What If PETA Were Forced to Hire Recreational Hunters?

Imagine what would happen if the government passed a law forcing People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to hire someone who hunts on the weekend.

The outrage. The hysteria. The outcry.

While this is a hypothetical, a law like this was recently passed in New York. And not a peep from the mainstream media.

I wonder why. Could it be that the law only negatively affects pro-life institutions?

That’s right. This New York law interferes with the ability of pro-life pregnancy centers to make employment decisions based on their pro-life convictions.

That’s why Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit on behalf of CompassCare Pregnancy Services, First Bible Baptist Church, and the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates challenging this unconstitutional state law.

CompassCare Pregnancy Services is a pro-life medical provider that has been serving women facing unplanned pregnancies in Rochester, New York for over 30 years. CompassCare discusses life-affirming options with each woman who comes through its doors, and provides free resources, information, and emotional support to them.

The staff at CompassCare strives to offer a caring and non-judgmental place where a woman can go to have her questions answered, helping her make the best choice for her and her baby. And it has done just that. Women describe their experience at CompassCare as “comfortable” and the staff as “warm,” “caring,” “not judgmental,” and “extremely helpful.”

And you know what they’ve found? When women are equipped with the resources and information they need, they are more likely to choose life for their unborn babies.

Praise God! That should be something we all can celebrate!

But New York is undermining pro-life pregnancy centers like CompassCare by forcing them to violate their beliefs in key personnel and leadership decisions. In other words, New York is demanding that pro-life organizations hire pro-abortion employees – even though these employees disagree with the very mission of the organization.

Could it be that New York is specifically targeting pro-life organizations? That certainly seems clear considering that New York recently passed one of the most expansive abortion laws in the country (to a standing ovation).

Here’s the bottom line: Religious organizations, including pro-life groups and healthcare providers, should be free to hire employees based on their shared beliefs. And the government should protect that freedom, not threaten it.

Forcing organizations to violate their beliefs is unconstitutional and has no place in our society.

And that’s something we should all be able to agree upon, even abortion advocates.

SOURCE 






A feminist critic of the trans obsession

She really is on the side of females

A Canadian library has been criticised for refusing to cancel an event hosting a feminist with controversial views on transgender rights.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside a branch of the Toronto Public Library as writer Meghan Murphy gave a talk inside.

The library defended its decision to allow her talk on gender identity and "society, the law and women".

Campaigners have called Ms Murphy anti-transgender, which she denies.

Toronto police quoted by Global News said officers had been present inside and outside the event to "keep the peace."
Global News reporter Kamil Karamali tweeted that attendees were escorted by police out the back of the building when the talk ended.

What is Meghan Murphy's stance?

Ms Murphy says she wants to ensure the safety of women in places like female prisons, women's refuges and changing rooms.

In Canada, she has spoken against a bill that amended Canada's rights act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender expression and identity over concerns it could undermine women's rights by eroding their "safe spaces".

"Under current trans activist doctrine we're not allowed to exclude a man from a woman's space if he says that he's female and I find that quite dangerous and troubling," she told the BBC.

She says she believes the transgender activist movement is "regressive and sexist" and ignores women and girls.

The talk's organisers, a group called Radical Feminists Unite, have said they are "not a hate group, and we do not espouse hate speech, or advocate for the removal of rights from any marginalised group".

The event was sold out.

Judith Taylor, from University of Toronto's Women and Gender Studies Institute, calls Ms Murphy "basically a provocateur".
She thinks that Ms Murphy, in asserting the rights of one group "is implicitly trying to sideline another" and disagrees with Ms Murphy that safe spaces and diversity cannot coexist.

"The more that we start embracing that diversity the better our learning and the better our strength," she said.

What has the library said?

City librarian Vickery Bowles released a statement in mid-October defending the decision to host the event, saying that as a public institution it has "an obligation to protect free speech".

She said that while the library supports the LGBT community and can cancel a room rental if it believes "the event will promote discrimination, contempt or hatred for any individual or group" this case does not violate its rental policies.

Ms Bowles, who sought legal opinion on the matter, added Ms Murphy has never been charged with or convicted of hate speech in Canada.

The decision to honour the room booking received the support of PEN Canada, a major writers' organisation, on Monday.

What has been the response?

Opponents to the library's decision include Toronto Mayor John Tory, who has called it "disappointing".

An online petition started by three local authors calling for the event to be cancelled had more than 8,000 signatures by Tuesday. Those who signed it said they would no longer participate in library events if Ms Murphy's talk went ahead.

Pride Toronto, the organisation behind the city's annual pride festival, warned the library "there will be consequences to our relationship for this betrayal". It said in a statement that Ms Murphy's views are "a denial of the lives, experiences and identities of trans people".

Two city councillors - Kristyn Wong-Tam and Mike Layton - are asking for a review of policies governing the use of community spaces at the Toronto library and other public spaces.

