Hate Crimes Bill Introduced
Posted on April 15, 2007
The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 has recently been put before the House by Ted Kennedy and a RINO from Oregon. The ACLU welcomes it here. It is designed to create “hate crimes” throughout the USA.
Christian groups have opposed it vociferously but I am not sure why. Read the bill here and you will see that it concerns “bodily injury” only. I cannot imagine Christians going out and bashing queers. Romans chapter 1 tells us that judgment belongs to God in the matter. Stoning “men who lie with men” went out with Leviticus.
I take the usual libertarian view that actual acts harmful to others are all that should be punished so whether the crime is motivated by greed, hate, lust or whatever seems irrelevant to me but I can see no free speech issues in the bill.
The ACLU says that the bill contains “clear protections for free speech and free association” but that is a lie. The bill does not mention speech at all. But if the First Amendment does not protect free speech, putting it in a bill would be irrelevant anyway.
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4 Responses to “Hate Crimes Bill Introduced”
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Why do we need a “hate crime” bill when we can just set the punishment to fit the crimes. I see no reason to make it a worse crime against a particular group unless you really want to allow lesser sentences against the “non-protected” group.
If someone uses certain words directed toward another and then a physical altercation ensues, I know of cases where hate crime enhancers were included in the charge of disorderly conduct and raised the penalty from 90 days for disorderly to a matter of years.
All for using ’speech’ that was objectionable to the recipient. Seems like a free speech issue to me. Granted, I haven’t seen the bill you refer to but I would be surprised if authors of such bills don’t check with each other.
Look at Canada. What are the ramifications of the hate crime already passed there? Are Christians allowed to speak against homosexuality and to promote the truths of the Bible? No. They are being fined and even arrested. ACLU and liberals are trying to silence Christians in many ways in the US. (allowing no mention of God anywhere, not allowing school vouchers {keep brainwashing kids from Kindergarten on}, stop Christian ideas on the airways, hate crimes, etc,). They want their way of life to be the only way by silencing anyone with different values. The liberal judges are making the laws read anyway they want, taking away our freedom of speech, freedom of life, equal justice for all, etc. The fact that Jews and Christians are the only passionately hated of the world religions and the only ones that the opposing group tries to eradicate makes me believe the truths of the Bible even more. (Why do they care what we talk about?)
Christians opposed the hate crime bill because of the fear that once it becomes the law it only takes the change in definition of a hate crime from physical violence causing death or injury to propagating “hate crime philosophy” and start punishing those who simply do not agree with the ideas of certain group. This would make christians criminals just because they see for example gay lifestyle as sinful and The Bible hate literature, which in fact contains many passages ,both in Old and New Testaments, that not only condemn homosexuality but call it abomination.
Now, you and I know that Christians are forbidden by Jesus any acts of violence even against enemies but that might not be taken into an account as it happened many times before in history.