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Aylmer Police investigating “blatant” violations at Church of God

January 25, 2021 | 21

Aylmer Police Chief Zvonko Horvat, in a statement Monday, Jan. 25, announced that a Church of God service held on Sunday, Jan. 24, was under investigation for “blatant” alleged violations of Ontario’s COVID-19 emergency orders.

Police were identifying individuals who participated and the event’s organizer, he said. Those determined to have broken emergency orders would be charged.

In addition, Chief Horvat said, Southwestern Public Health would be consulted “to develop further mitigating strategies specific to this group to reduce the risk of exposure and harm within out community.

“Community safety and well being and enforcement of laws is our top priority during this global pandemic. Aylmer Police are asking the citizens to exercise patience as we sift through the evidence and lay appropriate charges during the latest blatant violation of the emergency orders by this particular group. Irresponsible actions of those involved will not be tolerated.”

 

(Images are stills captured by video of the gathering, posted and shared by The Church of God at Aylmer/Pastor Henry Hildebrandt)

Posted in News, News Headlines
  • GL

    Those people are smiling and look happy – good for them – humanity needs togetherness. They assemble and yet aren’t making each other sick, this is why the police want to punish them.

    • SaneGuy

      Well GL, they’ve broken the law. Pretty black and white at this point. It’s gatherings like this that do lead to the spread of the virus, and ultimately extend the very lockdowns that they pretend to rail against.

      • GL

        Whether they broke a law or not will come down to the eventual Supreme Court trial. Freedom of assembly and freedom of religion are protected by the charter. The health order is illegal.
        Moreover, churches like this have begun gathering all over Canada (some never stopped and have been meeting in secret) and NONE of the congregations are overwhelmed with virus and death. Take a clue.

        • SaneGuy

          There is no question about whether they broke the law – they did. They are free to pursue it through the court system and see how it plays out.

          I see you’ve already decided on the legality of the order though.

          “Moreover, churches like this have begun gathering all over Canada (some never stopped and have been meeting in secret) and NONE of the congregations are overwhelmed with virus and death. “

          Churches like “this” – what does that mean? Does the CoG have some innate characteristics that separate it from other churches? No doubt you have the data, evidence, etc, to support your claim that indoor gatherings don’t spread the virus (although I see you’ve left some wiggle room by using “overwhelming” as an out – as that would be fairly subjective descriptor)? That would run counter to the peer reviewed science out there. Much simpler to just toss out anecdotes to support nonsensical claims.

          If you like anecdotes, South Korea’s COVID experience was almost single handedly the result of church gatherings. It resulted in a “overwhelming” number of cases.

          We have had outbreaks directly connected to church gatherings in our region as well. Blenheim, Kingston…

          Take a clue? From what? From who? You? I think not. Your legal advice is poor for starters, and you’ve offered nothing else (other than a whataboutism as support for it).

          • GL

            My comment was intended to applaud the courageous, not convince the afraid. I’m not telling you how to live. Just stay in your basement – your mom will come tell you when it’s safe.

          • SaneGuy

            My comment was intended to applaud the courageous

            There’s nothing courageous about putting the public at risk. Plenty of other ways to describe it though.

            not convince the afraid.

            What’s neat about your assumption that people who abide by the law are somehow afraid is that the irony of being in a religion and following the commands of an imaginary super-being out of fear that you’ll end up in the bad place is completely lost on you.

            No GL, I’m not afraid. Quite the contrary. I am informed. With the power of information I am able to live my life without fear. I am aware of the risks associated with this virus. I understand the ramifications of the daily decisions I make. You want “togetherness” – then why not accept that the lockdowns, public health orders, etc, are predicated on the hope that everyone will come together to do everything we can to get past this episode? “Nah”, GL says, “I’d rather support people that do the things that actually make this situation worse”.

            The borderline-narcissistic attitudes demonstrated by the CoG and its supporters would be comical if it didn’t have serious socio-economic consequences.

            Just stay in your basement – your mom will come tell you when it’s safe.

            The true sign of someone that’s entered into a conversation that they’re not equipped for; personal insults.

            Really nice to see you promoting that “togetherness”.

          • GL

            You nailed it. Lockdowns are predicated on Hope. Hope is form of anxiety; dwelling in the future. There is only now. Even past Health Ministers are speaking out against this unfounded stay-at-home order. Science from the last year suggests the lockdowns don’t work. Our government and leaders have proven themselves to be inept to handle this situation. They will have you locked in your home forever unless folks like these church goers rise up and say enough is enough.

          • SaneGuy

            You nailed it. Lockdowns are predicated on Hope.

            You’ve misunderstood. In this case it’s not hope in the context of faith (which is a weird thing to take from my statement in the first place), it’s “hope” as in expectation. Big difference in the two.

            Even past Health Ministers are speaking out against this unfounded stay-at-home order.

            Who are these “past Health Ministers” and where can I find their stance on lockdown measures? Have you decided to take their words at face value (assuming they say what you purport them to say) because it fits your current worldview, or have you made any effort to go beyond scratching the surface?

            Science from the last year suggests the lockdowns don’t work.

            What “science” are you referring to GL? Can you point me to some peer-reviewed material? I’d love to expand my knowledge base on the subject, but my Google-work may be lacking as I can’t find anything reputable that supports your claim. There appears to be consensus among the scientific community (at least those in the bio-chem world) that lockdowns are indeed effective at reducing the spread of COVID (let alone any virus).

            Our government and leaders have proven themselves to be inept to handle this situation.

            Something I can almost agree with you on. That being said, throwing the baby out with the bathwater is foolish. While the provincial government is definitely showing the shortcomings in our Cabinet ministers, there is at least some effort to manage the pandemic.

