Hateful Conservatives Beware

Stop what you are doing! Get a cup of coffee, and Write Your Officials today.

Hearings on H.R. 1592—“The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act” began on Tuesday, April 17th. A vote is expected this week (April 23-27) by the U.S. House on the hate crimes bill. The bill will empower the federal government to prosecute 'hate-crimes' based on a person's "sexual orientation, gender identity, gender and disability."

There is a companion bill in the Senate, S. 1102.

This bill, H.R. 1592, is supported by the ACLU, and by most liberals who thrive on generating victims for the hate-crime industry. Naturally, I’m opposed to hate crime legislation for the following reasons.

(1) Any violent crime is an act of hate!
(2) We have sufficient laws in America to deal with violent crime.
(3) The FBI’s most recent statistics show that hate crimes are on the decline in the U.S.
(4) There is no need for this kind of legislation unless, of course, you are attempting to pander to certain segments of the population.

Setting up special categories of protected victims is the best way to keep the flames of hatred fanned and to further divide this country. Additionally, there is a slippery-slope that liberals always deny. What is called a hate crime today will eventually lead to hate speech legislation and then thought crime legislation. Think about it. Have you even known any liberal who was given an inch and didn’t want to take every last mile???

There has been a great deal of controversy over this particular bill – much of it generated by concerns that the bill might jeopardize freedom of speech and the religious freedoms of Christians in particular. I’ve read a lot of hype generated on both sides of this issue. It’s pretty hard to find a balanced opinion about the real implications of this bill.

Three issues are of great concern to many Christians and conservatives.
(1) This bill will expand coverage of hate crime victims to include gender, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and individuals with disabilities.
(2) Punishment of politically incorrect bias appears to be the ultimate goal of this legislation.
(3) It will also give incentives (grants) to state and local authorities to bring in the Feds.

As a conservative who often rails against the abuses of the left, I’m equally appalled when I read the words of so-called Christians on the right who use defamatory statements against any group of people. For example, Traditional Values Coalition has a form you can fill out and send to your congressional representatives concerning H.R. 1592. But do you really want to send a letter to your congressional representatives from an alert entitled “Homosexual/Drag Queen Hate Crimes Bill On Fast Track”? This is defamatory and abusive!

Most conservative Christians believe that homosexuality is a sin against God. But, call me old fashioned, I’ve always believed that it is our Christian duty to hate the sin but never the sinner! Ok, I’m not going to sermonize any further here. Suffice it to say, that defamatory language is not only un-Christian, it gives fuel to the left’s argument that all Christians, all conservatives, etc., are hate-filled right-wing zealots!

To alleviate fears many Christians had that the bill would restrict religious expression opposing homosexuality, proponents of the bill added the following provision which led to endorsement of the bill by the ACLU.

“In a prosecution for an offense under this section, evidence of expression or associations of the defendant may not be introduced as substantive evidence at trial, unless the evidence specifically relates to that offense. However, nothing in this section affects the rules of evidence governing impeachment of a witness.”

Hmmmmm. . .”unless the evidence specifically relates to that offense”??? That doesn’t sound like much assurance or protection, does it???

According to an April 12th article in Civil Rights (a hate-crimes industry giant):

"Senators Edward Kennedy, D. Mass., and Gordon Smith, R. Ore., announced the introduction of a comprehensive hate crimes bill at an April 12 press conference in the Capitol. . .

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crime Prevention Act (LLEHCPA) will expand coverage to include gender, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and individuals with disabilities. It also provide grants to state and local communities to combat violent crimes committed by juveniles, train law enforcement officers, or to assist in state and local investigations and prosecutions of bias motivated crimes. . .

The ACLU noted that it was the first hate crimes bill for which they had ever offered full support. The Interfaith Alliance said that many different faiths "speak with dramatic unanimity in vehemently condemning hate" and that passage of the bill will "send a clear message about America's values."

Yes it will send a clear message about America’s “NEW” values.
(1) The Federal government will dictate your new values to you.
(2) Your religious beliefs may be in direct conflict with “NEW” American values.
(3) You may not be free to express your religious beliefs if such beliefs could be viewed as an incitement to violence.

But when it comes to the actual need for this hate crime legislation, even these lefty zealots had to admit within the same article that:

"Recent data shows that hate violence continues to be a problem in the U.S. FBI statistics for 2005 showed a slight decline in hate crimes (about 7,163, down from 7,649 in 2004.), but major cities like New York City, Phoenix and states like Alabama and Mississippi did not report."

Read the text of H.R. 1592—“The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act” (To provide Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute hate crimes, and for other purposes.)

Join the Stop the ACLU coalition

"If you support the cause of the Coalition and believe hate crimes legislation
is dangerous for America, then you must act today. This bill (HB 1592), along with the so-called comprehensive immigration “reform” bill, also just introduced (no doubt with the ACLU’s full support as well), are likely the most critical pieces of legislation that absolutely must be defeated in this Congressional session. We will cover the immigration legislation sometime next week. But both are extremely important. If we fail to defeat either one or both, it will further set America back to the point we may lose our greatness and distinctness as a nation forever. "

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