Accusations that hate-crime
laws would inhibit free speech

"include apocalyptic Christianity in their ideology and believe we are in, or approaching, a period of violence and social turmoil which will precede the Second Coming of Christ."

This is a comment found also in FBI and CSIS documents that were released in late 1999. (CSIS is the "Canadian Security Intelligence Service, a Federal government agency.) At the time, both intelligence agencies were concerned about the possibility of major upheaval due to computer failures and other disturbances during the year 2000 -- commonly called the Y2K problem.  According to an article in the Register-Herald:

"McCoy takes this to mean anyone with a literal interpretation of the Bible, especially in regard to scriptures on prophecy, is part and parcel of a hate group. ₈

McCoy seems to have interpreted this quotation from the course to mean that because a few hate groups who represent a very small percentage of the American population believe in an imminent and violent end of the world, that anyone who believes in a violent end of the world is a member of a hate group. The latter would include essentially all fundamentalists and most other evangelicals -- probably a majority of adults in West Virginia. The break in logic is obvious.

The reporter comments:

"Could this mean preachers would be hauled off to the courts to face hate crime violations? ... To conservative groups such as McCoy's, cleverly linking Nazis and Klan groups or others backgrounded in violence with opponents of homosexuality is an old tack harking back to the "big lie" method of the [Nazi Germany's] Third Reich."

"This legislation also provides a blank check for the funding of law enforcement and public school materials that promote anti-Christian bigotry under the guise of reducing 'hate' ." 

Quoting Andrea Lafferty, Executive Director of TVC, the release said:

"This law will violate the free speech rights of Christians and others who oppose homosexuality on moral grounds. This is a direct attack against the First Amendment and freedom of religion. It must not be passed by the Senate."

"Such laws could (and probably would) be used to harm people of faith, chill free speech, and even lead to same-sex 'marriage'."

They define the phrase "chill free speech" as meaning "to intimidate or discourage a person from speaking."

They conclude that if a Christian were to commit a hate crime motivated by his/her hatred of homosexuals, then their clergyperson might be "prosecuted for conspiracy or subjected to civil lawsuits" if he/she had preached against homosexuality in advance of the hate crime. The Focus writer is also concerned that hate crime legislation that includes protection for sexual orientation might influence future legislation on different topics -- e.g. allowing committed, loving same-sex couples to marry.

"The religious organizations and clergy that would be impacted by this Bill are those who have a sincere belief that homosexuality, lesbianism, transgenderism and bisexuality violate their religious tenets." ₉

As is common with conservative Christian groups, they are referring to behavior, not to sexual orientation -- the factor that would be protected by the legislation. Their inclusion of transgenderism appears to be in error. It is not a sexual orientation; it is a gender identity -- a factor that would not be covered by the year 2000 bill. On a positive note, this is one of the rare instances when a conservative Christian group refers to bisexual or and transgender persons.

They cite a hypothetical situation in which a minister preached a sermon that called on his congregation to "actively oppose the promotion or acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle in their community." A member of the congregation might then torture and fatally crucify a gay man, as was done to Matthew Shepard in Wyoming. They speculate that the pastor could be charged with conspiracy to commit a hate crime. Stanley and Staver point out that some states have"

"expansive definitions of conspiracy that only require agreement to pursue an objective that may be lawful (i.e. opposition to the homosexual lifestyle) in an unlawful manner and that the crime committed was a natural and foreseeable consequence of the agreement."

"Hate crimes legislation could severely restrict Americans' freedom of speech, freedom of thought and freedom of religion. This legislation would give the government the power to interpret and classify certain speech, thought, theology, and moral belief as unlawful or contributing to crime. Will pastors, priests, rabbis, and other religious leaders who preach and teach against homosexual conduct be prosecuted for inciting a hate crime?" ₇