Under the guise of banning “conversion therapy,” Christian sexual ethics just became illegal in Canada–and similar laws are coming to the United States.
Conversion therapy is a widely discredited and outdated practice that attempts to “cure” people of homosexuality via behavioral therapies like electric shock treatment.
Almost nobody in the West uses this technique anymore. So why are anti-conversion therapy laws now taking effect across Western countries like Canada, Germany, France, and even parts of the United States? Clearly, banning archaic conversion therapy practices isn’t the true goal.
According to the Daily Wire, the Canadian law, enacted on Jan. 7 and titled “C-4,” now defines conversion therapy as “any counseling or advising against transgender or nonbinary identity or non-heterosexual sexuality — even if the young person or adult requests it.” Notably, no mention is made of conversion therapy in the other direction: counseling young people to adopt non-heterosexual sexuality is, presumably, still legal in Canada.
The ban on so-called “conversion therapy” is not restricted to psychologists’ offices, however. The law states that “conversion therapy means a practice, treatment or service designed to (a) change a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual […]” and so on. The words “treatment” and “service” seem vaguely medical, but what qualifies as a “practice?” According to sources interviewed by The Hill, it could mean anything – including a pastor preaching from the pulpit.
C-4 explicitly bans “any counseling that advocates for the Christian standard that sex is reserved for one man and one woman within marriage,” the Daily Wire reported. So not only is advising against homosexuality banned – advising saving sex for marriage, a core teaching of not only Christianity but all Abrahamic religions, is banned too. And the law doesn’t stop there. It even potentially criminalizes “any instruction confirming that human beings are created as wholly male or female from birth.”
Both Canadian and American pastors have a lot to say about this. Canadian pastor James Coates, interviewed by Megan Basham of the Morning Wire, said that C-4 “criminalize[s] evangelism.”
According to American pastor John MacArthur, “They’re not after the psychologists, they’re after the church.”
Josh Buice, a pastor from Georgia also interviewed by the Daily Wire, said that while our culture doesn’t normalize certain sins, like drunkenness, “the culture is doing the opposite when it comes to sexual sin… We live in a postmodern society that claims that what’s wrong for one generation may actually be right and acceptable to another generation.”
The controversial law was rushed through the Canadian parliament, according to the New York Times. Ted Falk, a Conservative member who voted on the law, said that there wasn’t enough time for him to raise an objection during the voting process.
“What was repeatedly requested by many of those making submissions, was the government’s guarantee — included in the legislation itself — that conversations with a religious leader, counselor, or parent continued to be protected and possible,” he said. “Sadly, these requests were not considered.”
C-4 will crack down on any violations of the law with up to five years in prison. While Americans might feel protected against similar laws being passed here, due to our more extensive protections for religious freedom, LGBT activist groups are pushing for states to create similar laws – and the Democratic Party officially adopted banning “conversion therapy” as a part of its platform last August.
With multiple Western nations, and some U.S. states, considering, drafting, and passing laws like C-4, Christians and members of all faiths must keep their eyes on these proposals. Even Indiana and Michigan introduced similar laws last year.
Hearing and speaking God’s word must remain, as it has always been, a protected activity for all who wish to do so.
