"Absolutely shocking."
That was the reaction of the head of a public Christian school in Canada upon receiving a letter from the government body providing its funds, warning that the school should not teach Bible passages that could be deemed "offensive" by some people, particularly the members of the LGBT community.
Deanna Margel, Chair of the Cornerstone Christian Academy, in Alberta, Canada, said the instruction from the school's funding body, the Battle River School Division (BRSD), is tantamount to an attack on freedom of religion and freedom of expression, The Christian Institute reported.
She said in its email, the school division told Cornerstone that certain scripture passages can "denigrate or vilify" LGBT people. "Any scripture that could be considered offensive to particular individuals should not be read or studied," the letter stated.
In Alberta, Christian schools like Cornerstone get their public funds by way of an agreement between the school and a board like BRSD.
Cornerstone sought legal advice from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), a religious liberty group which aims to uphold the constitutional rights of Canadians.
A JCCF spokesman pointed out that the trustees of BRSD "have no right to impose their own ideology on schools they disagree with."
In response, a BRSD spokesman said it felt compelled to make the demand following a change in Canada's human rights legislation.
Cornerstone can opt to dismiss the BRSD demand, but in doing so it could lose funding. The school can look for a new board to get public funds or find private funding or shut down, according to The Christian Institute.
Last week, the Canadian Senate overwhelmingly passed a transgender rights bill by a vote of 67 to 11, LifeSite News reported.
The bill adds "gender expression" and "gender identity" to Canada's Human Rights Code and to the Criminal Code's hate crime section.
Critics warn that under Bill C-16, Canadians who deny gender theory could be charged with hate crimes and subsequently fined and even jailed.
Among the critics is University of Toronto psychology professor Dr. Jordan Peterson, who told the Senate committee during a hearing that Bill C-16 is an unprecedented threat to freedom of expression and codifies a false ideology of gender identity in law.
