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Campaign under way to derail Senate 'hate crimes' bill

Pro-family groups are urging the U.S. Senate not to endorse a hate crimes bill as the House of Representatives did last week. One pro-family leader has referred to the legislation sponsored by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) as the "most dangerous bill in the country" because many feel it "criminalizes Christianity."



Now that the House has approved a bill that includes crimes against homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender individuals in federal hate crimes statutes, pro-family groups are attempting to prevent a similar measure from passing the Senate. Representatives from groups like the Southern Baptist Convention, Concerned Women for America, Vision America, and Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation held a press conference in Washington, DC, to voice their displeasure with what they view as an attack on Christian expression.

Janet Folger of the ministry Faith 2 Action says the hate crimes bill passed by the House is aimed at pastors or anyone else who has the "audacity" to disagree with the homosexual agenda. "Mike is standing at a football bar, or he's standing at a restaurant, watching a game," she posits; "Bruce comes out of the restroom, and he's touching up his makeup. He's a cross-dresser with red-nail polish and a five o'clock shadow. He comes out and hits on Mike. Maybe he puts his arm around him or maybe he brushes or puts his hand through his hair."

The average man would "maybe want to push off such unwelcome advances," Folger observes. However, she warns, "That, if you touch him, is a hate crime.

The new hate crimes bill, which passed the House in a 237-180 vote, would also make it easier for federal law enforcement to take part in or assist local prosecutions involving allegedly bias-motivated attacks. Under that legislation, the pro-family spokeswoman contends, authorities will be able to prosecute people who are said to have induced or counseled such action.

For this reason, Folger has launched a campaign to derail what she calls a "thought crimes" bill. Faith 2 Action will be mailing thousands of information packets to individual senators, urging them to vote against the bill and protect their constituents' free speech. Each of the packets contains a mugshot, fingerprints, handcuffs, and a letter that reads "Don't Make Me A Criminal."

Christians must work to defeat this hate crimes bill, even though President Bush has indicated he will veto the legislation, the Faith 2 Action official asserts. "Laws already exist to punish crimes without setting up a victim hierarchy, as this bill would do, by making homosexual activists more protected than grandmothers, children, or pregnant women," she says.

"Senate Bill 1105 criminalizes thoughts and behaviors and beliefs of pastors and Americans who love all people but disagree with sinful behavior," Folger adds. She unveiled the campaign against the hate crimes measure during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, noting that "this is something we're going to be sending, hopefully in packets of thousands, to the United States Senate."