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Christian hysteria over hate crimes

Did you know that Christianity is under attack? Did you know that any day now that malicious Congress will pass legislation that will humiliate, silence, fine, or even jail pastors, and maybe even all Christians? Did you know that this is happening already in those secular foreign places like Canada and Sweden?

I sure didn’t. But thanks to Coral Ridge Ministries, I do now, and if I send the good Dr. D. James Kennedy a “generous” gift, if I “give today while we still have time,” then I can help stop this evil.

But this is all malarky. The melodramatic voiceover begins by saying that there’s not just one Hate Crimes bill before Congress, but three! Why is that scarier? Evidently, Coral Ridge Ministries assumes its audience is stupid enough to believe that three bills makes it three times as likely something will pass.

Actually, I count five bills, though two are really the same one traveling through both chambers (at the bottom you’ll find them summarized, with links to the texts). HR 1164 would make the Attorney General include crimes based on gender in hate crimes statistics. HR 2217 would add the homeless to hate crimes categories. HR 254 and HR 1592, which passed the House last May and is now in the Senate as S 1105, add gender and sexual preference to the list of hate crimes, and amend sentencing guidelines.

The Coral Ridge Ministries ad doesn’t state it, but what’s got them up in arms is that this proposed legislation adds gender and sexual orientation to the hate crimes categories. This ad presents the matter as if Christians who are hostile to homosexuality will be punished for their beliefs and words. This is deceitful representation. The proposed legislation is about identifying and punishing perpetrators of violent crime linked to prejudice.

Dr. Dobson and Focus on the Family opposes this hate crimes legislation on similar grounds. Neither Coral Ridge or Focus on the Family give their audience any text from the legislation. They can’t, for that would expose their mendacity.

It’s one thing to debate the merits of Hate Crimes legislation. It’s another to use the issue as a fear mongering tactic to demonize political enemies (they are out to get you), and lure money from the audience.

To paraphrase Senator Goldwater, I think every good Christian ought to kick Coral Ridge Ministries in the butt.

HR 254: David’s Law
Title: To enhance Federal enforcement of hate crimes, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [TX-18] (introduced 1/5/2007) Cosponsors (3)
Latest Major Action: 1/5/2007 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

HR 1164: Hate Crime Statistics Improvement Act of 2007
Title: To amend the Hate Crime Statistics Act to require the Attorney General to acquire data about crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on gender.
Sponsor: Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] (introduced 2/16/2007) Cosponsors (6)
Latest Major Action: 3/19/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

HR 1592: Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007
Title: To provide Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute hate crimes, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Conyers, John, Jr. [MI-14] (introduced 3/20/2007) Cosponsors (171)
Related Bills: H.RES 364, S.1105
Latest Major Action: 5/7/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
House Reports: 110-113

HR 2217: Hate Crimes Against the Homeless Enforcement Act
Title: To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to include homeless status in the definition of “hate crime” for the purposes of Federal sentencing provisions.
Sponsor: Rep Johnson, Eddie Bernice [TX-30] (introduced 5/8/2007) Cosponsors (9)
Committees: House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 6/25/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

S 1105: Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007
Title: A bill to provide Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute hate crimes, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Kennedy, Edward M. [MA] (introduced 4/12/2007) Cosponsors (43)
Related Bills: HR 1592
Latest Major Action: 4/12/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Written by Ayschlay

2 Responses to “Christian hysteria over hate crimes”

  1. ~J~ Says:

    July 3rd, 2007 at 11:45 am
    Visit ~J~

    You’re right. It’s malarky. This is not to say that day may come, but right now it’s just a fund-raising tool for Kennedy, whoever he is.

  2. Big Mo Says:

    July 3rd, 2007 at 11:50 am
    Visit Big Mo

    Some certain Christian leaders DO go overboard when they talk politics. And I agree, the above are probably taking it too far. I haven’t investigated it too much, though.

    Have I talked about my feelings concerning hate crimes laws here before? Can’t remember. On principle, I don’t like them at all, because it’s harder to punish someone for the reason WHY they did something than for the actual fact that they did something.

    GW Bush gave an excellent explanation of his reasoning for opposing hate crimes laws during the 2nd debate here in STL in 2000, when he answered a black man who asked him about the number of executions in Texas and the James Byrd murder. Three white men had dragged Byrd, who was black, to death from their truck.

    Bush talked about the three men who had been caught, tried and found guilty of Byrd’s murder. Two men were on death row and the third was in prison for life. But the NAACP and Byrd’s daughter were running one of the most dispicable attack ads ever produced in all America’s history against Bush, claiming that because Bush did not support hate crimes laws in Texas, it was if Byrd was “being murdered all over again.”

    But then-Gov. Bush did not support it because, as he told the audience in STL, what more punishment could be done to the guilty men? Two were on death row, and the third was in prison for life with no possibility of parole. What’s more, say they had been prosecuted for hate crimes INSTEAD of the actual fact that they did it. Could a prosecutor REALLY prove intent, that they did it just because he was black?

    Very difficult to do.

    Could Matthew Shepherd’s murderers be prosecuted and put away for killing him because he was gay? Or because they actually did it?

    My point is, I do not beleive hate crime laws afford any actual protection, but just the opposite. You cannot prove that someone hates someone enough to do them violence.

    And another thing: all crime is in some way an act of hate. What makes one group of victims any more special than another group of victims? If I, as a white man, murder another white man, is my crime any less heinous and hateful than if my victim was black? Or if he was homosexual? Or Catholic?

    OK, I’ll put away my soapbox and get back to work. :)