Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It's about time..scarmig it is a hate crimes bill, not a hate thought or speech bill.
Imagine the stark terror racing through Matthew Shepard’s mind when he was tortured and beaten to death in Laramie, Wyo. in 1998. His offense? He was gay. Picture the shear horror James Byrd Jr. must have felt while being beaten then dragged to death by white supremacists in Jasper, Texas a few months earlier. His offense? He was black.
The bill, which broadens the definition of hate crimes, includes crimes committed against a person because of sexual orientation and gender identity. Not only does it offer federal protection to victims, it gives the federal government authority to prosecute violent homophobic crimes if local or state governments refuse to. Say goodbye to hate and say hello to progress.
Hoosier, unless you think Christians support and should have the right to commit hate crimes how can you say there is an agenda against Christians....That is asinine.
That said it's very evident that this bill's hidden agenda is really about silencing Christians. We have a very anti-Christian president in office, with an extremely liberal agenda. His heritage is Muslim and if you're not Muslim, well you're an infidel. Plain and simple.
Um....Obama is Christian. He's admitted several times to being Christian, he took his oath on the Bible, and there have been the usual round of extremely thorough background examinations that Presidents generally go through.
The rights and freedoms that are being imparted by that bill are the very same rights and freedoms that allow you to speak in opposition.
They're the same rights and freedoms that would put your attackers in jail, were you assaulted.
And they're the very same rights and freedoms that allow you to walk down the street -- without worrying that you might get jumped by a gang of morons who think it's oh so funny to listen to someone scream for help as they get beaten to death in a muddy street.
If we deny others the protection of the law, then we must deny ourselves that protection as well, because we are all citizens of our respective countries, and the law applies to all citizens.
You still are. You may now be celibate or in denial...but you are what you are. Accept it and move on.
The poster has previously admitted to being attracted to females as well.
That's not gay, it's bi-sexual.
No doubt he thinks all gay people (or perhaps ALL people?) are attracted to people of both genders and can just choose which gender they want to be involved with.
This is only one of many news sources reporting about the new hate crime bill that Obama will sign on Wednesday of this week. I fully agree that no one should endure any type of violence simply because they choose to live an alternative lifestyle.
That said it's very evident that this bill's hidden agenda is really about silencing Christians. We have a very anti-Christian president in office, with an extremely liberal agenda. His heritage is Muslim and if you're not Muslim, well you're an infidel. Plain and simple.
Many here in this forum know that I've stated that I used to be gay. Yep, used to be. It's a choice and I chose to leave that lifestyle. No, it wasn't easy, but my faith in Christ was much more important than living as a gay man. I could not reconcile my faith and my sexuality and chose to go with God.
Many on this forum have said I wasn't really gay, I just thought I was, or I was experimenting. Well, 'til you've lived in another man or woman's shoes it's not up to you to say what they are or were. For those who believe the Bible, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 verifies my statement that I "used to be" a homosexual.
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Christians, pray for the direction our country has turned. Pray that God will give us the strength and fortitude to persevere this new direction, away from Him.
Thanks for the post Hoosier, I would rep you again if I could.
Thanks for the honesty about your homosexual deviant behavior that you have overcome. I have a friend who was a homosexual and I prayed for him for years. He, also has left this lifestyle and is now serving God. He is now a free man, no longer tied to the bonds of sin.
This hate crime bill IS a bill against the Christian Church. Obama will use it against the Church. He will say that if your Church makes any mention of homosexuality or abortion, you will have to give up your tax exempt status. Many church leaders will cave under the persecution. I think this is what will happen. But, God is bigger then Obama and Obama was only given 4 years to do what damage he will do. God is the one who puts people in power and who removes them. The Christian Church needs to get on its knees and pray.
It is written, if my people who are called by my name (Christians or little Christ's) will humble themselves and pray and seek my face... I will heal their land.
Thanks for the post Hoosier, I would rep you again if I could.
Thanks for the honesty about your homosexual deviant behavior that you have overcome. I have a friend who was a homosexual and I prayed for him for years. He, also has left this lifestyle and is now serving God. He is now a free man, no longer tied to the bonds of sin.
Quote:
This hate crime bill IS a bill against the Christian Church. Obama will use it against the Church. He will say that if your Church makes any mention of homosexuality or abortion, you will have to give up your tax exempt status
.
False.....( Fear mongering ) As far as I'm concerned most churches should pay taxes. They can't seem to keep their noses out of politics.
Quote:
Many church leaders will cave under the persecution. I think this is what will happen. But, God is bigger then Obama and Obama was only given 4 years to do what damage he will do. God is the one who puts people in power and who removes them. The Christian Church needs to get on its knees and pray.
Do you have a persecution complex? There is professional help for that condition you know.
God didn't elect Obama or anyone else...As always he was elected by the people.
