CV NEWS FEED // A proposed Canadian law that will be up for vote shortly would strip free speech protections away from religious groups opposing LGBTQ ideology under the pretense of fighting antisemitism and hate speech.
According to an emailed press release from human rights organization International Christian Concern (ICC), Bill C-367 could remove protections for speaking about religion from the Canadian Criminal Code. The bill states that it aims to stem the promotion of hatred or antisemitism by repealing the two sections of the Criminal Code containing the religious protections.
Section 319.3.b states that people cannot be convicted of antisemitism “if, in good faith, the person expressed or attempted to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text.”
The Code also states the same thing in Section 319.3.1.b in regards to hate speech, which according to the code, means any writing, sign or visible representation that advocates or promotes genocide” or that “promotes hatred against any identifiable group.”
The bill would repeal both sections, meaning that Christians or anyone else who opposes LGBTQ ideology or even quotes the Bible could be convicted of hate speech.
“Any religious or faith-based expression that is critical of gender ideology, child sexualization, and child sex change will likely be deemed ‘hate speech’ against the LGBTQ community,” ICC said. “If passed, this Bill would be a devastating legal tool to attack people of faith in Canada and allow the politicians working through the courts and police to send devout believers to jail for quoting the Bible, Quran, or other religious texts.”
ICC President Jeff King said that the bill is similar to the methods that “dictators and despots” in countries like China, Vietnam, Cuba, Pakistan, and more are using “to silence and strangle Christianity.”
“Canadians that enjoy the fruits of democracy need to wake up,” he said. “Any politician in the West who pushes for this kind of legislation and is selling ‘protection and unity’ by advancing hate speech laws is an enemy of freedom, and democracy, and willing to undermine the religious and speech laws that protect all citizens to advance their special interest or to inflict damage on their political enemies.”
