Dakota Beacon

A year ago this month President Obama signed into law the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 also known as the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Because the bill was unpopular it was quietly attached to another piece of legislation.

For years the left sought legal legitimacy for the homosexual life style. For years congressional legislation was thwarted. Then came the elections of 2008 and the Democrats won control of the White House and congress. Even with control of the executive and legislative branches of government the pro-homosexual legislation could not pass congress on its own merit. The House-passed measure had to be folded into the Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act as an amendment, an old parliamentary trick for passing unpopular measures. Not wanting to appear anti-military in the midst of war, the bill passed with $5 million for Justice Department enforcement to boot.

The consequence of hate crime laws was entirely different from the intent. The intent was to prevent a crime based on the threat of severe punishment. The effect is to punish the perpetrator for the thought behind the crime.

Hate crime laws no more prevent violence against minorities than criminal laws deter perpetrators from other crimes. Unless I’ve missed something, not a single report of a hate crime being prevented has hit the news wires. Either that, or hate crimes continue unabated -- but unreported.

Hate crimes legislation intended to punish perpetrators for offenses that were already on the books and which could be linked to race, gender or sexual orientation. Hate crimes must show a biased motivation. However, the definition of bias is not clear. Punishment for the same crime not linked to a bias would receive a lesser punishment. How’s that for equality under the law?

Angst still exists within the public in general and the Christian community in particular. Consider three parallel cases in other countries that outpace the United States in prosecuting hate crimes.

Dutch politician Geert Wilders is on trial in the Netherlands charged with “hate speech.” Prosecutors point to several remarks Wilders made recently. He is quoted as saying “I’ve had enough of Islam in the Netherlands; let not one more Muslim immigrate. I’ve had enough of the Quran in the Netherlands.”

Wilders says he is on trial for freedom of expression, but so are the 1.4 million voters that made his party the third largest in the June 2010 elections.

Canadian author and columnist Mark Steyn underwent a week-long trial before the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal for “hate speech.” He was accused of “flagrant Islamaphobia” after portions of his best selling book “America Alone” were excerpted and published in Canada’s oldest news weekly “Maclean’s.” If found guilty “Maclean’s” could be ordered to stop publishing Steyn’s pieces. “Maclean’s” has published for over a century in a free Western country and would now be sanctioned and liable to state censorship. Given that Canadian Human Rights Tribunals have a 100% conviction rate, it is amazing that Steyn was found not guilty. He now resides in Vermont.

Canadian Rev. Scott Boision, a Christian preacher, was not so lucky. He is forbidden for life from ever citing Bible verses regarding homosexuality in sermons, newspapers, e-mail, on radio, in public speeches or on the Internet.

Radio talk show host Michael Savage, the No. 3-rated radio host in the United States, was placed on a list of people banned from the United Kingdom by the Home Secretary. The government list includes terrorists and murderers. Savage’s comment? “...here I am a talk show host, who does not advocate violence, who advocates patriotic traditional values -- borders, language, culture -- who is now on a list banned in England. What does that say about the government of England?”

Critiquing the criminalization of thought is nothing new. A poem written by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) titled “How the Women Went from Dover” strikes at the core of punishing people for their thoughts. The poem deals with the whipping of Quaker women from Dover, Delaware, for their beliefs, their thoughts. The poem is graphic and concludes with this verse:

            “The tale is one of an evil time,

            When souls were fettered and thought was crime,

            And heresy’s whisper above its breath

            Meant shameful scourging and bonds and death!”

Freedom of conscience is made manifest in guaranteed freedom of speech, especially political speech. That is why we have the First Amendment.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at P. O. Box 337, Stanley, ND 58784 or (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).