This article supplied by Troy Media.

 By Michael Taube

Sean Feucht’s tour sparked a political storm in Canada, giving him more exposure than he ever sought

Most readers are likely familiar with this phrase, “making a mountain out of a molehill.” It’s taken directly from a line in English playwright Nicholas Udall’s translation of The first tome or volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the newe testamente (1548). To wit, “the Sophistes of Grece coulde through their copiousness make an Elephant of a ye, and a mountaine of a mollehill.”

What does the phrase mean? It’s a massive overreaction to something that should have been regarded as nothing. Many molehills have been turned into mountains in our world. Once that happens, it’s nearly impossible to turn these mountains back into the molehills they should have always been and remained.

Canada is dealing with one right now. It comes on the heels of a left-wing explosion related to Sean Feucht, a little-known U.S.-based Christian musician with a small planned tour of our country.

Feucht is a singer and songwriter. His music has mostly been self-published, with the exception of his moderately successful album, Wild, through Bethel Music in 2018. He used to be a worship leader at Bethel Church in Redding, Calif., and founded the Let Us Worship movement during COVID-19. He finished a distant third in a Republican primary for California’s 3rd congressional district in 2020.

There’s nothing in this list that really stands out. What caught some people’s attention was his association with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Feucht was part of a group of 50 pastors and worship leaders who met Trump in the White House for a faith briefing on Dec. 11, 2019. This was during the time that the president’s first impeachment probe was underway. Feucht was quoted in a Fox News piece related to this gathering. “All 50 of us crammed into the Oval Office,” the singer-songwriter said. “He sat at his desk and he said pray for me. We just laid our hands on him and prayed for him. It was like a real intense, hardcore prayer. It was so wild. I could not believe he invited us in. That he carved out time to meet with us.”

There’s nothing in this interview that would be classified as egregious, either. These were his personal observations about the meeting with Trump, plain and simple.

Alas, the story didn’t end there.

Feucht’s rallies and events were determined to be quite political in nature. His Let Us Worship concerts expanded from protesting government restrictions about COVID-19 lockdowns to focus on cities affected by the Black Lives Matter protests. Concerts were held in cities with racial unrest under the umbrella “Riots to Revival,” including the site of George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis, Minn., as well as Cal Anderson Park, which was linked with Seattle’s Capitol Hill Organized Protest. He was part of a protest against The Walt Disney Company for its rejection of anti-LGBTQ legislation in Florida. He joined the ReAwaken America Tour that mixed Christian principles and ideas with controversial topics like election
denialism, QAnon and frustration with COVID-19.

There were also several right-leaning political events. Feucht arranged a Let Us Worship memorial service in September 2021 that included a pre-recorded address by Trump. He also performed at campaign rallies in support of Republican politicians Kari Lake and Doug Mastriano.

Canada’s left began to take notice, too.

When word spread that Feucht was going to appear on shows at six Canadian venues, they pushed back. Parks Canada cancelled his concert in Halifax’s York Redoubt National Historic Site and cited “heightened public safety concerns” as the reason. A concert scheduled for Charlottetown’s Confederation Landing was cancelled due to “evolving public safety and security concerns.” The four remaining venues followed suit and denied his permits. Smaller locations have served as replacements, although the City of Montreal recently issued a $2,500 fine to the Ministerios Restauración Church for doing this.

Feucht has been labelled as being akin to Public Enemy No. 1 by some Canadian columnists and media organizations. CBC described him as a “MAGA-affiliated musician.” CTV borrowed liberally from The Atlantic magazine in the U.S. and called him a “MAGA superstar.” He’s been mentioned in the print and electronic media for days, with no end in sight for the time being.

If you’re puzzled by this situation, you’re not alone.

Feucht isn’t a well-known entity in either mainstream or Christian music circles. He wasn’t going to play at large venues in front of massive audiences. His concerts weren’t going to disrupt the daily lives of Christians and non-Christians alike. He has different viewpoints about COVID-19, the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Trump’s leadership and so forth. He’s allowed to have conservative ideas and beliefs and promote them as he sees fit. He has the right to free speech, freedom of expression and freedom of religion in his country—and ours.

Canada’s left, including some Liberal and NDP politicians, clearly think otherwise. They can’t handle dissenting ideas and opinions. They despise Trump due to the tariff battle and would like to restrict his, as well as supporters like Feucht, entry to Canada. They likely believe they speak for the majority of Canadians on this matter, which is a dubious claim at best.

Meanwhile, there’s now a huge spotlight on Feucht. It’s given him enormous publicity he wasn’t seeking out or intending to receive during this small Canadian tour. The political left transformed him into a short-term media celebrity, which obviously wasn’t their original intention. Things will gradually settle down in Canada, but Feucht will likely be able to use this unexpected controversy to his advantage for many years to come.

An enormous mountain has been made out of a microscopic molehill in the Great White North for no good reason. The Paraphrases of Erasmus have been validated once more.

Michael Taube is a political commentator, Troy Media syndicated columnist and former speechwriter for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He holds a master’s degree in comparative politics from the London School of Economics, lending academic rigour to his political insights.

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