Paul Tuns:
During a discussion about Bill C-9, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (hate propaganda, hate crime and access to religious or cultural places) in the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, the committee’s chair, Liberal MP Marc Miller (Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs) stated certain Bible verses constituted hatred.
Derek Ross, executive director and general counsel of the Christian Legal Fellowship, was expressing concerns about Bill C-9, including the possibility that it would infringe upon religious expression by the breadth of certain definitions and “capture conduct that (the bill) does not intend” to criminalize.
Bill C-9 would remove the religious exemption from hate speech, in which sincerely held views on moral issues does not qualify as hate speech or incitement to hate crimes. When Ross was asked by committee vice chair Bloc Quebecois MP Rhéal Éloi Fortin about the religious exemption, Ross said that there was a difference between good “faith views” on certain practices and specific incitements to violence. Fortin doubted the distinction.
Conservative MP Phillip Lawrence (Northumberland—Peterborough South) asked if reading parts of The Bible, Koran, or Torah ever constituted a hate crime. Ross said there should not be a “categorical criminalization of religious text.”
Marc Miller disagreed. He said, “In Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Romans — there’s other passages — there’s clear hatred towards, for example, homosexuals.” Miller said, “I don’t understand how the concept of good faith can be invoked if someone were literally invoking a passage from, in this case, the Bible — there are other religious texts that say the same thing — and somehow say that this is good faith.” Without referencing specific sections of The Bible, Miller said, “Clearly there are situations in these texts where these statements are hateful. They should not be used to invoke, be a defense, and there should perhaps be discretion for prosecutors to press charges.”
Miller asked Ross: “I just want to understand what your notion of good faith is in this context where there are clearly passages in religious texts that are clearly hateful.”
Ross replied: “I don’t know that I would agree with that characterization, Mr. Chair, that passages are categorically hateful, especially not passages in the Bible.” He said, “When it comes to some of these fundamental questions, we want to preserve room for people to engage in dialogue both critical of religious texts, and relying on religious texts to seek and discern truth without fear of being labeled a blasphemer, or a criminal, or a hatemonger by those who find their beliefs offensive and would try to silence them.”
Ross also said, “If members of Parliament are of the view that passages of the Bible are hateful, that’s something that Canadians should be aware of.”
Christian Heritage Party leader Rod Taylor tweeted, “Liberal MP Marc Miller’s stance on religious freedom is deeply concerning.” Taylor wrote, “This development is not unexpected, given the government’s previous response to church burnings. At its core, this issue revolves around Canadians’ Charter-protected freedom of religion. The minister believes quoting Bible passages should be prosecutable.”
Alberta Minister of Municipal Affairs Dan Williams tweeted, “I find it abhorrent when MPs sitting in Ottawa—or anyone in positions of power—use their voice to attack faith.” He added, “The wider implication is of course one we are familiar with from the media and from progressives in the public square: namely that Christians and Jews themselves are steeped in hatred,” Williams continued. “This intentional mangling of our faith is gross. Full stop. And those who are actually pushing this hate should be called out.”
Western Standard columnist Christopher Oldcorn, wrote, “This isn’t just absurd — it’s a direct attack on Christianity’s place in public life.” If verses from The Bible were deemed hate speech under the law, Oldcorn wrote, “every preacher in the country could be one sermon away from prosecution.”
Oldcorn said Miller’s comments are a “blatant attempt to control religious speech and beliefs.” He said, “The only ‘faith’ the Liberal cabinet wants to see in public is the gospel of LGBTQ+.”
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