Early this year, a similar talk that included Ms Murphy at a public library in Vancouver drew both protesters and a sold-out crowd. The library was later barred from participating in the city's pride parade.

In May, Ms Murphy was invited to the Scottish Parliament to speak on transgender issues as Edinburgh planned reforms to the Gender Recognition Act to allow people to "self-declare" their legally recognised gender.

Campaigners at the time said Ms Murphy wanted transgender equality protections "ripped apart".

She was also banned from Twitter for stating that "men aren't women" and for "misgendering" transgender women on the site. She has taken legal action against the company.

SOURCE 










Australia: Aborigine shot after attacking police

He was an habitual law-defying criminal so his behaviour was in keeping with his record.  But because he was black there is a furore

He was a decorated rookie cop commended for his bravery. Now, he stands accused of the shooting murder of a young Aboriginal man.

Footage from police body cams will likely play a vital role in finding out exactly what happened last Saturday night that led to the final moments of the teenager’s life.

Police and the family of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker dispute what occurred in those fraught and violent few minutes before Constable Zachary Rolfe allegedly shot him either two or three times, splattering his blood across a mattress.

The footage may shed a light on why the cop made the decision to unload his firearm.

Police said Mr Walker was attacking officers. His family say the force used was out of proportion and he could have been Tasered rather than shot multiple times.

There are also questions as to why there were no medical staff in Yuendumu, deep in the Northern Territory, that night.

And why locals weren’t told of Mr Walker’s death until about 10 hours after it was confirmed as police tuned off the lights at the station and refused to speak to the distraught family outside.

Yesterday, Constable Rolfe, 28, was charged with murder.

At court hearing in Alice Springs, Constable Rolfe was granted bail and suspended with pay. The NT Police Association said he would plead not guilty. He is understood to have now left the Territory due to death threats.

The killing, which has been declared a death in custody, has stirred up ongoing anger about the deaths of Aboriginal people at the hands of police.

Again, questions are being raised as to whether the police’s responses to incidents involving Aboriginal Australians veer too quickly to lethal force.

This morning, NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner urged people to let the justice system do its job. “There are many people hurting in Yuendumu and around the Northern Territory and in our police force,” he said. “As Territorians we have been through challenging times before, we cannot and will not let this divide us.”

Constable Rolfe was a decorated officer before he was charged with murder.

According to the NT News, he was a star pupil at exclusive private school Canberra Grammar before joining Northern Territory Police in 2016.

Just days after he graduated from police college, he rescued two Hong Kong tourists who had been swept away in floodwaters at Alice Springs.

His valour won him the National Bravery Medal and the Royal Humane Society’s Clarke Medal for bravery, and Hong Kong awarded him the Bronze Medal for Bravery, the first time a foreigner had been given the gong for an incident outside of the Chinese territory.

As last Saturday dawned, police set off for Yuendumu, 300km northwest of Alice Springs.

Their plan was to arrest Mr Walker, a Warlpiri man. He was released from prison in October after serving eight of a 16-month sentence for unlawful entry, property damage and stealing offences with the remainder suspended, AAP reported.

But Mr Walker was allegedly breached his parole by removing an electronic monitoring device, among other offences.

Police had agreed to postpone the arrest to later that day to allow Mr Walker to attend the funeral of a relative.

It was a busy day in Yuendumu. As police were arriving and the funeral preparations were under way, medical staff were shipping out. There had been break-ins at the local clinic and rocks thrown through the car windows of staff. Health bosses said it wasn’t safe.

Once the funeral was done, at least two officers, including Constable Rolfe, went to arrest Mr Walker. It was 7pm and there was no immediate medical staff available should the arrest turn violent.

Which it did in the worst way.

“They came with two police cars; one parked on the other side of the house,” witness Elizabeth Snape told The Australian.

According to some reports, Mr Walker was on his bed looking at his phone when police entered the property.

The NT News has quoted a source “close to the police” who said there was “face-to-face combat” between Mr Walker and the officers. One officer was reportedly stabbed, which allegedly led to the teen to be shot.

“During that time a struggle ensued and two shots were fired and he sadly passed away later,” NT acting deputy commissioner Michael White said.

The teenager allegedly lunged at one officer as the pair tried to arrest him. “My understanding is he was armed with a weapon,” Mr White said.

SOURCE  

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Political correctness is most pervasive in universities and colleges but I rarely report the  incidents concerned here as I have a separate blog for educational matters.

American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of  other countries.  The only real difference, however, is how much power they have.  In America, their power is limited by democracy.  To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already  very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges.  They show there the same respect for free-speech and political diversity that Stalin did:  None.  So look to the colleges to see  what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way.  It would be a dictatorship.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, GREENIE WATCH,   EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS and  DISSECTING LEFTISM.   My Home Pages are here or   here or   here.  Email me (John Ray) here.  Email me (John Ray) here. 

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