Jason Whitlock: 'Freedom, opportunity and self-determination' go 'hand-in-hand with Christianity'
A prominent political commentator suggested that government opposition to the "Freedom Convoy" of truckers protesting the Canadian government’s ongoing coronavirus mandates stems from a "demonization" of "freedom, opportunity and self-determination" that goes hand-in-hand with Christianity.
On Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Tuesday, the eponymous host devoted his opening monologue to addressing the crackdown imposed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the truckers who have formed a "freedom convoy" in the nation’s capital of Ottawa. The truckers have gathered in Ottawa to protest the requirement that truck drivers who travel over the United States-Canada border as part of their job have to either get the coronavirus vaccine or quarantine upon re-entry into the country.
Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on Monday in response to the protest, which has gone on for multiple weeks. The never-before-used law gives the Canadian government the authority to implement "special temporary measures to ensure safety and security" in a "critical situation of a temporary nature" that "seriously endangers the lives, health or safety of Canadians and is of such proportions or nature as to exceed the capacity or authority of a province to deal with it."
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I want to be very clear about what we are – and are not – doing by invoking the Emergencies Act, and how taking this step will help get the situation under control. In case you missed our announcement earlier today, watch this: pic.twitter.com/htGmZH09Jd
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 15, 2022
The Emergency Act also allows the Canadian government to implement "special temporary measures to ensure safety and security" in a situation that "seriously threatens the ability of the Government of Canada to preserve the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Canada." Trudeau elaborated on what the invocation of the Emergencies Act will mean in a press conference on Monday.
"The police will be given more tools to restore order in places where public assemblies … constitute illegal and dangerous activities such as blockades and occupations," he said. "These tools include strengthening their ability to impose fines or imprisonment."
Trudeau further stated his intention to direct financial institutions to begin "regulating and prohibiting the use of property to fund or support illegal blockades." He then insisted: "We’re not suspending the fundamental rights or overriding the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We are not limiting people’s freedom of speech. We are not limiting freedom of peaceful assembly. We are not preventing people from exercising their right to protest legally."
After Carlson contended that Trudeau had "canceled democracy" by invoking the Emergencies Act against peaceful protesters, he brought on sports reporter and host of the "Fearless" podcast Jason Whitlock to react to the Canadian government’s treatment of the truckers.
"The things going on in Canada are foreshadowing or working in parallel, in concert with the events happening here in this country," Whitlock said.
Whitlock classified both the Freedom Convoy and Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot as demonstrations of "opposition to the Left and their secularization of American society," and described the governments' responses to those events as examples of "demonizing freedom." He maintained that the U.S. government’s response to peaceful protesters on Jan. 6 was very similar to Trudeau’s response to the Freedom Convoy: "They’ve thrown people in dungeons, in dungeons, for trespassing in the Capitol."
"America has been built upon freedom, opportunity and self-determination," he added. "That’s what made us the envy of the world."
Whitlock also contrasted the qualities that built the U.S. with what he views as the new objective of the government, namely to ensure "equity, inclusion and diversity." Whitlock explained that while "freedom, opportunity and self-determination" are on "you and me as individuals to go get," equity, inclusion and diversity are "controlled by elites and governments." He maintained that "freedom, opportunity and self-determination" go "hand-in-hand with Christianity."
Whitlock suggested that the continued secularization of Canada has played a role in the government's apparent hostility toward "freedom, opportunity and self-determination."
"And if you go look at Canada and in the '50s and '60s, that country, like 65% of them, went to church regularly on Sundays. They dropped that down to about 10% now. And we don’t even value freedom right now because we don’t understand its importance and they’ve handed us equity, diversity and inclusion."
Whitlock also condemned the push to label those who value freedom as "racists" and "sellouts." He warned that "We need to pay attention to what’s going on in Canada and pay attention to what’s going on in this country, we are being bulldozed right now, those of us that love freedom, opportunity and self-determination and Jesus Christ."
"Secular societies have a very tough time preserving human rights," Carlson concluded. "They talk about human rights constantly, but they are always the most repressive societies."
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
