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6 February 2005 
Heather Mallick doesn't like the gay marriage bill recently brought before the House of Commons. If you're familiar with Mallick, and therefore know that she's reliably to the left of Michael Moore, this might surprise you. But only for the moment it takes to realize that, of course, the reason she wouldn't like the bill is that it doesn't go far enough.
I shall ask all MPs to vote for the bill introduced in Parliament this week, but with great contempt because it is tainted.... It permits religious types to refuse to perform the ceremony. In other words, it allows gay marriage except for those who don't allow gay marriage.Well, I do have to admire Mallick for sticking to her principles even when the short-term political consequences of speaking out might be unfavorable to her cause. Clergy being forced to perform marriages is one of the religious social conservatives' big fears. Her column will undoubtedly be latched onto pretty quickly as proof those fears are well-founded.
As I say, though, I actually admire her for ignoring short-term politics. What I find morbidly fascinating is her twisted logic — and psychology. Here we have an atheist who wants other atheists, along with "believers" who explicitly defy a church's teachings, to be able to demand, with the force of law, that clergy put an explicitly religious imprimatur on their marriages. It's not enough to have equal rights and protections for gay couples under the law. Mallick demands the forced "approval" of those that disagree with her. Either that or she spitefully relishes the thought of seeing her opponents forced to act against their beliefs. Whichever motive it is that drives her, it isn't pretty.
12:29 PM |