H.R. 1592, the end of civilization (let me understand - M. Gore)

Or not.

I first ran across this:

Sometime next week, the US House of Representatives could be voted on a bill that could have a huge effect on Christians and other faith based groups.The Bible clearly calls homosexuality an abomination to the Lord. (Leviticus 18:22) If a law likes this passes, it could very well mean that our liberty to preach what we believe we be a crime. I firmly believe that it is high time that Christians take a stand against bills like this.

So did the writer take this position after carefully reading the bill? Perhaps not:

Here is a portion of an email that I received from American Family Association about H.R. 1592. This will help clarify what could happen with a bill like this in place....

Other Christian news agencies have also picked up on this. Crosswalk News has written an article about it...

But if it were a Berean who were writing about this, said Berean wouldn't have relied on third party sources.

Acts 17:11 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

11Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

So, here are some excerpts from the bill:

SEC. 3. SUPPORT FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS AND PROSECUTIONS BY STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS.

(a) Assistance Other Than Financial Assistance-

(1) IN GENERAL- At the request of State, local, or Tribal law enforcement agency, the Attorney General may provide technical, forensic, prosecutorial, or any other form of assistance in the criminal investigation or prosecution of any crime that--

(A) constitutes a crime of violence;

(B) constitutes a felony under the State, local, or Tribal laws; and

(C) is motivated by prejudice based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of the victim, or is a violation of the State, local, or Tribal hate crime laws.

I must be missing something here. My religious freedom isn't being violated if the Feds are preventing me from committing crimes of violence against people who don't share my sexual orientation.

That having been said, I'm not all that thrilled about "hate crimes" in general. If a black man kills me and yells "Cracker!" while doing it, is my death more horrible than the death that would have occurred if the black man killed another black man and yelled "UCLA!" while doing it? (Hmm, maybe sports team affiliations should be included in hate crime legislation.)

High Pockets writes in a similar vein:

It really angered me that the notion regarding harassment of students for "certain" reasons was somehow more atrocious than harassment for other reasons. The concerned parent who wrote the paper said, "Suppose a sophomore viscously bullies a freshman until the victim does something horrible to himself or others. Does it make the harassment less serious if, when the bully says, I didn't harass that student because he is gay/black/Jewish/White/transsexual, I harassed him because he's nerdy/geeky/skinny/, or because he's a freshman". How did the school official respond, "Oh, those cases of harassment are handled separately." This is a man representing an extension of the Government, and I was furious. I feel that HR 1592 reinforces his opinion!

And High Pockets gets a Depeche Mode reference in:

Harassment is Harassment, Violence is Violence, and People are People.

hr1592

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