The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 (H.R. 1913). I understand the concept of hate crime; a person commits a crime that was motivated by their hatred for a specific group of people, enacted in the wake of the murder of Matthew Shepard. My main problem with these laws though is it does not provide the equal protection under the law provided in the 14th amendment. It classifies certain groups of people specifically minorities and others as deserving more protection than others. Unfortunately, they never classify it as a hate crime when a hispanic or black kills a white or hispanic or black because they don't like them. There is no equal protection under the law in these cases. This is just the foundation for what I would really like to talk about.
Hate Speech is officially fall under the enforcement of this law. So you cannot speak against a person if they are of a protected minority, like a Black or homosexual or as the they added, a pedophile. If you speak hateful words of these people you can be tried by federal law. But what is hate speech. If I were to go to church and they were to read from any book of the BIble that condemn homosexuality as a sin, does my pastor get arrested? Is my religious belief and political belief hateful if I think illegals should come to the U.S. by lawful means? Will they shut down church because they are sponsoring "hate speech" which is part of their religious belief, therefore violating the free exercise clause of the 1st amendment. This is the first step in the censoring of America. Or so it would seem.
Over the last 10-15 years the PC (politically correct) police have been all over everyone who says something that is not popular or just offensive. If you say something that someone else does not agree with then you are intolerant. But if I can't say it and you won't listen you are being intolerant to me as well. Much like Perez Hilton and Miss California. He asked an honest question; she gave an honest answer. He then proceeds to act as intolerant of her as he claims she is to homosexuals.
I refue to be PC but I will be tolerant of everyone's view point, even if I don't agree with. That is what makes the U.S. great. That is the definition of free speech. Being tolerant of everyone's view point no matter how stupid the view point. Free speech was not meant to protect the popular or polite speech but the offensive. Its to protect the hate mongering homophobic racists, as well as the hate mongering liberal homosexual that open disrupt religious practice in a church. It is the job of the informed and intelligent citizen to call out and/or ignore the ignorant on both sides.
This law, the political atmospher, the recent attacks on conservative talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage are the opening salvo against our most important and hallowed rights of freedom.
On a side note, I am becoming more and more libertarian in my view points, especially in this regard of free speech and expression. I don't think any speech should be regulate by the government. It can be seditions, hateful, vulgar, or offesive, even on TV. The Neilsens do a good job of telling us what is coming up on TV. If I don't want to hear vulgar langauge, I will vote with my remote. Also I don't disagree with regulating seditions hateful speech because again, the first amendment protects the offensive word and expression, not the polite. It is though the job of the government to regulate the actions of people. A man makes a seditions or hateful speech, they should probably investigate him to make sure he has not done anything beyond just speech.
Anyway, that's enough for now.
