NORTH BATTLEFORD - A wave of protesters concerned that an LGBTQ2+ 'agenda' is being used to indoctrinate, harm or abuse children in Canada, Saskatchewan, and North Battleford, gathered in front of North Battleford City Hall on a rainy morning on Sept. 20, and began the demonstration with a prayer and by singing 'O Canada.'
"Overwhelmingly, people are on the side of parents," one protester and organizer said, standing at the bottom of a flag pole outside City Hall with a petition to be signed and sent to the premiers of Canada.
"Parents are very concerned about some of the ideology that is coming into schools ... this is a phenomenal response across the province," she said, standing beside a man with a sign quoting Matthew 18-6 from the bible, that reads, "Whoever causes one of the little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the deaths of the sea."
The protester said that Nadine Ness's organization, Unified Grassroots, planned the protests in the province and were surprised to see Muslims, Jews, and Hutterite Colony's speaking out over fear that their beliefs and ways of life were being challenged.
One woman shared her experiences as a concerned parent 50 years ago when the agenda supposedly began in North Battleford. She alleged that North Battleford's school divisions were using books in the school system at the time to tell children that farm boys were used to having sex with animals.
"That was the big agenda, and they have worked on it under the surface all these years and know you see what's happening," she said.
"He's (God) not saying to all of you who've fallen into this kind of sin, you're fine, we're just going to have tea together. No," she said, going on to add that gospel is needed in the school to avoid our current situation.
"God is on our side, and we don't have to worry about this opposition," another protester said to applause and cries of amen from the crowd, in what she described as a "spiritual battle," in an, "age of deception."
"We can never change people, but only God can change people. And it's the word of God that will change people because they will know the truth, and their eyes will open .. it's a personal choice in the end."
A message of division, or peace and love?
But some protesters in support of parental rights in schools expressed concerns that the protesters' message of peace and love while still standing firmly in Christian beliefs were not going to be broadcast in the media, asking the News-Optimist several times for a personal opinion of the events
When asked how he thought this fight could end, Chris Katzell told the News-Optimist, "First of all, there's a lot of language about it being a fight, being a battle, and that's on both sides ... it's important to distinguish the ideological issue from the people. And especially if someone's a Christian, that's a mandate right?" he said.
"The church, historically, has not been good at relating to people ... and you've got really good examples with Westero Baptist down in the states, it's horrible. Protesting people's funerals, saying God hates gays, that's not right."
"I don't sit with the affirming side, not from a hateful point of view, but that's just not supposed to be the point of view we're supposed to carry," Katzell said.
Another protester, Sandra Napastuk said, "This is not about hate, at all. This is about protecting children that need to keep their innocence, and not be further confused if they are, and if parents aren't prepared to deal with kids that have real confusion, they need to be given the tools to deal with it.
"And really, protect children and kids. And I feel so bad for children that have been abused or are struggling with who they really are. And really, it's just I heard some of the union people from Ontario talking ... they are the ones that are hating. I understand that they don't agree, but we all have a right to disagree, or to think differently," Napastuk added.
The protester she was with suggested if the News-Optimist wanted, 'journalism of the year award,' it should seek out information uncovered in the 1960s explaining that the communist manifesto tried take kids away from their parents, mutilating children, and controlling the education system and media to turn people away from their country.
The City of North Battleford refrained from commenting on the protest outside city hall, as they said it was not a city matter.
