MOORE ON PEI CASE

Charles Moore on B and B case
 cc: The Charlottetown Guardian
To Mr. Deighan and whomever else it may concern;

I want to strongly protest the shabby and outrageous treatment of bed and breakfast operators Dagmar and Arnost Cepica, who, according to news reports, have been fined $1,000 and put out of business by your province's kangaroo court human-rights bureaucracy for refusing accommodation to a homosexualist couple.

As one who tries to be a faithful and obedient Christian, my position on homosexualism is governed by the Bible, and the policy of my church, both of which emphatically and unequivocally condemn homosexual behavior as sinful and wrong (along with other forms of illicit sexual activity). The Bible is not going to change, and if, hypothetically speaking, my church ever changed its policy to contradict the Bible, I would find another church -- end of story as far as I'm concerned.

I think that the issue at stake here is one of fundamental justice.

In my opinion, it would be unreasonable for a Christian person in the hotel or motel business to impose a no-gays policy. Such establishments are essentially public places of sorts, and a stipulation like that would be both intrusive and impractical.

However, a bed and breakfast is amost always also the principal residence of its operators -- their home -- and I believe that people, even if they are inviting guests into their home for a fee, have a moral right to screen out customers whose activities offend their moral convictions.

In an off-camera interview with CTV news, Mr. Cepica articulated that the standard in his home is that bed-sharing is restricted to legally married couples or perhaps close relatives. I think that is a reasonable stipulation to make in one's home, and that Prince Edward Island's "human wrongs " bureaucracy  grossly overstepped the bounds of justice in shutting the Cepicas down.

Two weeks ago, in an 8-1 majority ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the right of Trinity Western University in British Columbia to impose a policy requiring Christian moral standards of behavior on its students, who are required to sign a document promising to refrain from practices that are biblically condemned, including but not limited to the sexual sins of premarital or extramarital sex, adultery, homosexual behaviour, and viewing of pornography.

I don't think it is at all a strained analogy to note that a university is an institution offering a service to the public, and that requiring Christian standards of moral behavior of its students and staff, some of whom live in residence, is not all that radically different in principle from a bed and breakfast operator setting Christian standards of moral behavior in his or her home. I think that the Cepicas would have a pretty strong case if they had the money and fortitude to fight this thing to the Supreme Court, based on the TWU ruling precedent..

I have in vacationed in Prince Edward Island many times, and have encouraged others passing through Nova Scotia, where I live, not to miss making the Island a stop on their tours. However, I shall no longer do either as long as this egregious and unjust policy that has victimized the Cepicas remains in place.

In fact, I shall do everything I can to discourage others from visiting PEI until your province is prepared to uphold religious freedom and the sovereign right of individuals to set moral standards of behavior in their own homes, even if they're in the B&B business.

I regret having to take these steps, but your government's policy on this issue is outrageous. I hope you will reconsider after some sober second thought.

Yours respectfully, Charles W. Moore