Thought control

For those keeping score at home, the House just passed a bill to make "Hate Crimes" a federal offense. Of course they couldn't get it passed on its own so "in typical Washington fashion, as an amendment tacked on to the National Defense Authorization Act."

So what is the issue? Are we just a bunch of red-neck hateful people? Or are Hate Crimes really about controlling "hate" or more about controlling "thought"?

That still leaves us with "why?" Do crimes against homosexuals go unpunished? Are people free to attack gays with impunity?

Of course not. There are already laws against assaults on people and property. Moreover, according to the FBI, crimes against homosexuals in the United States have dropped dramatically. In 2005, out of 863,000 cases of aggravated assault, just 177 cases were crimes of bias against homosexuals—far less than 1 percent.

So we needed a law to federalize this less than 1%. But still, shouldn't assaults motivated by hate face stronger punishment? Only if you are part of the "special class". Other assaults based on hate are just run of the mill crimes.

This bill would give the federal government jurisdiction over local criminal offenses believed to be "motivated by prejudice." Not just any prejudice, mind you, but prejudice based on "race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of the victim."

Watch those phrases sexual orientation and gender identity, because they tell you which groups are pushing hardest for this bill. The committee rejected amendments that would include other groups, like veterans, the homeless, and senior citizens.

And since when did the freedom of speech get removed from the First Amendment?

We've seen where laws like this can lead: Hate crimes have been defined to include verbal attacks—and even peaceful speech. The Thought Police have already prosecuted Christians under hate-crime laws in England, Sweden, and Canada. And in Pennsylvania, 11 Christians were prosecuted under the state's hate crime law for preaching on a street corner against homosexuality.

Seems our "representatives" in DC are getting so bad, we look forward to when they are on holiday. My wife asked if this bill had gotten ratified by the Senate yet, and when I answered no, it was the weekend and they weren't working, she replied, "good". So there is still time to contact your senators and let them know we are watching.