Hate Crime Bill Passes

1. My guess? It won’t mean anything for Christians who aren’t physically assaulting people while declaring their distaste for their victim’s cultural identity.

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2. you don’t think it will in any way mean that pastors preaching against homosexuality will be targeted?

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3. Only if they change assault crimes to include verbal abuse. So far as I’m aware, hate crime legislation only adds additional trouble to things that are already a crime: like bombing a church or dragging a guy behind your pickup.

   So long as telling someone they’re a sinner isn’t a crime, telling someone they’re a sinner while uttering epithets wouldn’t be a hate crime.

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4. I’m not sure I’m on board with hate crimes legislation at all. It’s basically saying that if a straight white woman were raped and beaten when her car stalled on the freeway, that it’s not as important as a gay black woman who was raped while being slurred.

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5. I’m not usually onboard with the hate crime legislation either (all crimes being essentially expressions of hatred, the term is semantically bankrupt). I understand that the point is more than just punishment of the individual and that the additional hate-crime stuff is meant to be pedagogical. In a completely utilitarian sense, it seems practical enough to make an example of one person that the masses should learn (lessons like it’s not okay to hate black people or homosexuals or members of Baha’i). But simultaneously, it seems to be somewhat an abandonment of justice to add to a person’s punishment additional punishment (as hate crime legislation generally does).

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