amendment
Hate Crimes Amendment Passes
House
By Dale Hurd
CBN News Sr. Reporter
CBN.com –
WASHINGTON - The House of Representatives has approved a bill
that includes a hate crimes amendment.
That could make preaching or teaching against
homosexuality a federal crime. It has gotten almost no news coverage,
but critics say it poses a major threat to religious liberties.
The Hate Crimes Amendment, by Michigan Democrat John Conyers,
was attached to the Children's Safety Act last week. It would
federalize local crimes if the suspected motive is animosity toward
homosexuals or "transgender" persons.
The amendment, which passed with the help of 30 Republicans,
seems to have taken conservatives by surprise.
Republican leaders explained that party members voted to pass
the Child Safety Bill even with the amendment attached, because
they wanted the protection of children, and they figured that
the Hate Crimes Amendment would be stripped off when the joint
House-Senate conference Committee tackles the bill.
But the Senate, which will now take up the legislation, has passed
similar hate crimes bills several times, and those were always
blocked by House conservatives.
Some fear that under the law, preaching or teaching against homosexual
conduct could be prosecuted as conspiracy to commit a hate crime.
A similar state law in Pennsylvania led directly to the arrests
of 11 Christians in Philadelphia in a public park last year, and
the felony prosecution of five of those Christians. The charges
were eventually dropped.
Some House members are confident that the amendment will be cleaned
up in committee, but some fear the Senate will pass the hate crimes
provision as is and send it to the President for his signature.
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