Christmas Presents Time Again.

It is all too often left to the last minute. Just what can you give a chap or chapess who has far more than you do? My Christmas list always start with the three things I am not likely to ever get unless by some miracle.....So I shall pass over #2 and 3: the ten million bucks and the sporty aeroplane again. I still hold out hope for the first.

I was out and over the hedge today scouring the consumer palaces in the sinful city, the teeming metropolis, and was fortunate to acquire some quite nice things for those I am close to. I have to keep those secret though.

Meanwhile, as usual this time of the year,  Tavern customers have suggested some stocking fillers and perhaps some pleasant surprises for waking up to on Christmas morning (that did not include Rose from Dr Who).

So, let us see what they have come up with. The travellers amongst them seemed to like this one.

MY TRAVEL SCRATCH MAP

Fancy yourself as a bit of a globe trotter? Heading towards the Ten Million Miles Club like George Clooney? Then don’t waste time showing off by sticking pins in world maps - get yourself a My Travel Scratch Map!

Brilliant in its simplicity, this smart wall map depicts the world in all its jiggidy, jaggedy continent covered glory. So far, so what? Well here’s the clever bit: the land masses are covered in foil that can be scratched off to reveal the countries you’ve visited. Let’s see…New Zealand, Hong Kong, France…and oh yes, Timbuktu, erm somewhere...


Don’t worry if you’re not exactly Phileas Fogg in the travel stakes. The thought of scratching off new destinations serves as a great incentive to pack your suitcase. Failing that, lie. Just make sure you’ve got a good story if you scratch off Antarctica. Happy trails!

Not that many Oz folk go to colder climes for Christmas when there is a BBQ on the beach to be had. And what does a BBQ need?

CUSTOM BBQ BRANDING IRON

It's called the Custom BBQ Branding Iron because you can customise what you brand onto your steak!

That's right, folks! The 52 interchangeable letters means you can change what you brand onto your meat. Will you brand each steak with the owner's name? What about branding a cheeky message onto your friend's steak? 

It's so easy to use. Simply:
• Choose the letters for the message you'd like to brand
• Slide the letters into the Branding Iron
• Heat the Iron
• Press Iron down onto the steak
• Hold for 10 - 15 seconds
• Voila! Branded Steak!


A great way to keep track of which steak is for whom, so you never give the 'Rare' to Mr. Well Done ever again! A practical novelty BBQ gift for backyard BBQ Kings and Queens.

And Knights and Tavern Keepers of course, I shall have on mine........

The Knight & Drummer Tavern.

A problem always arises though around BBQs. Flies. So.....

FLY ASSASSIN | FLY GUN SWATTER

When the mercury starts warming up, do you find yourself with the swatter out instead of a nice cold drink? Flies are annoying, gross and for some, a challenge. Get your game face on and go into this fight with a real fly weapon. This Fly Assassin Gun Swatter is fast, fun and guaranteed to get you results.

Features:
• Get rid of that annoying buzz
• Fun, fast and effective
• Great for the office

• Safety string so the dart doesn’t fly far.

Mind you how are we to know if the day will be right for a BBQ? We need some sort of weather predictor.

FITZROY'S STORM GLASS | TEARDROP

The storm glass was developed by Admiral Robert Fitzroy and used on his historic voyage with Charles Darwin on the HMS Beagle.

Darwin actually stepped ashore not 500 metres from my cave. 

Not many people know that.

The unique liquid inside the sealed tear drop responds to changes in the weather, allowing the observer to forecast the possibility of storms, snow, wind, rain or clear skies. Although modern meteorology is far more accurate, these elegant glasses still hold aesthetic appeal.

Fitzroy spent years carefully documenting how the specific mixture inside the storm glass would respond to changes in the the weather:
• If the liquid in the glass is clear, the weather will be bright and clear.
• If the liquid is cloudy, the weather will be cloudy as well, perhaps with precipitation.
• If there are small dots in the liquid, humid or foggy weather can be expected.
• A cloudy glass with small stars indicates thunderstorms.
• If the liquid contains small stars on sunny winter days, then snow is coming.
• If there are large flakes throughout the liquid, it will be overcast in temperate seasons or snowy in the winter.
• If there are crystals at the bottom, this indicates frost.
• If there are threads near the top, it will be windy.
This Tear Drop Storm Glass comes with an elegant stand, making it a wonderful gift and a conversational room ornament.

