Wliy do the nations conspire andrnthe peoples plot in vain? The kingsrnof the earth take their stand and thernrulers gather together against thernLord and against His AnointedrnOne. “Let us break their chains,”rnthey say, “and throw off their fetters.”rnThe One enthroned in heavenrnlaughs; the Lord scoffs at them.rnThen He rebukes them in theirrnanger and terrifies them in Llisrnwrath saing, “I have installed myrnKing on Zion, My holy hill.” I willrnproclaim die decree of the Lord:rnHe said to me, “You are my Son;rntodav 1 ha’e become Your Father.rnAsk of Me, and I will make the nationsrnYour inheritance, the ends ofrnthe earth Your possession. Yournshall rule them with an ironrnscepter; You shall dash them tornpieces like pottery.” | Psalm 2: 1-9]rnEverv’thing seems quiet in York today.rnNeither the ACLU nor its Christianrncounterpart, Pat Robertson’s AmericanrnCenter for I ,aw and Justice, has descendedrnupon this judge to set him right. Norrnare there busloads ofYankee freedom ridersrnmarching in defense of Martin Murphy.rnThere are no U.S. marshals escortingrnhim to his pidpit. It seems as thoughrnthe First Amendment will go not with arnbang, but a whimper. But Martin keepsrnfighting—not for the P’irst Amendment,rnbut for the complainant’s soul. Churchrndiscipline exists first for the proteefion ofrnthe charged, that thev might ])e broughtrnto repentance. And for that crime Mr.rnMurphy mav soon find himself in jail.rnIf so, he will be comforted in this.rnFirst, he will not be the first nor the lastrnservant of the King to serve time underrnpretenders to His throne. And his sentencernwill of necessity be a short one. Forrnthe Gospel that he so faithfully preachesrnis the same Gospel that sets men free.rnSecond, Martin believes that there willrncome a dav when men will not be judgedrnbv the content of dicir rolodex, but by therncontent of their character. When thatrnday comes, both the judge and the complainant,rnunless they repent, will be nothingrnbut broken pottery.rnLike Bedilehem before it, York is notrndie center of the universe. But such isrntlic kind of place to wliich C^od bringsrnHis visitafion. And when He comes Hernalways comes both wifii judgment andrnwidi peace. Those who confess that HisrnSon is indeed Lord, cndironed on high,rnget the peace. Those who arrogate honorrnand authority for themselves just becomernpieces. And Martin will cry out, “Free atrnlast, free at last. Thank God almighty,rnI’m free at last.”rnR.C. Sproul, ]r. is the eJftor of Tabletalkrnmagazine and pastor of Saint PeterrnPresbyterian Church.rnLetter FromrnMontrealrnhy John O’NeillrnOui Shall Overcome!rnQuebec shows its patriotism every yearrnon June 24, one week before CanadarnDay—not because the French-speakingrnprovince gets a licad start on the rest ofrnthe country, but because June 24 is thernfeast day of Jean Baptiste, the patron saintrnof Quebec.rnBy no means has the holiday becomernvoid of religious significance. (Sec my articlern”Canada: The Catholic Factor” inrndie November 1998 issue oi CatholicrnWorld Report.) But it is now more synonymousrnwidi Quebec nationalism thanrnwith the saint himself Thus, the holidayrnis often referred to as La Fete Nationale.rnWhile the odicr nine provinces celebraternCanada f~)ay on Jidy 1, the annivcrsan.-rnof die couiitr ‘s attainment of the statusrnof a dominion within the BritishrnFnipire in 1867, even many in Quebecrnwho favor remaining part of Canada takernmore pride in St. Jean Bapfiste L^ay.rnIn characteristic denial, die Canadianrnmedia reported that politics played nornpart in this year’s celebration. “MorernFun, Less Politicking,” read the June 25rnheadline of die Montreal Cazette, Quebec’srnonl}’ iMiglish-language daily. It wasrnreminiscent of the Toronto Clohe &rnMad headline on July 22, 1994: “Separatismrnnot an issue, poll finds.” Twornmonths later, die separatists were victoriousrnin the provincial elections, and thernnext year, Canada dodged a bullet whenrna bare 50.6 percent majorih- in Quebecrndefeated die last sovcrcignt}’ referendum.rnGiven the history of St. Jean BapfisternDa’, the gloating by the media was understandable.rnThe parade in Montrealrnwas held on the eve of the feast da’. Thernlast fiiiic Montreal had held its parade atrnnight was in 1968, when militant separatistsrnhurled bottles at Pierre Trudeau,rnthe charismatic French Canadian whornhad just become prime minister of Canada.rnThanks largely to the politicalrnmileage ‘I’rudeau got out of this incident,rnhe would remain prime minister for mostrnof the following 16 years.rnAfter 1968, Montreal canceled its paradernbut revived it in 1990. As politicalrnfate would have it, die parade that yearrncame two days after die collapse of thernMeech Lake Accord, which would havernextended to Quebec the status of a distinctrnsociety.rn’Faking the collapse of Meech Lake asrnan affront to Quebec, separatists took tornthe streets in droves for the parade thatrnyear. Support for sovereignty became sornstrong that a referendum would havernbeen held had Liberal Premier RobertrnBourassa been a separatist (not thatrnBourassa was insensitive to Quebec nationalism).rnAnd while, in recent years, there hasrnbeen no incident comparable to 1968 inrnMontreal’s parade, violence and mass arrestsrnwere the norm until this year. Thernrioting in Quebec City was especiallyrnbad in 1996. And Montreal had a particularlyrntense parade in 1998, when English-rnrights activist William Johnson wasrnhit widi a pie in die face.rnJohnson boycotted this year’s parade.rnAnd the politicians who watched the paradernfrom the platform, as Trudeau didrnin 1968, were separatist Premier LucienrnBouchard (head of the Parfi Qncbecois)rnand provincial Liberal opposition leaderrnJean Charest (a federalist who advocatesrnconciliation widi separatists). So dicrcrnwas no one for die separatists to attack.rnBut no politics? More accurate, andrninteresting, is diat diere was no red-andwliiternCanadian flag with the maple leafrnWhile it is bigger news fliat non-scparafistrncontingents participated in diis year’s parade,rnthe lack of a single Canadian flag isrnnewsworthy (and quite political), especiallyrnsince one of die non-separafist contingentsrnwas the Black Watch Ro’alrnHighlanders, the oldest pipe band inrnNordi America and an official army rcser’rnc unit in the Canadian militarv.rnA Black Watch spokesman explainedrnto the Canadian papers that the parade isrn”about music, not polifics.” But when arnmilitary reserve unit agrees to marchrnwithout its countri”s flag, especially in arnparade awash widi die Quebec flag, it isrn34/CHKONICLESrnrnrn