Middle Class Youth Rise Up In Anger Against The Grave Threat Of…Scientology

[Times Online] Then, earlier this year, something odd happened. Simultaneously and apparently without warning, in London, Toronto, Sydney, New York and other cities worldwide, young men and women began protesting en masse. They wore strange clothes, spoke their own dialect, distributed cake and operated under the name of Anonymous. They returned the next month – and the month after.

…

It all began as a running gag. The default name for new members on message boards is often “anonymous”, and someone suggested that maybe anonymous could be a real person. People began acting as one and the idea went viral. “We are the hive mind, the anger that leaked from the computer screen,” explains a long-haired twentysomething with an eye patch, standing in the June sunlight last week. “The cult failed to understand how things arise out of a mass consciousness, and now they have kicked the hornets’ nest. What you are seeing here is the emergence of a new kind of democracy.”

The rest.

Sound Familiar?

Case dismissed, but yeah, we’re bigots. Sorry.

A Canadian court has dismissed a Sikh’s plea challenging the mandatory wearing of helmet while riding a motorcycle but admitted that the law did violate his constitutional right to religious freedom.

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The Ontario Human Rights Commission has decided not to proceed with complaints filed against Maclean’s magazine related to its publication of an article “The future belongs to Islam.”

…

While freedom of expression must be recognized as a cornerstone of a functioning democracy, the Commission strongly condemns the Islamophobic portrayal of Muslims, Arabs, South Asians and indeed any racialized community in the media, such as the Maclean’s article and others like them, as being inconsistent with the values enshrined in our human rights codes. Media has a responsibility to engage in fair and unbiased journalism.

When Human Rights Collide

Friday, April 25, 2008

The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal strikes again

According to its website, Kitchener-based Christian Horizons is “Ontario’s largest provider of developmental services.” The Kitchener-Waterloo Record reports that the evangelical non-profit required its employees to sign a contract promising they would not have homosexual relationships.

When she was first hired by Christian Horizons, Connie Heintz, now 39, signed the contract like all other employees. However, after five years of employment, Heintz discovered she was a lesbian.

And, as per usual…

…the decision sets out that Christian Horizons will: no longer require employees to sign a lifestyle and morality statement; develop anti-discrimination policies; provide training to all employees and managers; and review all of its employment policies to ensure that they are in compliance with the Code.

The rest.

One more company smacked into line.

When Human Rights Collide

INTRODUCTION

1. On March 3, 2005 Orville Nichols launched a complaint against the Saskatchewan Department of Justice (hereinafter referred to as “the Department”). He alleged the Department discriminated against him on the basis of his religion in that he was required to perform same-sex marriages as a marriage commissioner.

But…

V. SUMMARY

30. In summary, the Chief Commissioner found that denying same-sex couples unfettered access to the public service of a marriage commissioner would be discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The requirement that marriage commissioners perform same-sex marriages is not discriminatory and does not violate their religious freedoms…

VI. CONCLUSION

34. In summary, I find the decision of the Chief Commissioner was reasonable and I decline to direct an inquiry to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal.

DATED at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, this 25th day of October, 2006.

“Karen Prisciak”

Karen Prisciak, Q.C.,

Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal

The rest.