The Civil War marked an important time in history for us as Americans. The 14th amendment had passed guaranteeing Americans equal protection under the law no matter what color, creed or ethnicity to which they belong. For the first time every person in this great country was finally equal in the eyes of our government. This new amendment added something precious without infringing on any of the rights already guaranteed to us by the original Bill of Rights. Now in 2009 one hundred and forty one years later, under a new bill the 14th amendment is as good as scrapped.
With the passing of the "Hate Crimes Prevention Act" (actually is was tacked on to the
"2010 National Defense Authorization Act") our right to be equal is gone. This bill threatens to make it a federal crime to hate someone in your mind, which essentially punishes us for the way we think. Our President and Senators are telling us that we still have the freedom to hate if we do not act on it physically. This is a half truth, because the act of assault for example is already illegal and punishable on a local level. What the bill says is that the federal crime tacked onto the assault charge will be a crime of motivation (which DOES punish one for his or her thoughts). I would argue that if you act on it physically than the physical act of the crime should be prosecuted not the hate behind the action. Please don't take my word for it, read a section from the bill itself on page 1059 section 3 lines 16-21 (that's right I've read the whole thing).
(3) State and local authorities are now and will 16
continue to be responsible for prosecuting the over-17
whelming majority of violent crimes in the United 18
States, including violent crimes motivated by bias. 19
These authorities can carry out their responsibilities
20
more effectively with greater Federal assistance. 21
Just who is equal in the eyes of the NEW LAW? Well let me tell you they are minorities, women, gays, lesbians, transsexuals, and the disabled. If you attack one of these protected groups there can and will be essentially two crimes (assault and hate), but if you assault a white heterosexual male there will only be one crime and if you are in one of the aforementioned protected groups then you can probably get off by saying that you acted in fear of your own life because the straight white male hates you. I happen to be a straight white male and believe that I am no better than any other human being, but I am certainly no worse either. We deserve and should demand the equal treatment that the constitution promises us.
I am also a Christian and believe in obeying the powers that be, but fortunately we live in a constitutionally limited republic and not a democracy. This means that our constitution is one of the powers that we obey and right now it is contradicting itself.
I believe that at this rate it may soon be illegal for people to speak their minds or practice their religion freely. A pastor, rabbi, priest, or cleric who says for instance that homosexuality is wrong will become a "hater". It happened when Nero burned Rome and blamed it on Christians. The so called "haters" were rounded up and killed. You may not be religious or a straight white male, but don't you want to live in a country were we are all truly equal with equal protection for every citizen regardless of race, gender, religion, or sexual lifestyle? I do and for many years I did.
