Artur Pawlowski Found Guilty of Inciting Mischief and Eco-terrorism: A Threat to Canadian Freedom of Expression and Religion

By Cindy Chafian July 19, 2023

 Calgary Alberta, July 18, 2023 - In a recent ruling, Artur Pawlowski has been found guilty by a judge of inciting mischief and eco-terrorism, leaving Canadians concerned about the erosion of their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion. The sentencing for this case is scheduled for August 9, 2023, unless further legal actions are taken to challenge the verdict.

The implications of this ruling are far-reaching, as it poses a significant threat to the cherished principles that have defined Canadian society for generations. If not struck down, it could set a dangerous precedent whereby any individual, including politicians, journalists, and private citizens, who dare to oppose the ruling party, expose corruption, or voice dissent against tyranny, may face up to 10 years of imprisonment....To Read More......

I've been following this from the beginning, and here's my Pawlowski file:

• Canadian Pastor Gets “Total” Win In Court – “Jail Time…Censorship…Fines Against Him Were Illegal”
• Justin Trudeau’s ‘Sting of Spite’ Against Political Prisoner Pastor Artur Pawlowski
• Canada Doubles Down on Arresting Christians
• Calgary police finally got their revenge against Pastor Pawlowski

 

Buckeye Institute Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 21, 2022 Lisa Gates, Vice President of Communications, (614) 224-3255 U.S. Supreme Court Adopts Position Argued By The Buckeye Institute SCOTUS Issues Decision Finding That Government Cannot Discriminate Against Religion Columbus, OH – On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Carson v. Makin that the state of Maine cannot deny students and their families financial aid that is available to all other students just because a family chooses to use their aid to send their children to a religious or “sectarian” school.   “Once again, the high court has clearly found that the government cannot discriminate against religion in administering benefit programs,” said Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute. “As The Buckeye Institute argued in its amicus brief, Maine’s discrimination against religious schools and parents violated the First Amendment, and today’s decision is another significant victory for the rights of families and students.”   Chief Justice John Robert wrote for the majority, a “State need not subsidize private education. But once a State decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious.”   “Today’s decision makes clear that tuition assistance programs, like the one in Maine, can be used by families to attend religious schools,” said Larry Obhof, a partner at Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP and counsel of record for The Buckeye Institute in this case. “The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment prevents generally-available government programs from excluding families or schools because of their faith.”   Dave and Amy Carson—who are represented by Institute for Justice and First Liberty Institute—live in a “tuitioning town,” where the state of Maine provides tuition assistance to students in areas that do not maintain a public school. The tuition assistance program can be used to attend a school of the family’s choice—public or private, in-state or out-of-state. However, the state of Maine would not allow the Carsons to use the tuition assistance to send their daughter to Bangor Christian Schools, which is fully accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, because the school is “sectarian.” The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief supporting the Carsons. # # # Founded in 1989, The Buckeye Institute is an independent research and educational institution – a think tank – whose mission is to advance free-market public policy in the states. The Buckeye Institute is a non-partisan, non-profit, and tax-exempt organization, as defined by section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code. As such, it relies on support from individuals, corporations, and foundations that share a commitment to individual liberty, free enterprise, personal responsibility, and limited government. The Buckeye Institute does not seek or accept government funding. Donate Today! Support The Buckeye Institute Support The Buckeye Institute by setting us as your designated charity through AmazonSmile. Every time you make a purchase, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the total to The Buckeye Institute at no extra cost to you! AmazonSmile and the AmazonSmile logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

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Cartoon of the Day

Justice Alito warns of dangers to free speech, religious liberty in Federalist Society address

“In certain quarters religious liberty has fast become a disfavored right,” Alito said

By Brie Stimson | Fox News

 

Religious liberty and free speech are among Americans' personal freedoms potentially imperiled along with government overreach during the coronavirus pandemic, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito warned Thursday. “Tolerance for opposing views is now in short supply,” Alito added in a virtual keynote speech to a conference of the conservative Federalist Society, in which he referenced the current state of discourse in the nation's law schools and the “broader academic community.”  Many recent law school graduates claim they face “harassment” and “retaliation” for any views that depart “from law school orthodoxy,” Alito said.................He also said that houses of worship have been treated unfairly compared to other businesses during the pandemic, like in the case of casinos in Nevada.  “Nevada was unable to provide any justification for treating casinos more favorably than other houses of worship,” he said, referring to a recent Supreme Court case. The court still deferred to the governor who favored the state’s biggest industry, he said............To Read More....

Rights, Religion, and Property

The State Department’s Commission on Unalienable Rights reveals an animus against natural liberties that betrays an aspiration to expand the reach of government even further.

By Russell A. Berman • August 22, 2020 

The State Department’s Commission on Unalienable Rights has issued a report on the rationale to pursue human rights as a primary goal for American foreign policy. Rights have a bipartisan pedigree. In our modern history, it was the Democrat Jimmy Carter who first defined human rights as a U.S. foreign policy mission. But Republican Ronald Reagan and his Secretary of State George Shultz made rights advocacy a constant component of their hard-nosed negotiations with the Soviets.

Barack Obama took a different path. Reacting against his predecessor George W. Bush’s policy of democracy promotion, he and Secretary of State John Kerry proved largely oblivious to rights concerns—most egregiously in the disregard for human rights in their negotiations with Iran. 
It is surely time to bring rights back to the forefront of foreign policy—that is the context of the commission’s report.

There is also a second context: the evident fragility of the rights agenda around the world.......To Read More.......

