February 22, 2005

A Canadian pro-family activist says if the homosexual movement succeeds in redefining marriage in his country, the destruction to society there will be unimaginable to most people.

Debate began last week in Canada's Parliament on Bill C-38 which, opponents say, would render the legal definition of marriage "meaningless" and threaten the human rights of religious leaders and religious organizations that oppose that new definition. Proponents counter that argument saying that in much of Canada, the lawful union of two people of the same gender in civil marriage is already the law of the land. The issue, they say, is whether rights that have been granted are to be taken away. A vote is expected by June.

Brian Rushfeldt is co-founder and president of the Canada Family Action Coalition. He says that thus far, the pro-homosexual marriage forces have not tried to fast track the legislation. And he says he does not buy the argument that the bill will go no farther than to redefine marriage as a union between any two persons.

"There can be no restriction, in our opinion, because once you've [removed] the basic of a man and a woman -- which is really the only form of relationship that is marriage -- then it can become anything," he contends.

According to Rushfeldt, polygamists are waiting in the wings, should the bill become law. "We also have a group of polygamists now here in Canada who are using the very same argument as the homosexuals did to get this 'any two persons' [into the legislation]," he says. "We believe the polygamists will be in court probably within a month after the change of the law, if it happens."

And the pro-family leader says what is going on in Canada reminds him of another regime from the not-so-distant past. "We are certainly not short of being run by a government that is every bit as bad as what old Russia used to be," Rushfeldt says. "Following that definitely is an attack on religious freedom [which] we're starting to see already.

"It's an attack on education where kids will be forced to learn about these other forms of marriage, which are sodomy-type relationships -- and the destruction that's going to come up on our society in Canada is probably unimaginable to most people."

A coalition of pro-marriage groups that includes the Canada Family Action Coalition is charging that Prime Minister Paul Martin has reneged on a promise he made during his election campaign that he would allow a free vote on the measure. Now, they say, he is forcing all of his cabinet ministers to vote for the bill -- regardless of their religious convictions.

In a published newspaper ad, that coalition asks: "If Paul Martin won't respect the religious convictions of his own friends in Cabinet, is it reasonable to expect that he will protect the religious freedoms of ordinary Canadians?"

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