H.R. 1592 passes Judiciary Committee: Danger Ahead! April 26, 2007
Posted by Paul Edwards in Culture, Hate Crime, Homosexuality, Politics.trackback
We brought to your attention H. R. 1592 on yesterday’s program. This bill, if passed by the Congress, would severely limit the free speech rights of American citizens, especially the rights of pastors, churches, Christian radio, and pro-family organizations, to speak out against the sin of homosexuality and other sexual deviancy. Yesterday the House Judiciary Committee went through the mark up process on H.R. 1592 where admendments are offered. An amendent to protect the free speech rights of religious persons and organizations was defeated on a straight party line vote. Here is the summary from an email I just received from representatives of the Traditional Values Coalition who were present during the mark up:
Congressman Mike Pence from Indiana offered the important amendment on Freedom of Religion: “Nothing in this section limits the religious freedom of any person or group under the constitution.”
A number of Republicans spoke in support of it. But the Democrats Jerrold Nadler, Tammy Baldwin and Chairman John Conyers kept evading the issue.
Finally, Congressman Gohmert asked, “If a minister was giving a sermon, a Bible study or any kind of written or spoken message saying that homosexuality was a serious sin and a person in the congregation went out and committed a crime against a homosexual would the minister be charged with the crime of incitement?”
And finally Democrat Congressman Artur Davis from Alabama spoke up and said, “Yes.”
It is urgent that you read this update from the Traditional Values Coalition and immediately contact your congressional representative and senator by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 1-877-851-6437 or 1-202-225-3121.
This is very dangerous. They are tryiong to control everything in our life, including our thoughts and ability to honor and worship God. I will definitely call and write members of Congress regarding this issue. Thank you for bringing to light.
I also. This was very predictable. A revisit to II Timothy 3:1-17 might do us all good. We are indeed, “thoroughly furnished”!
Maybe it’s appropriate since most of our Pastors are already avoiding anything controversial. J/K This is very sad, I think part of the problem is that too many American Christians feel that they are exempt from persucution. Read history a little, our government is no longer for the people, by the people.
Jeff, Your disgust for the apostate clergy is not without foundation, however this will only harm those who “are” speaking out on Biblical principals, rather than those who are not. Please call.
This is nothing more than the sign of the times. As i’ve told my friends and family, while we look at other countries where christians are persecuted for their beliefs (and react in horror and disbelief), in the not too distant future we will be undergoing the same persecutions as our brethren across the waters.
We all must do a check ourselves within and truthfully ask ourselves: if we were told to renounce our faith or be killed, what would we do????
I suggest a look at the text of the actual bill. HR 1592 states that it applies only to violent crimes that are felonies. A minister’s sermon obviously would not apply. Stabbing a gay man because he is gay obviously would.
Violent crime against non-heterosexuals (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, etc.) terrorizes GLBT communities in many parts of the country, hence their request to get the exact same coverage as other minority groups (Jews, blacks, etc.)
Ben,
I have read the text of the actual bill. A minister’s sermon *does* apply if someone who hears the sermon on what the Bible says about homosexuality and then goes out and commits a so-called hate crime against a homosexual, the minister can be charged under this law with inciting a hate crime.
Violent crime is a crime no matter what class of people it is directed against. Raising homosexuality to the status of a civil right is the real problem here. Homosexuality is a behavior, not a class. It is *sinful* behavior. Two codify protection of sinful behavior into American law is a dangerous precedent.
I am not a Christian–at least not in your contemporary sense of the word. I am just a person who tries my best to practice the teachings of the Christ and the Buddha–undoubtedly two of the wisest men ever. Every ancient religion teaches us that homosexuality is wrong. Common sense tells us that the purpose of sex is that of sexual reproduction, yet we live in a very licenscious age. Christ and Buddha taught us Love and tolerance of all others, yet they also taught us to be responsible for our own actions and to practice self-restraint. I fall short of perfect. Everyone does. What worries me the most about this legislation is how extremists on both sides of the aisle seem to twisting its meaning to suit their own needs. And what also bothers me, is the precedence. Will it soon be a crime for me to say homosexuality is abnormal? Will I not be able to teach my children, or to publicly speak my opinion about a behaviour that I find distasteful? On one hand we don’t need so-called Christian preachers attending funerals with signs that say “God hates ***s” but to suppress opinion that doesn’t agree with the popular opinion?
We’ve run into many great problems in today’s world, and I don’t know if there’s a way out. Many of the youth are more inclined to vote liberally, (just as I did this last election) because the conservative community (that which supposedly represents Christians/ity) because of this war based on lies in Iraq. A Christian should not support homosexuality or war or greed–and therein is another great problem: there are very few Christians not showing some sort of hypocrisy, and there is no political party that truly represents the people. (Notice I said represents the people, not the will of the people–if people had their way we’d be as licenscious and as irresponsible as possible.) Our government has gotten out of control. Most of our laws are unconstitutional and our legistlators don’t even read most of the laws they pass, because they are packed in so tightly in such large masses–who would have time to regularly read hundreds of pages legistlation on a regular basis? I have been looking for, and unable to find this bill as it appears word-for-word online. I’d like to be able to read it myself, so that I may fully back the conclusion that I’ve come to, that this law must be fought. All hate crime legislation should be appealed, for that matter. It is simply doublespeak, and yet further means to make some feel good while chipping away at the liberties our founding fathers gave to us in this country. Murder is murder, rape is rape, assault is assault, regardless of who committed the crime and who the victim is. I could go on about this forever, I suppose, but with exception to a few of my comments that may have caused some defensiveness, I’m quite certain that for the most part I’m preaching to the choir.
Homosexuality and “alternative lifestyles”. Extremist theocrats. Extremist secularists. Radical Islam. AIDS. New World Order and One-World Government. Patriot Act. Hate. Fear. Poverty. Greed. Sexual liscensciousness. The ease of divorce. The examples of Washington. American foreign policy. Hollywood and contemporary media’s depictions of sex, violence, drugs, and crass language. Corporate ownership of our media outlets. Overpopulation. Severe ecological damage. The dumbing down of our educational system, particularly the sciences. So-called political correctness…. Don’t we have enough things to worry about–enough challenges to the continuation of civilized society?
David A. Reedy blog.myspace.com/trypsoul3
Good post.
On the more humorous side here’s a YouTube video I made of a recorded demonstration some young adults at the place that I work at made protesting the Hate Crimes Act (HR 1592):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUBj51aLV1A
It’s somewhat of an odd ad against the act. enjoi.