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BLAH BLAH BLAH February is Blah month and most everyone I meet has a good dose of the blahs. I approached thinking of this article in an oppressive state of blahdom and couldn't come up with anything that struck my fancy. Then, I remembered talking to a friend and neighbour several months ago. She was involved in something and mentioned my articles in the Mirror. She wanted several for her activities and said she would like at least one dealing with politics which I gave her. This got me thinking. There are two subjects that I, gener- ally speaking avoid; religion and politics. Since I operate on the principle that these two subjects are personal to an individual and their views, even if they differ from mine, are rightfully theirs to hold. An individual's political views are often influenced by their religious views and similarly their religious views dictate to an extent how they vote, accept the philosophy of political parties and individual elected officials' stance on things of import to each of us and our community. One fortunate thing about modern Canada is that the coun- try is very concerned that we separate church from state. When one looks at the current controversies gripping our country, one of the more significant ones is that of same sex marriage. It is safe to say, for me at least, that there are two camps, one, those who support the state and its stance on the rights of individuals and two, those who hold religious views that support the discrimination against a minority group such as homosexuals and lesbians and thus attempt to bring the church as the opponent of the state. This concerns me, regardless of my views, that 'religious' dogma be the deciding factor in a human rights issue. Let's face it. Throughout the years churches have not been in the forefront of pushing societal change as it affects indi- viduals. The church supported slavery for years, took little part in things that are accepted as normal by Canadians; the right to vote for women; equality of the sexes in the work- place and in society. Even now some churches will not ac- cept the ordination of women as priests and in the current case of same sex marriages often have the effrontery to say that this is not a human rights issue but is a case of their 'majority should rule'. I went up on the net and was shocked to find that there are over 7.5 million web-sites dealing with same sex marriages. I'looked up a few and was interested in much of what was written both pro and con. I would urge those of you who are interested to have a look. Two articles impressed me, written by a theologically edu- cated son of two Lutheran Ministers. I won't quote all of the information but some points he raises in an article enti- tled "Why Christians Should Support Same Sex Marriages' caught my attention:- Because Christians support equal rights for Canadi- ans (Indeed all humans) Because Christians have long benefited from free- dom of religion in this country and want it to con- tinue in future Here's one that I've heard raised in the negative sense -- because modern Christians realise that mar- riage has nothing to do with procreation. Among other things he uses to support his case 'no one tests heterosexuals for fertility or desire to raise children before determining their suitability for marriage'. Because Christians have long known that the church should not determine legal policy a) b) ©) d) I thought I would look up 'marriage' in the concordance of my bible. The references are very numerous. Not wishing to make a career of this I just knew someone else would have done the research so again the Internet came through. This researcher advised that there were over 800 references Continued on page 9 art, entertainment and lifestyles in Prince Edward County Watch for the MARCH / APRIL issue out shortly www.expresspublications.net