Tories to protect bigotry.

In their attempt to placate their theo-conservative base, the federal Tories are reopening the same-sex marriage debate with a free vote to rescind the act that allows it. Since the Tories are unlikely to win such a vote, they have also stated that they will introduce a "religious freedom protection" act. Such an act would allow people to discriminate against homosexuals in any aspect of life. So, under this act, if an apartment owner didn't like homosexuals, he/she could kick them out for that reason. A restaurant owner could put up a "no-gays" sign in his window. It would seem there's nothing the Tories won't do to turn Canada into the worst parts of the US south in the early 1950's.

Homosexuals are just the first step. Since the theo-cons that the Tories seem to be trying to placate are also predominately Christian, expect other laws that will put other religions at a disadvantage. As an example, school prayer is something the theo-cons have been pushing. If they have their way, non-Christian children everywhere will be saying the Lord's Prayer every morning in public schools. I've heard theo-cons blame the lack of school prayer for everything from divorce to teen pregnancy and I'm sure if they get their way with homosexuals, non-Christians will be their next target.

It all boils down to basic bigotry. The same arguments used by the theo-cons against homosexuals have been used by the same group of people against various other groups such as African Americans, aboriginal people, non-European and Eastern-European immigrants, Jews and since 9/11 Muslims. They use their so-called Christianity as a shield to protect their abhorrent and quite un-Christian views. They've been held in check by non-conservative (and non-Conservative) government and by the charter of rights and freedoms. Now they're in power in the guise of the current federal Tories and want to basically eliminate rights and freedoms for anyone who isn't their particular brand of "Christianity". They are a group of people who've co-opted a religion to meet their rather non-religious goals, and this makes them dangerous.

It's also amazing that this same group of theo-cons is also one that complains about how bad and evil the religious theocracy in Iran is. It's amazing because in the same breath these same people then begin spewing about creating the same thing here in North America. It's somehow different if the religious theocracy is run by their particular religion. It's as if they're unable to (or unwilling to) see that there's no difference between them and the Ayatollahs that run Iran.

So it's imperative that we keep our eyes on the Tories since they seem unable to shake this theo-conservative element. The bright side to this is that if the theo-cons do push their agenda too hard, it will cost the Tories votes outside of Alberta and prevent them from gaining the unlimited power of a majority government. With luck, it sends them back to the opposition benches.