Monday, October 22, 2012

For now, pastors still can oppose sin

A decision in a case regarded as a bellwether in the developing standoff between the right to free speech and so-called “hate crimes” laws that punish “thoughts” or “perceptions” has arrived – and it affirms the right of free speech.
The decision comes from the highest appeals court in Alberta. The court week dismissed an appeal of a lower court decision that ruled Pastor Stephen Boissoin was not liable to pay a $5,000 penalty and issue an apology for a letter he wrote to the editor of a local newspaper.

WND previously reported Alberta adopted a “hate speech” law with promises the measure would be reserved for actions that accompany “hate speech.”
Boissoin’s letter to the Red Deer Advocate newspaper criticized those who “in any way support the homosexual machine that has been mercilessly gaining ground in our society since the 1960s.”
“Our children are being victimized by repugnant and premeditated strategies, aimed at desensitizing and eventually recruiting our young into their camps,” Boisson wrote. “Think about it, children as young as five and six years of age are being subjected to psychologically and physiologically damaging pro-homosexual literature and guidance in the public-school system. … Your teenagers are being instructed on how to perform so-called safe same-gender oral and anal sex. … Come on people, wake up!”

“Back Fired” shows how the faith that gave birth to tolerance is no longer tolerated!
His comments “offended” some, and he was brought to trial before a human rights council, which ordered him to make the apology and pay $5,000 to a professor who brought the complaint.
Now, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom, the decision from the Alberta court likely signals an ultimate victory in the 12-year legal fight.
“Christians and other people of faith should not be fined or jailed for expressing their political or religious beliefs. There is no place for thought control in a free and democratic society,” said Gerald Chipeur, one of more than 2,200 allied attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom, who served as counsel in the suit. “The tools of censorship should not be available to prohibit freedom of religious expression in Canada. The court rightly found that this type of religious speech is not ‘hate speech.’”

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