Rogue church has abandoned community bonds at its peril

Once people start cherry-picking which rules and laws they'll obey and which they'll leave behind in the handy dumpster of convenience, then it's game over for civil society.

Therefore, if folk decide to deliberately flout certain community regulations or standards because they deem them bothersome and annoying, then they should be prepared to accept living in the potentially lawless state their very actions encourage.

If they accept that subsequent rough with the earlier smooth of getting their own way, then OK, that's fair enough. However, if instead, they begin bellyaching about any blowback resulting from such selfishness, that's not so acceptable. In fact, it's only parents of teenagers who could endure such a state of affairs, and then only through grimly gritted teeth.

So, given what we've all been through during this seemingly endless pandemic, there's not much sympathy here in Alberta for those who reckon they should get a free pass from adhering to the community bylaws imposed to prevent us from getting sick or passing on this virus to others.

Now that doesn't mean we can't complain about any or all of these various measures. Nor does it mean we cannot protest by bugging our political representatives or taking to various media to give anyone listening an earful. Scream it from your rooftop if you must, but do so with your mask on and six feet away from some fellow protester.

Oh, but that's not good enough for some. Not by a long shot.

Certainly not for Gracelife Baptist Church, southwest of Edmonton, where the pastor was finally jailed after repeatedly refusing to adhere to public health orders by limiting capacity and ensuring worshippers wore masks.

Now some other churches are pledging support, including Fairview Baptist in Calgary, which is threatening to hop aboard this non-compliance bandwagon.

Well, maybe they reckon God has got their back. Perhaps they'll need such support soon enough.

Because if you can conveniently turn your own back on your fellow citizens and disregard the law, then those same, slighted citizens can hardly be blamed for returning that dubious favour. Actually, by that point, we're no longer even citizens anyway, just loose, roving bands of people with shared, short-term interests and bonds of blood providing the glue to temporarily link us.

So, if one of these worshippers slips and breaks a leg, then maybe one of his chums from the next pew can set the bone. Or if someone's house catches alight, then hopefully their religious buddies are dab hands with buckets and hoses.

Because why should other people put themselves out for this bunch? They certainly aren't willing to stand in solidarity with the rest of us, many of whom are no doubt equally as frustrated with the various public health measures they've been asked to comply with.

Nope, these people just want the convenience that comes from a shared community when it suits, such as needing a doctor or a firefighter. Other times, the rest of us can all go hang.

Meanwhile, other churches, mosques, synagogues and temples are adhering to these tough public health rules. It hasn't been any easier for them, but they've hung in there.

Many have shown the ingenuity and drive to expand remote online worship and hold Zoom meetings with parishioners. In some cases, they've even expanded their reach by becoming more accessible to the frail and distant who couldn't previously make it to in-person prayer services.

Oh, but that's obviously too much bother for the likes of Gracelife. They aren't going to bend. The rest of us must break.

Funnily enough, they likely see themselves as upright citizens: those staunch law-and-order types who are first to cast that proverbial stone of condemnation when watching some urban protest get a bit naughty on the nightly news.

But they're cut from the same selfish cloth, constantly bleating about their rights but conveniently forgetting the responsibilities of being Canadian. It's time they grew up.