FEATURES
• Great gift for science geeks
• Predict the weather by observing the changes in the size and shape of the liquid crystals
• Stylish and beautifully designed
• Comes with elegant stand & beautifully gift boxed
SPECIFICATIONS
• Dimensions: 24 cms tall including stand
• Material: Glass

What do people drink at a BBQ, when the beer is all gone? The 'correct' Oz chap with some class will take that timeless beverage - Tea.

DOCTOR WHO TARDIS TEAPOT

Is your teatime a little dull? Don't you wish you could be sipping tea aboard the Tardis? We do... but we'll add that we hope that it's not choppy on the time-stream because we don't want to scald ourselves. Nothing's worse than the combination of hot tea and astral turbulence.

You may need to get ahold of one of these toot sweet maties as changes are afoot: the next Doc is to be a woman !! She may well want a new paint job - Pink !! -  and a blue Tardis may be a collector's item.

FEATURES
• For the Earth beverage known as tea
• Lid helps keep the heat in so you don't have to reheat between cups
• Drink up and escape to a different time
• Great gift for Doctor Who fans

Proper Taverners though will want some of the Good Stuff and I recommend coasters under your glass. Here are some splendidly blokey ones. I am ordering twenty dozen m'self.

MINI WOODEN PALLET COASTERS – SET OF FOUR 

Wooden pallets are the trendy, new age life accessory that recyclers, trendsetters and everyone in-between can’t get enough of. Creating a classy, minimalistic edge in any environment, wooden pallets have been turned into all manner of household furniture from coffee tables to deck chairs. However, if your house is already crammed full and you really don’t have any room for this hip and happening décor display, then these coasters are the perfect solution. 

Made to resemble their full size big brothers, these mini pallets are prefect for hot and cold beverages alike. So get your hipster on, spread the pallet appreciation and add a trace of industrial chic to your home.

FEATURES
• A set of four mini pallets for hot and cold drinks
• Industrial chic, perfect for any living space
• Stay trendy and acknowledge your inner hipster

And when your eyes get a tad bleary, you may need these....

MIMICRO MINI MICROSCOPE

Have you ever had a close look at a five dollar bill? A REALLY close look? What about the wing of a butterfly? Or even the back of your hand? Turn your world upside down with this pocket-sized miraculous microscope. Explore invisible worlds you’ve never experienced and reveal hidden details full of beauty, weirdness and wonder.

The MiMicro magnifies objects by 60x their original size. When turned on, a soft light illuminates your subjects and the focus wheel helps you find maximum details. There is even a built in black light; bank notes and even some bird feathers become magical patterns of light when viewed under this UV light. Included is a handy LED torch available for times of need as well as a soft pouch for storing. Children and grownups of all ages will never tire of exploring these unseen worlds. So prepare to have your mind blown with wonder as you start your adventure into the unseen.

FEATURES
• Illuminates and magnifies objects to 60x their size
• Pocket size and super powerful
• White and UV illuminating lights will brighten up any subject

• Nothing can escape your super stare!

There, those should keep you entertained. But for the really lonely chap over in the corner, all on his tod, a girlfriend might be appreciated. Someone give him one of these.

GROW A GIRLFRIEND 

Looking for the girl of your dreams? Psst, want a girlfriend without the pesky dating, silly questions, nagging, jewelry and - gasp - mother-in-laws? With Grow A Girlfriend novelty toy, all you have to do is add water!

FEATURES
• Perfect gag gift for a mate
• Grow the perfect girl within 72 hours
• Yes, she will not nag!

INSTRUCTIONS 

1. Put your girlfriend in a jar or container full of clean water at room temperature to watch it start growing
2. Note that the water temperature should be between 59-95 °F or 15-35°C
3. Do not expect instant results as it takes up to 72 hours to fully expand
4. Take it out of the water to watch it shrink back to its original size.

You can find these and more, with some prices too at....

https://www.yellowoctopus.com.au/collections/gifts-for-men?gclid=Cj0KCQiAgs7RBRDoARIsANOo-Hh1P648vq6mg3KgTAi7Ob9IKoJVxN503e4Sm5UwVbKLZjYfXpYr85MaAug6EALw_wcB

But don't tell'em I sent you.

Of course, YOU might have some other gift ideas.

Tell us.

My own choices may differ from yours but some of the things I see at a friend's place could fit someone's bill. Take a look...

https://www.catholicgentleman.net/2017/12/catholic-gentleman-gift-guide-2017/

Drink Up.

Choose wisely.

Pax.

