Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Something To Keep An Eye On
To me, this is a good thing. I think equality rights should trump religious law (that's why I supported the Ontario government's decision to back away from religious family courts). I wonder though if the Blogging Tory community, usually the first to decry the subjugation of women in Islam, will embrace the Supreme Court's newfound muscular equality rights stance.
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My view of this case is that it was a contract dispute where the religious aspect was incidental. I think the majority decision was essentially to enforce a contractual promise, but because of the incidental religious element, they went to great lengths to very carefully distance themselves from directly enforcing what otherwise would be simply a religious obligation.
ReplyDeleteI also saw it as a contracts issue, but if the Supreme Court were to put gender equality ahead of religious freedom in their hierarchy of rights, I would approve.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me people caught in this bind have a simpler recourse: Choose a religion better suited to their beliefs or choose no religion at all. Far from privileging equality, this decision appears to sanctify a particular creed with the majesty (such as it is) of the law. What about my Pastafarian right to a stripper factory and a beer volcano? Should Her Majesty grant my stupid religion special status as well? Should taxpayers' money be squandered bickering about my particular fairy tale beliefs in court?
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