S.909

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act

Looks like it won't be long before it is considered criminal for a pastor to preach the Word.

I say this as a Christian who loves all men, but as one who is also obligated to honor biblical mandates for sexual responsibility.

[Franzl]

This bill in no way limits your freedom of speach.

[Brittain33]

I looked this up, and here's what I found:

http://newsfromthewest.blogspot.com/2009/05/defeat-hate-bill-s-909-there-has-never.html

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The whole thing about hate crimes laws leading to the suppression of the 1st Amendment for reading the bible is a red herring, as most people know. The Mormon Church continued to preach the inferiority of African Americans for years after the Civil Rights Act, for example. If people disagree with the law, I wish they would debate it on the merits instead of constructing false exaggerations.

[Democratic Hawk]

The House bill passed largely on partisan lines but with 18 Republicans in favor and 17 Democrats against

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

This bill in no way limits your freedom of speach.

I did NOT say it did.

[Brittain33]

This bill in no way limits your freedom of speach.

I did NOT say it did.

I don't know how else to interpret "Looks like it won't be long before it is considered criminal for a pastor to preach the Word," unless you are claiming that this bill means that people will want to pass a second bill criminalizing people's First Amendment freedoms to read the Bible.

[??????????]

Is this the same bill that gives pedophiles protection?

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

This bill in no way limits your freedom of speach.

I did NOT say it did.

I don't know how else to interpret "Looks like it won't be long before it is considered criminal for a pastor to preach the Word," unless you are claiming that this bill means that people will want to pass a second bill criminalizing people's First Amendment freedoms to read the Bible.

It means it is a stepping stone.

[Brittain33]

Is this the same bill that gives pedophiles protection?

It should be posted on THOMAS with this number. If you quote the text of it here, we can find the portion of the bill that does that.

[Brittain33]

It means it is a stepping stone.

All I can say is that if we ever reach a point where such a bill could become law and be enforced, society will have transformed so much that the acts of individual members of Congress would hardly matter. I really don't see that happening, not unless the number of fundamentalist and evangelical Christians in this country were to fall low enough that someone would want to pass a blatantly unconstitutional law to make that happen. I know people look to countries like Canada for precedent here, but it is crucial to recognize that Canada has nothing like the First Amendment and a completely different political culture.