Defending Religion’s Wrongs

According to the Globe and Mail today:

The Conservative government is planning measures, including a Defence of Religions Act, to allow public officials, such as Justices of the Peace, to refuse to perform same-sex marriages.

The measures are also intended to protect the free-speech rights of religious leaders and others who criticize homosexual behaviour or refuse to do business with gay-rights organizations, The Globe and Mail has learned.

Any legislation would be brought forward only if the government loses the motion this fall to reopen the debate on same-sex marriage.

Although the former Liberal government claimed “existing laws and court rulings already protect the rights of religious groups not to be compelled to perform same-sex marriage”, there is “acknowledged uncertainty about the rights of individuals to publicly criticize homosexual behaviour” such as “advertisements that quote scripture demanding that homosexuals be put to death”, according to the Globe.

This law ranks among the most cynical ever proposed in Canada and clearly demonstrates the Conservatives’ determination to subvert the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Its title, “The Defense of Religions Act”, is absurd. Clearly chosen to appeal to religious people on a gut level, it narrowly and incorrectly frames the issue of gay rights as a war against religion.

If anyone needs defending, however, it is homosexuals. I can’t think of many cases where a Christian was attacked by a group of gays and beaten to death. I can’t recall the last time a Gay Pride parade turned nasty and ended with a Christian tied to a truck, getting dragged down a road.

This would seem like an extreme analogy if it wasn’t for the idea that we need to examine whether or not ads quoting doctrines that advocate murder are okay. Short answer: they’re not.

Less severe than calls for their murder, but far more pervasive, is discrimination against gays who are seeking employment or housing. But Harper believes the real concern is the persecution of religious Canadians, a vulnerable minority comprising 84% of the population in 2001.

Harper’s Conservatives are seeking to shore up support among their Christian base, but they are also seeking support from religious groups that are not among the Conservatives’ typical supporters, like Jews and Muslims.

Since the Act will “defend” the beliefs of these religious groups as well, will it be lawful for Jewish or Muslim extremists to take out ads advocating attacks on Christians or on each other?

Will it be lawful for a Muslim clerk at city hall to refuse to issue a marriage license to a Muslim and a non-Muslim who wish to marry, on the grounds that interfaith marriages are against his religion?

Many great evils have been committed in the name of religion. Rather than defend these evils, we should defend against them.

[tags]gay rights, gay marriage, homosexuality, religion[/tags]