Intellectual freedom in Canada: Freedom does not evolve. It revolts!

Do you read this blog only for news on the intelligent design controversy?

Then please bear with my "intellectual freedom in Canada" posts. We are fighting a pitched battle here for intellectual freedom, and so far we are winning.

Freedom does not evolve. It revolts!

So, if regular programming is interrupted by "news from Canada", -as it often has been - scroll a bit. You will find the usual intelligent design controversy news to which this blog was originally dedicated - and to which it will constantly return.

I love my country, and - like many bloggers - I am determined to defeat the grievance hustlers who are deforming it.

Recently, I wrote about the possible attack on Toronto Life magazine for describing the death of sixteen-year-old Aqsa Parvez as an alleged "honour killing." Her father and brother have been charged with murder.

Now, historic Maclean's Magazine (December 1, 2008), a veteran of the free speech wars, has weighed in:

Reaction to the use of the term "honour killing" has been fierce. Feminist and Islamic groups even organized a press conference to denounce the magazine. Their argument is that Aqsa's death should be seen as an example of domestic violence rather than connected in any way to the specific cultural aspects of her home life.

[ ... ]

The Oxford English Dictionary just added honour killing to its word collection last year. And its definition - "the killing of a (usually female) relative perceived to have brought dishonour upon the family, associated especially with certain cultures in which familial honour is of paramount importance" - appears to fit the alleged circumstances of Aqsa's murder. Like date rape, honour killing adds to our understanding of a situation where the generic term "domestic violence" does not.

Yes, exactly. Phrases like "mob hit," "assassination," "date rape," and "honour killing" put us in the picture. Good for Maclean's for joining the resistance to the speech police, before things get any worse.

Also: Here's Jonathan Kay on Steve Janke, an apparent victim of a SLAPP suit (= a strategic lawsuit against public participation).

We really need a way of stopping people from using lawsuits as a way of preventing new media from disseminating news. One critical weakness of new media is that we are small, low-budget operations - and it's probably better that we stay that way. But SLAPP makes that difficult.

And Ezra Levant on "The Jewish Exemption" notes that he continues to publish, as a Jew, material that got a Christian a lifetime communication ban in Canada's province of Alberta.

In the entire history of section 13, stretching back to 1977, not one single Jew, Muslim or gay has been taken before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal by the CHRC.

Not one.

Gentle reader, do you really think that not one single Jew has uttered hate speech in 31 years? I'll answer that for you: I published hate speech on my own web -- I published Rev. Boissoin's comments. I know that's hate speech, because both the Alberta HRC and the CHRC said so.

Do you really think that not a single Muslim radical, or Sikh radical, or Tamil radical, has uttered hate speech in 31 years?

Don't be ridiculous. But Lynch's McCarthyist inquisition has never gone after those. 100% of the CHRC's targets have been white, Christian or conservative.

And, of course, the conviction rate before the tribunal has been 100%.

This is not the rule of law. This is not a real court. The CHRC are not lawful prosecutors. They are rogues -- corrupt rogues, ...

Ezra, it's even worse. Look back at this: Apparently Muslim girls rank right down there with white, male Christians as people who simply don't count. Their deaths are not important; people split hairs about the terms we are permitted to use to describe their deaths.

Isn't that just what Muslim girls who live with violent, oppressive, and possessive male relatives need? - a fuss over terminology!

No, Aqsa deserved better from us, but the best we can do now is: NEVER AGAIN.

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