FAMILY MATTERS: Hate speech laws – and why you must speak up

The Government has released its plan for laws governing ‘hate speech’, and it is now vital that families and faith communities understand what is really at stake with these proposals.
One of the most disturbing realities of criminalising “hateful” speech is that there is simply no agreement on the definition of what constitutes “hate” speech. Without a clear definition, how will you know when or if you have broken the law?

And traditional beliefs about human sexuality and identity, which have been held by the majority of humankind across diverse cultures for thousands of years, are now construed as “hateful” by the LGBT community.

George Orwell is traditionally credited with saying this great quote: “The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.” Let me adjust that slightly to my version. “The further a society drifts from biblical truth, the more it will hate those who quote it.”

Political activists and special interest groups will miss the important distinction between hate-speech, and merely speech they hate, and end up using such laws as tools of political intimidation to punish opponents and shut down debate in the marketplace of ideas.

Speak up on this issue – before you lose the ability to speak.

Go to hatespeech.nz to learn more.
Download our Fact Sheet which explains all of this in more details.