When Preaching Becomes a ‘Hate Crime’

[Charisma Online Editor]

Fire In My Bones: When Preaching Becomes a ‘Hate Crime’
By J. Lee Grady

Sound the alarm: American lawmakers voted yesterday to take us one step closer to tyranny.

Imagine that you are listening to your pastor preach about biblical morality. He quotes from Romans 1 and tells the congregation that homosexuality is a sin. He isn’t yelling or inciting a riot, nor does he offer even a hint of malice in his words. He is simply stating a Christian doctrine.

A few minutes later two uniformed police officers show up, march to the front of the church, handcuff the minister and drag him out of the building. He is arrested and jailed for violating laws against “hate speech.”

It sounds like one of those cheesy doomsday movies they used to show to church youth groups in the 1970s. You know, Big Brother Antichrist sets up his headquarters in the United Nations building and starts stamping his bar code on everyone’s forehead. Ridiculous, right?

If a controversial law that was passed yesterday in the U.S. House of Representatives is adopted by the Senate, the outlandish film plot could become a reality right here in the good ol’ U.S.A. It looks as if Big Brother is alive and well and working in Congress.

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007, or HR 1592 for short, was passed on the National Day of Prayer on May 3—at the same time Christians were asking God to forgive us for our national sins. Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition called the ironic timing “a slap in the face” to God-fearing people.

Harry Jackson, a pastor from Washington, D.C., who directs the High Impact Leadership Coaltion, says HR 1592 is no more than “a surreptitious attempt by some in Congress to strip the nation of religious freedom and the ability to preach the gospel from our church pulpits.”

Some people will say Christians are overreacting. After all, hate crimes happen. People have been attacked and even killed because of their race—or because they were gay. But conservative lawmakers have pointed out that we already have tough laws on the books to punish hate crimes. What’s new about this sweeping legislation is that it places gay people in a protected category and could lead to regulating speech that might be linked to a hate crime.

Here are the facts about this dangerous bill:

* The legislation creates two federally recognized minority groups that are vaguely defined by “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” That means homosexuals and transgendered people get special protection—not only from violence but also from “hate speech.”

* If a violent crime against a homosexual or transgendered person can be traced back to “hate speech,” including, I suppose, a radio message from James Dobson or an article they read in Charisma magazine, then the offending preacher, publisher or columnist could be found liable.

* If you take all of this to its insane conclusion, a Christian ministry that offers compassionate prayer for the healing of homosexuality could be accused of “hate”—since the ministry maintains in its literature and seminars that homosexuality is an unhealthy behavior.

Will police begin dragging preachers out of their pulpits for quoting a Bible verse? It sounds preposterous—but given the current spiritual climate in Washington, I wouldn’t assume that America’s time-honored freedoms of speech and religion are safe.

We should recall the case of Ake Green, a Pentecostal pastor who went to jail for a month because he described homosexuality as a “cancerous growth in the body of society” during a 2003 sermon he preached in his modern, sophisticated, enlightened nation of Sweden.

In July of that year Green preached on sexual immorality to some 50 members of his small-town Borgholm Pentecostal Church, then subsequently published the sermon in the local newspaper. He was later charged with hate speech against homosexuals and sentenced to jail. He was finally acquitted of the crime after two years of litigation, but socialist leaders in Sweden’s government made it clear that Christian views on morality are not welcome.

In fact, Morgan Johansson, Sweden’s Minister of Public Health, recently declared in a public debate in Gothenburg that Christians are welcome in Swedish politics—but only as long as “they do not quote the Bible.”

Who is guilty of the real hate crime here?

It appears that gay activists, European socialists and now U.S. lawmakers think they have the right to promote legislation that could unleash a wave of harassment, intimidation and religious censorship on people of faith. Thankfully, we have a president who has pledged to veto this bill. He needs our prayers as he makes another courageous but unpopular decision.

J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma. A Senate version of HR 1592, called S 1105, will be coming up for a vote soon. You can e-mail your senator about this bill by visiting the Traditional Values Coalition’s Web site at www.capwiz.com/traditional/dbq/officials. You can also watch a video with more information about HR 1592 at www.charismamag.com.



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[anthony]

Welcome to the real world folks,thanks Mr Grady,The PC brigade have scored another victory in both of our countries,exactly how they will proceed is a matter for concern.Watch this space.
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Remain a blessing dear ones .tony

[clytemnestra]

My, my. I had hoped that we would have enough repect for the truth that I wouldn't see this flim-flamery here. Oh, well.

Contained in HR 1592 as passed:

[flygirljc]

Cly - are you for or against the Truth in HR 1592???

The quoted text you have in your post does not have to be honored - you must know that because the Surpreme Court Judges take the law into their own hands - they can't even read the Constitution as it is written - that there is NO SEPARATION OF CHURCH & STATE & that is why all this mess keeps popping it's ugly head time after time again.

Ms. Jan Carver


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Ms. Jan Carver
When we come to the edge of the light
we know and are about to step off into the darkness
of the unknown, of this we can be sure...
Either God will provide something solid to stand on, or we will be taught to
fly.

[richard.a]

[maz]

Dear Richard.a...sorry, this is not about the content of your post...but your sig is SO true...thank goodness it's not just me

welcome...all the way from Oz.
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Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.

