Quote:
HOC 02/05
QUOTE
We have already seen some of these things come to pass since this article was written in human rights tribunals and lower courts across the country. We have already seen a Catholic Knights of Columbus hall challenged before the B.C. Human Rights Commission for refusing to grant permission for a same sex wedding reception on church owned property.
We have seen civil marriage commissioners in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, who have religious or philosophical objections to same sex marriage, removed or threatened to be removed from positions by their government. We have heard the federal Minister responsible for Democratic Reform saying such employees should be punished or fired.
We have seen the former Minister of International Trade saying that churches, including the Catholic Church in Quebec, have no right to be involved in any such debate. These may only be the beginning of a chilling effect on religious freedom for those groups and individuals who continue not to believe in same sex marriage.
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That quote came from before the passage of the gay marriage bill. Find me an example of a church being sued -- and losing -- since the bill became law and then we'll talk. The bill was worded in such a way that no church would ever be forced to marry a gay couple if they chose not to. And prior to the bill being passed, the government even had the supreme court rule that such a provision was constitutional.
As for government employees (such as civil marriage commissioners) being fired if they refuse to grant a marriage license to a gay couple -- I don't see a problem with that. If they can't fulfill the requirements of their job they should be removed from it. It's not their place to pick and choose who the law applies to.