Letters to the Editor

Re: Don’t tread on me—Bill C-9

January 3, 2026   ·   0 Comments

The 11th of December was a brilliant issue. I particularly liked Gwynne Dyer’s geography lesson for our southern neighbours. Though it was a while ago, I remember reading that only 25 per cent of Congress held passports. I’m sure they’ve upped their game since then. Still, some geographic remedial work for the occupant of the Oval Office might be in order.

Thanks also to Brian Lockhart for raising the warning. Just two weeks ago, not having paid sufficient attention to the details of Bill C-9 and preaching on the second Sunday of Advent’s theme, Peace, at a nearby United Church, I took a little detour to opine on my sense that the Bible is little understood and open to abuse. 

I don’t think it’s news to many of your readers that the Bible has been used as a weapon — I used the examples of Black slavery, the marginalization of women and members of the LGBTQ+ communities, as well as the gift in perpetuity of the land of Canaan to the Hebrew people. Because the Bible says so. 

I used a story in an attempt to illustrate the point about how some readings of the Bible can get in the way of peace — familial, communal, national and global. 

Maybe some of your readers will remember California’s 2008 Proposition 8 banning gay marriage? Some genius turned it into a movie short called Proposition 8: The Musical. It begins with a group of people celebrating their freedom to be who they are. On the scene arrives another group determined to spread hate in order to change the onlookers’ minds. The arguments fly: ‘The Bible says it’s a sin!’ All of a sudden, actor Jack Black materializes as Jesus, breaking into the conversation. ‘Well, the Bible says a lot of things, ya know.’

One of the crowd asks, ‘Jesus, doesn’t the Bible say that gay people are an abomination?’ 

Jesus answers, ‘Yes, it does. However, it says the same thing about this shrimp cocktail I’m about to have for lunch.’  

Another asks, ‘What else does the Bible say, Jesus?’

Jesus answers, ‘The Bible says a lot of interesting things, actually. For instance, you can stone your wife and sell your daughter into slavery. You get to kill your kids if they sass you back.’ And not quietly out in the woodshed but at the city gate with lots of witnesses to the kid’s perfidy.

‘Oh, yeah, well, we ignore those verses, Jesus.’

‘Well then it seems to me you pick and choose…’ 

PS: Prop 8 failed.

So, thanks to Brian for alerting me. My next letter will be to Minister Marc Miller — in charge of Canadian Identity and Culture (now that’s a task and a half in the polyglot diversity that is Canada), whose brilliant idea was to censor parts of the Bible as criminal if uttered out loud or somehow put into practice. Being led out of the pulpit in handcuffs would not be good. 

I hope he realizes how big a job it will be tagging all those naughty verses — and not only in the Hebrew Testament; there are plenty in the Christian section. 

Maybe he will be swayed to give in on this point; I can imagine the stack of letters once all of us preachers figure out the consequences of Bill C-9. Join me. 

With gratitude,

(Rev’d) LeeAnn McKenna PhD(c)

Mono

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