Senate Letter Calls For Filibuster Of Hate Crimes Bill
May 25, 2009 by admin
Filed under new world order
A Texas pastor has written an open letter to the U.S. Senate, asking someone, anyone, to filibuster pending “hate crimes” legislation and stop what he calls a “maddening march to the destruction of our First Amendment right to freely practice our religion.”
As WND has reported, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 would provide special protections to homosexual people but leave Christian ministers open to prosecution should their teachings be linked to any subsequent offense, by anyone, against a homosexual person.
A hearing on the act, already approved by the U.S. House as H.R. 1913 and pending in the Senate as S. 909, is expected in the Senate Judiciary Committee soon.
Concerned individuals may contact elected officials, sign a petition against hate crimes legislation and participate in WND’s FedEx campaign to send thousands of letters to senators by overnight delivery.
“The legislation pending before you will make me an ‘inducer’ to hate crimes if I preach Romans 1:18-32 and someone who hears me then commits a criminal act against a protected class,” writes Rev. Rick Scarborough of Harvest Point Church in Nacogdoches, Texas, and founder of Vision America. “It is clear that this bill will criminalize biblical preaching and will prevent me and thousands of other clergymen from practicing our faith without threat of penalty from our own federal government.”
Romans 1:18-32 is particularly inflammatory, labeling homosexual acts in various translations as against nature, indecent, unseemly and perversion.
Under a comparable law in Sweden, a minister was sentenced to 30 days in jail for preaching from Leviticus, which labels male homosexual acts as detestable. Similar state laws have resulted in similar results. In Philadelphia several years ago, a 73-year-old grandmother was reported to have been jailed for trying to share Christian tracts with people at a homosexual festival.
Pastors Get OK to Preach on Social Issues
May 15, 2009 by admin
Filed under Stories Of Interest
The Internal Revenue Service has ruled that church leaders can keep their tax-exempt status and speak out on social issues.
The decision comes in response to a complaint against a group of Texas pastors, but churches can still not endorse or oppose political candidates.
Pastor Wally Sherbon strolls the campus of Regent University each Wednesday, repairing and meditating on his Sunday sermon.
But lately, he’s also been thinking about what it would mean if he couldn’t talk about social and political issues from the pulpit.
“It’s hard enough to come up with what God’s thoughts are and what He is saying in the text, let alone having to put some external pressure and filter on what I am saying,” Sherbon explained. “I just couldn’t do it.
What sparked the concern for him and others was a complaint that the Texas Freedom Network filed with the IRS against a group of pastors in the state for their work with a moral values group.
HR 1913 Attorneys Urge Senate to Vote Against Hate Crimes Bill
May 4, 2009 by admin
Filed under Stories Of Interest
Attorneys at a Christian legal group are urging the U.S. Senate not to pass the expanded “Hate Crimes” bill, which the House this week voted 249-175 in favor of.
The attorneys at the Alliance Defense Fund insist that the bill, H.R. 1913, could severely impede Americans’ constitutional rights to freedom of religion and freedom of expression while creating additional legal protections for those engaged in homosexual behavior that are not available to everyone else.
If made into law, the bill would add violence against individuals based on sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability to the list of federal hate crimes. Current federal law only covers crimes committed on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity or national origin.
“All violent crimes are hate crimes, and all crime victims deserve equal justice,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot in a released statement. “So-called ‘hate crime’ laws actually serve only one purpose: The criminalization of citizens based on whatever thoughts, beliefs, and emotions they have that are not considered to be ‘politically correct.’ No one should fall for the idea that this bill does anything to bring about greater justice for Americans.”
Last week, ADF attorneys had delivered a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, urging it to reject the bill. In it, the attorneys shared how similar efforts to “impose upon sincere people of faith a ‘political orthodoxy’” have already led to fines, arrests, and prosecution in states with similar legislation.
One small photography company in New Mexico, for example, had been fined by that state’s human rights commission for refusing to photograph a civil union “commitment ceremony.”
In another example, a group of Christians in Philadelphia that protested at an “Outfest” in 2005 was arrested and charged under Pennsylvania’s hate crimes laws with “ethnic intimidation,” “riot,” and “conspiracy.”
“Although the charges were ultimately dismissed (with Alliance Defense Fund assistance), they nevertheless had to go through the ordeal of arrest and prosecution,” the attorneys noted.
“Simply being required to undergo a criminal defense in such circumstances can lead to a chill and censorship of legitimate free speech and free exercise of religion activities,” they added.
HR 1913 – Will Hate Crime Bill Silence Pastors
April 30, 2009 by admin
Filed under new world order
The U.S. House today approved a federal “hate crimes” bill that would provide special protections to homosexuals but leave Christian ministers open to prosecution should their teachings be linked to any subsequent offense, by anyone, against a “gay.”
The vote, 249-175, came despite intense from Republicans who argued the measure would create a privileged class.
Bishop Harry Jackson Jr. of the High Impact Leadership Coalition also condemned the action, offering a warning about the nation’s future.
He was interviewed on the issue by Greg Corombos of Radio America/WND, and the audio of his interview is embedded here:
Social conservatives say their right to free speech will be jeopardized if hate crimes legislation now headed to the Senate becomes law.
A Senate hate crimes bill that would extend federal protection to gay and transgender victims is rousing the ire of social conservatives who say their right to free speech will be jeopardized if it becomes law.
“In and of itself this law can be applied to speech. The nature of assault — putting someone in fear of their safety — what will that mean for someone preaching against homosexuality?” said Mathew Staver, founder of the Liberty Council, a law firm that works on religious freedom cases.
“It elevates homosexuality to the same protective category as race. It’s all part of the radical homosexual anarchist agenda,” Staver said.
For much of the last decade gay rights activists have been fighting for inclusion within the federal hate crimes law, which places greater penalties on crimes that are committed based on race, ethnicity and religion. Social conservatives, including former President George W. Bush, have fought the legislation on the grounds it could be used to prosecute religious groups who say homosexuality is morally wrong.
But with Democrats now controlling both houses of Congress and the White House, gay rights activists are confident the law will pass and President Obama will sign it. The bill passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday, 249-175.
