Mark Harding, the founder of The Christian Standard, a Christian publication in Canada alerting believers to attacks on the Christian faith, has spent two days in jail for criticizing Islam.

Harding distributed flyers to his community revealing how a public school was furthering Islam during school hours, and quoted his local Canadian newspaper to show how Islam tolerates no other beliefs where it gains control.

Muslims, who have learned that they can use the laws of Canada to silence criticism, called for Harding's arrest. After two weeks the Attorney General succumbed to pressure by the Islamic community and pressed charges.

By the time you read this, Harding should be in court defending his right to tell his fellow Canadians that Islam, when in control, has shown itself to be dangerously militant in various countries around the world. Harding is accused of inciting hatred toward Muslims even though the facts that he based his pamphlet on came straight from his local newspaper.

Canadian Protestant League director Jonas Shephard, who helped defend the Chick Publications Alberto comic series against a hate-literature charge several years ago, said that, this case against Mark Harding is a perversion of the existing hate-crime law.

This is an example of how Islam is changing its tactics from violence to a "mainstream force," as The Wall Street Journal calls it.

On August 19, 1997 The Wall Street Journal described how Islam is changing its tactics: "Islamists are transforming themselves into a powerful mainstream force emphasizing legal actions, business development, and politics over terrorism and violence in their effort to topple secular Arab regimes. The rallying cry remains jihad, or holy war, but it is now jihad by other means."

Not only is Islam conducting holy war against moderate Muslim governments, it is zealously "evangelizing" in every other country where it can gain a foothold. Britain, Europe and North America are special targets because of their open, democratic societies. The Muslim "missionaries" are looking for any way they can use the existing legal or cultural systems to promote Islamic beliefs or squelch those who oppose them. In Harding's case the public schools were being used to promote their beliefs and the hate laws were used to block anyone who objected.

This case in Canada carries grave consequences for Bible believers. U.S. laws are carefully written to distinguish between hate crimes (where physical violence is involved) and hate speech, often called "incitement" to hatred. The constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech prevent prosecution unless there is a crime of violence involved.

However, other countries which do not have these guarantees have been pushed by special interest groups such as Muslims, homosexuals, ethnic minorities and advocates of various other "human rights" into arresting people on their complaint that someone was inciting hatred against them.

Canada has been on the forefront of this for several years and provides an example of the danger to soul winners if a case like this can be successfully prosecuted. Several years ago, Bible believers in Canada were threatened with arrest under these kinds of laws for witnessing to Roman Catholics. The Catholic hierarchy tried to persuade the government to arrest soul winners who were using the Alberto series of the Crusaders Comics in their witnessing. Fortunately, help from the Canadian Protestant League stopped them.

But Roman Catholicism lacks the brash militancy of Islam. If Harding's case is lost in Canada, Islam will be emboldened to pursue Christians in other countries where Islam is rapidly increasing in power. And Islam, in contrast to biblical Christianity, tolerates no competition in the societies and governments which it dominates.

How tragic that these hate laws should make the Canadian government a tool to stamp out religious freedom of expression in Canada. When the Toronto Star reported the terrible things that Muslims have done where they are in power, nobody complained. But when Harding spoke up saying the same things he gets thrown in jail.

The push for ever more restrictive "human rights" legislation in the U.S. could eventually penetrate our free speech protection and soul winners will face a tough choice between silence or going to jail for speaking the truth about the false religions and winning their members to Christ.