EDITORIAL: It’s cancel culture but it’s no slam on Christianity

The City of Winnipeg has joined six other cities in eastern Canada, Quebec and Ontario in denying a park booking permit for singer Sean Feucht.

A U.S. Christian musician, Feucht gained fame for his stance against public health rules that forced churches to close their doors to parishioners during the COVID pandemic.

He’s an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump and shares conservative beliefs on abortion, gender and sexuality.

He was also noted to have at one time a member of his security detail that was a member of the Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group whose members embrace misogynistic, anti-immigrant, Islamophobic and anti-LGBTQ+ ideology.

The Proud Boys also played an integral role in the deadly insurrection attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

But city officials aren’t citing any of his political views or unique brand of Christianity, as the reason.

Instead, they told various media outlets that Feucht’s concert that he billed as the country’s “hour of awakening” and an opportunity to worship Jesus as having operational challenges.

It seems city officials suddenly realized such an event should not be held at Central Park, because it’s highly utilized by community members, and the 2,000 people expected to attend would be too many for emergency services.

That of course begs the question of why the park is available for rentals at all. It also makes one wonder why this information was not communicated earlier so they could give Feucht a comprehensive list of other city venues that may be more suitable.

Instead, it’s likely they were influenced by the loud voices, those who object to Feucht’s political and personal beliefs.

The Winnipeg Free Press reported Monday that a downtown United Church cleric and a long-time city anti-fascist activist were among those urging the city to cancel the concert.

Rev. Lesley Harrison of Knox United Church claimed the vulnerable population of the area could be harmed.

She said in part, “We’ve worked tirelessly to try and make this area safe for all people to come together and express their beliefs and to have a sense of community that lifts them up, rather than pulling them down.”

Let’s be clear, this guy is no saint. He upholds President Donald Trump, who uses the Beatitudes as if his bucket challenge is to break every suggestion, as some sort of model Christian.

The very selfish movement of wanting the freedom to share COVID unabated in society, is also something that he cherishes.

The MAGA movement itself is objectively the antitheses of the life of Jesus.

But he made a point in response to this that made sense.

“If I had shown up with purple hair and a dress, claiming to be a woman, the government wouldn’t have said a word,” he said on a post on X last week.

He’s not wrong. There’s no doubt that if his political beliefs were further to the left, he would have been granted his permit.

But he ruined it with the next part of his tweet.

“But to publicly profess deeply held Christian beliefs is to be labeled an extremist – and to have a free worship event classified as a public safety risk.”

There is no evidence that his Christianity has any impact on this cancellation.

There are hundreds of Christian acts that tour our country with no issues whatsoever.

Kim Walker-Smith, Leeland, Chris Tomlin and For King + Country all have plans to come to Winnipeg this year.

Officials in various cities have been united in not citing Feucht’s beliefs or concert content as a reason.

They have cited security as an excuse, and though valid concerns exist, it’s not the singer or his fans that are expected to cause a concern.

Instead, it would be the protestors, who are legally allowed to assemble, that could cause conflict.

If that concern was legitimate though, they would simply address the security issue by coming up with a plan, capping the number of people, or forcing the promoter to pay for added security as they do with other large local events.

James Turk, the director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University, joined others concerned that censorship is being used to address social issues, rather than allowing debate.

He told CBC that freedom of expression is so fundamental in a democratic society that it should only be restricted in extreme cases.

“I fear that, as in many cases, the use of security as an excuse is just that – an excuse to otherwise deny what’s a fundamental right of freedom of expression in this country,” he said.

And he’s right.

We have the freedom to disagree, and Feucht has a right to share his beliefs with his fans, no matter how divorced they are from the majority of society.