One Canadian's story of Religious persecution
My name is Kevin Kisilowsky and I am a Canadian. I was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and have lived in Manitoba for 33 of the 35 years that I have existed. 71/2 years ago I became a Christian. Coming from a drug and alcohol addicted lifestyle that included involvement, at times, with the criminal element I was quickly headed down a fast and furious destructive path. It was Jesus Christ who came to my rescue and I have since devoted my life to serving Him by going back into the world, from a missionary perspective, which I was once trying to become a part of. Currently I serve as an officer and member of a Christian motorcycle club that reaches out to the biker element with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have served these men by visiting them in the federal penitentiary's, attending some of their rides, visiting with them just for coffee, ministering to them over the phone, lending a helping hand when a motorcycle needs repair, offering prayer support when life has got them down, witnessing the gospel of Jesus Christ when they engage the conversation, and have been there to marry them to their spouse when asked for my services. This has also been another way for me to introduce the gospel to them with a ceremony that includes the salvation message of Jesus Christ. A message they are well aware of before the ceremony is performed.
This is where my story begins. My ministry is an outreach ministry not based out of any one church but is recognized under an umbrella organization. Because of this I am not recognized as clergy or neither have I been "appointed" by the church as a missionary. This, however, does not disqualify me as a Christian. I still attend my own home church with which I hold membership in. In the biker ministry I have had opportunity to marry fellow bikers to their spouse's. I have discovered that, in most cases, bikers do not want to darken the door of the church but would still desire a God inspired ceremony with a biker "flavor" to it. This is something I have been able to provide. Because I am considered neither clergy nor "appointed", although I am still considered a missionary evangelist, I have had to obtain a "marriage commissioner's" license thru the Province of Manitoba in order to legally perform a wedding ceremony. I approached the Governmental department in charge of issuing commissioner licenses, Vital Statistics, back in September, 2003 with regards to obtaining a permit to perform wedding ceremonies in the province of Manitoba. I informed the individuals that I spoke with about my ministry and intentions with such a license. I made myself very clear that as a Christian I would have a problem performing any ceremony that may put me in such a position that would cause me to violate my faith. They came across as understanding while still encouraging me to apply. My main concern was that I might be put in a position where I may have to turn someone down due to a conflict with my faith, for example someone requesting a Muslim, Wiccan, or Hindu type ceremony. I was told that I could be put on a private list where the only people who could make any requests for my services would be those who were within my ministry realm. (I discovered later on there was no such list) Although, just for the record, I would not have a problem with marrying couples outside my ministry circles providing their request for services did not place me in a compromising position with regards to my faith.
This is where my persecution begins. I was issued that license by the Government of Manitoba back in October of 2003. I either met or exceeded all the requirements that they asked for. On the rare occasion that I have performed a wedding ceremony I know that I have served well simply by the response and encouragement of the bride and groom and family members that were in attendance. On September 16, 2004 I was issued a letter from the director of Vital Statistics, Caroline Kaus. She informed me that one, count that, one man who sat on the Manitoba Queens Bench (Justice Douglas Yard) decided that it was unconstitutional not to allow homosexuals to marry. This one individual by his own interpretation and opinion decided to change the law in Manitoba to allow gays and lesbians to marry. I was now being instructed that I was to perform wedding ceremonies for homosexuals. I was told that to deny them this service was an act of discrimination. If I was opposed to performing wedding's for homosexuals I was to tender my resignation and send in my certificate to solemnize marriages in Manitoba. Upon receiving this letter my response was quick and swift. "I will NOT marry homosexuals and neither will I be resigning". To force my resignation because I will not violate my Christian beliefs is a direct violation of the protections that I am supposed to be entitled to under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It has been said time and time again, most recently by Federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, that religious freedoms are guaranteed protection under the charter and that "we cannot allow equality rights to infringe upon religious rights". Yet that does not seem to be the case. Only days after receiving my letter I contacted the Manitoba Human Rights Commission and told them of my plight. I was told that I definitely had grounds for a case. I was instructed to put into writing my complaint and any other documentation that may be useful. On October 12, 2004 I faxed everything over to them. I then phoned minute's later to confirm all 7 pages were received. Once they confirmed I questioned how long the process would take before the Government was approached about my complaint. I was informed that an intake officer would take about 3-5 working days to piece together my written complaint into a point form letter. After this I