Religion should not supersede our laws

Re: “Convicted polygamists get conditional terms,” June 27. The story of the conditional sentences given B.C. polygamists Winston Blackmore and James Oler quoted a spokesperson with B.C.’s prosecution service concluding that “the law prohibiting polygamy is constitutionally valid and may result in jail sentences.”

After the mild wrist-slap punishment given these two men, with no jail time, how likely is jail time in future cases? Not likely, I think.

The defence of “sincerely held religious beliefs” hardly seems adequate to explain how someone can have multiple wives, including several who were only 15 years of age. Assuming they had a sexual relationship early in their marriage, that is statutory rape.

The laws of our land are meant to supersede religious laws, and to protect all members of society, especially the young, and especially in a situation where someone in a position of authority or power uses that position to engage in unlawful activity. By giving these two men the mild conditional sentences they received, the court has said that religious laws do constitute a defence against our societal laws. That’s a course that will lead to different degrees of justice, depending, of course, on your religion.

The most defenceless will be those with no religious affiliation, forced to rely solely on our societal laws for protection. Jim Nugent Victoria