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"goombah said...
Comparing a monument sitting in a public space (since removed) to forcing an individual to act against his religious convictions is nonsense. Surely someone of your self-proclaimed wit and intelligence can find better examples to get your panties in a twist over. Give it a try."

look goombah (and thank you for not being annonymous), the marriage commissioner's religious convictions are irrelevent. such convictions are their own business. that commissioner simply does not have the right to inflict those beliefs on other people's lives. full stop. period. you're offering a legal service. you do not get to choose your customers. you are not representing yourself, you are representing the dominion of canada.

the job title is civil marriage commissioner. by definition, one who performs marriage ceremonies with no religious context. the marriage, a contractual agreement between two consenting persons, that are legally free to marry, is notarized by this minor state functionary. since when does some soft assed bureaucrat's supernatural stance trump the legal rights of two citizens?

one of the popular gambits of the trollosphere(tm) is the civility jive. please, someone explain to me just how this commissioner or his supporters canmake any claim to civility. imagine. on your wedding day, you gather those closest to you, family, friends and loved ones. you plan a quiet, private civil ceremony followed by a fabulous meal, drinks and dancing. you anticipate sharing old memories and forging new ones. people have travelled to join your celebrations. it is a big day, even if it doesn't have a religious component.

so there you are, nervous, excited, it all seems to be happening so fast. you take a breath and someone decides to throw a wrench in your works. you're held up at the counter, functionaries huddle and buzz. someone tells you there's been a delay, you ask why. they tell you, the commissioner refuses to perform your ceremony because he disapproves of your lifestyle. he disapprovse of you.

he also disapproves of your intended, the one you love. by extension and through cavalier disregard, he disapproves of and offends your family and friends. the kick off to the biggest day of your life ruined by some sanctimonious twerp. this has less than nothing to do with religious convictions and everything to do with bigotry. will the commissioner join two multiple divorcees? you bet your praying beads he will, despite that being adultery, if you want to get all fundamental on it. he'll do his job in the face of one of god's laws that actually made it into the commandments, with a shalt not and everything. just which biblical admonitions do you get to enforce? how do you know which ones don't apply to you? like, judge not...

speaking of commandments, that "public place" wasn't just a public place. it was the house of justice, the seat of civil arbitration under the laws of the people and the laws of the land. certainly, ancient laws influenced modern jurisprudence but one could argue that any number of documents were more vital to the shape of the law than ten common sense rules for a nascent cult to survive. look up british common law sometime, magna carta and all that.

a massive monument of one religious law tells the public that justice isn't blind. that justice isn't impartial. that your hope for a fair trial might be lessened by dint of faith. it all comes down to the desire to impose one's individual personal law upon others. this is not about following one's religious convictions, this is about establishing primacy of faith. this is inverse to civility. these small incursions and self proclaimed magical rights are no less that small usurpations of state by church.

would it still be a forced act against religious conviction, if a pagan dentist refused to fix your toothache late on a friday afternoon, because of the prominent cross around your neck? you, who's church hunted, killed and tried to eradicate her spiritual forebears. would her right to religious conviction trump your right to impartial care? because after all, there's more than one dentist. her deep faith in her gods and goddesses is no less significant than your belief in your god. and son. and etherial partner. right? after all, if you get a bye for your belief, shouldn't everybody get to play? moslems believe with great conviction. what laws and rules can they ignore out of respect for their faith? too inflammatory? what with the campaign to brand every moslem a heartless killer. let's try a more benign faith. what rules of sexual modesty is a tantric devotee allowed to skip? how many brides will the offshoot mormon elder be allowed before someone tut-tuts.

or is it only your deeply held belief that counts?