The Arizona Supreme Court Strikes a Powerful Blow for Free Speech and Religious Freedom

September 16, 2019 By David French

Free speech and religious liberty are on a winning streak. Last month the Eighth Circuit Court of appeals ruled that Christian wedding photographers could not be compelled to use their artistic talents to help celebrate same-sex weddings. Today, the Arizona Supreme Court reached a similar holding, this time on behalf of Christian calligraphers and painters Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski. The case, brought by my friends and former colleagues at the Alliance Defending Freedom, is similar to multiple other wedding vendor cases. The plaintiffs do not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation (they happily serve gay customers). They merely refuse to produce art that advances ideas they find objectionable.

Duka and Koski operate a limited liability company called Brush & Nib Studios. The company's Operating Agreement declares its beliefs quite clearly stating that it will not create "custom artwork that communicates ideas or messages . . . that contradict biblical truth, demean others, endorse racism, incite violence, or promote any marriage besides marriage between one man and one woman, such as same-sex marriage."

As with all these cases, the core question is whether the custom artwork at issue constitutes constitutionally protected speech (the court was interpreting the Arizona constitution, but applied federal free speech precedents). If so, then the state's demand that the plaintiffs produce art for same-sex marriages constitutes a form of compelled speech, among the most egregious forms of First Amendment violation.

Compelled speech violates the fundamental principle that "an individual has autonomy over his or her speech and thus may not be forced to speak a message he or she does not wish to say".........To Read More....

Bulldozing Religious Freedom with Ruth Bader Ginsburg. A July Fourth special ...

by Paul Kengor July 4, 2019

As an exercise in self-immolation this July 4th fireworks season, I read Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dissenting opinion in the Bladensburg cross case. It’s a flaming attack upon religious freedom — the first freedom in our Bill of Rights. At the least, it’s a smashing example of a Supreme Court justice endorsing the destruction of religious symbols on public property. Or at least where large Christian crosses are concerned.

The Ginsburg opinion, supported by a demolition crew of one — namely, Justice Sonia Sotomayor — is not only a crushing indictment of judicial acumen but also of our process of judicial appointments. Someone of such obviously partial and superficial mind should never have been nominated to the high court (by President Bill Clinton), let alone approved by a Senate vote of 96 to 3. Not even court liberals like Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan deigned to agree with Ginsburg on this one. And yet, it’s such unhinged radical-left activism that endears Ginsburg to progressives. For anti-religious progressives, Bladensburg will be another brick in the large monument they’ll be erecting to their “Notorious R.B.G.” (surely on public property and with government dollars)........To Read More....

David Horowitz Unveils The Left's Dark Agenda

Freedom Center founder reveals progressives' war to destroy Christian America.

March 22, 2019  Frontpagemag.com 

Readers of my new book “Dark Agenda” might wonder how an agnostic Jew and ex-radical came to write about the war to destroy Christian America. Once I recognized the destructive character of the radical movement I had been part of forty years ago, I began a re-examination of everything I and my comrades had thought about the system we had set out to destroy.

In the course of this inquiry, I had a kind of epiphany. Thinking about the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which even radicals cherished, I realized that these rights were only unalienable because they were given by a Divinity - by God. If they were granted by government, then government could take them away.

It was a simple idea to understand but not so simple to embrace. Even though I was an agnostic, I had to face the fact that without a belief in God, or respect for such a belief, these rights could not exist. Without respect for believers and their belief, without respect for the Christians who created this country, our most cherished rights would have no foundation and could not be defended..................

Roe v. Wade represented a fundamental break from the existing fabric of American life. It was imposed overnight, in every community in the country, and without the consent of the inhabitants of those communities who - according to the Constitution – were supposed to be sovereign.

This tyrannical, fraudulent Supreme Court decision split the nation in two. Its assault on traditional communities led directly to the creation of the religious right. Until Roe, the evangelical community had been wary of political involvements, but this unconstitutional assault on its communities thrust it into politics out of sheer concern for its self-defense...........To Read More....

A manifesto of freedom

March 2, 2019 By Robert Arvay

What is more valuable to a free man than his freedom? Is it safety? Comfort? Love? Whatever treasures one can name, each of them, without freedom, is, sooner or later, forfeit.

Our freedoms are not separate items on a list. They are all interlocked and interdependent. Take away any part of freedom, and all of it begins to crumble. Without freedom of speech, all of freedom suffocates in a soundless vacuum. Without freedom of worship, the soul of freedom is lost. Without the freedom to arm oneself, defeat by tyranny is inevitable. Freedom is a way of life.

Moreover, add to the body of freedom anything that it is not, and then there also, freedom is cheapened and eroded. There is no freedom from being offended, no freedom from want, or any freedom that guarantees happiness.................Read more

Judge Rules that Gender Identity Laws Will not Apply to Churches for Now…

By Michael Ware October 28, 2016

There are times that we need to gain clarity before there is a problem. We see something that might make for a situation later, and you decide to deal with it now. This is both wise and prudent. It can also allow us to work with confidence, knowing that we have avoided possible conflict in the future.

This seems to be the case in a recent lawsuit. As I reported, the Human Rights Commission of Iowa had worded the exemption of its new regulation on gender restroom availability very vaguely.

 

This led to an inquiry by several organizations and churches. These inquiries were met with vague and almost hostile responses from the Commission. Out of fear of persecution, one church had filed suit to place an injunction on the law.......To Read More....

• How Long Will Your Church Survive Under a Clinton Presidency?

'Tolerance' now means gov't-coerced celebration

By Dennis Prager

Jack Phillips owns the Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colo., about 10 miles from downtown Denver. In July 2012, two gay men, Charlie Craig and David Mullins, asked Phillips to provide the cake for their wedding celebration. Though same-sex marriage is not allowed in Colorado – the Colorado Constitution states that “Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state” – the two men had been married in Massachusetts.   As acknowledged by all parties, Phillips told the men, “I’ll make you birthday cakes, shower cakes, sell you cookies and brownies, I just don’t make cakes for same-sex weddings.”   Read more at