For the supposed law and order party, the Conservatives sure make a habit of choosing which laws really count, and which should be ignored. Yesterday, it was Conservative MP Larry Miller saying law enforcement authorities should just ignore certain gun control laws. Today, fellow Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott got in on the act with another law he doesn't like, and therefore doesn't count.
Vellacott thinks provincial marriage commissioners should be free to discriminate against same-sex couples by refusing to marry them, even though such marriages are legal in Canada and their job as a marriage commissioner is to, you know, marry people (h/t).
"The Court has hereby belittled religious faith by writing it off as something 'you do in your head or on weekends' without it impacting all of a person’s life," Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott wrote to the province’s Justice Minister Don Morgan Tuesday.
"It’s a serious misunderstanding of Christian faith or any faith for that matter," Vellacott told QMI Agency in an interview.
"The inference here (is) you can hold these beliefs and freedom to worship just long as it doesn't affect your life or how you live out your life. And that obviously is a serious problem," he said. "It sets up a hierarchy of rights saying these same-sex rights are more important than freedom of conscience and religion."
Don't be ridiculous, Maurice. People have the right to hold whatever bigoted beliefs they please. But they don't have the right to hold whatever job they please. The job of a marriage commissioner is to marry people. All people. Black or white, gay or straight. If you can't do that, don't take that job.
If it was against my moral or religious beliefs to flip hamburgers, I probably shouldn't work at McDonald's, should I? And it would be ridiculous of me to cry discrimination if McDonald's refuses to hire me if I'm unwilling to perform a major portion of the job responsibilities they'd be hiring me for.
Of course, this isn't the first silliness from Vellacott. Here's his theory on abortion:
Pro-life feminists have also come to see abortion as part of a male agenda to have women more sexually available.Anyway, stay tuned for future editions of Laws the Law and Order Conservatives Think Don't Count, and Should be Ignored.
2 comments:
I think the better example is "what if I wanted to work at McDonalds but didn't want to serve blacks or Jews"?
It's the 'Do-As-I-Say, Not-As-I-Do' party, so we shouldn't be surprised. This could be a nice little miniseries for your blog, Jeff.
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