New Hate Crimes bill to Target Christian Preachers?

There is currently a bill in the House of Representatives that would expand the hate crimes protections to homosexuals.

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 (H.R. 1592) would expand the federal definition of hate crimes to include violence against a person because of his or her “actual or perceived” sexual orientation or “gender identity.”

Under the bill, people who attack others out of “hatred” for their race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability would be committing a federal offense.

Now you may say that it is good to protect homosexuals from being victims of hate crimes, no-one should be a victim of any crime. Now while I agree that it is true that no-one should be victimized by crime, why should there be a greater penalty given to a man who assaults a homosexual, than to a man that assaults a heterosexual? Aren’t both crimes equally appalling? Where are the heterosexual’s rights?

But looking beyond this, there are many people who believe that this is another attack on Christianity. That this could be used against preachers who proclaim that homosexuality is wrong.

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) proposed an amendment protecting freedom of religion: “Nothing in this section limits the religious freedom of any person or group under the constitution,” the amendment read, but that, too, was defeated.

Conservatives, including Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Tex.), worry that religious leaders who denounce homosexuality as a sin may be charged with incitement under the legislation.

“By refusing to accept this amendment the Democrats on this committee have proven their purpose, to remove freedom of religion from the U.S. Constitution,” said Sheldon.

“It is evident what HR 1592 is about,” Sheldon added.

Not only freedom of religion, but freedom of speech also. What is happening in this country when there is a chance you could be charged with a felony for speaking your beliefs? This is truly scary stuff being proposed here. This is not about whether you believe homosexuality is right or not, it’s about being able to express your opinion about it, whether it is politically correct or not.

“It is not about homosexuals and cross dressers suffering with no food, shelter or jobs, it is about preventing Bible-believing people and pastors from speaking the truth. It is about punishing them so they will not dare to speak the truth. It is about threatening them with prison so they won’t dare speak the truth.”

This is not the first time religious freedom has come under attack in the recent past. Just read this and this for two very recent examples.

So why all this recent animosity toward Christians? The answer is obvious, because this is an election season, and Christianity runs counter to liberal beliefs. If it runs counter to liberal beliefs, it must be criminalized. They can’t win in a debate so they must criminalize any behavior that may undermine their goal to win the whitehouse.

I bet you never thought you could ever be charged with a felony in the United States of America for speaking your mind, of for that matter practicing your religious beliefs.