Government= Bad. Religion=Bad. Government+Religion= Very, Very Bad.

Watching the case against Dr. Charles Smith unfold is a horror story worthy of the big screen. I first knew of him years ago in relation the case about a woman who was accused of murdering her own daughter. The woman claimed that a dog had killed her daughter, and she was later exonerated. You would think that would be enough to call for an investigation, but Dr. Smith had a history of questionable calls.

This shame is a lesson in how the status of profession, combined with a blind bureaucracy and a hard-wired passion to lay blame for children's death, led to this outrage. I hadn't considered the role religion played in this mess, that is until today:

"For my part, I put undue faith in Dr. Smith," Dr. Cairns told the Goudge commission. "Another pathologist would have been caught much sooner. He came across as a very sincere individual. I put too much emphasis on his religious aspect."

Yes. Well. Right.

Because religious people have never done anything wrong, and are blessed with an intelligence and insight that non-religious people lack.

If there is a hell, (which I don't think there is -- with the exception of the 401 on a rainy Tuesday during rush hour after you've had a tall double double and a raisin bran muffin) then Dr. Smith will surely be confronted by the souls of all the dead children he sought to protect.

These things tend to swing the other way as well.

"Sorrill, an ordained United Church minister, has personalized licence plates that read "REV JO." But after almost 20 years, the Ministry of Transportation is revoking them over fears they encourage dangerous driving."

I know when I'm driving and I see the word Rev, I immediately kick it into fourth and start bombing down the highway. I also obey any and all billboards, which would explain why I use Rogers home phone while chewing Excel and drinking Crown Royal.

But wait, it gets better:

"Her displeasure was doubled when a ministry employee later told her on the phone that her revised idea for a plate, REVRNDJO, was also unsuitable, saying the ministry wanted to avoid any sign of bias toward Christianity over other religions."

Well, we wouldn't want that. Apparently having dumb-ass puns on your plates is still OK.