Unfortunately for Winston Blackmore and James Oler, the two leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), polygamy is illegal in Canada. Following their arrests on polygamy charges, the two heads of the Bountiful, B.C. community are appealing to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A fiery legal showdown is bound to take place—one that could eventually reach the Supreme Court of Canada and become a landmark case for the freedom of religion.

But this is not only about religion. It’s about a lot of things: freedom of lifestyle and parental rights on one hand; criminal activities including sexual abuse, child exploitation, and the trafficking of teenage brides across the Canada-U.S. border on the other. The FLDS inspires a knee-jerk reaction in many of us, but legal judgments are different than personal ones. Instead, the Criminal Code’s provisions against polygamy might be at odds with religious freedom, with civil rights activists championing the cause. Michael Vonn, a spokesperson for the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, called the anti-plural marriage law enacted in 1890, a “Victorian anachronism.”

But could a person legally practice a religion that required its followers to commit criminal activities such as sexual abuse and bride trafficking? Since Mr. Blackmore is a Charter of Rights enthusiast, we ought to consider this. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Charter under its second clause, “Fundamental Freedoms.” But its first clause, “Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms,” adds a qualifier: “The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.” In the end, everything will boil down to the meaning of “reasonable limits.” It won’t be difficult to prove that the FLDS has long overstepped the boundaries of what’s acceptable in our free and democratic society.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms maintains a healthy democracy, where individuals are free and responsible. But according to many allegations, the FLDS’ practices seem tyrannical. In Bountiful, girls as young as 14 are forced into marriage. In many cases their education is terminated after grade 10, and university is not an option—women are meant to become wives, and to produce daughters who might be shipped off to the United States against their will. Clearly, a woman in the Bountiful community is not free.

Still, Blackmore argues for his parental rights. He asserts that every parent in his community is concerned for their children’s welfare, and that, according to their beliefs, celestial marriages are better than college educations. Let us consider the crime of truancy: parents are required to send their children to school or give qualified private education in order to nurture free and responsible individuals, regardless of family beliefs. A society where Mr. Blackmore’s rituals of upbringing were systemized could be defended by the Charter—the raison d’être to create and maintain free and democratic society.

It won’t be difficult to prove that the FLDS has long overstepped the boundaries of what’s acceptable in our free and democratic society