Genocide, Old and New

It is a meaty word to be thrown around in the Tavern, and not in the way that lefty snowflakes use it. It can quite spoil a thanksgiving lunch.  In this Vale of Tears we call Humanity's long struggle with life and belief there are outbreaks of madness where one group of people do their worst against another group, and make reasons aplenty to support their slaughter of innocents.  Not that those reasons can stand much of a test of Reason. Genocide is a feature of human history that shows no sign of disappearing.

So today we had a quiet discussion going on. Yes, there was an almost unanimous condemnation of genocide, but sad to say there were denials and dissemblings too. 'Twas ever thus. Many a pint was pulled to cool down hot heads.

It started with the news of one particular chap who was sentenced in a Court  the other day for his leading role in mass slaughter. Ratko Mladić. The 'Butcher of Bosnia'. To many he is a Hero, although I do not envisage his name being put on the Hero Board in the bar any day soon. 

Owen Bowcott and Julian Borger had some bare bones for us which the Prof, JJRay had a few words about too.

Ratko Mladić convicted of war crimes and genocide at UN tribunal

The former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladić, nicknamed the ‘butcher of Bosnia’, has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

More than 20 years after the Srebrenica massacre, Mladic was found guilty at the United Nations-backed international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague of 10 offences involving extermination, murder and persecution of civilian populations.

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/22/ratko-mladic-convicted-of-genocide-and-war-crimes-at-un-tribunal

As he entered the courtroom, Mladić gave a broad smile and thumbs up to the cameras – a gesture that infuriated relatives of the victims. His defiance shifted into detachment as the judgment began: Mladić played with his fingers and nodded occasionally, looking initially relaxed.

The verdict was disrupted for more than half an hour when he asked the judges for a bathroom break. After he returned, defence lawyers requested that proceedings be halted or shortened because of his high blood pressure. The judges denied the request. Mladić then stood up shouting “this is all lies” and “I’ll fuck your mother”. He was forcibly removed from the courtroom. The verdicts were read in his absence.

Mladić, 74, was chief of staff of Bosnian Serb forces from 1992 until 1996, during the ferocious civil wars and ethnic cleansing that followed the break-up of the Yugoslav state.

The one-time fugitive from international justice faced 11 charges, two of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and four of violations of the laws or customs of war. He was cleared of one count of genocide, but found guilty of all other charges. The separate counts related to “ethnic cleansing” operations in Bosnia, sniping and shelling attacks on besieged civilians in Sarajevo, the massacre of Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica and taking UN personnel hostage in an attempt to deter Nato airstrikes.

The trial in The Hague, which took 530 days across more than four years, is arguably the most significant war crimes case in Europe since the Nuremberg trials, in part because of the scale of the atrocities involved. Almost 600 people gave evidence for the prosecution and defence, including survivors of the conflict.

Delivering the verdicts, judge Alphons Orie said Mladić’s crimes “rank among the most heinous known to humankind and include genocide and extermination”.

In evaluating Mladić’s culpability for genocide, the court pointed to his command and control of the Bosnian Serb army and interior ministry forces, which carried out almost all of the executions, his presence in the area, and his frequent remarks about how the country’s Muslims could “disappear”.

Once Mladic has exhausted any appeals, he could, theoretically, be sent to the UK to serve out the rest of his life behind bars. Britain is one of the countries that has signed up to the tribunal’s agreement on the enforcement of sentences.

The hearing, broadcast live, was followed closely in Bosnia. The Bosnian prime minister, Denis Zvizdić, said the verdict “confirmed that war criminals cannot escape justice regardless of how long they hide”.

In Lazarevo, the Serbian village where Mladić was arrested in 2011, residents dismissed the guilty verdicts as biased. One, Igor Topolic, said: “All this is a farce for me. 

He [Mladić] is a Serbian national hero.”

Mladić’s home village of Bozinovici retains a street named after the former general, where he is praised as a symbol of defiance and national pride.

Mladić’s defence lawyer, Dragan Ivetic, announced that he would appeal against the convictions.

As Owen and Julian gave little context, the Prof, JJ, stepped up. He did not excuse but did shed some light. There are some around with little knowledge of even modern history.

The massacre of innocents can of course never be condoned and it seems clear that Mladic is a thug but I wonder if it could have been taken into consideration during his sentencing that it was Muslims he was fighting and killing?  His Republika Srpska was essentially the frontline of Serbs against the Muslims of Bosnia.

Both in the former Yugoslavia and worldwide Muslims have shown scant regard for the lives of others and retribution is very much a part of Yugoslav culture generally.  As the report above notes, he is seen as a hero by his countrymen. 

