Church supports gay-snub firemen

[Newswire]

A Roman Catholic archbishop has given his support to nine firefighters disciplined for refusing to hand out leaflets during a gay rights march.

More... (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/5304524.stm)

[purple_kathryn]

Wow - that's a shock!

[Immortal]

I'm speechless.

[Autonemesis]

"The duty to obey one's conscience is a higher duty than that of obeying orders."
Mario Conti
Archbishop of Glasgow

I guess what the archbishop is saying is that figures in the Bible, such as Abraham, must have had no conscience. Otherwise, why would they do the despicable things God ordered them to do?

[Spherical Time]

Good point Autonemesis. I never thought of it that way before.

[Gamer4Fire]

I actually agree with the firemen. Think about it this way, there is a large parade of gay men and women dressed in leather chaps, priest frocks, police outfits et al, and you come up in full fireman regalia trying to hand out pamphlets. The type of attention you'd be recieving would be a little beyond harrasment, but the people harrasing you wouldn't know any better because you were ordered to go there. The firestation should have asked for volunteers first.

[Chicken Girl]

I actually agree with the firemen. Think about it this way, there is a large parade of gay men and women dressed in leather chaps, priest frocks, police outfits et al, and you come up in full fireman regalia trying to hand out pamphlets. The type of attention you'd be recieving would be a little beyond harrasment, but the people harrasing you wouldn't know any better because you were ordered to go there. The firestation should have asked for volunteers first.

Or they could, you know, wear some sort of plain-clothes uniform (like khakis with a "Fire Department" polo shirt or similar) that would let people know that they are, in fact, employed by the Fire Department and not dressed up as the Village People.