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BUDAPEST, Hungary, April
19, /Christian
Newswire/
--
America is still reeling over the horrific
slaughter of students and faculty at Virginia
Tech. The shooter's actions have not been listed
as a hate crime, but what makes that heinous
crime somehow less hateful or less important
than a crime of bias? No one doubts that there
was a great deal of hatred on the part of the
gunman who shot so many people regardless of
race, sexual orientation or religion.
Another recent
story should give us pause as well,
Jury gives S.D. woman life in prison,
in which a black lesbian woman killed a white
heterosexual woman, then burned and chain-sawed
her body into pieces. Yet this case will not be
listed as a hate crime because the black lesbian
did not kill the white heterosexual because of
orientation or color, she did it out of
jealousy.
"What is striking about these two cases is that
it shows the amazing hypocrisy of those who want
hate crimes legislation. How can anyone say that
it was not a hate crime for any of these
students or faculty to die the way they did?
Where is their equal protection of the law? The
fact remains that all crimes are a crime of hate
because real love does no harm towards our
neighbor. The existing laws should be equally
severe against anyone who does physical harm to
any person. The actions of criminals like the
shooter have already clearly shown blatant bias
to disregard the safety of their fellow
neighbors by choosing to do them physical harm.
Isn't that bias enough?" So says Phil Magnan,
director of Biblical Family Advocates
Magnan continued "Society would do well to
punish the crime and not the bias lest we begin
to punish people for their private beliefs or
their words. And if mere offense be the measure
of the limits of free speech, then no one will
be able to speak. I am offended every day by the
words of others, but I will not take away their
right to free speech in the public forum. We
should all be mature enough to take the
disagreement of others, without punishing them
for not agreeing with us."
Biblical Family Advocates affirms that all
crimes against all persons are crimes of hate
and as such should be prosecuted according to
the degree of those crimes. Though hate crimes
legislation is well intentioned, it diminishes
the value of millions of victims, by exalting
the rights and value of others over the rest of
society.
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