He is adored, his portrait adorns bars and office walls in Bosnia and Serbia, his name sung at football matches.  Was he just a typical Yugoslav? His men appear to have followed him unhesitatingly.

Had my people been the victim of centuries of Muslim oppression, I imagine that I might feel similarly. Scots still remember Edward Longshanks (King of England from 1272 to 1307) with bitterness.  Serbs have to remember back only to 1812.  And are we allowed to mention the large number of Serbs killed by the Muslim KLA?

Long memories brings us to another genocide which few barely even recognise let alone discuss. Close to the Home of Anglophilia.

As an Englishman I am always troubled by the Irish hatred of my countrymen. The 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland in the later part of the 20C remain quite fresh in my mind.  As a Catholic I can understand their understanding of their history. I will not, however, accept the longevity of the bitterness. The difficulties of attitude and action experienced by friends of mine sent to NI  to quell murder and mayhem remain a scar. But being sent to protect the Catholic minority was never going to make up for the genocide of Catholics centuries before.

The Irish do so often disremember that English Catholics were slaughtered first.

 Several voices from the tables murmered:

Funny how they never teach this in history classes in school. They also never mention how the Protestants during the Reformation sacked and pillaged convents and monostaries, raping and killing Catholics, and burning churches down.

The average person confuses Protestant violence with ALL of Christianity. They don’t know the difference between Catholic and Protestant. That’s why some hate ALL Christians.

But let us hear some of the accounts of the time and get a bit of that history lesson that we did not get at school - or University for that matter.

It is timely, being as America, started in their tradition by the Puritans, is celebrating 'Thanksgiving'. Seumas MacManus takes us back.

The Puritan Massacres of Catholics

On October 2, 1649, the English Parliament appointed a national Thanksgiving Day in celebration of the dreadful slaughter—and by unanimous vote placed upon the Parliamentary records—"That the House does approve of the execution done at Drogheda as an act of both justice to them [the butchered ones] and mercy to others who may be warned by it."

EXCERPT FROM "The STORY of the IRISH RACE" 

It was in August of ‘40 that Cromwell landed in Dublin, with eight regiments of foot, six of horse, and several troops of dragoon—in all seventeen thousand of the flower of the Puritan army. 

They were extraordinary men, his Ironsides—Bible-reading, psalm-singing soldiers of God—fearfully daring, fiercely fanatical, papist hating, looking on this land as being assigned to them the chosen people, by their God. 

And looking on the inhabitants as idol-worshiping Canaanites who cursed of God, and to be extirpated by the sword. 

They came with minds inflamed by the lurid accounts of the "great Popish Massacre," which for some years now had been, by the Parliamentarians, sedulously circulated among the English people. 

A sample of this literature is the pamphlet published in London in 1647 by a noted Puritan preacher (and writer) Nathaniel Ward: "I beg upon my hands and knee that the expedition against them (the Irish) be undertaken while the hearts and hands of our soldiery are hot; to whome, I will be bold to say, briefly: happy be he that shall reward them as they served us, and cursed be he who shall do the work of the Lord negligently. Cursed be he who holdeth back the sword from blood: yea cursed be he that maketh not the sword stark drunk with Irish blood; who doth not recompense them double for their treachery to the English; but maketh them in heaps on heaps, and their country the dwelling place of dragons—and astonishment for nations. Let not that eye look for pity, nor hand be spared, that pities or spares them; and let him be cursed that curseth them not bitterly."

In an earlier time he could have been on Ghengis Khan's HQ Staff. 

To keep the men’s venom at the boiling point there were chosen to travel with the troops, and also to sail with the fleet, Puritan preachers of the Word distinguished for their almost demoniacal hatred of the papistical Irish. 

Stephen Jerome, Hugh Petes, and their like, noted for the violence of their invective against all thing s Irish and Catholic, preached a war of extermination in the most startling and fearful manner—in the pulpit invoking the curse of God upon those who should hold their hands from slaying "while man, woman or child or Belial remains alive." Peters exhorted his hearers to do as did the conquerors of Jericho, "kill all that were, young men and old, children, and maidens."

The great leader of the grim Ironsides, himself, was destined to leave behind him in Ireland for all time 

a name synonymous with ruthless butchery.

The first rate taste of the qualities of this agent of God the Just, and first Friend of the Irish was given to the people at Drogheda. When he took this city he gave it and its inhabitants to his men for a three days’ and three nights’ unending orgy of slaughter. Only thirty men out of a garrison of three thousand escaped the sword; and it is impossible to compute what other thousands of non-combatants, men, women, and children, were butchered. 

