What You Learn In A Hard School

From The Brussels Journal: Slovakia Bans Positive Discrimination Legislation

The opposition of the KDH, however, goes deeper than the matter of the Roma. The KDH questions the principle itself of positive action by the government which limits the freedom of people to decide with whom they enter into private contracts. The governing party is also opposed to EU anti-discrimination legislation which attempts to prevent private individuals from voicing their opinions.

In July 2004, when Ake Green, a Pentecostal pastor in Sweden, was sentenced to a month in prison for a sermon in which he described homosexuality as "a tumor on society," Vladimir Palko, the Slovakian minister of the Interior, was the only prominent European politician to denounce the treatment of pastor Green.

Palko cited the case as an illustration of why the KDH opposed the EU anti-discrimination law. He protested to the Swedish ambassador in Slovakia: "In Europe people are starting to be jailed for saying what they think." Palko told the ambassador that it reminded him of the dictatorship the Slovaks had been living under until 1989. According to Palko, what had happened in Sweden was an example of how "a left-wing liberal ideology was trying to introduce tyranny." KDH chairman Pavol Hrusovsky added that the decision to jail Green was "a breach of human rights, the right to religious freedom, and the right of expression." (emphasis added, ed.)

Read the rest of the article. The Slovak Constitutional Court have declared that they will not be bound by the diktats of the European Union. I wonder if Justice Ginsburg will be citing this ruling as precedent any time soon; or for that matter, any time during her tenure on the Supreme Court. Mr. Palko, quite clearly, has a better understanding of freedom of conscience and speech than the Canadian Government and the Democratic Party in the US.

(Correction: I failed to correct the spelling of Justice Ginsburg's name when I published this initially. Mea Culpa. I added a link to pay for my sins.)