Where the Rubber Hits the Road

It once was held as gospel that Quebec was one of the most Catholic jurisdiction in the world. The clergy dominated virtually every field of public life, even to instructing the faithful how to vote, under pain of sin (“Le ciel est bleu, l’enfer est rouge”). Then came the cultural transformation known as “la revolution tranquille” and the Church was, in an instant wiped from institutions, government and influence in the public square. In fact, for any idea, policy or moral position to be come from the Church was to automatically cast it in a disparaging light; discarded as out of date and unbefitting modern societies. Through the years, this atheist orientation of sensus fidelium has inexorably moved Quebec from a position of just denying the Church, and the values it embodies, a public role in society, to now attaining its ultimate goal of punitively sanctioning the very expression of all theist voice, but particularly the voice of the Roman Catholic Church.  Now, that wave of “...

If there is one topic that is certain to generate responses in the blogosphere, it is whenever any one posts something that is considered by others to be homophobic (which now is defined as contrary to the gay rights agenda). The basis for the charge of discrimination that always follows such a post (at least within Canada) is usually based upon the philosophical and legal foundations of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Part I, section 15-1) which states:   Equality before and under law and equal protection and benefit of law 15. (1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.  My question to anyone interested in such matters is this:  is the use of the word "sex" in this section not supposed to refer t...