Sunday, February 28, 2010

"Hate Speech"

I didn't watch much of the Olympics this year. Maybe that's because I was busy with other things, or didn't really feel into it. But for whatever reason, seeing bits and pieces of it as I went downstairs for various reasons prompted my thinking. I had heard that Canada (the site of this year's Olympics) had laws prohibiting people from preaching certain parts of the Bible. This made me start to wonder, so I began looking it up online.

Now you may be thinking "online resources aren't always the most reputable." And that can often be the case. However, when you come up with several sites that say the same thing, it tends to lend credibility.

"What did I find?" you ask? Several sources mentioned that there are indeed parts of the Bible deemed "hate speech" in Canada because it talks negatively about homosexuality. There have actually been cases where people have been fined and forced to apologize because of it.

Case 1: A Christian man who owns a print shop in Canada refuses to print an ad by 2 gay men on the homosexual agenda. He is sued and forced to pay each man over 1,000 Canadian dollars to make up for distress and the damages he has caused.

Case 2: Jessica Beaumont, a Canadian citizen, is banned from posting Bible scripture having to do with homosexuality on the internet after posting verses on mostly American sites. If she violates this parole, she faces up to 5 years in prison.

Case 3. Reverend Stephen Boissoin, a Protestant youth pastor in Canada is found guilty by the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission (AHRCC) because he wrote a letter against same-sex marriage in a newspaper. He has now been banned from speaking out against homosexuality ever again.

Similarly, in 2005 a Roman Catholic Bishop was brought before the same commission for writing to his own congregation. This letter wasn't published for distribution but was a resource to equip his church members against homosexuality. He would have been charged as the others, had he not "clarified his remarks", causing the complaints to be dropped.

You may say "well that's Canada for you". But this is where it gets scarier still

Case 4: Colorado, U.S.A.- Senate Bill 200 section 8 prohibits the publication of matter "that discriminates against persons due to disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, or ancestry."

Case 5: On October 22, 2009 President Obama passed the "Mathew Shepard and James Byrd Jr Act". This act was chosen as the #1 anti-Christian act passed in 2009 (by the Christian Anti-Defamation League.) It is said to eradicate the idea that homosexuality is sinful by deeming acts against such as a hate crime.Though speech is not limited yet, this law leaves open the possibility that pastors could be called on to testify in hate crimes. If a person commits a hate crime, and it is found that they listen to a pastor who preaches against homosexuality, that pastor could also be found guilty.


Any of this sound familiar? If you think what happens in other countries won't happen here, it's time to wake up to reality. Our faith is under attack. It may not be where you live... yet. But it's coming.

"Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8

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