            They will have you locked in your home forever unless folks like these church goers rise up and say enough is enough.

            This sounds like fearmongering GL. I am starting to wonder if all the talk of fear was really just projection.

          • GL

            https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ontario-lockdown-not-supported-by-strong-science-says-former-chief-medical-officer-of-health

            Hope is only faith – there is no other definition of hope. You have faith that separating yourself from nature will spare you from nature. I do not share that delusion with you.

          • GL

            For a legal assessment with regards to Charter violations of Ontario’s lockdown, I share here an excerpt of text moving through the courts now:

            “ Section 2(a), freedom of conscience and religion, is violated by restrictions on religious gatherings and worship;
            Section 2(b), freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, is violated when elected officials and civil servants dismiss beliefs or opinions that differ from their governments’ positions, shame and censure those who seek greater balance between health protections and the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, and encourage the banishment from social media platforms of those expressing different perspectives on how the COVID crisis should be handled.
            Section 2(b) is further violated by the colleges of physicians and surgeons, which are government bodies to which the charter applies, when they send threatening letters to physicians for having publicly expressed their opinions about the grave harms that lockdowns are inflicting on Canadians;
            Section 2(c), freedom of peaceful assembly, is violated by government orders that restrict (or ban) peaceful protests, and the selective enforcement of health orders (strict enforcement for anti-lockdown protests; little or no enforcement for anti-racism protests) severely undermines the rule of law; and
            Section 2(d), freedom of association, is violated by government orders making it illegal for friends to spend time together, for families to eat Christmas dinner together and for Canadians to associate with each other as they themselves choose.”

          • SaneGuy

            So we’re just going to move on past the unsubstantiated claims you’ve made, and on to something else. Ok then.

            I “hope” you didn’t skip right over section 1 of the Charter.

  • SaneGuy

    Not every day that criminals record themselves committing the crime, let alone posting it publicly.

    • GL

      When the laws are a circus you only have to have more conviction than the clowns in order to stand up for what you believe. These folks have more guts than any of aylmer’s whiny pitchfork crowd. Just stay in your basement buddy, someone will let you know when it’s safe to come out.

      • SaneGuy

        Thanks for the hot tip GL. Feel free to hit me up with some material for me to review that back up your claims so far. Always eager to learn.

        • GL

          Having courage & conviction isn’t something one can learn. Google won’t bring you any closer to clarity of what’s on trial here.

          • SaneGuy

            Hi GL – merely looking to Google to help you support your claims, that’s all.

            I wish you had the “courage and conviction” to back up the claims you’ve made.

  • RSmith444

    This happened before in Germany 1936.
    They falsely accused a religious group of spreading disease resulting in millions being mercilessly killed.
    Adolf Horvat should leave these Christians alone to worship.
    There are many credible reports that lockdown does more harm than good socially and medically.

    • SaneGuy

      Hey RSmith444 – it looks like your understanding of Nazi-Germany in the mid-30s is either suffering from the passage of time, or based on poor source material. I can’t comment on which is the case here. That being said, what the APS has done with respect to the laying of charges against the CoG doesn’t compare to what transpired in the first three year’s of Hitler’s chancellorship.

      There is no relativism that you can draw between the two. The people of Germany had no recourse within the legal framework of the totalitarian regime. The erosion of peoples’ rights was almost immediate – by 1934, there was no going back.

      Toss in some concentration camps, a sanctioned use of extra-judicial militia forces, the classification of specific races as non-citizens, some well-timed executions, and you have yourself all the trappings of a fascist state.

      I don’t want to say you’re embellishing a bit with the comparison, but that’s what you’re doing. There is no equivalency between the current application of our provincial laws and regulations by any police service, and what the Nazis did in Europe at any time during their reign.

      When Pastor Hildebrandt gets hauled off to a concentration camp to work forced labour until he dies, give me a call. I’ll be the first in to help resist our overlords. Until then, give the Nazi-angle a rest.

      • GL

        “I’ll be the first to resist” Ha – you’ve proven here you haven’t the courage for that. If you wait until your neighbor is hauled off, it’s too late. And you O’Sane One don’t just wait idly by, you cheer the loss of rights and have open disdain for those practicing freedom.

        • SaneGuy

          “I’ll be the first to resist” Ha – you’ve proven here you haven’t the courage for that.

          That’s disingenuous of you GL. Character attacks again though. I am sensing a pattern.

          If you wait until your neighbor is hauled off, it’s too late.

          Your lack of respect and understanding of the history of democratic traditions in Canada is a little concerning though. I am surprised that people seem to think that an erosion of rights on the scale we witnessed in Germany during the inter-war period is just as easily done in modern-day Canada. The circumstances that lead to the rise of Hitler are not the same circumstances we find ourselves in today.

          Not being able to go to Church with 11 people is not the same as what the people of Nazi-Germany experienced. It’s a grievous insult to those that suffered to even attempt to draw some form of twisted equivalency.

          And you O’Sane One don’t just wait idly by, you cheer the loss of rights and have open disdain for those practicing freedom.

          I have not cheered the loss of freedoms, as that would presume we’ve lost them to begin with. I believe this is a form of a classic fallacy – appeal to authority, or a strawman perhaps?

          I have similarly not shown disdain (in my posts at least) for any Canadian citizen practicing “freedom” (whatever that means).

          Still waiting for something from you that would qualify as evidence to support the myriad of claims you’ve made.

          The “attack the messenger, not the message” schtick is getting old.

          If you can’t do anything except proffer more personal attacks, or more unsourced fanciful claims, than you should reconsider posting more. It doesn’t add anything of value.

    • Rick Newman

      I guess not being able to read fairy tales and have sing songs is the same as Nazi Germany.

      Religion is the greatest scam perpetrated on humanity.