would then be contacted by him/her for any changes/approval. Once I approved I would then sign off and the process would continue. One week, two weeks, then three weeks went by without ever hearing back from the Commission. On Friday, November 12, 2004, exactly one month to the day I formally filed my complaint, my story broke into the local media via the Winnipeg Sun. The following Monday morning at 10:00am I received a phone call from an intake officer that he had just pieced together my complaint in point form. He even went as so far as to drive down to my place of employment to get me to sign off. Amazing, I thought to myself, how fast they move when the media hits the fan. After I signed off on my complaint I inquired as to how long before it would reach the hands of Manitoba Vital Statistics. I was told within 5-7 days they would then have 30 days to respond. After the Province responded I would then be contacted by the Human Rights Commission to proceed with the next step of the process. I phoned about a week after I signed off on my complaint just to be sure the ball was rolling. I was told that the Province had in fact received it and that a response was expected BEFORE the new year. Well the new year came and went with no word from the Human Rights Commission so once again I contacted them to ask what was going on? I felt that if the Province did not have a reply by now we should just move on without them. The intake officer who initially wrote up my complaint had told me if I ever had questions with regards to my case I could contact him and he would get back to me. I left messages on his voice mail on three different days trying to find out what was going on. He never returned my calls. I had to now direct my calls to the manager. She returned my call promptly with an apology for not contacting me with regards to the Provincial Governments response. They in fact did respond and nobody bothered to contact me. I was informed that, due to recent court rulings and muddled legislation blah! blah! blah!, the Province requested a thirty day extension to allow their legal team (one that my tax dollars are paying for) to review the situation more at length. If you read between the lines the Province was clearly dragging their feet on this. The Human Rights Commission felt this was a valid enough reason to grant an extension. Once again I was told they (Human Rights Commission) would be in touch by the end of January. As you can guess by the way my story is going so far, I never heard from them and ended up phoning the manager on January28, 2005. I had to leave a voice mail as she was not in. A couple of hours later I received a phone call, not from the manager, but from the investigator. Apparently she had just been assigned my case that very morning which of course is why I had not heard back from the Commission. During the course of our conversation it slipped out that the Province had already responded on January 12, 2005 and yet here I was calling at the end of the month trying to find out just what was going on. Now that I was aware that the Province had indeed responded my investigator informed me that she would be mailing me a copy of their response. I was to review their reason's and respond with a rebuttal of my own. I was not given a lot of time before my investigator wanted to meet to go over my rebuttal. Due to the detailed complexity of the Province's mostly legal response I simply needed more time to piece together my rebuttal. I contacted my investigator on February 16, 2005 to request an extension so I could have more time to complete my rebuttal with clarity. Surprise! I was met with resistance on this simple request. I was told by my investigator that she had a lot of other cases to deal with as well and that she would like to move forward with mine. I told her mine was not complete, she said we could move forward with what I had. After a little bit of back and forth banter I firmly reminded her that when the Provincial Government made the same request it was granted to them and that I should be extended the same courtesy. There was not much she could say after and I was granted my extension. This brings me to my present day. I am due to meet with my investigator at the end of March at which point my rebuttal should be complete. As you may be able to tell already by what you have read, it would appear my battle is not just with the Vital Statistics. The very agency that is supposedly set up to defend my basic human rights appears to take no interest in my case but would rather shuffle it under the carpet. So far throughout this whole ordeal I have had to kick start them all the way. Surprising? Not really when you consider that Vital Statistics and The Manitoba Human Rights Commission are both run by the same Provincial Government. The same Government that did not have the intestinal fortitude to make a decision with regards to same sex marriage and like the federal Liberals cowardly handed it off to the courts. The same Government that to this day has never said one word in my defense or the defense of others regarding religious discrimination. The same Government that is trying to strip me of my commissioner's license because I will not compromise my faith. Whether it be Federal or Provincial Government both have cloaked themselves in the mantra chant of how this is a human rights issue. My question is if they are so big on "RIGHTS" how come they are so quick to take mine away to give them to a minority group (gay community) that never lost theirs in the first place? To date the main argument used by the Government of Manitoba is that Marriage Commissioners are public servants who cannot withhold a service from anyone or in their words discriminate against. Is it discrimination? Discrimination means to treat an individual(s) with contempt based on hate. Well let's see…I have an immediate family member who is gay. I