On April 1, the Scottish government made it illegal to “misgender” someone. The new law “makes it an offense to stir up hatred with threatening or abusive behavior on the basis of characteristics including age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and transgender identity,” with obviously the last two getting the most attention. 

Anyone found guilty of hurtful content could face up to seven years in jail, even for content published outside of Scotland. All it takes is for someone in Scotland to think it “might” be offensive. 

As Lois McLatchie Miller posted on X, “It was 1697 when the last man in Scotland was condemned for blasphemy. Today, we’ve introduced a new blasphemy law to punish heretics of the dominant Church of ‘woke.’” 

The promise of secularism was that religion would fade and freedom would rise. Instead, what we’ve done is replace the faith that gave us freedom with a new one that is far more intolerant.