rapidly secularizing Western culture. In Canada, Christians often face discrimination and are required to compromise their faith to access \u2064government grants and licensing credentials. Kenya offers a more welcoming environment for Christians, where traditional values are\u200c still upheld.<\/p>\n<h3>Christians Welcome in\u2064 Kenya<\/h3>\n<p>Despite the challenges they have faced, the Ristaus are \u200cgrateful for the opportunity to live in Kenya. They believe it is a place where they can freely practice \u200btheir faith without fear of persecution. While they acknowledge \u200dthe country&#8217;s issues with poverty and corruption, they feel it\u2063 is a better environment for their \u200bfamily&#8217;s spiritual well-being.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Canadian pastor sent his family to Kenya as his government imposed emergency war measures to penalize citizens who joined a protest where he prayed and sang the national anthem. Harold Ristau, a decorated veteran and seminary professor, took part in the anti-lockdown &#8220;trucker convoy&#8221; last February, as previously interviewed by The Federalist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":519,"featured_media":1981115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1981114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1981114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/519"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1981114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1981114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1981115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1981114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1981114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1981114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}