have a very good working relationship with a co-worker who is gay, which over the years has blossomed into a friendship. I have a handful of friends from my high school days that I still meet up with now and again that are gay. Do I treat them any differently? Of course not, they are human beings created in the image of God. These are people in my life that I love. To hate them would be to make a mockery of Christ who teaches us to love the sinner. He also teaches us that although we are to love the person we are never to condone a sinful lifestyle. When I refuse to marry homosexuals it is not because I am "discriminating" against them, it is because when I profess to the world that I am a Christian, I am saying that I follow the ways of Jesus Christ. Because the Bible is the authorative word of God and teaches that homosexuality is ONE of many sexual sinful lifestyles, to marry homosexuals would make a statement that I don't really support the God I profess to believe in. In other words, I would be violating God Himself and my own faith. Simply put, I cannot marry homosexuals. To do so would be to condone the lifestyle and compromise my faith. Yet the Government of Manitoba does not see it's own contradiction. Although I cannot discuss my case at length, as it is still before the Commission, I can say this….the Provincial Government has stated that it cannot "reasonably accommodate" marriage commissioners who have religious convictions over performing same-sex marriages as we are not to refuse any public service and because same sex marriage is now legal in Manitoba to refuse is to discriminate against a group of people. Yet we see in other Provinces where same sex marriage has become legal where in fact commissioner's religious convictions were taken into consideration and accommodated. British Columbia for example, a Province that at one time was also trying to FORCE it's commissioners to resign, did an about face on their position and has allowed to commissioners to refuse to perform a same sex marriage if it conflicted with their own personal religious beliefs. They have, however, obligated the commissioners to make referrals to other commissioners who are willing to perform the ceremony. A position I disagree with. If a physician, for example, is unwilling to perform an abortion because he views it as taking life from the womb why would he then recommend someone to another Dr. who is willing to take that life. Just because he has personally refused to perform the procedure he has still endorsed it by the referral. I see it the same way with referring same sex couples to a marriage commissioner who would be willing to marry gay couples. I would simply tell the gay couple to keep going down the list and would not refer. So I see B.C.'s position as ½ a step forward. It is a different story in New Brunswick where commissioners are provided with an "OPT-OUT" clause for those who have a "MORAL CONSIENCE" about the issue. This is far more accommodating to those with religious convictions. It allows a marriage commissioner to be placed on a separate list and still maintain his license, not to mention his job. He/she has not been forced into resigning just because he/she believes in God. That is NOT the case here in Manitoba. As I stated earlier, the Province has stated it cannot reasonably accommodate it's marriage commissioners, you can see by the cited examples of both British Columbia and New Brunswick that in fact marriage commissioners actually can be reasonably accommodated. In the case of the Manitoba Provincial Government it is stating by it's stance that it is UNWILLING to. It is not that it can't, it is unwilling to, thereby positioning themselves to, WITH INTENT, maliciously discriminate against individual marriage commissioners based on their religious convictions.
In closing I must say that as a marriage commissioner for the Province of Manitoba, I am confident when I say that I have served in my position and in my community well. I have met ALL the qualifications and expectations that have been required of me. The Manitoba Provincial Government has not asked me to resign because I am not good at what I do or because I have received a barrage of complaints in regards to my service. In a nutshell they have told me to resign because I am a Christian. In a country that seems to be so big on "RIGHTS" and "FREEDOMS" it is becoming rather evident that I no longer have the right or freedom to be who I am, a Christian, without being discriminated against. A country where both Federal and Provincial Governments spout off about how proud they are of our nation's ethnic and culturally diverse society with it's high level of tolerance for all religious beliefs. You know, I just don't believe them anymore. A year and half ago I was qualified for this position. Today I am told my faith now stands in the way of my employment. IT DOES NOT GET ANYMORE DISCRIMINATING THAN THAT! What will I do from here? I remember in the book of Daniel when King Darius decreed that there was new legislation in the land. It essentially said "no more communion with God". Daniels response was automatic, "I will never bow down to you or anyone else except the Living God" If I were to marry homosexuals I would be making a public statement that I am willing to sacrifice communion with God in order to bow down to ungodly and worldly demands. Like Daniel, I will NOT bow down to this but I will see it thru to the end. God protected Daniel in the lion's den he will also watch over me. This is not my fight. The Manitoba Provincial Government picked this fight. The biker in me will shove back hard, but I did look to God's word when searching out what he would have me do. I found it in the book of 1 Samuel where we see the story of David and Goliath. It was there that God spoke and said "Kevin, when a giant picks a fight with you….throw a rock at his head". Bring it on!