Quote:
It is written, if my people who are called by my name (Christians or little Christ's) will humble themselves and pray and seek my face... I will heal their land.
Pray God will heal this land.
Prayers won't help, nor will god....The problem was caused by the previous administration...You know who I'm talking about.
You obviously haven't read the bill, or if you have, you are reading into it a lot of stuff that's not there...
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Do you not know that the first time the word "homosexuals" was used in a translation of 1 Cor 6, was not until 1946?
Quote:
What is more to the point, the unanimous tradition of the church through the Reformation, and of Catholicism until well into the twentieth century, has been that this word applied to masturbation. This was the interpretation not only of native Greek speakers in the early Middle Ages but of the very theologians who most contributed to the stigmatization of homosexuality.
No new textual data effected the twentieth-century change in translation of this word: only a shift in popular morality. Since few people any longer regard masturbation as the sort of activity which would preclude entrance to heaven, the condemnation has simply been transferred to a group still so widely despised that their exclusion does not trouble translators or theologians.
It's about time..scarmig it is a hate crimes bill, not a hate thought or speech bill.
Yes I know. They want to make violent crime X worth more punishment because of the thoughts the perp was thinking when committing the crime.
Hate crimes bills propose that beating Matthew Shepard to death is somehow worse than beating Joe Schmoe to death because the assailant was thinking, "I hate ****!"
How does that make Joe Schmoe feel? Is Joe Schmoe worth less than a homosexual or a black person? Is he worth twice as less as a homosexual black person? When I was attacked by a giant Hispanic man a decade ago, I have no idea if he did it because I am whitish and he hates people who are kinda white. Nor do I care. His fist felt the same regardless what he was thinking.
The violence is the crime. Prosecute that. Thinking, feeling, and even expressing those thoughts and feelings non-violently should *never* be a crime. That is a line I don't want the government to cross at all, even a tippy-toe, nor off to the side, though I know that train has already left the station. Legislation that changes the use of force based on race, religion, creed, sex, etc, etc, is, by definition, inequal and subverts equality under the law. We're all supposed to be equal, not special.
Yes I know. They want to make violent crime X worth more punishment because of the thoughts the perp was thinking when committing the crime.
Hate crimes bills propose that beating Matthew Shepard to death is somehow worse than beating Joe Schmoe to death because the assailant was thinking, "I hate ****!"
How does that make Joe Schmoe feel? Is Joe Schmoe worth less than a homosexual or a black person? Is he worth twice as less as a homosexual black person? When I was attacked by a giant Hispanic man a decade ago, I have no idea if he did it because I am whitish and he hates people who are kinda white. Nor do I care. His fist felt the same regardless what he was thinking.
The violence is the crime. Prosecute that. Thinking, feeling, and even expressing those thoughts and feelings non-violently should *never* be a crime. That is a line I don't want the government to cross at all, even a tippy-toe, nor off to the side, though I know that train has already left the station. Legislation that changes the use of force based on race, religion, creed, sex, etc, etc, is, by definition, inequal and subverts equality under the law. We're all supposed to be equal, not special.
This is not new...Laws against hate crimes have been on the books since 1969.
An existing federal hate crime legislation, passed in 1969, is very narrowly based. It only applies if the victim of a violent crime is engaged in one of six federally protected activities, and then only:
If the perpetrator is found guilty of the crime, and
If it can be shown that the crime was motivated by a hatred of the victim's race, color, religion, ethnicity, or national origin.
If both can be proven, then the perpetrator is given a higher than usual sentence.
The 1969 law covers hate crimes motivated by one or more of the above four factors. However, it did not extend to other categories:
Women and men who are physically attacked because of their gender.
Heterosexuals, homosexuals, and bisexuals who are attacked because of their sexual orientation.
Cisgendered persons, transsexuals, and transgendered persons who are attacked because of their gender identity. ("Gender identity" is the gender that a person perceives themselves to be. The vast majority of adults are cisgendered: their perceived and genetic gender match. However, transgendered persons often describe themselves as having a brain of one gender trapped in an opposite-gendered body.)
Able-bodied and disabled persons who are attacked because of their ability/disability status.
The proposed law extends coverage to include these four additional categories: gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability.
Unfortunately, through selective reporting, many conservative news sources imply that the law only protects homosexuals. In fact, it covers everyone, whether they be heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual. Also, as noted above, it protects both men and women, persons of all sexual identities, and of all degrees of disability. Every American would be protected in a total of eight ways.
This is not new...Laws against hate crimes have been on the books since 1969.
Does that mean I'm expected to agree with it? I don't. It is flawed at its premise. That premise being that violence is somehow worsened by the specific motivation behind it.
Does that mean I'm expected to agree with it? I don't. It is flawed at its premise. That premise being that violence is somehow worsened by the specific motivation behind it.
I believe it is worsened. A person who is assaulted in order to steal from them will suffer far less injuries than one who is assaulted because of hatred.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