They were slain in the streets, in the lanes, in the yards, in the gardens, in the cellars, on their own hearthstone. They were slain in the altar steps, in the market-place—till the city’s gutters ran with red rivulets of blood. 

In the vaults underneath the church a great number of the finest women of the city sought refuge. But hardly one, if one, even of these, was left to tell the awful tale of unspeakable outrage and murder. 

Arthur Wood, the Historian of Oxford, gives us a narrative compiled from the account of his brother who was an officer in Cromwell’s army, and who had been through the siege and sack of Drogheda—which throws interesting sidelight upon the British methods, and the quaint point of view of the most cultured of them. 

"Each of the assailants would take up a child and use it as a buckler of defense to keep him from being shot or brained. 

After they had killed all in the church they went into the vaults underneath, where all the choicest of women had hid themselves. One of these, a most handsome virgin arrayed in costly a dn gorgeous apparel, knelt down to Wood, with tears and prayers begging for her life; and being stricken with a profound pity, he did take her under his arm for protection, and went with her out of the church with intention to put her over the works, to shift for herself, but a soldier, perceiving his intention, ran the sword through her, whereupon Mr. Wood, seeing her gasping, took away her money, jewels, etc., and flung her down over the works."

In his despatch to the Speaker of the House of Commons, after Drogheda, Cromwell says: "It has pleased God to bless our endeavour at Drogheda. . . . the enemy were about 3,000 strong in the town. I believe we put to the sword the whole number. . . .This hath been a marvelous great mercy. . . . I wish that all honest hearts may give the glory of this to God alone, to whom indeed the praise of this mercy belongs."

My Supplier does not like this projecting of wickedness upon Him, one little bit. Take it from me ! 

And again, "In this very place (St. Peter’s Church), a thousand of them were put to the sword, fleeing thither for safety. . . .And now give me leave to say how this work was wrought. It was set upon some of our hearts that a great thing should be done, not by power or might, but by the spirit of God. And is it not so, clearly?"

Wicked men all too often blame God.   'Twas always thus.

On October 2, 1649, the English Parliament appointed a national Thanksgiving Day in celebration of the dreadful slaughter—and by unanimous vote placed upon the Parliamentary records—"That the House does approve of the execution done at Drogheda as an act of both justice to them [the butchered ones] and mercy to others who may be warned by it."

After Drogheda, Cromwell, in quick succession reduced the other northern strongholds, then turned and swept southward to Wexford—where he again exhibited to the people the face of the King and Friend. Two thousand were butchered here. He thought it a simple act of justice to "the Saint," his soldiers, to indulge them in the little joy of slaughtering the Canaanites. He writes: "I thought it not right or good to restrain off the soldiers from their right of pillage, or from doing execution on the enemy."

Lingard, in his History of England says: "Wexford was abandoned to the mercy of the assailants. The tragedy recently enacted at Drogheda was renewed. No distinction was made between the defenseless inhabitants and the armed soldiers, nor could the shrieks and prayers of three hundred females who had gathered round the great Cross in the market-place, preserve them from the swords of these ruthless barbarians."

Nicholas French, Bishop of Wexford who escaped from the city, and after terrible suffering and privation, escaped from the country, records: "On that fatal day, October 11th 1649, I lost everything I had. Wexford, my native town, then abounding in merchandise, ships, and wealth, was taken at the sword’s point by Cromwell, and sacked by and infuriated soldiery. 

Before God’s altar fell sacred victims, holy priests of the Lord. 

Of those who were seized outside the church some were scourged, some thrown into chains and imprisoned , while others were hanged or put to death by cruel tortures. The blood of the nobles of our citizens was shed so that it inundated the streets. There was hardly a house that was not defiled with carnage and filled with wailing."

At Cashel, where two thousand were slain, Cromwell’s general, Broughill, took the Bishop of Ross, cut off his hands and feet, and then hanged him. A Dominican friar had his fingers and toes cut off before he was slain. And at Clonmel, a Franciscan was first drawn on the rack and then had his hands and feet burned off, after which he was hung. The parish priest of Arklow was tied to a wild horse’s tail and dragged to Gorey, where he was hanged.

The attitude adopted by the exterminators towards those whom they were exterminating is illumined to us when we know that the most wildly grotesque stories told of the latter, were greedily accepted by the former. 

