Human Rights or Downright Idiocy?

The attention to political correctness balanced off against pure common sense is just staggering in its idiotic outcomes. One person's 'right' to matters of values, conscience, creed, sexual orientation out-manoeuvres the right of a charitable organization to conduct its life-saving services and still maintain its code of religious values. Imposing upon a religious institution the 'lawful' requirement to honour a code of conduct clearly in contrast to its own.

The penalty being, in drawing forward the conclusion through the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, that a Christian charitable organization which does not proselytize, nor discriminate when it offers its care and homes for people with severe disabilities, will henceforth be forced to cease and desist. It has the choice of continuing to provide its services at the cost of forswearing its fundamental beliefs.

A provision of the Ontario Human Rights Code permits a religious group hiring discrimination (which is to say, selecting personnel whose own personal code of conduct reflects that of the religious group) as long as it confines its services to people who share their religious beliefs. Once a religious charity determines it will open its services to people of any religion, seeing all needy people as equal, they open themselves to observing the letter of a law running counter to their religious beliefs.

Because Christian Horizons dismissed a woman who openly initiated and admitted to a lesbian relationship - on the grounds that this employee violated Christian Horizons' values system - despite that she had signed a pledge to honour the religious values of that faith before being hired, they have been condemned by the Rights Tribunal.

Lawyers for Christian Horizons attempted to use the logic of common sense in forwarding their case before the commission "The mission is to serve, not to indoctrinate. It does not mean the exceptions should be denied because you don't teach Christian principles." The commission, however, as is their wont, chose to dissent.

Now whose human rights are being violated? A woman who knowingly signed a pledge she had no intention of honouring, and who then complained to the commission when her employer released her from her duties? Or the religious organization which meritoriously chooses to charitably serve all those in need, irrespective of their religious beliefs?