California To Ban the Sale of Bibles?
https://www.westernjournal.com/ct/author/benjamin-dekraker/?ff_source=push

When you think about the censorship and outright banning of books and opinions, do you imagine the United States of America?

Or, more likely, does that kind of suppression strike you more as the tactics of c*******ts or f*****ts that America has frequently fought against?

If liberal lawmakers in California get their way, that west coast state may be one step closer to being unrecognizable as part of the United States. A bill currently pending in the legislature would essentially ban the sale of books that include traditional Christian views on marriage and sexuality.


Shockingly, the proposed law could even be construed to make it illegal to sell Bibles, since they include verses that the far left finds unacceptable.

“Assembly Bill 2943 would make it an ‘unlawful business practice’ to engage in ‘a t***saction intended to result or that results in the sale or lease of goods or services to any consumer’ that advertise, offer to engage in, or do engage in ‘sexual orientation change efforts with an individual,'” explained National Review.

That’s a lot of legalese to digest, so let’s break it down. What the bill basically says is that anything that can be seen as trying to impact a person’s sexual orientation would be illegal to sell or offer.


This would almost certainly include traditional Christian counseling services and books.

“The bill then defines ‘sexual orientation change efforts’ as ‘any practices that seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation. This includes efforts to change behaviors or g****r expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same sex,” continued National Review (emphasis added).
Efforts to change behaviors” is where the real problem is. After all, almost all counseling and even common psychiatric care are intended to “change behaviors” in various ways.

If you think about it, that’s the entire reason people seek help in the first place: They want to stop drinking or becoming angry or, yes, having troubling thoughts about their sexuality.

It’s also worth pointing out that the bill as written would apply to people who are trying to change their own behavior. This would mean that if a person was struggling with same-sex behavior or sexual identity and they themselves wanted to change, it would be illegal for them to buy any book meant to help them with this.


The problem here isn’t limited to Christian books. Bizarrely, the bill appears to put almost any counseling or psychiatric service in the cross-hairs.

For example, let’s say a man has the paraphilia of crossdressing or t***svestism. For wh**ever reason, the person has become addicted to wearing women’s clothes and has found that showing up to work in high heels and a dress has a negative impact on his life.

Setting aside any personal judgment about this lifestyle choice (how liberal of us), suppose he voluntarily seeks counseling to get a handle on this problem. Maybe he just wants to stop being addicted to cross-dressing in public.

It’s his own choice. Yet counselors or books intended to help him would be illegal because they’re “efforts to change behaviors or g****r expressions,” in the words of the proposed law.
You might consider that example silly, but this concern is rather serious: If passed, it could only be a matter of time before the law’s extremely vague wording is used against traditional Christian teachings in the Bible.

Take Romans 1:26-27, for instance. This verse calls out homosexuality as “shameful” and encourages Christians to not act in this way.

Then there are 1 Peter 1:15-17, Romans 6:1, and Ephesians 4:22-24, all of which direct followers of Christianity to abstain from homosexuality even if they have those desires.

Let’s be extremely clear: The point of this article is not to lecture about gay lifestyles. There are an increasing number of gay conservatives who have reached their own conclusions about their beliefs, and many are on the front lines of the culture war.

You don’t even have to particularly agree with the Bible verses mentioned here to see the problem. Efforts like the proposed bill represent dangerous slippery slopes that would use the legislature to attack traditional beliefs, and even mainstream views that happen to be at odds with the far-left agenda.

If nothing else, it’s an affront to the free exchange of ideas — yes, even ones that someone might dislike — and a censorship of speech.

“No one doubts that (Christianity’s) teachings on sexual morality are increasingly unpopular,” summarized National Review. “But they remain constitutionally protected, and no state legislature should be permitted to ban a ‘good’ (such as a book) or a ‘service’ (like counseling) that makes these arguments and provides them to willing, consenting consumers.”

It’s amazing that the same liberals who bemoan “government in the bedroom” eagerly jump at the chance to give the same government control over sexual and moral topics the moment it helps their cause.
Even non-Christians and political moderates need to fight against the new wave of suppression before a 21st-century iron curtain appears. Free speech is everyone’s fight.

What do you think?

Once again missing the point, they are after the christian oriented and sponsored gay conversion therapy, guaranteed they are not banning the sale of bibles, that would be as i***tic as those who think that's what it means. They are targeting materials involved in conversion therapy, which may lean heavily on supportive lines from the bible to make their point.

Stop taking fear mongering rhetoric so literally, "they" (liberals) are not banning bibles. They are shutting down an i***tic practice of thinking someone who is gay can be cured.

Give me one reason why they should ban conversion therapy? There are books and agencies that give advice to those that want to become different than their biological self. Why shouldn't there be help for those that do not want that antibiological feeling to get hold of them? Why is it i***tic for some to think they can be cured? Please give us an logical reason. There have been men and women since the beginning. Why should there have been a change that included another sexual type of person? Unless give a s*x c****e they are still have their biological makeup.

If they intend to outlaw gay conversion therapy, then they should outlaw t*********r surgery. Prohibiting anyone from exercising their right to change their lifestyle is unconstitutional. Same with banning the Bible.

That said, I have no problem with California adding more weight to the sinking ship, the sooner that unholy mess goes under the better. In California, Christians outnumber the followers of all other religions combined, so, if Moonbat and his c****e infidels do in fact ban the Bible, it is a good bet that Californistan will see a significant drop in population.

