We have a neighbor who likes to go for coffee on Saturday morning. Usually, we know some other people, in the shop, and the conversations are friendly.
In the coffee shop, there is a young “man” who works behind the counter and serves coffee, and “he” wears a dress when he works. No one has told us about preferred pronouns, in this case, but notice that I have used quotation marks for words like “man” and “he.”
We have to be careful in our modern world when we write or speak publicly.
It is generally understood, that the worker in the coffee shop has a masculine voice and other features. Most of us don’t want to get into an argument about “Trans” beliefs, and we talk about other things.
We don’t want to go there. So, we all try to be polite, and there are some topics we don’t mention in our conversations.
At the last neighbor meeting at the coffee shop, a friendly neighbor came in and saw us, so he joined us for a while. The conversation was friendly, with no controversy or arguments, and then another man joined us. The second man was also friendly, and the conversation continued.
The second man was the “husband” of the first man.
Welcome to modern times, in my neighborhood.
I am writing as a Christian, and I know that some verses in the Bible would be offensive and would start arguments, in our coffee shop. I do not have the power to change or reinterpret those words that deal with such issues as morality.
But the issues are not all about sexuality or gender.
If I had a conversation with a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Jew, or an Atheist, I could offend them by quoting the Bible. It is very easy to have ideas that are different from the old words.
Most of us know these words:
“For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3: 16)
Did you know that a devout Muslim can be offended by any statement that God “begot” a son? I won’t speak for them, but these words in the Bible can be very offensive.
I’m also sure that it’s easy to have ideas that are different from the teaching of the Muslim holy book, the Koran; and I’m sure we can say the same about any religious holy book. Religious people believe, and that means they must disagree with the beliefs of some other people. We are not all the same.
You might have heard about the Member of Parliament in Finland who faced criminal charges for teaching ideas from the Bible.
I haven’t heard about the end of the trial, and I don’t know if she was convicted as a criminal.
You should also know that Britain and Canada are developing laws that remove religious exemptions from hate speech laws:
Possibly, religious people could be charged and convicted as criminals, when they say what they believe.
So, is the Bible “Hate Speech?”
Yes … maybe.
It all depends on how we define “Hate Speech” and our lawmakers are working on changes. We may be coming to a time when it will be dangerous to say what you believe, and maybe even dangerous to believe what you believe.
I am referring to liberal and democratic societies, where we usually have freedom of speech. Believers in places like Iran or North Korea are already living the experience.
The question for us all is; Can I afford to pay the price that comes with my beliefs? We may soon be living in societies where belief, like following Jesus, will come with a high cost.
I hope we are ready.
