[Roundtable] Hate Crimes? Or Thought Police coming to arrest you for your beliefs?

[Jefferis Peterson]

I don't think there has ever been a greater threat to our 1st Amendment
rights to Freedom of Religion, and the Nanny State wants to criminalize not
actions but beliefs and thoughts and expressions of faith that originate
from those beliefs.  I wonder where the ACLU is on this. They fight to
preserve rights of Nazis to spew anti-Semitism, but not the Christian who
believes the scriptures are true. It is an odd state of affairs where the
only thing that is illegal to talk about is Jesus, who must be excluded from
the public debate, but all manner of immorality is heralded as the epitome
of liberty. I thought this issue serious enough to warrant a warning that if
we do not take action to prevent it, we may go to jail simply for preaching
the whole Gospel...
Jeff :


>From Chuck Colson

http://www.afa.net/colson050107.asp

Last week the House Judiciary Committee, egged on by radical homosexual
groups, passed what can only be called a Thought Crimes bill. It¹s called
the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. But this bill is not
about hate. It¹s not even about crime. It¹s about outlawing peaceful
speech‹speech that asserts that homosexual behavior is morally wrong.

Some say we need this law to prevent attacks on homosexuals. But we already
have laws against assaults on people and property. Moreover, according to
the FBI, crimes against homosexuals in the United States have dropped
dramatically in recent years. In 2005, out of 863,000 cases of aggravated
assault, just 177 cases were crimes of bias against homosexuals‹far less
than even 1 percent.

Another problem is that in places where hate crimes laws have been passed,
hate crimes have been defined to include verbal attacks‹and even peaceful
speech. The Thought Police have already prosecuted Christians under hate
crimes laws in England, Sweden, Canada, and even in some places in the
United States.

If this dangerous law passes, pastors who preach sermons giving the biblical
view of homosexuality could be prosecuted. Christian businessmen who refuse
to print pro-gay literature could be prosecuted. Groups like Exodus
International, which offer therapy to those with unwanted same-sex
attraction, could be shut down.


In classic 1984 fashion, peaceful speech will be redefined as a violent
attack worthy of punishment.

This is the unspoken goal of activist groups. We know this because during
the debate over the bill last week, Congressman Mike Pence (R) of Indiana
offered a Freedom of Religion amendment to this hate crimes bill. It asked
that nothing in this law limit the religious freedom of any person or group
under the Constitution. The committee refused to adopt it. It also refused
to adopt amendments protecting other groups from hate crimes‹like members of
the military, who are often targets of verbal attacks and spitting. They
also shot down amendments that would protect the homeless and senior
citizens, also often targeted by criminals. Nothing doing, the committee
said‹the only group they wanted to protect: homosexuals.

Clearly, the intent of this law is not to prevent crime, but to shut down
freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of thought. Its passage
would strike at the very heart of our democracy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This law does not define "sexual orientation," leaving open the definition
of the term. What are Sexual Orientations that would be protected under the
hate speech law? 
http://www.afa.net/sexualorientations.asp


Necrophilia - sexual arousal and/or activity with a corpse
 
Pederasty - Sex between an adult and a child, usually an adult male and a
male child.
 
Pedophilia - Sexual contact between an adult and a child
 
Bisexual Pedophilia ­ term used for an adult who derives sexual
gratification from sexual contact with a child without regard to the sex of
the child