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For Canada...
PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 8:48 pm
by TheMelodyMaker
Some of you may have already heard about this, but I really felt it needed to be addressed. Several months ago a bill was introduced into our Canadian Parliament that would basically cause certain parts of Scripture to be rendered "hate literature" and therefore illegal to publicly preach. Today it was passed and is now law. Though it wasn't up to date when I looked at it today,
http://www.fornow.com/ has been following this and will have more details.
Please keep us in your prayers; as hard as it is right now, I still believe our Lord has everything under His control.
PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 8:53 pm
by Shinja
yeah i heard about this, didnt know it had become law though.
sure thing
PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2003 7:23 am
by Gypsy
Wow, I had heard of this bill, but I never thought it would actually go through. I'm very sorry to hear that. But you're right, God does have everything under His control, and I will be praying.
PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2003 9:38 am
by Technomancer
Our leaders can always use our prayers. However, to say that this bill will outlaw speech (or bible passages) against homosexuality is a gross exaggeration. To those who are interested in this issue, read the actual information, ie. the law and the proposed amendment (better yet, read the Charter along with it, and legal theory relating to the Section 319). The website presented is flat-out wrong in its assertions (I note that it doesn't even try to back them up with links to the relevant law).
I am no advocate for homosexuality, and am especially no fan of Svend Robinson. However, no cause can be served by misrepresentation of legal facts.
PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2003 11:14 am
by TheMelodyMaker
My apologies; occasionally I tend to not get all the facts straight, but I'll try this time around.
TheMelodyMaker wrote:Several months ago a bill was introduced into our Canadian Parliament that would basically cause certain parts of Scripture to be rendered "hate literature" and therefore illegal to publicly preach. Today it was passed and is now law.
I'm going to correct myself here by saying that while this bill gives homosexuals more protection from "hateful" acts than is given to anyone else, Scripture is still protected by law; but the potential still exists for it to become banned. I don't think it'll be long before some small militant group goes to the Human Rights Commission to complain about some preacher publicly reading Scripture that condemns their sinful lifestyle.
PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2003 11:50 am
by Technomancer
If we want to continue this, it might be best to move the discussion to another forum (like General or whatever).
However, special protection above and beyond what other groups enjoy is precisely what this bill does not give homosexuals. Previously, Section 319 identified ethnic and religious categorizations as "identifiable groups". This list is now extended to include sexual orientation- that really is the full extent of the amendment. No modifcation has been made to the rest of the law. Moreover the existing law rests on the prinicpal of preventing "a breach of the peace", not preventing anybody's hurt feelings. In other words, you'd only contravene the law if you were inciting violent acts(which should unacceptable in any case). Also, the Human Rights Commision is not involved with the prosecution of this law- the decision to prosecute rests with Federal/Provincial attorney general.
PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2003 12:05 pm
by Gala
man, that's not cool! I will be praying
PostPosted: Wed Oct 15, 2003 9:21 pm
by Azier the Swordsman
That's horrible... I will definately pray against that.