Outspoken activist prepares for court date
Anti-Islam statements put Mark Harding in court
By Doug Koop ChristianWeek staff
TORONTO–As Mark Harding waits for his trial on "incitement to hatred" charges to begin in late April, he has two major points he wants to communicate. First, he is concerned that Christians in Canada are in the process of losing their freedom to uphold their faith convictions in public life.
And he continues to be deeply disturbed that "a lot of Christians are under the impression that the Allah in the Koran is the same God we worship. That isn’t true. I’ve become stronger in my devotion to get that message across to all Christians in Canada."
Harding, who has aggressively evangelized among Muslims in Ontario for years, hit the headlines last June when he distributed pamphlets outside a high school. He was protesting the principal’s decision to allow Muslim students to use school facilities and miss regular teaching times for religious observance–accommodations he says are denied to Christian groups (CW, Aug5/97).
"Since when is it okay to turn our schools into mosques? Since when is it okay to miss classes and pray and teach a Muslim religion in our schools?" he asks. "No religion should be promoted in the public schools," declares Harding. "Muslims will use the school system to propagate their religion. Meanwhile, Christians are being shut out."
Intolerant
The offending pamphlets discussed Islamic societies around the world where "Muslims are torturing, maiming, starving and killing Christians" simply because of their faith. Harding argues that Islam "is full of hate and violence," and that its holy books teach that it "will always be at war" with other religions. "Once a state becomes an Islamic state, no other religion is tolerated," he says.
His outspokenness last June landed Harding in trouble with the Muslim community, and he is going to trial next month to face criminal charges on three counts of "incitement to hatred." Complaints were also lodged with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. He was arrested and spent a few days in jail before a hearing last summer.
Harding is largely unrepentant as his trial date approaches, and he is confident that "the charges should be dismissed" under existing religious protection provisions in the law. He believes that judicial authorities succumbed to pressure because of vociferous complaints from the Muslim community.
"My free speech has been taken away," he says. "The government does not understand Islam and what it’s all about."
Meanwhile, Harding now hosts a weekly radio show, Voice of Christian Martyrs, broadcast out of Oakville. Discussing a recent interview on the program, he says that "the Egyptian ambassador had no trouble telling me that when a Muslim becomes a Christian they are taken to court and the judge must set the punishment. Islamic law calls for them to be beheaded," he adds.
Same agenda
George Batarseh, pastor of the Waterloo Arabic Pentecostal Church, says that Muslims in North America are becoming very adept at raising their profile, particularly at universities where Muslim Students Associations are working to unite Muslims on campus, establish them in their Islamic identity, promote Islam and gain converts.
He observes that "faithful Muslims have a goal and an agenda. They are out there to Islamize the world," he says. "Just as Christian have a Great Commission, so do the Muslims."
As for Harding, he recently wrote supporters to say that "during the two days I spent in jail I was treated like a rapist or a murderer when my only ‘crime’ was believing that Muslims are lost and in need of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the only savior of sinners. If I have to spend the next two years in prison for believing this, then so be it.
"My heart remains committed to my Lord and Savior whom I serve," he continues. "If he wants me to be a prisoner for Christ like the apostle Paul or like many other Christians in Muslim countries today, then I am willing to bear the cost.
"But if I am convicted of a ‘hate crime’ because I told the Muslims the truth that Muhammad was a false prophet and the Bible, not the Koran, is the Word of God, then no Christian is safe in Canada."
Harding can be contacted at 416-724-3343.
