H.R. 2647 Hate Crimes Bill Passed

A Christian minister who has spent time in jail because of a state “hate crimes” law is warning that the federal legislation, now pending on President Obama’s desk, is “one of the most dangerous pieces of federal legislation in the history of our nation.”

The comment comes from Michael Marcavage of Repent America. He was among a group that became known as the “Philadelphia 11″ that made national headlines in 2004.

That was when the Christians, ministering at a homosexual festival, were accused under a state “hate crimes” law.

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The bill, H.R. 2647, the National Defense Authorization Act, include the “hate crimes” plan that “expands criminal penalties against anyone who harms an individual based on ‘gender identity’ or ’sexual orientation,’ thus posing a serious threat to biblical evangelism and active stances against the sin of homosexuality’.

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Jews Facing Increased Challenges and Threats

Representatives of the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute (JPPPI) briefed the cabinet at its weekly meeting Sunday on their 2008 assessment, presenting a particularly bleak forecast.

According to the assessment, Israel and the Jewish people are facing a wide array of challenges and threats, including a new US administration, a continuing erosion in the US’s global position, the strengthening of Iran, the use of Israel as a pretext for the dissemination of a new anti-Semitism, and the economic crisis and consequent blow to Jews’ economic status.

The report pointed to the overall decline in the United States’ status during 2008 as impacting worldwide Jewry.

The simultaneous strengthening of an axis advocating the annihilation of Israel, led by Iran, is threatening the image of the Jewish state as a haven for the Jewish people, the report said.

“Israel is becoming a mainstay for the proliferation of ‘new Anti-Semitism,’” it stated. “This harms Israel’s ’soft power’ and the image of the Jewish people as a whole.”

Additionally, the report said the global economic crisis may challenge the political power of Jews in the West.

“The assessment is not particularly encouraging from the socioeconomic point of view,” the report went on to explain. It noted that “the economic crisis has dealt a serious blow to Jewish wealth and, along with the Madoff fraud, has severely damaged philanthropist activity and has exacerbated the danger of rising traditional anti-Semitism. Budgetary problems could adversely affect the ability to manage community life and education systems in various locations abroad, given intensified competition over allocations and the channeling of donations outside the community.”

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