Is Canada Passing Legislation That Would Ban the Bible?

One of the biggest concerns among (mostly conservative) Christians in Canada is Bill C-9. This is an act to amend current Canadian hate speech laws. Much of it has to do with the use of symbols that are associated with hate speech, something timely with the rise of antisemitism and white supremist groups.

But what is most concerning to some Christians is this bill will “repeal the defence based on the expression of opinions on religious subjects or texts in relation to the offences of wilful promotion of hatred or antisemitism.”

As far as I know, there are few Christians who want the freedom to express antisemitic statements. There is a different concern.

Many Christians are afraid this will limit their freedom to speak out against the LGBTQ+ community. Some will say that this could even lead to the banning of the Bible.

How serious are these concerns? Obviously no one can predict the future but we can look at the legislation as it stands now. This is better than falling into the slippery slope fallacy.

I have read the wording of the actual bill as opposed to the concerns of critics. I recommend that you do so as well.

I think the concern is that there is some uncertainty as to gets to define hate speech. Is saying “marriage is only between a man and a woman” or “people cannot change genders different from their birth sex” hate speech. Some fear that is what the future holds.

But what does the legislation say? A clarification in the bill says this:

For greater certainty, nothing in subsection 319(2) or (2.‍2) of the Criminal Code shall be construed as prohibiting a person from communicating a statement on a matter of public interest, including an educational, religious, political or scientific statement made in the course of a discussion, publication or debate, if they do not wilfully promote hatred against an identifiable group by communicating the statement.

This seems to indicate that the issue is the reason for making the statement. What they are trying to prevent are statements that promote hatred. But how is hatred defined? The definition provided is “hatred means an emotion Insertion an intense and extreme nature that is clearly associated with vilification and detestation.”

Do Christians speak this way about the LGBTQ+ community? Unfortunately, yes there are some that do. There are Christians who promote hatred against the LGBTQ+ community. Have seen some Christians on social media call for Old Testament-style capital punishment for people in this community.

But should we?

I have heard some Christians complain that the passing of this legislation will prevent them from preaching the gospel. What gospel are they preaching? Where in the New Testament does it say that we can only share Jesus if we also vilify and promote hatred against a certain community?

Reading this legislation did not strike any fear into me, nor do I feel like I am limited in preaching what I would normally preach.

Not only that, I think it is bizarre that any followers of Jesus are concerned that they will not be free to promote hatred when Jesus clearly taught that being his disciples is about love.

But what about the banning of the Bible?

I seriously doubt that the Bible is going to be banned any time soon. Consider the fact that you can still purchase copies of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. I am not comparing the Bible to Mein Kampf but I am saying that the government is a long way from banning the Bible when there clearly are texts that promote hate speech out there.

I think that a lot of the fear that is out there is related to general concerns about the relationship between the government and the church. Check out my Substack article Is the Government the Enemy of the Church?