It is quite hilarious though, banning the best selling and most widely distributed book in human history. The Bible beats the second best seller by 5 times. (Chairman Mao's "Little Red Book" is a very distant 2nd)

Guinness Records reports an estimated 2.5 billion Bibles were printed between 1815 and 1975 and The Economist estimates more than 100 million new Bibles are printed every year making a staggering total of over 6 billion in print. The New Yorker also pointed out that in 2005 the number of Bibles sold in the US alone was conservatively estimated at 25 million and Barna research indicates that 92% of all American households have at least one Bible and typically own three. That means most of the 25 million Bibles are being sold to homes that already have at least one and likely more.

Not only does the Bible continue to enjoy annually increasing sales and distribution totals, it does so strictly without coercion. No one is required to buy, own, read or believe the Bible. In fact, in countries heavily influenced by the Bible, freedom reigns. People who don’t believe are free to disagree with it publicly if they wish. They can swear at God, find fault with the Bible, disagree with those who believe it and debate the issues without worry.

All of that is to say that Bible influenced countries are open. The same can’t be said for Mao’s book or the Qur’an.

When Mao’s book came into print every home in China was required to have a copy and that regulation was enforced for many years. The penalty for not owning the book was severe and the Chinese population, being so large, accounts for several hundred million copies.

The penalty for owning a Bible, by the way, was worse. One book was banned, the other required reading but in spite of the ban, Bible distribution in China is catching up with Mao’s book. (The demand is so high that there are in fact several organizations in the west that smuggle Bibles into China for distribution.)

Like Mao’s book, the Qur’an’s popularity is also the result of enforcement policies. It is used heavily in the educational systems of Muslim countries and doesn’t only influence law making, it is the law. Based on its teachings, some are disallowed an education and it influences many areas of public life also: what people wear, what they eat and how they interact socially and politically.

Some countries sponsor contests to see who can quote the Qur’an verbatim. You do find pockets of Christians in Muslim countries but they are persecuted regularly. There can be severe penalties (beating, imprisonment and the like) for owning a Bible and converting to Christianity is even worse.

All of that is to say that Mao’s book of quotes and the Qur’an enjoy high print volumes due to political and cultural enforcements. The Bible, however, has never enjoyed the same kind of promotion.

Since the Bible was unchained from the pulpit in the 1500s and made available to the masses, no other book of any kind has achieved such enduring popularity.

If they intend to outlaw gay conversion therapy, then they should outlaw t*********r surgery. Prohibiting anyone from exercising their right to change their lifestyle is unconstitutional. Same with banning the Bible.

That said, I have no problem with California adding more weight to the sinking ship, the sooner that unholy mess goes under the better. In California, Christians outnumber the followers of all other religions combined, so, if Moonbat and his c****e infidels do in fact ban the Bible, it is a good bet that Californistan will see a significant drop in population.

It is quite hilarious though, banning the best selling and most widely distributed book in human history. The Bible beats the second best seller by 5 times. (Chairman Mao's "Little Red Book" is a very distant 2nd)

Guinness Records reports an estimated 2.5 billion Bibles were printed between 1815 and 1975 and The Economist estimates more than 100 million new Bibles are printed every year making a staggering total of over 6 billion in print. The New Yorker also pointed out that in 2005 the number of Bibles sold in the US alone was conservatively estimated at 25 million and Barna research indicates that 92% of all American households have at least one Bible and typically own three. That means most of the 25 million Bibles are being sold to homes that already have at least one and likely more.

Not only does the Bible continue to enjoy annually increasing sales and distribution totals, it does so strictly without coercion. No one is required to buy, own, read or believe the Bible. In fact, in countries heavily influenced by the Bible, freedom reigns. People who don’t believe are free to disagree with it publicly if they wish. They can swear at God, find fault with the Bible, disagree with those who believe it and debate the issues without worry.

All of that is to say that Bible influenced countries are open. The same can’t be said for Mao’s book or the Qur’an.

When Mao’s book came into print every home in China was required to have a copy and that regulation was enforced for many years. The penalty for not owning the book was severe and the Chinese population, being so large, accounts for several hundred million copies.

The penalty for owning a Bible, by the way, was worse. One book was banned, the other required reading but in spite of the ban, Bible distribution in China is catching up with Mao’s book. (The demand is so high that there are in fact several organizations in the west that smuggle Bibles into China for distribution.)

Like Mao’s book, the Qur’an’s popularity is also the result of enforcement policies. It is used heavily in the educational systems of Muslim countries and doesn’t only influence law making, it is the law. Based on its teachings, some are disallowed an education and it influences many areas of public life also: what people wear, what they eat and how they interact socially and politically.

Some countries sponsor contests to see who can quote the Qur’an verbatim. You do find pockets of Christians in Muslim countries but they are persecuted regularly. There can be severe penalties (beating, imprisonment and the like) for owning a Bible and converting to Christianity is even worse.

All of that is to say that Mao’s book of quotes and the Qur’an enjoy high print volumes due to political and cultural enforcements. The Bible, however, has never enjoyed the same kind of promotion.

Since the Bible was unchained from the pulpit in the 1500s and made available to the masses, no other book of any kind has achieved such enduring popularity.