Re: Palko protests Swedish verdict on anti-gay pastor, Flash news briefs, July 12 - 18, Vol 10, No 27
Personally, I think that it was a mistake to put the priest in jail, if only because it has drawn attention to his views and given the fundamentalists a new martyr when previously he expressed his views to maybe 100 people who agreed with him.
But I'm glad to have Mr Palko for an ally on free speech, and look forward to him defending a gay teacher who gets sacked for defending his orientation in class. I imagine a situation where a teacher happens to mention to students that he lives with another man and doesn't see anything wrong in it. The school takes this as "promotion" of homosexuality and dismisses the teacher. If we could find such a case, we could ask Mr Palko to protest it as a blatant attack on freedom of conscience. I wonder if he'd be game?
The topic is not so hypothetical. As recently as 2001 there were attempts to ban gay and lesbian teachers in Slovak schools.
At that time I recall the KDH claiming that such immoral people weren't fit to be near children (I wonder what moral effect pastor Green's remarks would have on children?) so I guess Palko is now just using the free speech card to get himself and his views some publicity. Someone should challenge him.
Roger,
Žilina, Slovakia
