Last week, Canadian officials updated their Criminal Code, repealing of a law that made the practice of witchcraft illegal.
Section 365 mandated that it was illegal to "tell fortunes" or to "pretend to exercise or to use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or conjuration." However, after a 2012 National Post article referred to the section as a "distant descendant of Medieval English laws that sentenced accused witches to burn at the stake," Canadian Prime Minister (and all-around internet bae) Justin Trudeau & Co. have brought the Criminal Code into the 21st century — effectively letting witches live their lives without fear of persecution.
Omar Ha-Redeye, a Toronto-based lawyer, said, ""The witchcraft provisions in the Criminal Code reflect a culture, perspective, and legal system of an entirely different era. They are reminiscent of a time when women who did not conform to societal norms were not only shunned, but penalized."
Omar Added, "These provisions also reflect a primarily Christian mindset, where non-Christian traditions, including what we now may refer to as Wicca, totemism, or animism, or other traditions, were demonized as being evil. It's perhaps no surprise then that even today these provisions are used primarily against women or against people who follow non-mainstream religious traditions."
