Canada is one step closer to passing “hate crime” legislation that would make historic Christian beliefs illegal to express. And really, it would make quoting parts of the Bible illegal!
The “Combatting Hate Act” (or Bill C-9), which just moved on to the Senate of Canada, “proposes new Criminal Code offences, including one that would make it a crime to intentionally promote hatred against identifiable groups in public using certain hate- or terrorism-related symbols.” And the bill specifically removes protections for religious freedom:
The Liberals [one of Canada’s political parties] got Bloc [another party] support by including a clause that would remove the religious exemption from Canada’s hate speech law.
The Criminal Code currently includes an exemption for hate speech, “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.”
Of course, they are claiming this will not “criminalize faith,” but we’ve seen what has happened in Europe (and what has already happened in Canada) when “hate crime” legislation is passed. Christians are specifically targeted for their beliefs, especially regarding gender, marriage, and the sanctity of human life. Every thinking person knows that this change to the Criminal Code will be used in exactly the same way eventually (and probably not far in the future). It’s all part of the spiritual battle raging around us as Satan attempts to silence Christians.
Yes, religious freedoms are rapidly eroding in the West as the once-Christian foundation—the very foundation that gave the idea of human rights—disappears and is replaced with secular humanism. We need to pray for Canada and for the dedicated Christians who will have to live with this kind of legislation.
John 15:18–20 says, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.”
