{"id":293102,"date":"2021-03-23T17:00:54","date_gmt":"2021-03-23T21:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=293102"},"modified":"2021-03-23T17:01:00","modified_gmt":"2021-03-23T21:01:00","slug":"judge-releases-canadian-pastor-jailed-for-alleged-health-order-violation-suggests-he-shepherds-his-church-poorly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-releases-canadian-pastor-jailed-for-alleged-health-order-violation-suggests-he-shepherds-his-church-poorly\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Releases Canadian Pastor Jailed For Alleged Health Order Violation, Suggests He Shepherds His Church Poorly"},"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\">32<\/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%2Fjudge-releases-canadian-pastor-jailed-for-alleged-health-order-violation-suggests-he-shepherds-his-church-poorly%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=293102&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><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-3007.jpeg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>A Canadian pastor who was jailed for more than a month after holding church services in defiance of Alberta\u2019s COVID-19 protocols was released Monday with a fine and a scolding from a judge.<\/p>\n<p>Pastor James Coates, who pastors GraceLife Church in the Edmonton area, was first arrested in February after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) repeatedly flagged his church for not abiding by public health orders that capped attendance at 15 percent capacity. The RCMP later slapped the church with more charges when they continued to hold services while their pastor was imprisoned.<\/p>\n<p>Provincial court Judge Jeffrey Champion on Monday dropped all but one charge against Coates, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/7711765\/alberta-pastor-covid-19-released-jail\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Canadian Press<\/a>. The remaining charge against him alleges he violated gathering size restrictions under Alberta\u2019s Public Health Act, for which he will stand trial in May. He was also fined $1,500, but Champion credited his 35 days in jail toward it and wrote it off.<\/p>\n<p>Crown prosecutor Peter Mackenzie and defense lawyer Leighton Grey with the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom had suggested to Champion that Coates simply be fined $100, but the judge pushed back, saying,&nbsp;\u201cI question whether $100 is a proper denunciation of the conduct of Mr. Coates as well as proper deterrence for others that might feel that \u2018I can violate the directions of the chief medical officer of health and get $100 fine.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is an issue when someone makes a decision that can affect the health and the lives of thousands of people,\u201d Champion continued, who used Coates\u2019 description of himself as the \u201cshepherd\u201d of his church to scold him.<\/p>\n<p>Noting his church services could have proven to be super-spreader events, Champion said, \u201cA shepherd ought to protect his flock.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Coates, who appeared before Champion in an orange-and-black jumpsuit, stressed that he had no intention of being \u201ca political revolutionary,\u201d and that he was simply trying to obey Jesus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI realized that\u2019s the way society is going to perceive what\u2019s happening here,\u201d Coates said. \u201c[But] I\u2019m simply here in obedience to Jesus Christ, and it\u2019s my obedience to Christ that has put me at odds with the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Coates\u2019 case has been a source of controversy in the Edmonton area, where demonstrators had gathered outside his jail in protest. A <a href=\"https:\/\/gracelife.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">statement<\/a> on GraceLife Church\u2019s website explains his reasoning in part:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"16\">\n<p><em>Having engaged in an immense amount of research, interacting with both doctors and frontline healthcare workers, it is apparent that the negative effects of the government lockdown measures on society far surpass the effects of COVID-19. The science being used to justify lockdown measures is both suspect and selective. In fact, there is no empirical evidence that lockdowns are effective in mitigating the spread of the virus. We are gravely concerned that COVID-19 is being used to fundamentally alter society and strip us all of our civil liberties. By the time the so-called \u201cpandemic\u201d is over, if it is ever permitted to be over, Albertans will be utterly reliant on government, instead of free, prosperous, and independent.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Coates\u2019 wife, Erin Coates, spoke recently with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who described the situation as \u201cobvious tyranny.\u201d Explaining that jail was hard on her husband, Erin said she no longer recognizes her native Canada, where she claims rights have been stripped from citizens so gradually that it no longer bothers most of them. Unwilling to claim outright that government authorities were targeting her husband for his religion, she did note that spiritual forces of evil often work through them.<\/p>\n<p>WATCH:<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wife of pastor jailed for preaching speaks out on &#039;Tucker Carlson Tonight&#039;\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0ywfs4rQipQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong>: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/a-little-too-soviet-grandsons-of-idaho-pastor-slapped-with-13-criminal-charges-for-protesting-lockdowns-with-stickers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u2018A Little Too Soviet\u2019: Grandsons Of Idaho Pastor Slapped With 13 Criminal Charges For Protesting Lockdowns With Stickers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Canadian pastor who was jailed for more than a month after holding church services in defiance of Alberta\u2019s COVID-19 protocols was released Monday with a fine and a scolding &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2311023,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-3007.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Judge Releases Canadian Pastor Jailed For Alleged Health Order Violation, Suggests He Shepherds His Church Poorly","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-293102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-3007.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Judge Releases Canadian Pastor Jailed For Alleged Health Order Violation, Suggests He Shepherds His Church Poorly","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293102","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2311023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}