Author: Staff Writer

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In-person Church News Righteous Defiance

Summary on the Police Occupation of GraceLife Church + Who Took the Fences Down

Due to a large amount of misinformation being spread regarding the protests at GraceLife Church, we wanted to provide a few facts to bring clarity to the situation of what happened yesterday.

Late Saturday Evening: Congregants were contacted by the elders and other members informing them that the church had moved to an undisclosed location, well away from the church building. This was a location that was sympathetic to the congregation and would allow them to have their service. While some were speculating that police were going to surveil church leaders early Sunday morning to see where they would be gathering, no police or members of Alberta Health Services were present on scene.

Early Sunday Morning: Several caravans left from various cities throughout the province, with the biggest coming from Calgary, and passing through Red Deer, the halfway point, gaining participants, until about 100 vehicles arrived at their destination near the Church. Some of the people attending were free-speech advocates, anti-vaxxers, concerned citizens aghast at these provocations by the government, conspiracy theorists, critics of government overreach, anti-lockdown intellectuals, and run-of-the-mill Christians upset and wanting to make their voices known. There were several children mixed in with this group and practically no one was wearing masks. This really was an eclectic bunch, with varying spins on the same message that what the police were doing at Gracelife Church was wrong. Most were wearing winter coats as there was still snow on the ground.

In total, estimates have between 400-500 people attending. The police attended in large numbers as well, with around 150 officers at their peak. Some dressed in their regular uniforms while others dressed in riot gear, all while police helicopters flew overhead. They blocked off the roads and so the vehicles had to park far away and walk to the site. Some people went up and down the roads, honking and blaring their horns in support. Unfortunately, being from out of town many weren’t mindful of where they were parking and ended up parking on the Enoch Cree reservation, with one person alleged to have vandalized the chief’s car. Men and women would eventually come out from the reserve and ask them to stop parking there, setting up their own roadblock and engaging in a confrontation with protesters.

Sunday Afternoon: With different groups present, some had differing intentions. The morning was peaceful. Some sang hymns and sang the national anthem. There was a small impromptu service off to the side. Some leaders who brought supporters down gave speeches on bullhorns and engaged in public prayer for the church, as well as for the RCMP officers. There was a man wearing an LGBTQ flag as a cape who was mistaken for a counterprotester until he started in on the ‘freedom chants.” One member of the media’s vehicles was “vandalized” when someone wrote “fake news” in the dust of a reporter’s back window. The vast majority had peaceful intentions, but a few did not.

Eventually, a small group of people began tearing the outer fence down, taking the dividers and throwing them on the ground. It is unknown at this time who they were associated with. This act of aggression did not go far and was quickly quelled, both by fellow protesters who shouted at them to “leave the fence alone” as they were physically pulled them away from the chainlinks, as well as by police, who came running in. The whole situation was quickly de-escalated with a greater police presence, even as protesters helped put the fence back up. Supporters of the church would eventually stand together in front of the fence, facing the crowd and announcing the need for peace. In total, one man was arrested for obstruction but was later released with conditions.    

Where was the GraceLife Church congregation as this was happening?

They were busy worshipping the Lord and being taught the scriptures, away from the prying eyes of their government and the distraction of a large rally.

At the time the first section of the fence was removed, the underground service was just winding down. There was no members of the church present, given the distance from the underground church service to their building. Some came later in the afternoon, but for that brief initial skirmish with the fence, Grace congregation members were nowhere to be seen, still hidden away in their proverbial catacomb.

Sunday Evening: The rallies wound down and started dispersing around 2 p.m. Media sources would report extensively on what happened, with some saying that the Church had a hand in bringing down the fence. Later that day, the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedom would release a statement on behalf of the Church, again explaining that they were not there, but that they supported the right of people to peacefully protest, and that it was understandable that people were agitated.

Grace Life Church appreciates the public outpouring of support to fully open churches in Alberta. Grace Life Church congregants were not at the protest that occurred on Sunday, April 11, 2021 near the Church’s facility. Grace Life Church recognizes the place for peaceful protest within the context of a democracy.

