“The First Amendment really does distinguish the U.S., not just from Canada but from the rest of the Western world,” says writer Mark Steyn, who’s learning it the hard way. Mr. Steyn and Maclean’s, the top-selling Canadian magazine, have faced human rights charges in British Columbia. Their alleged offense? Maclean’s published a Steyn essay critical of Islam, which prompted Muslim activists to file formal charges accusing the writer and the magazine of violating Canada’s hate-speech laws.
Last Friday, the national Human Rights Commission dismissed the charges, but they’re still pending in front of a provincial panel. The victory is less than what it appears. For one thing, defending against the charges cost the magazine hundreds of thousands of dollars. For another, it is frightening to think that a human rights panel has the right to decide what can and cannot be published in a free country.
Let’s also hail the 2nd Amendment.
Right, Br. Michael, in case the first amendment is rendered void by an activist court!
As we used to say in law school: “Constitution void where prohibited by law.”
And someone should send the ACLU a copy of the entire 1st Amendment (better, the entire Bill of Rights) rather than their truncated and self-serving version.
Bible Publishers Sued for Anti-Gay References
Thursday, July 10, 2008 10:51 AM
By: Rick Pedraza
A Michigan man is seeking $70 million from two Christian publishers for emotional distress and mental instability he received during the past 20 years from versions of the Bible that refer to homosexuality as a sin.
Bradley LaShawn Fowler, a gay man, claims his constitutional rights were infringed upon by Zondervan Publishing Co. and Thomas Nelson Publishing, both of which, he claims, deliberately caused homosexuals to suffer by misinterpretation of the Bible.
Fowler, 39, is seeking $60 million from Zondervan and another $10 million from Thomas Nelson.
According to a USA Today report, Fowler’s two separate suits against the publishers claim the intent of the Bible revisions that refer to homosexuals as sinners reflect an individual opinion or a group’s conclusion.
Fowler says the deliberate changes made to first Corinthians, chapter six, verse nine caused him “or anyone who is a homosexual to endure verbal abuse, discrimination, episodes of hate, and physical violence … including murder.”
Fowler, who is representing himself in both lawsuits, claims the publishers are misinterpreting the Bible by specifically using the word homosexuals, which made him an outcast from his family and contributed to physical discomfort and periods of demoralization, chaos and bewilderment.
There is more to the article at [url=http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/man_sues_bible_publishers/2008/07/10/111626.html]Newsmax[/url]