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News Watch 2010

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Christian Activists Sue Attorney General Holder

Over 'Hate Crimes' Law

By Steve Thompson, Midnight in America

On October 28, 2009 President Obama signed into law 2010 National defense Authorization Act. On the surface, this seems like it could be a good piece of legislation. However, attached to this 'must have' $680 billion legislation was the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. How sneaky these democrats were to attach controversial legislation to a bill that needed to be passed. They knew that this provision, on its own, would never be passed by congress. Further, since it was part of a much larger and popular bill, it did not receive the attention from the public that it normally would have. A full story on the passing of this law can be found on the WorldNetDaily website by clicking here.

So, what is wrong with a hate crimes prevention law? There are many things wrong with it, but I will cover just two:

The motive of a crime should not be a determining factor in whether or not additional punishment is handed out. Murder is murder, regardless of the intent. If a person murders someone because he is Jewish, is that any worse, and should he be punished more, than a person murdering someone because they want to steal his coat? The fact is, a human being is dead, and the person who murdered that human being should be punished. Dead is dead. The Jewish person is no more dead than the person who is dead because of his coat. Putting a 'hate crime' label on the murder, and additional punishment, makes the statement that the Jewish life is worth more than the life taken because of a coat. Nearly all forms of murder, when you get down to it, are the result of some sort of hate.
The hate crimes prevention law opens many doors for abuse, particularly, that of free speech. Already gay rights activists groups are attempting to use this new law to stifle any opposition to their beliefs. Christians are particularly targeted. Current state hate crimes laws have already been used to unjustly attack Christians. In 2004 11 Christians, who were ministering at a homosexual festival, were arrested and accused on a state 'hate crimes' law. The country of Canada, which has a 'hate crimes' law, has had similar instances. Members of congress, the Attorney General, and the President assure us that this will not happen with this new law. However, with the growing trend in this country that anyone who opposes the gay lifestyle and same-sex marriage is homophobic and hates gay people, it will not be long before we see people imprisoned under this new law.

It was reported on February 2, by Bob Unruh of WorldNetDaily, that a civil rights lawsuit has been filed against the Attorney General over this new 'hate crimes' law. A group of Christian activists and pastors have teamed together to pursue this action alleging that it violates their civil rights. The full story on this lawsuit can be read by clicking here. The story includes some additional examples of the lunacy of this type of legislation, and how it has already been used and abused.

In closing, I would like to touch on the point of the gay community targeting Christians. A good number of them seem to think, or at least claim, that Christians hate them because of their chosen lifestyle. While there are always extremists in any group, including Christianity, this is most certainly untrue. We are taught to love, not hate. We are to hate the sin, not the sinner. However, Christians must be careful to not play a double standard and find themselves guilty of the very same thing that the 'hate crimes' laws are guilty of. Sin is sin. God does condemn homosexuality, but He also condemns sexual perversions, adultery, and sex out of wedlock. Christians often quote I Corinthians 6:9-10 to prove that homosexuals will not enter the kingdom of God. Yes, it does, but look carefully at everything it says:

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

Sin is sin, and in the end, God is will punish all sin equally.