A $17.5k Fine Would Injure MY Feelings!
It seems that a Christian in Canada distributed pamphlets that presented a straight-forward message of disapproval of homosexual practice from a classic position of Christian morality. Apparently freedom of speech and freedom of religion are no longer the right of Canadian citizens.
According to a World Net Daily article, "Bill Whatcott was fined 17,500 Canadian dollars by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission in a complaint by four homosexuals who charged he 'injured' their 'feelings' and 'self respect' in pamphlets denouncing the 'gay lifestyle' as immoral and dangerous...."
So, Whatcott gets thousands of dollars of his money confiscated, loses his right of free speech, and is publicly shamed by a government institution for daring to voice his religious beliefs--beliefs held by Christians for two thousand years, beliefs supposedly guaranteed in the country's constitution.
I think I know what I'd do if I were Whatcott: I'd charge the Human Rights Commission with violating my human rights by "injuring my feelings and self-respect through a ruling that denounced my Christian lifestyle as immoral and dangerous."
Hey, if the feelings of the persons Whatcott supposedly injured count, shouldn't Whatcott's feelings count, too? Whatcott only vaguely and impersonally affected the allegedly aggrieved gay parties. But the Human Rights Commission very pointedly, personally, and painfully affected Whatcott. I think Whatcott would have a case!
I know what I'd do if I were a Canadian citizen: I'd work like crazy to end the foolishness, injustice, and abuse of human rights by the ironically named Human Rights Commission. It is no small thing for such a kangaroo court to cancel both the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion!
And I know what I'm doing as a U.S. citizen: I'm speaking out against our country's drift toward a constitutional quagmire similar to Canada's. Perhaps by tasting from this side of the border the rotten fruit of that tree, we will never allow its clone to take root here in this country.
According to a World Net Daily article, "Bill Whatcott was fined 17,500 Canadian dollars by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission in a complaint by four homosexuals who charged he 'injured' their 'feelings' and 'self respect' in pamphlets denouncing the 'gay lifestyle' as immoral and dangerous...."
So, Whatcott gets thousands of dollars of his money confiscated, loses his right of free speech, and is publicly shamed by a government institution for daring to voice his religious beliefs--beliefs held by Christians for two thousand years, beliefs supposedly guaranteed in the country's constitution.
I think I know what I'd do if I were Whatcott: I'd charge the Human Rights Commission with violating my human rights by "injuring my feelings and self-respect through a ruling that denounced my Christian lifestyle as immoral and dangerous."
Hey, if the feelings of the persons Whatcott supposedly injured count, shouldn't Whatcott's feelings count, too? Whatcott only vaguely and impersonally affected the allegedly aggrieved gay parties. But the Human Rights Commission very pointedly, personally, and painfully affected Whatcott. I think Whatcott would have a case!
I know what I'd do if I were a Canadian citizen: I'd work like crazy to end the foolishness, injustice, and abuse of human rights by the ironically named Human Rights Commission. It is no small thing for such a kangaroo court to cancel both the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion!
And I know what I'm doing as a U.S. citizen: I'm speaking out against our country's drift toward a constitutional quagmire similar to Canada's. Perhaps by tasting from this side of the border the rotten fruit of that tree, we will never allow its clone to take root here in this country.
posted by Jim at Saturday, December 15, 2007
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