Re: Liberals vow to pass same-sex bill even if it delays summer recess, June 22.

The Liberal government's determination to press ahead and pass legislation legalizing same-sex marriage is making many Canadians unhappy.

If Canada is to make such a major moral decision, it should be made by all Canadians in a plebiscite, not decided by a minority government that barely can outmanoeuvre a non-confidence vote. Instead of ramming this legislation through Parliament, MPs should give Canadians a breathing space and give us the opportunity to decide.

Most Canadians have no problem accepting homosexuality, however openly it is expressed. So why, then, do such a large number of people object to same-sex marriage? There are two very good reasons.

The first is that demanding the right for gays to marry is more than a request for acceptance -- it is a demand for approbation. If we pass legislation redefining marriage, it means that we, as a nation, believe that homosexuality is morally right. That is not the case. Most Canadians are willing to accept the right of individuals to make their own moral and sexual decisions, but many people still believe that sexuality and morality are connected.

The second reason, and the most important, is that a lot of Canadians don't like this legislation because our government is giving away something that doesn't belong to it. Marriage is a sacrament in virtually every system of belief. Far from separating church and state -- this legislation puts the Liberal party squarely in the pulpit, and obviates both the sacred significance of marriage and the freedom of religious bodies to declare and define the sacred practice of marriage.

The Liberal government has neither the mandate, nor the authority, to re-engineer what is both a religious sacrament and the most ancient of human institutions.

Christopher L. Ivey,

Ottawa