Grace Life Church has no control of our Church or grounds at this time. The Church grounds are fully under the responsibility and control of the RCMP and Alberta Health Services. The closing of the Grace Life facility has understandably resulted in significant public outrage and caused even larger crowds to gather in one place. Albertans have a constitutional right to assemble, associate, and worship. By taking the measures the government has, while the matter is still pending before the Courts, the Alberta Government has created an even more divisive situation.

It is time to end these unscientific, unjustified and arbitrary lockdown measures.

Monday Morning: There is still a police presence at GraceLife Church, but nowhere as high as it was yesterday. Protesters are there now in much smaller numbers and are expected to arrive at different points in the day. No large rallies are planned for the weekend, but several groups are promising that if the government does not relent and take down the fence, they will be back next Sunday in greater numbers.

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Church Coronavirus In-person Church Righteous Defiance

John MacArthur Reads Letter From James Coates+ Their Prayer for Him

John MacArthur read a letter from Pastor James Coates of Gracelife Church to the congregation during their Sunday morning service, thanking them for being a model of faithfulness and counting it a joy to be considered a co-sufferer for Christ. Grace Community Church in Sun Valley California has born the brunt of the heat in the United States for being open at full capacity through the latter part of the pandemic, being one of the most visible and largest congregations after they chose to reopen in the summer.

Explaining that Gracelife Church is meeting at an undiscovered location, MacArthur comments ‘it’s amazing to have an underground church in Canada, because the government of Alberta tripled fenced the church in and locked it so people couldn’t go there.” Coates and his Associate Pastor Jacob Spenst are both graduates of Master’s Seminary, and he credits MacArthur and his congregation with his resolve to remain strong.

He writes

To Grace Community Church which is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace to you and peace in him. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has superabundantly glorified himself through you.

For decades you have been a strong and steadfast pillar and support of the truth. So much so the Lord has established many other beacons of truth throughout this world as a direct result of your ministry. You have exemplified a profound love for the brethren, warm service and hospitality, and an undeniable love for God and his word. In fact, his word has sounded forth from you with such power and precision that the fruit of your ministry is absolutely immeasurable this side of heaven.

Pastor Johns’ 52 years of faithful ministry is as much a testimony to you as it is to him. May God richly reward you for faithfulness.

Thank you for the way you cared for me, my family and congregation during my imprisonment. Your love and prayerful support were vital to our steadfastness in the face of suffering. The letter from the elders was an immense encouragement. The support from Dr. Nathan Busenitz and the Master’s Seminary was both humbling and strengthening and the pastoral care provided by Pastor John was incredibly comforting.

It was also a rich blessing to receive letters from a number of you while imprisoned. Those letters provided necessary fuel for my resolve.

My wife Erin also sends her greeting and thankfulness. She was and continues to be greatly strengthened by your letters. You poured into her early in her spiritual development and you are pouring into her now as well.

You have suffered well for the gospel. It is an indescribable blessing to join you in that suffering. Our congregations have been counted worthy for this purpose. May we rejoice in this as did the apostles in their sufferings. Jesus Christ is the sovereign Lord over all creation and the Supreme Head of the church. We will bow to him and him alone. Only he is worthy.  

And now may he continually strengthen you unto all faithfulness and may he constantly radiate his honor and glory through you. To him be the glory forever and ever,

Amen

James Coates


In return, MacArthur prayed for Gracelife again, echoing their sentiments.

Father we pray for our dear friend James Coates and Erin and their family and others who stand with him for Gracelife Church up in Alberta, that the word will continue to sound forth from them.

We thank you for his godliness, his manliness, his courage, his conviction, his strength, his resolve. Thank you for the work you’ve done in his heart so that he would be strong and courageous and put himself in a position of obedience no matter what the cost so that you could be honored.

 Even as he concluded his letter. his words are our prayer. May you O Lord constantly radiate your honor and glory through us, through Grace Church and through Gracelife Church. To you be the glory forever and ever amen.

Editor’s note. The letter and prayer are both a transcript that we provided. We do not know exactly how it was laid out, so any errors in the reading are ours.

