Blacksheep Speaks

Hate Crime Part Two

Besides, there are some ominous overtones to this new "hate crime" crap. Legislators appear to be leaving a few nice little loopholes which allow them to prosecute us for thought crime. You think I'm kidding? Well....how many of you played "cowboys and indians" or "cops and robbers" as a child? Even if you didn't, you probably knew someone who did. These days, any kindergarten child who points his/her finger like a gun and yells "bang" is in deep doo-doo. Apparently this is considered evidence that this future junior high student has the potential to swipe his grandad's hunting rifle and blow his class away. When I was a kid, any time someone in the prepubescent set got angry, they tended to shout "I'm gonna KILL you!" I never knew one that actually acted on that statement. Yet these days, children are being suspended from school for saying far less. And it doesn't stop with the kids, either. Just for the sake of this article a "Christian" is going to be partially defined as a person who believes there is only one God, and Jesus was His son. Now....say any Christian picks any street corner in any major city, raises his hand in the air, and proclaims "There is only ONE GOD!" This person has not harmed anyone. He has simply expressed what he mistakenly believed was his right to free speech. The consequences? In extreme cases, he could be arrested for attempting to start a riot (a "hate crime", because of it's religious nature); the hand in the air being construed to symbolize a threating gesture. At the very least, he will be labled intollerant and threatened with a citation if he is unwise enough to do this in front of the wrong police officer. In effect, he is in trouble for having an opinion.....thought crime.

Admittedly, that was an extreme example. However, with the changes that have been occurring in our country, it will not be long before even more ludicrous laws are made. It's not precisely illegal...yet...to be a bigot. But....give it five more minutes of legislation, and it probably will be. And, while I personally have no great love for the bigots of this world, I do see the path down which we are headed if we allow our legislators to make crimes out of things that were once just considered opinions, and if we allow people to be jailed for simple words when no criminal act was committed.