I was listening to an interesting discussion, via podcast and MP3, on London talk-radio, a medium bereft of "ħeqq, hu, opinjoni, hu, ħi",although for all that, instances of verbal and mental insufficiency do make themselves heard too.

The question being asked concerned whether a seriously Christian woman had the right to expect that her (local council) employer should not require her to perform civil ceremonies for gay couples. Gays have been given the right to formalise their relationships, in other words, get married, and this woman apparently has some sort of conscientious objection to participating in gays getting hitched.

If she had resorted to quitting her job because she had moral objections to acting within the civil law, I would be the first to applaud her. I'd have called her a darn fool, but I would have applauded her.

But where does this woman get off demanding that special arrangements be made for her and her ultra-Christian conscience? If she doesn't like the heat, she should get a job outside the kitchen and there's an end to it.

Religious niceties that are not directly conducive to safeguarding the rights of innocent third parties have no place in the temporal world. Doctors are allowed to opt out of performing abortions if their personal belief system prevents them, and that's fine, because there is an innocent third party involved.

A marriage registrar who doesn't want to marry consenting adults because they happen to be of the same sex, on the other hand, can't impose her will on anyone, because it's only her own, selfish, interests that she is seeking to protect.

What was worrying, additionally, was that, apparently, some elements of the media were saying that the Christian lady was right. These elements are the same elements that bluster about how Moslem women should not be allowed to opt out of selling alcohol in supermarkets.

On humour

I sometimes wish I had the analytical and statistical skills to carry out a study of the correlation between lacking a sense of humour and being an MLP elf.

Any budding Ph.D. in sociology (can you actually get a Ph.D. in that particular 'ology?) will find plenty of raw material in the Comments section that runs under my blog in the electronic The Times.

No sooner did I start to do my job last week, seeking to keep Dr Joseph Muscat on the straight and narrow, at the same time doing him the great favour of highlighting the traits which tend to make the right-thinking among us cringe more than somewhat, than the heavens opened and all manner of effluent was poured on my hapless bonce.

Apparently, I am a running dog lackey of the dastardly Nationalists, bent on not giving the poor lamb a chance, dragging his family into my heinous web of insult and intolerance, demonstrating that I am nothing more than an ignorant, crypto-fascist fat slob (so much for the diet) who fails to appreciate the sublime awesomeness of the MLP's new hero.

What is it about your common or garden MLP apologist that he (it's almost always a he) just can't stomach anyone extracting the michael from his sacred cows?

I mean to say, Dr Muscat's performance when he made his triumphal entry into the Glass Palace (all he lacked was an ass to ride on, though a few un-Christian souls would have cracked that there must have been one) was the most fertile of fertile grounds for people like me to spread the seed of inanity and hilarity.

Not to put too fine a point on it, people like Joe Muscat are just made to have fun poked at them. All politicians are equally at risk of their ego being jabbed, but some, like Orwell's pigs, are more equal than others and he who makes ludicrous judgment calls about bringing his infant twins and wife into play makes himself even more equal than the already more equal pigs.

I suppose I should get some consolation that the lack of a sense of humour isn't confined to the political commentary scene.

You might have spotted that rather hilarious video of St George (the plaster one, not the real one) taking a tumble that's going around - you can access it on the website if not.

The comment-storm that met its publication by The Times is wondrous to behold.

I'm quite sympathetic with the St George Fan Club, truth be told, but, seriously, some of the people who got onto their high horse about this really do need to get themselves a life, and then some.

It's said that it's a mark of breeding and a rounded education, to say nothing of having a balanced outlook on life, to be able to find some levity in most things.

Those that don't, sadly, don't know what they're missing; they go around being angry at everything and everyone all the time.

imbocca@gmail.com, www.timesofmalta.com/blogs