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Evangelical Stuff Featured Money Grubbing Heretics

Brian Houston Shuts Down Hillsong Dallas Church Amid Controversy

Hillsong’s Global Senior Pastor Brian Houston has pulled the trigger and shut down Hillsong Dallas, scattering the congregants into the wind in the wakes of a series of scandals that have plagued the American branches.

We wrote two months ago how lead Pastors Reed and Jess Bogard gave a sudden resignation announcement back in January. It was later revealed that like Hillsong NY, they were using the church to fund their lavish lifestyles, including $1100 a night Air B&B’s and $800 meals. At the time Hoston reassured that the congregation would live on and be cared for, writing:

Reed and Jess have given their heart and soul to the pioneering of Hillsong Dallas Love the last couple of years, and we’re grateful for that, and the great work they’ve done.

Reed and I have been talking now over a period of time and we both agreed it would be a perfect time for them to come to a new season in their life, which means a new season also for Hillsong Dallas.

I do believe in the future of Hillsong Dallas. In the meantime, we will make sure week by week that the church is being cared for. We have a great team over in America and around the world. Even though we are restricted in what we can and can’t do right now in terms of travel, you are not going to be forsaken.

But forsaken they were. Rather than just having another one of the other elder/pastors take the preaching role like a normal church, Brian Houston announced they were closing the franchise.

Early in our process, the Bogards decided to resign from Hillsong Church. We accepted their resignations and acknowledged the time that the Bogards spent establishing our Dallas location…

It was very disappointing to learn that, while some of you experienced the Bogards as dedicated pastors, many others have experienced leadership that failed to meet the commitments and standards of Hillsong Church. I want to be the first to apologize to those who felt disappointed or hurt, and I pray that God does a swift work in bringing peace and healing…

As we were establishing Hillsong Church in Dallas, the pandemic swept across the globe and quickly changed the shape of our growing church in the city…

Many factors, all amplified by the pandemic, have resulted in the difficult decision to pause all operations at Hillsong Dallas for now.

Houston explains that while he understands some may choose to watch the livestream, others may want to attend other churches and he gives them his blessing to do that, while at the same time leaving the door open to the possibility of reestablishing some time in the future.

We still have a huge heart and vision for the great state of Texas. When the time is right and we have identified and trained suitable lead pastors, we will consider relaunching.

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Critical Race Theory News

Contributors Defend Devotional Book Asking God for Help to ‘Hate White People’

The contributors to a progressive prayer devotional have come out in full-throated defense to one one of their authors after it was revealed on social media that her chapter included a prayer for God to help her hate white people.

Chanequa Walker-Barnes is a professor of practical theology at Mercer University who describes herself in her online biography as a “clinical psychologist, public theologian, and ecumenical minister whose work focuses upon healing the legacies of racial and gender oppression.” She is pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ, and revealed a few years ago that she gave up on church altogether.

She contributed “Prayer of a Weary Black Woman” to A Rhythm of Prayer: A Collection of Meditations for Renewal by Sarah Bessy. This book is currently Amazon’s #1 Bestseller is #1 in Spiritual Meditations and other contributors include “Arch-Lesbianheretic” Rev. Nadia Bolz Webber, a host of other progressives, and Sharon Lisa Harper, who travels in Jemar Tisby’s circles and is the founder and president of FreedomRoad.us.

Her prayer includes some of these wonderful words:

Dear God, Please help me to hate White people. Or at least to want to hate them. At least, I want to stop caring about them, individually and collectively. I want to stop caring about their misguided, racist souls, to stop believing that they can be better, that they can stop being racist…

More:

My prayer is that you would help me hate the other White people – you know, the nice ones. The Fox News-loving, Trump-supporting voters who ‘don’t see color’ but who make thinly-veiled racist comments about ‘those people.’ The people who are happy to have me over for dinner but alert the neighborhood watch anytime an unrecognized person of color passes their house. The people who welcome Black people in their churches and small groups but brand us heretics if we suggest that Christianity is concerned with the poor and the oppressed. The people who politely tell us that we can leave when we call out the racial microaggressions we experience in their ministries.