In Nash’s edition of the Hudibras, it was gravely stated that when seven hundred Irish had been put to the sword by Inchiquin, "Among them were found, when stripped divers that had tails nearly a quarter of a yard long. Forty soldiers, eye-witnesses, testified the same on their oaths." 

A Protestant minister with the troops in Munster wrote home to London that when they had stormed a certain castle, many of the slain defenders were found to have tails several inches long!

The mind boggles that men who profess to be Christians can be so wicked. I can safely bet that those protestants that are nice, normal, ordinary people of today do not know the least part of their own denomination's past. Not the reality. Perhaps some notions of the myths that excuse.

Not that I hold Catholics to be much different. Our religion's history has dark moments and bad people too.

There is a great irony, of course. Those murderous Puritans were treated similarly (not with quite the same measure) by subsequent protestants and had to flee to the New World. Hence the 'Thanksgiving' there in the USA. A double irony is that their settlement would not have survived let alone prospered had they not been befriended by an Indian ---  who was a Catholic !!

It is a bit late now to hold a Trial of Cromwell and his men. I have little doubt that they were confronted with their wickedness in the Great Court above infront of the Divine Judge. Pray for mercy.

Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those murderous b*****  that have most need of your Mercy. 

Drinks all around. We need it.

Pax

Politicians Bending Over for Roger.

The vote form will drop through the Tavern letterbox anyday soon.  If the postman can find us. I expect to be asked to vote for or against homosexual 'marriage'. What an oxymoron, and what a moronic request. It is the 'Cause of the Month' here in Oz: not that the powers that be are going to take a blind bit of notice if the vox populi sends up a resounding 'NO'.

Those PTB have convinced themselves that 'YES' will be on the lips and in the hearts of almost everyone apart from the Bigots, such as to be found in the Tavern. 

They tell us that all the 'polls' show that the majority of ordinary everyday Oz folk 'want' homosexual marriage despite homosexuals themselves eschewing such fatuous marriages where they have been introduced, and there being somewhere around just 1% of the population actually being homosexual and perhaps desirous of cohabiting in a state of permanent fidelity. 

They can always change their minds - and 'partners'. 

As they do.

The polls lie: the politicians lie. We are being manipulated in the most stupid and outlandish manner, supported and furthered by such unbiased organs as the ABC and the queer CEO of Qantas. 

One has to wonder 'What's in it for them'. 

A pie in the face is a good start for him. But I think it is we, the everyday Oz chap and chapesse who is about to get plastered and with harder stuff than mock-cream.

We are told nothing at all about what Laws will be changed - and yes, they will be changed - if the YES vote rides over us.  So we are being asked to vote in a deception.

So, I am asked by several customers, what my vote will be. As if there could be any question.

I shall be voting 'NO'.

This will put me in the firing line for a $12000 fine for offending someone. 

Offending is all so easy these days. Just breathe and someone will complain to a policeman who will 'attend an incident' with a gun on his hip. I am used to that. I am already in a similar line for daring to say a Rosary outside an abortuary. That can get me a year in Risdon Prison and a $9750 fine.

But to the objections, I sit - as I hope you will - and listen to an erudite and well qualified Gentleman spelling it out, no doubt offending many of those who aren't even raving pooftas. 

Dr Augusto Zimmermann is Director of Postgraduate Research and former Associate Dean (Research) at Murdoch Law School. He is the recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research at Murdoch University (2012). Dr Zimmermann is also Professor of Law (Adjunct) at the University of Notre Dame Australia (Sydney campus), a former member of the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia, and President of the Western Australian Legal Theory Association (WALTA).  

He enjoys a pint, so I pulled a cool one and he set out his case, drawing from examples from around the western world.

Gay Marriage: After the Honeymoon

The ballots are in the mail and the question could not be more bland: 

"Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?" 

After that, should the answer be 'yes', what next? If the overseas experience is any guide, religious liberty and freedom of conscience will be in peril

With same-sex marriage activists, the federal attorney-general, and five MPs working on a same-sex marriage bill arguing that there are no consequences for religious freedom to changing the definition of marriage, it is worth considering whether this might be really true. 

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2017/09/augusto-zimmermann/ 

Let’s take this argument in light of what is actually happening in countries that legalised same-sex marriage, even when it was thought that religious freedom would receive full protection by the law.

It makes sense to especially consider the Canadian experience. There are important cultural and institutional similarities between Australia and Canada. 

The effects of redefining marriage in Canada – restrictions on free speech, parental rights in education and autonomy rights of religious institutions – is the best evidence of the short-term impact of same-sex marriage in a society very much like Australia’s.

