We are often told that "hate crime" legislation is only intended to protect homosexuals (and other "minority" groups).
On principle, "hate crime" legislation is not only unnecessary but un-American.
If someone murders another person, they have committed an egregious crime worthy of full punishment under the law. Whether the murderer "hated" the victim is irrelevant. Whether the murderer killed the victim based on the victim's race or sexual practices is also irrelevant. Murder is the crime, and it should be prosecuted vigorously, regardless of the underlying motive.
But hate crime legislation isn't only associated with murder. It's applicable to a host of other crimes, and may be applicable to actions which today are not considered crimes--actions which may constitute a judgement or preference.
Criminal law should be based on actions, not opinions. Under the precepts of Christianity--the worldview upon which our American system is based--we face criminal prosecution based on our actions, not our opinions.
God certainly intends that we not hate one another; Jesus made that very clear. But none of us, save God, is able to see the heart and the mind, to know the true motivations and judge them accordingly. The heart is an eternal matter, while God has delegated criminal judgement of the actions to human government.
I would rather that no one hated another person based on their skin color, their ethnicity, or even their sexual practices. But criminal prosecution on the basis of thoughts or opinions is outside the purview of human justice.
If we insist on criminal prosecution based on thought, then we will have opened a Pandora's Box of Orwellian proportions. No one in their right mind should want that.
But there is another danger we face from "hate crime" legislation: the subjugation of the First Amendment.
Though proponents of hate crime laws deny this eventual end, such laws have already been used in other countries to quash freedom. Focus on the Family cannot broadcast radio shows in Canada which discuss homosexuality in a negative light (so much for the concept freedom of speech). Other religious groups in Canada are not able to speak out about religious matters. Foster parents in Great Britain are not allowed to continue caring for children unless they pledge not to speak out against homosexuality; children in the UK have even been placed in harm's way because of fear of being branded a hate criminal. People in England are being harassed by the police for simply expressing opposition to immoral behavior.
Think that can't happen here in the United States?
From WorldNetDaily:
A principal in a Massachusetts school district with a well-established reputation of promoting homosexuality to students has written to parents to tell them distributing "religious materials" during the school's annual observance of the pro-homosexual "Day of Silence" is not appropriate.
The letter from Michael Jones of Lexington, Mass., High School also confirms "hate speech" is "subject to legal constraints" and messages communicated through slogan T-shirts, buttons or stickers that express "condemnation" are "discouraged." Students with such a message will be counseled by school officials to meet the guidelines of the school handbook, he wrote.
Free speech is not allowed in this public school, but promotion of an immoral and unhealthy lifestyle is considered ok. The message is also clear that speaking negatively of homosexuality can be considered "hate speech."
This type of stance is not only immoral and unconstitutional, it's completely un-American in its philosophy.
Unfortunately we cannot rely on the Constitution as a bulwark to protect us anymore. The Tenth Amendment is only a memory. The Second Amendment has been undermined and under assault for years. John McCain's Incumbent Protection Act, aka Campaign Finance Reform, has blasted a hole in the First Amendment.
When a people--especially it's leaders--no longer respect the authority of the Constitution, that Constitution can no longer be relied on to preserve our freedoms.
If good people do not take the time to fight assaults on our freedoms, those freedoms will soon be a thing of the past.
1 comments:
The entire "hate crimes" contingent is made up of the pro-homosexual lobby that seeks to enact extra-constitutional protections for a select minority. The egregiousness of simple murder or assault will be diminished as a result, and the most severe punishmnet will be reserved for "hate crimes." I can hear the defense attorney now, "Yes, all the evidence is that he killed his neighbor, but the prosecution has failed to prove that he hated him. So, if there is no hate, you must abate."
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