More:

Lord, if it be your will, harden my heart. Stop me from striving to see the best in people. Stop me from being hopeful that White people can do and be better, Let me imagine them instead as white-hooded robes standing in front of burning crosses. Let me see them as hopelessly unrepentant, reprobate bigots who have blasphemed the Holy Spirit and who need to be handed over to the evil one. Let me be like Jonah, unwilling for my enemies to change, or like Lot, able to walk away from them and their sinfulness without trying to call them to repentance. Let me stop seeing them as members of the same body.

In a follow-up post, she revealed that she prayed this prayer after having a white friend casually drop the n-bomb in her presence, explaining that she has a million justified reasons to hate white people, with there even being a biblical precedent for it.

In response to this outcry, the contributors all banded together and released a statement in support of her, writing:

We are publicly stating our support for our sister, friend, and colleague, Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes…

We are given a vulnerable glimpse of her lament, her suffering, her weariness at the call to love her neighbors even when they oppress and marginalize her as a Black woman. Yet even in the very midst of this, we witness her prayer turn towards what she knows to be true about God’s call to justice and love…

Dr. Walker-Barnes is demonstrating the Biblically-based call towards loving our neighbors as Jesus said, in real-time. This beautiful, powerful prayer is modeled on the Psalms of lament and anger, often called imprecatory Psalms, found in the Bible. The Bible is often more honest about these complicated emotions than a lot of religious people.





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Breaking News

Breaking! Protesters At Gracelife Church Tear Down Fence


Update #2. Supporters of Gracelife Church have formed a barrier around the fence to prevent anyone else from tearing it down, wanting to do things peacefully in a way that heaps burning coals on the foreheads of the government and police.

Update #1. That de-escalated very quickly. Some pro-church attendees chased off those who tore the fence down and put it back up, helping police to re-assemble it.


While Gracelife Church had their morning service at an undisclosed location, only revealed to congregants late last night, a handful of the nearly 400 protesters who came to show their support took the occasion to tear down part of the fence surrounding the Church.

Tbe building site has drawn hundreds of visitors, including politicians and pro-freedom celebrities, along with a raft of unaffiliated folk. Crowds came on caravans all across the province from all differing political stripe and temperament. From the people walking up and down the road with a large cross, to those prompted by talk show host Alex Jones who put out the call yesterday and encouraged people to come. Some are peaceful. Some are riffraff out to raise a ruckus.

As a result, at one point protestors started tearing down the fence and trampling it underfoot.

Only a few sections fell, however as dozens of police arrived to reinforce the fences and provide support, while police helicopters fly overhead. Sources on the ground cite between 75-100 officers in total.



This is a developing story.

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Church Evangelical Stuff Featured In-person Church News Righteous Defiance

Christians Camp out At GraceLife Church, Hold Evening Service + A Convoy is Coming

With news that the police have barricaded GraceLife Church, cutting off all access to the property and pledging to stay present until they cease gathering together as an entire body, protesters are beginning to show up en masse in support for the church and their pastor – the most visible symbol in Canada standing up to a tyrannical government gone awry.

Choosing to occupy the church, Alberta Health Services contracted a local company put out two perimeter fences around the church, one wrapped with a black tarp- essentially putting a mask around it. They brought in porta-potties and set up a command post, digging in for a long haul. There have been as many as 30 officers on site over the course of the day, flanked by a dozen police cars and SUVs.

Thankfully, the landowner next door is a member of the church and has allowed people to gather on his property. They’ve been coming and going throughout the day – both associated with the church and not – protesting, rallying, fellowshipping, and even at some point singing hymns, with someone passing around lyrics sheets to follow. Later in the evening, some of the people even held a small service in a field.

As night fell, several brought out tents and camped out, spending the night in vigil for the congregation and for what they see as the destruction of Canada’s freedoms.

With the exception of Rebel Media, no other reporters are allowed on the neighboring property, and therefore watch from across the street. And while the people protesting this wicked incursion are allowed on the property, these hundreds of people gathered are still in violation of a shutdown order that prohibits outdoor gatherings of more than 10 people. Anyone violating this order could be fined $1200 at any time, but it seems the government isn’t willing to enforce that yet. There has been talk that police are going to close the roads to local traffic only, so that anyone wanting to access the neighbors property who isn’t the neighbor will have to park on the side of the road and walk more than a mile to the site.

