Gay Canadians to Catholic Priests: Shut Up or Else

Same-sex marriage passed Canada's upper house of Parliament last week, providing a look at how legalizing political correctness can spawn intolerance. Not against gay couples, mind you, but against religious expression.

At issue is whether publicly objecting to same-sex marriage can now land you in hot water with the country's loosey-goosey Human Rights Commission.

In testimony to the Canadian Senate, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the country's top Roman Catholic prelate, said same-sex marriage is turning love into a four-letter word. "Priests do not feel free to preach on sexual morality because they are accused of homophobia" and risk prosecution under Canadian hate laws, he said.

Well, that lit things up. Same-sex marriage supporters accused him of over-reacting, saying religious speech is exempt from prosecution under hate laws. The Globe and Mail wrote an editorial calling his comments "unfounded" and warned Catholic priests to "think twice about what they are saying" on the issue. State-funded CBC radio soon aired a commentary promoting laws regulating religion.

Critics shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss the cardinal. In Alberta, a Catholic bishop is under investigation for writing a pastoral letter outlining the church's position on same-sex marriage. Some civil marriage commissioners have complained too, saying marrying same-sex couples offends their beliefs. In one case, both the marriage commissioner and the same-sex betrothed filed complaints against each other. Since Canadians are evenly split on this issue, perhaps the best way to take their temperature will be by counting up the lawsuits.

It's too early to tell if Canada's hoopla over same-sex marriage and religious freedom is the early stage of an honest-to-goodness culture war. American gay-rights activists may want to take note of what's happening up north. Their cause here isn't helped by news that Canada's same-sex marriage law is landing clergy in court.