The Bible has been the subject of a lot of news lately. The Editors at GQ magazine recently published a piece called, “21 Books You Don’t Have to Read.” You guessed it. The Editors at GQ put the Bible as number 12 on the list, claiming that it is a “repetitive, self-contradictory, sententious, foolish, and even at times ill-intentioned” book. They also said that “it is certainly not the finest thing that man has ever produced.” That’s a pretty bold claim coming from a magazine about the best-selling book in history – and one that predates the magazine’s existence by literally thousands of years.
These statements expressed by the Editors at GQ aren’t just harmless words. Their opinions represent disdain for truth, morality, and virtue.
The Bible is certainly under assault, but it’s not just a couple of Editors at GQ who are struggling with a better way to display their creative genuis than to throw the Bible onto a waste-of-your-time list.
The California State Assembly just passed AB 2943 with 80 “yes” votes to 18 “no” votes. It’s a bill that bans the “sale . . . of goods or services” that “offer[] to” or “engage . . . in sexual orientation change efforts,” which are defined to include “efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same sex.”
Ben Shapiro said AB 2943 is “tyranny coming in the guise of a happy face.” He also stated his incredulity that the Supreme Court would uphold such an outrageous attack on First Amendment expression. AB 2943 is censorship. It’s that simple. It’s that scary.
The State of California has no right to decide what educational materials or services an individual may or may not pursue for their own health and well being. The Assembly has just expressed its approval for a proposed law that would cut the First Amendment freedoms out from under each and every taxpayer.
More specifically, AB 2943 is an assault on the Bible. While the language of AB 2943 doesn’t specifically reference the Bible, it also doesn’t make an exclusion for it in the “goods or services” that are “offere[ed]” or “engage[ed]” in. The phrasing opens up many questions. If this bill were to become law, can a pastor by banned from teaching a Biblical view of sexuality from the pulpit? Can the sale of the Bible itself be banned? There are many more questions similar to these that the bill does not specifically address, so the wording that the bill does have, is certainly enough for apprehension. According to the LA Times, “An analysis by the Assembly Judiciary Committee says the bill would apply only to services that purport to change a person’s sexual orientation and offered “on a commercial basis, as well as the advertising and offering of such services.”” The bill’s language still leaves the door wide open, however. AB 2943 wants enforcement with no option but compliance, no room for dissent. The next step is to punish people who would not abide by such a law.
“To put it simply,” says Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, “Christian schools, churches and others who hold to a traditional understanding of marriage and sexuality would be open to lawsuits for teaching biblical truth about homosexuality or transgenderism.”
It makes no sense that lawmakers within the State Assembly want to limit the resources available to people seeking answers to difficult questions. It is preposterous that a law is being proposed to ban resources or services that have brought satisfaction, contentment, and happiness to many individuals.