And more people are coming. Travelers are coming from both in and out of province to support the church, with a convoy coming from Calgary to lend their moral support, promoted by the niece of a much-loved prominent politician, the late Hon. Ralph Klein. These are not necessarily Christians, but rather freedom-loving Canadians appalled at what the government is doing. With the possible closure of the roads, this may cause chaos on the highway, depending on how many show up.



Thankfully, these provocations have finally led many Members of the Legistlative Assembly (MLAs) to act, with almost 30 percent of them revolting against Premier Jason Kenny, and he in turn threatening to expel anyone from caucus who supports the actions of the church by seeking to contravene his COVID-19 restriction measures or encourage others to do so. Alberta is widely considered one of the most conservative provinces in the country, and a recent poll has 77 percent of Albertans disapproving of the way Kenny has handled the pandemic, the highest of any premiers.

At this time, the elders are still planning on having church on Sunday, but that location has so far been kept a secret. They are going to announce it internally to their own people later this evening or early Sunday morning – the result of shifting plans.

Continue to pray for this congregation.

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Church Featured LGBTQQIP2SAA News Super Gay

‘Church’ With a Gay Unicorn Logo Issues Press Release Against GraceLife Church

A Calgary-based “reverend” and his church have issued a press release against James Coates and the congregants at GraceLife Church, denouncing the church for seeking to stay open and voicing his pleasure at the knowledge that they’ve been shut down, writing “Today, judgment has been rendered. Too bad it took so long.”

The move comes after Alberta Health Services and law enforcement erected a fence around GraceLife Church, refusing to let anyone in, weeks after their pastor spent over a month incarcerated as a prisoner of conscience.

In an interview with CTV News Reverend Greg Glatz elaborated:

I think it’s important for order and good government to show that we are working with government and its public health orders as much as we can. I think that when a church takes an anti-government stance or an anti-science stance or an anti-medicine stance, it’s really putting its own members at risk and it’s putting order in society at risk as well.


This is not the first time the hireling has come out against the embattled Church. While certainly the most public and visible, he has to have been howling at the moon over this one for months now.

Naturally, the so-called “pastor” of Knox United Church quoted the bible in his statement in order to add weight and gravitas to the seriousness of the transgressions of GraceLife, using Romans 13 as a cudgel to condemn the church for disobeying the governing authorities and not “staying safe” as they have. Of course, no one could stay as safe as them, as they have not had their demonic services for over a year, despite having a capacity of 800 people and scarcely enough congregation members to occupy the 15% allowed.

The name itself of this church, Knox United, goes along with Protestia’s First Theorem of Ecclesiology, which states that any church that has the word “United” in it is probably a hellbound cauldron of false converts. This one is certainly no exception.

The church website proudly boasts that “Knox United Church is an Affirming congregation in the United Church of Canada. If you’re lesbian, gay, bi, trans, two-spirited, queer, and/or straight––we affirm and celebrate who you are!” The effete pastor has his personal pronouns in his bio, is pro-choice, and has a gay unicorn as their church logo, one that is featured prominently across their social media and church website.

No seriously. They do.

And now a closeup.

This church is populated by wolves and wolvettes, bare of any believers other than the odd passerby who visits one Sunday after getting lost in the neighborhood.

This pastor and their members hate God, hate Christ, and hate the bible. Any press release they issue condemning a faithful, biblical Chruch like GraceLife will simply heap more condemnation upon them.

[Editor’s note: It breaks my heart that such men identify themselves as Christian when it says in Romans 1:18-32 that such individuals are clearly under God’s condemnation. May God continue to have mercy on His people that are caught up in that sinful place.]

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News Religion Righteous Defiance

Video: While GraceLife Church is Shut Down, Islamic Mosques are Left Alone

While Gracelife Church has been raided and blockaded by the police and Alberta Health Services, it seems that there is one group that is still able to gather without the intervention of police, and that is the Islamic community.

