It cost Stephen Boissoin $5,000 to write a letter to the editor of a newspaper decrying homosexual activism in Canada. Actually, it cost him more than that.
According to the Alberta Human Rights Commission decision, the Christian pastor not only has to pay a university professor, who was upset by the letter, $5,000, but he also has to write an apology in the editorial section of the newspaper.
Worse, Boissoin must "cease publishing in newspapers, by email, on the radio, in public speeches, or on the internet, in future, disparaging remarks about gays and homosexuals." In other words, he is silenced from his free speech rights, forever. He can’t even publish his own opinions on homosexuality on his website – they’ll be removed.
This is a ridiculous restriction on speech and an even more ridiculous penalty. Even Gilles Marchildon, Executive Director of the pro-gay group Egale Canada, thinks that Boissoin should have the right to express his opinion even if it’s hostile to homosexual ideas.
This ruling, though, is consistent with what to expect after Canada passed bill C-250 four years ago. I suspect with same-sex marriage gaining ground in the United States, we’re likely to see cases like this where religious freedoms are increasingly restricted.
One of these days, we Christians are going to have to go underground.
Posted by: Sam | June 25, 2008 at 05:55 AM
Watch Ezra Levant on youtube destroy the lawyer at the Alberta Human Rights commission. He was called in for publishing the Muslim cartoons and brought a camera with him. Watch his opening statement, then the video "What was your intention?" Classic.
Posted by: Jon | June 25, 2008 at 07:14 AM
The reason that Gilles Marchildon thinks that Boissoin should have the right to express his opinion even if it’s hostile to homosexual ideas, is because it is that very right which allows gay activists to espouse their views.
Let's agree to disagree vehemently because this is an issue that matters; but if you take a people's free speech, don't then say that people are becoming more accepting of homosexuality, because that's not the same thing.
Posted by: Agilius | June 25, 2008 at 10:38 AM
Are we safe in saying that the frog in Canada has reaching the boiling point?
The erosion of free speech did not happen over night. It was a process that occurred over a long period of time in the name of tolerance. True tolerance means allowing someone to speak, even if you vehemently disagree with their views. As we can see, that isn't happening in Canada. If you speak from or defend the wrong world view -- namely Christianity, which upholds moral absolutes -- then you're automatically in the wrong.
Can we learn from Canada's example, please?
Sit up and take notice, my Christian brethren in the U.S. If we do not act like Acts 1:8 believers, then we will soon become Acts 8:1 believers. I would prefer that we learn from history instead of being doomed to repeat it.
Posted by: Heath Griner | June 25, 2008 at 12:39 PM
Look what’s happening to Mark Steyn in Canada.
Posted by: Kevin W | June 25, 2008 at 01:11 PM
Good point about Mark Steyn. Several columnists who post at townhall.com are weighing in on the kangaroo court that is trying the author.
What Canada has done in "protecting" certain minority groups is to create a special privileged class. Using the law as its weapon, this new class is able to designate "threats" to its orthodoxy as criminals, or non-people.
How Orwellian can you get?
It must be frightening for Canadians to think about how this special class might decide to exert its power.
Posted by: Heath Griner | June 25, 2008 at 01:28 PM
The court in CA overruling the voice of the people and now this!
We won't have to underground, Sam, but we are headed for tsunami-like cultural and legal momentum aimed at silencing anyone who disagrees, especially Christians.
Posted by: Mike | June 25, 2008 at 02:49 PM
I am of the opinion that it's just a matter of time before Christians in this country are openly persecuted in the name of tolerance. The mind-numbing propagandizing rhetoric from the far left and the shallow thinking of moral relativism have taken this country down the primrose path. How blind can a culture become?
Posted by: Jack Hallman | June 25, 2008 at 05:58 PM
And the worst, part, Jack, is that we give our consent to this persecution by not standing up for the Gospel, truth, and basic human decency right now.
In other words, the church is not acting like the church.
Think of how much influence we could have on the abortion issue, for example, if we taught more about the sanctity of human life in our individual homes and in our churches. Instead, families are too busy to have any together time, and churches are too busy keeping what members they can attract.
We're supposed to be the salt ... but are we busy preserving ANYTHING?
Posted by: Heath Griner | June 26, 2008 at 09:57 PM