Why I will vote liberal ........

[Bud Plug]

My two cents....

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, well the essence of it anyway was to ensure the rights of the minority was not oppressed by the majority.?

It's not really possible to determine the "intention" of the drafters of the Charter. After all, the Liberals had not so much as even mentioned it in their prior election campaign. They had no mandate whatsoever to re-patriate the Charter. As to it's content, it is the usual hodgepodge that comes of having too many cooks at the stovetop. I'm sure every drafter walked away thinking that the document meant something other than it did. In fact, the proof of that, if you believe in the infallibility of the courts, is seen in the number of times governments passed legislation they thought was in harmony with the Charter, but have been told otherwise by the courts.

With that being said, gay people deserve the fundamental right to get married. But here is what I think the problem is....

Here is a little anecdote I heard about symbolism. See if you get the idea....

Priest: Hey Rabbi, hows it going?
Rabbi: I'm good, yourself?
Priest: I'm good too. Hey, guess what. We want to use the Star of David as our religious symbol now.
Rabbi: Ummm... No. You can't do that!
Priest: Why not? Do you hate Christians or something?
Rabbi: Well no, it's just that The Star of David means something to us and we don't want it to be used as a Christian religious symbol
Priest: Well I don't care. If you don't let us, then we will fight you to use it and if you don't support us, then you must hate us....

Marriage is a religious word, and because of that it is a SYMBOL to the people who believe in it. Humans have fought for symbols all their lives... Flags, religious symbols, People.... This is nothing new. Most people opposed to gay marriage are against them using the WORD marriage because it means something to them. They do not hate gay people, but they also don't want their sacred word to be used for something outside of what they believe in.

To keep the essence of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the only equitable way to do it would be to make marriage a "Civil Union" for everyone. Straight and gay alike. Take the term marriage out of the law books completely. Keep marriage as a symbolic ritual to be performed and respected in the church, but the legal side of it call it a union for everyone. In this way, everyone would be equal under the law which is the essence of the Charter anyway.

What do you think?

It's not just the "word". I don't believe that a number of the social benefits designed to support heterosexual relationships have any application to gay relationships. I also don't believe that gay households are an "equivalent" environment for the purposes of considering adoption. I could probably go on, but I'll leave it at that.

Your point is a valid one, but I'm afraid the issue is not just "skin deep".

 

[superquad1968]

I think we are probably boring the other dinner guests and it's obvious that you believe that a democracy is about the will of the majority so a coupe of quick points then I'm done.

Yes, it does take time to convince people of it's "worthiness". Given that the support for same-sex marriage has grown to a point where people are split does it make sense to stop the campaign now? No. People throughout history have to adapt and grow to realize what the "just" thing to do is. Also given that support for same-sex marriage is strongest among the young it's only a matter of time.

Our democracy, which may be different from true democracy, requires us to make laws that are just. The reason we have a Charter of Rights and Freedoms is to protect those in the minority from the will of the majority. Even if the Parliament in it's current form if it decides that, as of now, we don't believe that same-sex marriage is supported by the people should the campaign end? No because laws do change. If not now, then later.

So give them just a little bit and they'll be happy. We are not talking about peasants in pre-Revolutionary War France. Yes, they have done well economically but is that all there is? People should want more.