PM makes another deal

I don't know what to think, or if this deal is worth any more then the deal Pat O'Brien thought he had with the PM two months ago. I guess it's sort of big news - 30 MPS opposed to same sex marriage legislation met with the PM who promised:

• Stronger guarantees that Charter rights will not override religious freedoms
• Justices of the Peace who do not want to perform civil marriages of same-sex couples will not have to do so
• Churches will not be required to rent out their halls for same-sex weddings
• Religious educational institutions will still be allowed to preach that homosexuality is against God's law, without being subject to hate crime laws

The other big news is that Liberal MPs who oppose same sex marriage briefly considered toppling the government to stop the bill, but reconsidered, thinking that it will pass eventually anyway.

As with everything that happens in Ottawa, we wont know until it plays out, but I'll offer fearless predictions anyway:

• Despite what Martin says, "Charter rights" are determined by the courts, and not the Liberal government of the day. I suspect this promise is another one of those that looks good on paper but is completely devoid of substance
• Justices of the Peace is a provincial jurisdiction, so I'd be surprised if the Feds can guarantee that they wont have to perform same sex marriages if they don't want to. There are already cases accross the country where they've had to agree to perform them or quit.
• Again, I'm not sure they can guarantee that churchs wont be required to do anything. If the courts rule they have to, what's PM going to do about it?
• I'll believe the last point when I see a human rights charge or hate crimes prosecution fail.

At the heart of it, I think there is a profound sense among Christians that all of these things are inevitable, no matter what deal politicians make in Ottawa, and that the only way to reverse course is to have a significant change in our culture and government.

Anyone see that coming? I didn't think so.

Update: Gunter generally agrees and offers this exciting insight:

Since most of these guarantees are not in the PM's power to grant since they have been taken over by unelected and unaccountable judges, they are meaningless. And according to the CTV report, the PM's press secretary, Scott Reid, admitted they were not promises so much as reiterations of previously made commitments to treat all amendments "fairly" (whatever that means).