Ever since the Canadian Parliament legalised it, in 2006, same-sex marriage must be treated identically to traditional marriage in law and public life. 

Civil celebrants were the first to feel the remarkable consequences of such legal change. 

Several provinces refused to allow civil celebrants a right of conscience to refuse to preside over same-sex weddings. 

At the same time religious organisations were fined for simply refusing to rent their facilities for post-wedding celebrations. 

Finally, ‘Queer theory’ is now part of the compulsory school curriculum, and business owners do not have freedom to deny any service to gays and lesbians for religious reasons.

Related to this situation, in the United States, soon after that country’s judicial elite arbitrarily imposed the legalisation of same-sex marriage, the Obama administration handed down regulations requiring all entities contracting with the federal government to adhere, without exception, to absolute non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. 

In addition, a number of state and local governments have banned the participation of any organization that refuses to be publicly committed to non-discrimination concerning sexual orientation, gender and gender identity.

In Massachusetts, a venerable charity was forced to stop its activity of placing children through adoption because it refused to violate church teachings by accepting a total anti-discrimination policy on grounds of gender identity and sexual orientation. 

Finally, ever since marriage was re-defined to enable two people of the same sex to marry in that country, businesses owners have been fined and put out of business when they have declined to provide services for same-sex weddings. Consider the following examples:

This offends, but they won't get fined.

*Christian bakers in Oregon were found guilty of discrimination for declining to provide a wedding cake for a lesbian couple.

*A Colorado baker who declined to provide a cake for a same-sex wedding was ordered by the State’s Civil Rights Commission either to serve gay couples or face fines despite it being against his beliefs as a Christian.

*New Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled that Christian photographers who declined to photograph a same-sex union violated the state’s Human Rights Act.

*A Christian florist in Washington was prosecuted for refusing to provide flowers for a same-sex couple’s wedding. 

*In New York owners of a farm were found to have violated the civil rights of a lesbian couple when they declined to host the couple’s same-sex ‘marriage’ ceremony and fined $13,000.

These cases are the leading edge of a massive reorientation of public life and law. 

Here in Australia even Tim Wilson (former Human Rights Commissioner and gay MP) admits that businesses and churches might face prosecution under anti-discrimination laws once same-sex marriage is legalised.  Wilson believes that basic freedoms still might be protected by providing exemptions for businesses and religious organisations. This can be criticised on grounds that such exemptions could conflict with other laws, so that the courts would be able to decide how effective these exceptions might be. 

Referring to this problem, Peter Kurti, a research fellow at the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, reminds that:

Judges charged with identifying the appropriate balance between exempt and discriminatory behaviour may well move in the direction of developing a narrowing conception of religious liberty as they accord priority to issues of sexual identity over those of religious belief and practice. The campaign to promote same-sex marriage, which actively pursues the diminution of the religious sphere in liberal society, would therefore form part of the same wider social trend that pursues its goal of equality both by attempting to secure the removal of all differences between people, and by reducing the range and scope of exempted conduct.

Nonetheless, supporters of same-sex marriage in Australia (including Attorney-General George Brandis) dismiss the possible impact of the legal change on the exercise of religious freedom. 

Senator Brandis has told in Parliament that the Turnbull government 

‘will not be tricked by those who are trying to turn a debate about one issue 

[i.e.; whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry] into a broader debate about religion freedom, because that’s not what this is about’. 

In sum, Senator Brandis claims that the same-sex marriage plebiscite has nothing to do with freedom of speech and religion.

'Tricked', eh? How Brandis can say this with a straight face is the real skill of an actor.  He does not have to believe his words: just say them with faux-authenticity.

But then Brandis is the fellow who could put a sob in his voice at the 'offense' against Muslims of Pauline Hanson wearing a muslim woman's garb in the chamber.

Few believed him then either.

This is an astonishing statement! The Attorney General basically claims that religious people have nothing to worry about because their freedoms will have ‘very thorough’ protections if same-sex marriage is made legal in Australia. 

Responding to concerns raised by church leaders about ‘inadequate’ protections for religious freedoms, Senator Brandis said constitutional protections would be in place through exemptions in anti-discrimination laws. However, these exceptions to religious organisations are most likely to be temporary for the following reasons (notwithstanding the examples above):

The 2012 ALP dissenting Senate report on a Same-Sex Marriage bill warned that such assurances are hollow and tactical in nature rather than a matter of substance. They pointed out how Denmark has passed legislation to compel churches to officiate at Same-Sex Ceremonies.

