| |||||||||
|
Equality - In our faiths - Jesusland takes aim at Canada February 9, 2005 Jesusland
takes aim at Canada By Kevin Bourassa and Joe Varnell Anyone who thinks that the debate on same-sex marriage is a local one has not been paying attention. The Vatican is the world's leading source of bigotry and hate-mongering towards gays and lesbians and its campaign against equal marriage is waged by local bishops on behalf of the Pope and his Inquisition's chief villain Cardinal Ratzinger.
As a result, Canada's Justice Minister has said he's looking into the situation. "We don't want the public opinion to get mortgaged to the highest bidder," Irwin Cotler told the Gazzette. Cotler would do better to explore the tax status of these "Christian" organizations. It's time these organizations are removed from the public trough. Foreign groups are pouring money into Canada to fight gay marriage because they know that this country's standard of equality and freedom is having an impact on the lower bar set by countries like the United States. That's why the Concerned Women For America has called us "domestic terrorists". As a process analyst once said, "If your standards are low, up yours!" But while attacks have come from the U.S., so has support. U.S. citizens have donated to assist us in our work, and we have received awards from California's State Assembly, Equality California, and the U.S. human rights group Equality Forum. This year, we have been included in a salute to "40 heroes who have made a defining contribution to GLBT civil rights" in the United States over the last 40 years. Our radio public service announcements are played on Air America's 48 radio stations across the U.S. Our web site statistics show that a large percentage of our audience comes from the U.S., and our traffic spikes upwards during important U.S. events, like the San Francisco marriages, or victories like Massachusetts. We are all in this together, and Canada is playing a leading role in influencing change beyond our borders. That's why former Prime Minister Chretien will be in Philadelphia in April to accept Equality Forum's International Role Model Award for his part in ending marriage discrimination. So no wonder Jesusland is throwing the Bible at us. No problem. We have a great recycling program. We are confident that Canadians will reject American fundamentalism, just as the majority of Canadians reject the policies of George Bush and the U.S. wannabe Stephen Harper. In fact, the more offensive their strategy becomes, the easier it will be to defend our "true north, strong and free" and the better example we will be for the world community and the universal expansion of human rights. | ||||||||
|