Is it sad to you that the clergy in the U.S. are afraid of a hate-crime bill?

Question

I think it speaks volumes of the material that is emphasized in the gospel, and that which is ignored.

"Critics of the bill say it would have a chilling effect on clergy who preach against homosexual behavior.

"We believe that this legislation will criminalize our freedom of speech and our ability to preach the gospel," said Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church in Lanham, Maryland.

Supporters disagree. The bill, they say, applies only to violent crime and, in fact, specifically addresses freedom-of-speech issues.

"Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this Act, shall be construed to prohibit any expressive conduct protected from legal prohibition by, or any activities protected by the free speech or free exercise clauses of, the First Amendment to the Constitution," the bill says."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/03/hate.crimes.bill/index.html

Your thoughts?

What really is sad, arcanum, is that if you truly read Jesus' words, you will clearly see he is was a liberal. Not a pharisee like you.

Answer 1

Hate sucks. Ignorance sucks. Ignorance of hatred by those who profess to follow a teacher of love sucks.

Answer 2

As long as they don't preach violence, they have a right to preach what they want in churches, (as long as Clinton isn't in the White House, then they send in armored vehicles and tear gas). Separiton of church and state means the church doesn't belong in government, and the government doesn't belong in church. The hate crimes bill will allow same sex marriages to be forced into churches, in violation of their religous beliefs, it has nothing to do with government recognition of civil unions. Tolerance is a two way street, a person or religion only deserves that tolerance they show for others, you can say they are wrong, they can say you are wrong, neither party has a right to sue or have the other party arrested for that. There are countries that do, where they execute people for the "crimes" of being gay or wiccan, etc. and these are the same people the "hate crimes bill" backers are so willing to appease. Look up "sharia".

Answer 3

I believe that everybody, including clergy, has freedom of speech.

However, there's another inequality. What's stopping you or I from starting our own religion and getting tax-free status like organized religion? Why can't I start the Church of Crypto the Tax-Evader and actually get a tax exemption like organized religion? If I tried such a thing, the IRS would arrest me post-haste, but blatant crooks like Benny Hinn and Jack van Impe can rip off thousands of little old ladies and get a freakin' tax break from Big Brother as well. Very damned unfair, and probably unconstitutional as hell...

Answer 4

fast-tracked congressional plan to add special protections for homosexuals to federal law would turn "thoughts, feelings, and beliefs" into criminal offenses and put Christians in the bull's-eye, according to opponents.

"H.R. 1592 is a discriminatory measure that criminalizes thoughts, feelings, and beliefs [and] has the potential of interfering with religious liberty and freedom of speech," according to a white paper submitted by Glen Lavy, of the Alliance Defense Fund.

"As James Jacobs and Kimberly Potter observed in Hate Crimes, Criminal Law, and Identity Politics, 'It would appear that the only additional purpose [for enhancing punishment of bias crimes] is to provide extra punishment based on the offender's politically incorrect opinions and viewpoints,'" said Lavy.

The proposal has been endorsed by majority Democrats on the committee, and already has 137 sponsors in the full House, making it possible it could be voted on in a matter of days or weeks.

(Story continues below)

"This is a terrible thing, to criminalize thought or emotion or even speech," Lavy told WND, referring to H.R. 1592, now pending at the committee level in the U.S. House. Democrats there have been turning back amendments that would strip it of its worst provisions, according to an observer.

Bishop Harry Jackson, chairman of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, said the plan, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Protection Act of 2007, is no more than "a surreptitious attempt by some in Congress to strip the nation of religious freedom and the ability to preach the gospel from our church pulpits."

"It will stamp all over our doctrine and practice of our faith," he said. "We believe what the Bible says. If you start there we've got a major problem."

Secondly, it unfairly restricts the expression of fair opinion by Christians, he told WND. "If anything, gays are getting undue deference awarded to them by the courts. That's why we have the same-sex marriage fight and that kind of thing."

Rev. Louis Sheldon, director of the Traditional Values Coalition, which represents 43,000 churches across the nation, told WND that the Democrats sponsoring and supporting the issue "have sold out to the homosexual agenda."

He said churches need to awaken to the dangers of having pastors, lay leaders, or even those sitting in the pews sent to jail for their biblical views. "When they [realize they] could go to jail for preaching the Word of God, they'll be concerned," he told WND.

Answer 5

I don't believe in hate or even the hate under the guise of religion . thank goodness sometimes real justice can prevent
the ignorant condemnation of people against their human rights and still allow religious freedom of belief less the commission of crimes against humanity in the name of those beliefs . Remember the two biggest mass murderers of all times Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin were from religious
backrounds .

Answer 6

I don't understand why we need to put any certain people under protection with a hate crimes bill. If someone hurts someone, it's a hate crime. They should be punished. No race, religion, sexual orientation, age, clothing, none of this should matter. Everyone who hurts someone should be punished, no matter who is hurt and who is doing the hurting. We don't need any more categories. No more divisions. We should all be the same.

Answer 7

So it is religiously OK to bash the Gay community? Did I miss something here? What about "HAte the sin and love the sinner"?

Or is intolerance the hallmark of modern Christianity?

Answer 8

What is sad is that the liberals are again acting as the thought police, and everyone who disagrees with them will be labeled a bigot.

Answer 9

it's despicable. it shows you just how diluted terms like "family values" and "the moral majority" have become when ministers are arguing for the right to use hate speech. not to mention that this is probably the only instance when many of them are campaigning FOR free speech (people speaking out against the war = unpatriotic and "dangerous"; people speaking hatefully of others = free speech).

Answer 10

The whole concept of "thought crimes" or "hate crimes" is Orwellian and Marxist.

Jesus was no liberal. He would never support abortion, sames sex acts or marriage, euthanasia etc., etc.

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