Posted by
Average Voter on Thursday, November 05, 2009 6:56:25 PM
This story is from the Telegraph, linked through the
N.Y. Times.
An executive has won the right to sue his employer on the basis that he was unfairly dismissed for his green views after a judge ruled that environmentalism had the same weight in law as religious and philosophical beliefs.
In a landmark ruling, Mr Justice Michael Burton said that "a belief in man-made climate change ... is capable, if genuinely held, of being a philosophical belief for the purpose of the 2003 Religion and Belief Regulations".
Well, what do you say to that exactly? And just in case you are not clear...
"This philosophical belief that is based on scientific evidence has now been given the same protection in law as faith-based religious belief.
"Belief in man-made climate change is not a new religion, it is a philosophical belief that reflects my moral and ethical values and is underlined by the overwhelming scientific evidence."
His lawyer Shah Qureshi, head of employment law at Bindmans LLP, argued that if the ruling had gone against them, "the end result would be that the more evidence there is to support your views, the less likely it would be for you to enjoy protection against discrimination".
Discrimination? So, in the U.K. you cannot disciminate based on sex, age, religion, or your environmental views. This is a window into the future of the U.S. in five years. Maybe less if they pass cap and trade.
Pretty nifty, eh?