Who is fit for office?

Who is fit for office? For a position of responsibility in government, including the courts.

During a past election, a prominent Liberal suggested that Stockwell Day was unfit to be the Prime Minister. What made him unsuitable? Because "he believes that Jesus is the Son of God". The argument was that this was exclusionary to all other beliefs and therefore made him unfit for office. The person who voiced this view presumably forgot that Roman Catholics, who have occupied the highest offices in Canada for a generation, also presumably believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

I guess that the countering argument would be, "yeah, but Stockwell Day REALLY believes it!"

At the time all this was going on, I made some "talking points". Here they are:

* Any aboriginal who believes an Indian creation myth involving a turtle or an eagle is "unfit for office".

* Any Muslim who believes that an angel dictated the Koran word-for-word to Mohammed is "unfit for office".

* Anyone who believes that his religious head is infallible is both scary and "unfit for office".

* Anyone who believes that undirected evolution is a sufficient cause for the wondrous beauty, order, and compexity of nature is "unfit for public office".

* Anyone who fails to acknowledge the humanity of an unborn baby is "unfit for office".

Meanwhile, the Canadian media today refers to "so-called" family values when voiced by conservatives, but does not use the "so-called" qualifier when liberals go on about "Canadian values".

So, in that spirit, here's a bonus "talking point":

* Anyone who believes there is no God undermines the basis for positing the intrinsic dignity and worth of human beings, upon which all "so-called" human rights are based, and is thus "unfit for office".

And that's the way the Ball bounces.