Liberal MP Marc Miller serves as the chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. On October 30, 2025, he made these comments about the Bible during a committee meeting:
“In Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Romans – there’s other passages – there is clear hatred towards, for example, homosexuals… I mean, clearly there are situations in these texts where these statements are hateful. They should not be used to invoke or be a defense.”
The committee was studying Bill C-9, which the Liberal government is calling the Combatting Hate Act. When a government leader publicly calls passages of Scripture clearly hateful, it reveals something far deeper than a policy debate. It shows a government forgetting its duty before God. Civil authority is not ultimate. Scripture teaches that those in power are ministers of God, called to uphold justice and protect truth. From the very book Minister Miller referenced, Romans 13:1 reads,
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”
And in Psalm 2:10-11, we are told, “Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”
John Sikkema, Legal Counsel and Director of Law and Policy for ARPA Canada, had the opportunity to present to the same committee a few hours after Miller’s comments. As Mr. Sikkema said in his statement before the committee:
“….today in Canada, people are being accused, often by government officials, of promoting hatred simply for expressing moral or political views. Earlier this month, the British Columbia Legislature condemned ARPA as hateful… A B.C. government MLA even told a story… [that] defamed and vilified Reformed Christians as criminal harassers, which seems like a way, frankly, to stir up hatred against this group, while at the same time accusing these Christians of promoting hatred for the views that they hold.”
When leaders begin labelling parts of the Bible as dangerous or hateful, they place themselves above the very law that gives their authority any meaning. Our concern is not merely for Christians, but for Canada itself. A nation cannot claim to pursue justice while rejecting the standard of the One who defines it. Government serves under God’s authority, and it has a duty to ensure that His Word and those who live by it remain free to speak. This gets to the heart of Christian concerns about Bill C-9.