[richard.a]

maz, thankee kindly sir/madam

It started as a tongue in cheek one some years ago... Although not a geek, I'm on several technical forums and it occurred to me one day that it is the epitome of a sig lol

Yours is a good'un too.

I've been to Birmingham too. I remember back in the 1950s when I was in the RAF sleeping in the waiting room at New Street station Or was it Snow Hill? I was stationed north of Wolverhampton on the A41 at Stoke Heath, next door to Tern Hill, just south of Market Drayton (Salop).

Yep, the cat is out of the bag, now, I'm a "Pommie" living in "Ozzie", albeit a Welsh Pom .

Thanks again for the very warm welcome. Much appreciated.
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Have you noticed editing is always needed for the inevitable typos that weren't there when you hit the "post" button?
#Christian-Chat on irc.undernet.org

[maz]

a Welsh Pom (I'm a 'madam,' but you can call me maz or marion)

ah you know good old New Street station?
I wonder if you would recognise it now? I probably wouldn't for I do avoid the city centre...they keep changing it... I think I'm getting old love things how they used to be in Brum city centre

anyway...I am part of an online aussie music group so I am getting familiar with the Aussie way of things and terminology

P.S. my uncle Fred was in the R.A.F. in the 50's...although he was a Paddy...an Irish geezer, so you may not have come across him, but he moved to B'ham after.
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Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.

[richard.a]

Off Topic
Is it really, though? The Welsh revival of the early 1900s produced a lot of "Fire in my Bones", after all.

Check out my involvement with teaching four ozzies how to sing with three Welshmen in the Welsh language at a 50th birthday party of another Welsh Pom I'm the one conducting (and singing, of course).
http://richardashton.dyndns.org/Karen_50

One of the Welsh boyos wanted desperately to sing that old hymn "Calon Lan" and/or "Bread of Heaven" (my favourite) but we had to sing what the lady requested heh!

Oh, the hosting computer is by my right knee lol.




Edit
I'm sure you are not a "madam" but rather a "ma'am", there being a heck of a difference heh

Richard in Adelaide
_________________
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[Lucy W. Roberts]

[richard.a]

I seem to remember that the 'real' Clytemnestra was a mythological semi-deity who allegedly not only lived in a very bloodthirsty period of time, but was happy to do so, from the Greek history and mythology I read back in the early 1940s when I was of impressionable age.

One wonders if "our" Clytemnestra is similarly worldly in nature and outlook? Hope not

I notice Wikipedia has quite a section about her (the real one, I mean).

I don't think this is probably the best place to do character assassinations though, hehe. Nor proseletising, although we should be prepared to defend the faith at every opportunity. After all, the monarchs of the United Kingdom have carried the Latin title of "Fidelis Defensor" (Defender of the Faith) prior to, during, and since the Reformation - when England ceased to have any allegiance to the Roman Catholic church. After all, this is reflected in the letters F.D. being on the British coinage.

One wonders how succesful the proseletising a demi-god(dess) from Greek folk-lore would be...


Richard, from
The City of Churches
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[Nikos]

Thanks for the article as it draws our attention to a real threat to the freedom we have to preach the Gospel. I believe that there is a potential danger here in this legislation and knowing the government, any move in the direction of restricting freedom could very well bring about future actual restriction.

As far as I am concerned there is no need to catagorize crime on the law books by motive. That is dealt with in the jury room where it should be dealt with. I believe the present laws are sufficient to deal with all these problems.

[clytemnestra]

[Father Onesimus]

[TransformingWord]

I GUESS IM GONNA BE LIKE PAUL AND SPEND ALOT OF TIME IN JAIL..CAUSE IM GONNA PREACH AGAINST HOMOSEXUALITY AND SIN TILL I GET CAUGHT UP IN HEAVEN. BUT KNOWING GOD HE WILL PROVIDE A WAY OF ESCAPE THE BOOK OF ACTS IS BACK. JUST LIKE GAY MARRIAGE WILL NEVER BE FULLY ACCEPTED IN THIS COUNTRY...THANK GOD FOR PRESIDENT BUSH I DONT LIKE SOME OF HIS WAYS BUT HE BELIEVES IN MALE AND FEMALE MARRIAGE. WE DEFINETLY NEED TO KEEP HIM IN PRAYER AND PRAYER OF WISDOM ON WHO TO VOTE AS THE NEXT PRESIDENT.

NOW ONE THING I WONT SUPPORT IS BASHING OF GAY PEOPLE THAT TOTALLY IS'NT GODLY . I SAY HE WITHOUT SIN CASTE THE FIRST STONE WHEN IT COMES TO THAT. HOMOSEXUALS ARE ALREADY MISERABLE LET THEM DEAL WITH THERE OWN MISERY WITHIN THERE COMMUNITY (SEXUAL ASSOCIATION UNDER THE DIGUISE OF LOVE AND EQUALITY). BUT KILLING A CREATION OF GOD DOES NOT WARRANT HIS JUDGEMENT.

BUT WHAT IS ABOUT TO BE REVEALED IN THIS WORLD TO THE BELIEVERS STAY IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD THINGS ARE ABOUT TO TAKE A MAJOR TURN. ITS FOR THE FEAR OF THE LORD TO BE EVIDENT.