You’re All Sick And Not Welcome In The Golden Temple.

Okay, it’s bad enough that religious figures in our own country are trying to influence politics, and we all know where the Pope stands, but now Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, chief Cleric of the Golden Temple and the Sikh equivalent of the Pope, has waded into the issue. CBC has a bit of coverage here. CTV has a bit of rival coverage. Actually, it's all over the place.

"Same-sex marriage originates from a sick mind," he said. "The trend needs to be curbed."

Once again, we are talking about Civil marriage. Vedanti is entirely free to bar Sikh priests the world over from solemnizing same-sex marriages. As the Sikh religious leader, he has the religious authority to do so, and the obligation to do so if his studies of religious text and tradition indicate that’s the way the world should be viewed. Secular politics is another matter, particularly in another country.

One wonders if maybe Vedanti isn’t a bit petulant that Martini cancelled his visit to the Golden Temple city of Amritsar so that he could drop in on tsunami-devastated Sri Lanka and Thailand. Poor baby.

I know we’ve got the largest Sikh population outside of India, and I welcome the ethnic variety in our country, but if you’re going to interfere in politics, worry about what’s going on in your own country.