More Religious Right boo-hooing and lies

Once again the Religious Right are whining and worried that their right to speak freely from their pulpits will be threatened. Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 (H.R. 1913) would target hate crimes is intended to “allow the U.S. Justice Department to offer assistance when a crime that results in death or serious injury is committed against any American because of the victim’s race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.” So unless they are going to bring a homosexual up in front of the congregation and beat the crap out of him/her, they are just being paranoid.

Full article: Pastors In Prison?: Religious Right Spreads Lies About Hate Crimes Bill

I guess that pastors may be feeling a wee bit guilty for they do know what they are doing… encouraging bigotry and they know it. They should be a bit worried about being charged with instigating a hate crime if someone who hears their bigoted and hateful Sunday Sermons and the lovely passages from Leviticus and go find a homosexual to beat up or stone to death. (Which has been done in the past, as we all have seen on the evening news.) So, they are spewing out lies and propaganda to their congregations without fully understanding what the legislation is all about. No one is going to arrest pastors for simply exercising their freedom of speech. That is a total lie. Even if a pastor goes around preaching his bigotry and hate on a street corner, no cops come and arrest him. Now if he would start beating the crap out of someone, then yes, his ass is going to get thrown in jail.

As Becky Dansky, federal legislative director for the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, told the Washington Blade, such claims by the Religious Right are “completely inaccurate, unless their priest or reverend or religious leader is physically assaulting someone based on their sexual orientation while they’re giving that sermon.”

But the thick-headed fundies just refuse to get it. They are in full persecution mode over this one. How typical to turn themselves into the victim in need of protection.

Yet Religious Right leaders keep playing the “your-pastor-will-go-to-jail” card.

“An offended homosexual could accuse a pastor, Sunday School teacher of broadcaster of causing emotional injury simply by expressing the Biblical view that homosexuality is sinful,” blares the Rev. Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association in an e-mail alert.

Over at the Traditional Values Coalition, Andrea Lafferty warns, “Your pastor could be prosecuted for conspiracy to commit a hate crime if it passes and become law. This so-called ‘hate crimes’ bill will be used to lay the legal foundation and framework to investigate, prosecute, and persecute pastors, business owners, Bible teachers, Sunday School teachers, youth pastors – you name it – or anyone else whose actions are based upon and reflect the truth found in the Bible.”

And as Rob Boston says:

What is the Religious Right’s evidence for these extravagant claims? It doesn’t have any.

They are simply stomping their feet because they will have to be a bit more careful in this world about the things they say about people who are different and hold different viewpoints, lifestyles, values, beliefs and non-beliefs. Why not preach about how to help others instead of cherry-picking the parts of the Bible that promote divisiveness.