New Hate Crimes Law Could Politically Target People Who Object To Homosexuality

One thing you can count on from the libs is that their sense of reasoning only makes sense to themselves and no one else. I guess the most prominent example would be taxes. They believe that taxes should always be raised so that the government always has money, but they forget that the people who pay those taxes need the money more than the government does. They also forget that when tax money goes to Washington DC, a good chunk of it stays there to make politicians and bureaucrats a little richer and less than 60 cents on the dollar actually makes back out to those who paid the tax to begin with.

Well, the libs still don't have any common sense, especially when it comes to writing legislation that promotes the agenda of one of their special interest groups. In this case, it is the gay and lesbian lobby. The new Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA), H.R. 1913, is one such case where the special interest group is considered more important than Joe and Jane Average American.

Jillian Bandes gives us some insight on this in her latest column from Town Hall:

One of the most pressing concerns is that the bill, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA), could target acts of violence that were carried out for reasons unrelated to sexual preference. Brian Walsh, senior legal research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said HCPA did not require any proof that a crime was committed because of a person’s sexual identity, so prosecution could be willy-nilly. The “amorphous standard would federalize almost all incidents of violent crime, even those that have nothing to do with bias, prejudice, or animus toward the victim because of his or her membership in a particular group,” he said.

In other words, a gay or lesbian could be the target of a completely random crime and this law would be used to inflict heavier prosecution and punishment than if the victim were a straight Christian. Now, that doesn't mean that I think such crimes should go unpunished, but it does mean that I think there should be a fair application of the law across the spectrum.

Even many Democrats are wary of what this bill could portend for the future. Read what Rep. Lamar Smith (D-TX) has to say:

“Justice will now depend on the race, gender, sexual orientation, disability or other protected status of the victim. It will allow different penalties to be imposed for the same crime,” said Rep. Lamar Smith (D-Tex.), ranking member on the Judiciary Committee. Smith also said HCPA could target those who opposed gay marriage and forms of unconventional sexual expression. “Some of my colleagues on the other side claim that the bill protects religious speech. But religious leaders could still be subjected to criminal investigations, and be reluctant to preach the teachings of their faith as a result of this bill,” said Smith.

And that brings us to the true crux of this bill. It is an attempt by the gay and lesbian lobby to stamp out speech that isn't favorable or complimentary to the gay and lesbian lifestyle. If one were to say they opposed homosexuality on moral grounds, this legislation could be used as an excuse to charge such a person with a "Hate Crime" simply for giving their own personal opinion. George Orwell couldn't have come up with a better scenario of real-world thought police.

How can I say something that many on the left would deem as far-fetched? Read on:

Republican staff pointed to an amendment that Democrats rejected during the discussion of the bill, which would have prohibited prosecution of those who simply spoke about sexual identity issues. Because of this exclusion, the prohibition against prosecuting speech had no teeth.

That amendment was killed specifically at the behest of the gay and lesbian lobby. There is no other logical reason for tossing that amendment out.

But this will be the first bill that reaches into a church to censor the content of the service.

“It’s going to cause at a critical moment in American history a chilling effect on the pulpit where we cannot preach about biblical morality and sexuality,” said Bishop Harry Jackson, senior pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md.

(Photo: Bishop Harry Jackson)

You can access the complete column on-line here:

Hate Crimes Law May Have Loopholes
Jillian Bandes
TownHall.com
April 30, 2009

Homosexual Agenda Threatens First Amendment Freedom Of Speech

There were a whole bunch of news items in the past two years about how the homosexual and lesbian lobby was trying to push through legislation that would make it a hate crime if any Christian or other churches offered any critique of the homosexual lifestyle choice. There were also an equal number of people who were concerned that such legislation threatened First Amendment freedoms of speech and religion. Then there were a number of naysayers who said that such opposition was nothing more than poltical paranoia.

Well, the situation has gone from paranoia to reality. Crystal Dixon, former associate vice-president of human resources at the University of Toledo was fired because she engaged in her First Amendment right of Freedom of Speech which was further enhanced by the Toledo Free Press exercising the First Amendment right of Freedom of the Press. You see, Ms. Dixon, as a private citizen, wrote an editorial letter to the Toledo Free Press and was subsequently fired for doing so.

Here is the story and what her letter was about. According to the Bulletin of Philadelphia:

Crystal Dixon, a high-ranking black official at the University of Toledo, was fired in May by the university because she wrote a newspaper commentary expressing her personal Christian views regarding homosexuality. Ms. Dixon was responding to an opinion article written by Michael Miller, the editor-in-chief of the Toledo Free Press titled, "Gay Rights and Wrongs." In her private editorial, Ms. Dixon objected to the comparison of "gay rights" with the civil rights struggles of blacks. "I absolutely respected Mr. Miller's right to express his opinion while at the same time, I disagreed with several of the points that he made," said Ms. Dixon on her Web site. "One of the freedoms that makes this country great and makes newspapers great is the privilege of exchanging different points of view via public print communications."

And Ms. Dixon has every right to express her opposition to the camparison of the gay lobby to civil rights activists.

Read on:

"As a black woman ... I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are 'civil rights victims,' " she wrote in the article. "Here's why. I cannot wake up tomorrow and not be a black woman. I am genetically and biologically a black woman and very pleased to be so as my Creator intended." Following the article's appearance, Ms. Dixon was placed on paid administrative leave, pending an investigation. On May 8, she was dismissed from her job.

"Dismissed from her job." For what? Being a Christian with a conscience? Exercising First Amendment freedoms?

This case is making something very clear. Radical leftist groups like the gay and lesbian lobby have no concern whatsoever for anyone else's rights; only their own. They do not care if people like Crystal Dixon are trampled down and spat upon. They seek to limit other people's freedoms under the guise of enhancing their own.

Gays and lesbians are not looking for rights. They have the same rights under the U.S. Constitution as the rest of us. They are looking for privilige and they want to obtain that privilige by limiting the freedoms of others. If Ms. Dixon loses this fight, how long will it be before someone writing a criticism of the gay and lesbian lifestyle choice is thrown in jail for some perceived "hate crime?" It won't be long at all, and we will have the first major deterioration of the rights guaranteed under the First Amendment.

You can access the complete article on-line here:

University Of Toledo Sued For Firing Christian Official
John P. Connolly
The Bulletin
December 2, 2008

And you can access Crystal Dixon's website on-line here:

Crystal Dixon

If you wish to make a tax-deductible contribution to Crystal Dixon's legal fund, you may send contributions to:

Grace In Action
Crystal Dixon Defense Fund
2902 Auburn Avenue
Toledo, OH 43606