Originally, President Bush tried to prevent the hate crime bill from becoming law. Now that Barack Obama, who supports the bill, has taken office, the hate crime bill has once again appeared in Congress. The Democratically-controlled House of Representaives has passed the bill, and they have sent it on to the Senate.
You may ask, “How does this affect me?” Well, we feel that this bill may affect your everyday life greatly. First and foremost, justice will no longer be evenly distributed. The severity of a punishment will depend on race, gender, sexual orientation, or a certain disability.
Secondly, it restricts a priniciple that was established long ago by our forefathers — freedom of speech. One may be against homosexuality, but he’d best not say anything about it under this new law. Preachers and other church officials would be restricted because of “hate speech” found in certain passages that are in the Bible.
In addition, many people believe that this bill is wrong and have shown disdain for the legislation. It violates many of the constitutioinal laws that we have come to enjoy.
Obviously, we think discrimination is wrong and is by no means tolerable. However, this law seems to imply that if one were to discriminate against someone who was similar in many aspects, then no punishment would be distributed. At the same time, if the same person discrimated against a person of different descent or preference, then he or she could be punished.
In conclusion, we believe this bill is outrageous and restricts liberties given to us by the Constitution. Let’s end the hate without compromising our rights.