In the last few days, a handful of videos have crept up online that feature large gathering of hundreds if not thousands of Muslims for their services and call to prayer. Two that we wish to highlight are the Masjid Al Rachid Mosque in Edmonton, and the other the Akram Jomma Islamic Center in Calgary, from videos taken in early April.

Despite the prohibition on Christian Churches, these mosques have gone unmolested by police despite so many congregants. The person filming even notes that the place is “packed packed packed” and that there are school busses there, which they use to bus in participants and those who can’t make it on their own.

While we’re sure that not every mosque is failing to adhere to Alberta’s lockdown restriction, we have heard about dozens of churches contacted by police, fined, have services interrupted, and dragged through the news cycles.

But mosques and the Islamic community? We haven’t heard a peep.

We wonder why that is.

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News

Professing ‘Christian’ DMX Dead at 50

Music legend DMX (Earl Simon) has passed away at the age of 50. DMX suffered a heart attack (some report a drug overdose) last week and was transported to a hospital in White Plains, New York, where he has been in a vegetative state since, in a coma and breathing with the help of a ventilator.

DMX is one of the most commercially successful rappers of the late 1990s and early 2000s, with a huge influence over the rap and hip-hop community, even though his popularity waned over the last decade.

One common theme in his life and career is his faith. DMX claimed to become a Christian in 2009, after being led to the Lord in prison. He became deacon in his church and publicly stated for years that he wished to be a pastor. He claims to read the bible every day and to have read through it three times in its entirety. Last year he lead a bible study to 15,000 fans on Instagram and has continually referred back to his belief in God in the midst of his battles and sin over the last 10 years.

And sin he has. Aside from the four children he shares with his ex-wife, DMX has another 11 children he has fathered with other women. Though many were born prior to his professed conversion, he routinely cheated on his wife and got other women pregnant after his profession of faith and prior to his divorce. Of note in 2016, DMX and his longtime girlfriend Desiree Lindstrom, welcomed a son Exodus Simmons.

Lindstrom and DMX later became engaged, but have been living together in sexual sin ever since they met, unrepentant and unbothered by the arrangement. Fittingly, he has a tattoo of Exodus 1:7 on his neck, which says “And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.” (KJV)

For years DMX has battled addiction and substance abuse, almost dying of a drug overdose in 2016 and entering rehab several times since. He never stopped performing his music with expletive lyrics and curses on a regular basis. His public allusions to his faith are very vague and are theologically suspect, saying things like, “God saved me,” and “I have faith,” without professing an explicit gospel message. He spent a year in prison for tax evasion in 2018, and has scarcely had a moment of peace throughout his rocky turbulent life, leading one to wonder whether it can be said he bore any actual fruit.

While progressive Christians and the wokefolk will certainly canonize him as a saint and dear brother, a life marked by unrepentant sin despite a mouth that claims Christ should give no one assurance of his salvation.

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News

Pastor who Chased ‘Nazi Police’ from Church: ‘Like a ‘Flashback to Life Under the Boot of the Soviets’

The pastor who chased several police officers from his church for disrupting his service, shouting at them, “Out of this property, you Nazis, Gestapo is not allowed here. Don’t come back without a warrant,” has explained that his passion and harshness comes from experiencing “communist dictatorship behind the iron curtain, under the boot of the Soviets.”


In an interview with Mark Styne, Artur Pawlowski, Pastor of The Cave of Adullam church in Alberta, Canada, explains:

Police officers could break into your house at five in the morning, they could beat you up, torture, they could arrest you for no matter what reason they would come up with…

There was a famous saying in Poland when I was growing up by the police: give me a man and we will find something on that man. So it was like a…flashback when those police officers showed up at my church.

Everything kind of came back to life from my childhood and the only thing I could do is to fend off the wolves as a shepherd and I used my voice to get rid of them…We as lions should never bow before the hyenas and that’s what they are right now…

I have been warning Canadians for the past 16 years that that’s what’s coming. I could smell it, I could see it at every corner, the implementation of what we are seeing now…history is teaching us that those people will never give up their new gained powers. You got to demand those rights back, you have to fight for your rights, they’ll never give it back to you freely.