The language of lies

April 22, 2008

Check out what the Criminal Code of Canada says about the . While I am glad to be proven wrong in my assertions that a not-entirely-born baby can legally be killed, I am alarmed indeed by the language that protects the life of the little one during the birthing process:

Every one who causes the death, in the act of birth, of any child that has not become a human being, in such a manner that, if the child were a human being, he would be guilty of murder, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life.

Not become a human being? I thought the only necessary criteria for being a human being was that one was a living member of the species called homo sapiens, which the not-yet-born child would have been for approximately nine months at that point.

This is an outright lie, the notion that “human-ness” is conferred by passage through the birth canal. And the whole legality of in is predicated on this lie.

Update: Welcome, WebElf readers!

Just insane. Recommendations for how the can be improved include the following:

- ‘hate incident’ means any act or omission, whether criminal or not, that expresses bias, prejudice, or contempt toward a vulnerable or disadvantaged community or its members. A ‘vulnerable or disadvantaged community’ is any group or community identified as such on the basis of characteristics protected by the , the , the , or Section 15(1) of the [Charter]

When I read this, I can’t help but think that it means that one could potentially be hauled before a not for the crime of articulating a racist sentiment, but for not speaking out against racist speech that one happens to overhear…even though deciding to let the bigot waste his breath, and to not dignify his words with a response, is not a crime.

Perhaps I am being paranoid. Then, again, I re-read the above statement and wonder how exactly “any act or omission, whether criminal or not” is a criteria set to which there is any notable exception.

We come, yet again, several steps closer to the day when we may all yet be under the gun of the HRCs. Except they won’t literally have guns, because progressives hate those.

Update: Welcome, Steynians!