patgund | Idiocy on Parade......

Note to my Canadian friends - please realize that not all of us south of the 48th are this bloody stupid.

(And yes, I know this is from Feb., but I just stumbled across it today.)

Americans enter Canada's gay debate (Canoe)

"Ellen Wyman says she's just exercising an important prerogative.

An American citizen married to a Canadian, Wyman has lived in London, Ont., for 33 years and has been writing letters for weeks to gay marriage supporters in Parliament.

"Sometimes the government needs to be told what to do," Wyman said from Cleveland, where she has been dealing with a family illness.

"The United States is the great nation it is because of its moral code. Canada isn't even considered a Christian nation anymore and they seem OK with that. It's more of a melting pot. That doesn't make any sense to me.""

First off Ms. Wyman, it's not your country. You want so bad to influence the Canadian Government, then naturalize up there. Otherwise, you are a guest in that country and should act accordingly.

Second off, the US is not, nor ever has been a "Christian nation", save in the mind and myth of the religious right. And there was a time that the US was considered to be the "great melting pot", and this was seen as a good thing. It seems you're ignorant of both US *and* Canadian history.

The article mentions at one point that one of the reasons why some of the people opposed to giving Gay and Lesbian couples the right to marry are so freaked out about Canada legalizing it is that they're "worried about the spillover effect" if the bill passes. To quote the article again:

"Tony Cortese, an ethics professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, says pressure from the U.S. on the issue is "really out of bounds."

"I can see why they're doing it. They're worried about the spillover effect from Canada (if the bill passes). But we wouldn't think of interfering with any other Canadian law.""

Yeah, I can see where the panic might be. They're basically scared that Canada may show that their fears and bigotry are completely unwarranted, and that allowing Gays and Lesbians to marry isn't the end of the world or even the end of western civilization. Which not only renders their arguements moot and invalid, but may cause people to wonder what else they were wrong about.