The Greens have called for an end to the exemption of religious bodies from the operation of anti-discrimination laws.

Thirty LGBTI, human rights and legal lobby groups to the 2012 inquiry into the Consolidation of Commonwealth Anti-Discrimination Laws argued that they wanted no exemptions or narrow or temporary exemptions only for faith-based organisations, let alone for businesses and other group.

At least one prominent Australian lawyer, David Glasgow, has publicly repudiated any idea of exceptions and exemptions from anti-discrimination law or a same-sex marriage bill saying that it is not reasonable for business with religious objections to opt out of participating in Same-Sex Marriage.

As the country’s ‘First Law Officer of the Commonwealth’, Brandis should know that we need only to look at what happened in countries that have legalised same-sex marriage. Consider Canada for example. 

Anyone in that country who dares to reject the idea of same-sex marriage can be legally charged with anti-homosexual bigotry. 

In late October, 2016, Canada’s Senate passed Bill C-16 by 67-11 vote, which adds prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender orientation to the Canadian Human Rights Act. The legislation amended the Criminal Code to extend protection against hate speech and allows judges to take into account when sentencing whether a crime was motivated by hatred of the victim’s gender identity or expression. In Canada, Dawn Stefanowicz explains:

Freedom to assemble and speak freely about man-woman marriage, family and sexuality are restricted. Activists often sit in on religious assemblies, listening for anything discriminatory towards GLBT, so a complaint can be made to the Human Rights Commission. Most faith communities have become politically correct to avoid fines and loss of charitable status.

Consider also the example of Ireland. Following the May, 2015, landslide defeat for opponents of same sex-marriage – the referendum went 62% in favour of gay marriage to 38% against – the Irish Parliament stripped away all laws which protected the rights of people to freedom of religion when in conflict with ‘gay rights’. 

This parliament voted unanimously to repeal Section 37 of the state’s Employment Equality Act. Section 37 granted specific exemptions for ‘religious, educational or medical institutions’ which allows them ‘to maintain the religious ethos of the institution’. Removing the section means that LGBT teachers will be free to talk to school pupils about their personal relationships, even in faith schools.

One could also take the example of Sweden. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Sweden since 2009, although priests can decline to celebrate weddings under the country’s Marriage Code. However, just eight years on from re-defining marriage, the Swedish government has recently indicated that it is currently working to ensure all priests must consecrate everyone, including same-sex couples. 

In an interview with a church magazine, the country’s prime minister, Stefan Lofven, has advocated the repeal of exemptions protecting religious freedom and conscience on the grounds that ‘the church must stand up for human equality’.

For many supporters of same-sex marriage, such infringements of religious freedom are not morally wrong; quite to the contrary. Georgetown University law professor Chai Feldblum, a member of the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, contends that .....

so-called ‘marriage equality’ should always trump the constitutional right to religious liberty:

For all my sympathy for the evangelical Christian couple who may wish to run a bed and breakfast from which they can exclude unmarried … couples and all gay couples, this is a point where I believe the ‘zero-sum’ nature of the game inevitably comes into play. And, in making that decision in this zero-sum game, I am convinced society should come down on the side of protecting the liberty of LGBT people.

Increasingly, the Australian LGBT lobby is urging the adoption of anti-discrimination laws to prevent dissenting voices from expressing their views in the public square. 

The Labor Party enthusiastically supports same-sex marriage and it is entirely committed to the further suppression of free speech on grounds of alleged ‘anti-homosexual discrimination’. 

Hence, once same-sex marriage is legalised, there is an enormous possibility that the law will equate the traditional view of marriage with the notion of ‘homophobic’ bigotry. 

As a result, anyone who dares to criticise the homosexual agenda will be subject to very harsh legal treatment.

Above all, there are numerous precedents overseas rejecting the assumption that when same-sex marriage is introduced, religious freedom will be fully protected. Instead of addressing these issues, most of the country’s political elite think they can ignore them, calling them ‘alarmist’ and/or ‘irrelevant’. 

Contrary to what they say, I regret to inform that the redefinition of marriage will have broadly cultural consequences and wider social implications for this country. This is why the outcome of the marriage plebiscite will be so important for the future of our individual rights and freedoms in Australia, in particular freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. 

What can I, an 'umble Tavern Keeper add to that.

He is right on all accounts. And he was not asked to tell which way he will vote. 

I did not, anyway.

I just gave him a refill of his tankard.

Drink up folks, the honeymoon will be over before it starts.

We are about to get rogered.

Pax