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S.909, Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, has been a topic of much controversy, especially, over the last several weeks. Should a particular group be able to have such a protected status that God can't have His say? Of course not! However, that's the stark reality of what will be attempted if the hate-crimes bill (in its current form) passes in the Senate. God's voice, which man is already attempting to muffle, is now under the threat of being completely silenced. Though it is merely a threat; it is an insult to God for His creation to try to silence His voice. As the word says in Job 40:2, (NIV): "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? Let him who accuses God answer Him!" God help the person on the other side of that conversation! Oops...there's no help available since God is the one they are contending against.
According to the Bible, homosexuality is wrong, but so is fornication. Any straight person having sex outside of marriage is sinning as well. The problem that Christians are having with this bill is it seeks to put homosexuality at such a protected status that even God can't touch the issue. Any pastor who is a real pastor is not going to ignore what God says to preach in favor of man. Are straight fornicators any more comfortable in the pews when the word is being preached about their sin? Are adulterers singing "Glory Hallelujah" when their actions are being exposed as wrong? If somebody in the congregation hears a sermon and decides since lying is a sin, they are going to kill every liar they know - should this be considered a "hate crime?" Would the pastor be hauled off to jail for inciting the crime? That is what is so ridiculous about this legislation. It is an infringement on the right of Christians to hear the true word of God without editing. It is also a form of bullying pastors into preaching a false doctrine. The word of God is complete and those who don't preach the word in its fullness are false teachers.
There is no doubt that harsh consequences should ensue for anybody committing crimes with the intent or result of intimidation, harassment, physical injury or death. Nobody is safe in a society that allows that kind of anarchy. Hate is an extreme emotion that should be reserved for how we feel about sin. God hates sin and Christians should be just as passionate about hating it. That's not an excuse to treat anyone wrong because while we hate sin, we do not hate the sinner. We have a lot of nerve if we do. Jesus died for the sins of the world. He loved us so much that He took our sins to the cross. We all had a hand in crucifying Him, but yet He still loves us. The word says in Romans 5:8, (NIV): "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Christians are to love their neighbors as we love ourselves. Romans 13:10 (NIV) says, "Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." Anybody seeking to do harm to someone simply because they are a homosexual, a fornicator, a liar, an adulterer, or operating in any sin; is not operating in love. They are fulfilling their own sinful fleshly impulses, which are not Christian.
Comments
People err when assuming that expanding the hate crimes statute to include sexual orientation (meaning Gay AND Straight, by the way) will "criminalize" a person’s thoughts or beliefs. The current hate crimes law has been on the books since 1969, and NEVER over the past 40 years has someone been prosecuted for expressing prejudice against members of a race or a religious group. Christian pastors have been invoking Scripture against non-Christians for as long as there have been Christians, and the hate crimes statute has never been used against them.
But there is a BIG difference between expressing personal prejudice against a group, and being motivated by that prejudice to attack a person’s person or property. I don’t care if Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Sean Hannity or Lou Sheldon hurl their anti-Gay invective until the cows come home; but if someone uses Scripture as a justification for beating up someone who is Gay, that’s a different story.
Likewise when it comes to delineating between different crimes against property: There’s a big moral and ethical difference between someone who spraypaints a "tag" on a highway overpass, and someone who spraypaints swastikas on the front of a synagogue.
Until conservatives mount a concerted effort to repeal the federal hate crimes statute that has been in effect for past 40 years, I’ll continue to see their arguments against the legislation now being considered as pretty disingenuous.
The bill addresses violent acts, not words or thoughts. The claim that preachers will go to jail for proclaiming the word of the Bible is a lie. All this bill does is add LGBT people to the existing hate-crimes laws. Those laws protect people on the basis of their *religion*, race, ethnicity, disability, and other such characteristics. It does not put LGBT people into some "special protected class", but merely gives them the same protections other people now enjoy.
the Anti-Defamation league of b'nai b'rith is behind this. There goal is to criminalize Christianity in the world. The leader of the ADL Abe Foxman believes the New Testament is hate speech.
Check out www.truthtellers.org to learn about the ADL's goal of destroying the free speech of Christians.
The homosexual lobby does not have the power or influence to carry out this hate crimes agenda. The zionist Jews at the ADL have created these hate laws in Canada, and Western Europe and in those countries you cannot even read certain passages of the Bible publicly.
We can still defeat the passage of this hate crimes bill S.909. The Senate recently voted to invoke Cloture which ended the debate on S.909 and attached the bill to an unrelated defense bill S.1390. Yet, S.1390 will not be voted on until September which gives Christians ample time to pick up their phones every day and call Congress toll free at 1-877-851-6437 and protest this terrible hate crimes bill which will destroy free speech.
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