By Chelsey St-Pierre
The Suburban
With antisemitism on the rise in Montreal with ongoing attacks on Jewish institutions and death chants being shouted against Jews and Israel on a daily basis, Pastor Ken Godon has decided to speak out and is calling on authorities to act.
According to Godon, former Pastor of Snowdon Baptist whose People’s Church is across the street from the McGill campus that has been subject to encampments of anti-Israel protestors for several weeks, people are afraid to speak out. “People are seeing a loud and violent outrage and they are afraid to get involved.”
Godon says that the silence surrounding antisemitism is a result of “cancel culture” mixed in with fear. “Right now, it is not a conversation, it is a loud rage and people speaking out against it are being shut down or attacked.”
Shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, Godon led his congregation into prayer and in his sermon he spoke out against the attacks. “I had a lot of pushback and people approached me telling me I was being too one-sided. What possible other side could they see? I don’t know. One of the roles of a Pastor is driving his own flock. I do speak out and have had people walk out but I have a primary duty to speak the truth.”
Many Christian leaders, like Godon, are speaking out… to their congregations, but Godon has hit public forums and was even recognized as an honoured guest when he attended author Douglas Murray’s recent visit to a Montreal synagogue, for his exemplary support of the Montreal Jewish community during these difficult times.
When asked why other religious and political leaders are not speaking out as much, Godon told The Suburban that “it is a one-word answer; fear. It is the mindset that if ‘my name’ is out there and my group’s name is out there, it puts a target on our backs. They are already attacking Jews and Christians are afraid of the same plight.” For Godon, that reason is not good enough. “I can’t watch as my neighbours are being subjected to violence and hatred and remain silent. We’ve seen this before. Never Again!” n