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Real Answers™
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Copyright: ©2007 Debbie Thurman
645 words

WE MUST TRED LIGHTLY ON HATE-CRIMES LEGISLATION

By: Debbie Thurman

The Hate Crimes Prevention Act, already passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, and its counterpart currently being debated in the Senate raise a curious question: Will Christians be protected from hate-filled speech and acts of violence with the same fervor that active gays, lesbians and transgendered people hope to be?

The House bill is unofficially named after Matthew Sheperd, the gay college student who died after being beaten by two thugs and tied to a fence on a snowy Wyoming night in 1998. He became a martyred gay-rights icon spurring homosexual activists to push harder than ever for hate-crimes laws. A controversy still swirls around the alleged events of that night, which have inspired books, plays, films and songs.

While we likely will never know if Sheperd may have contributed to his death by provoking his attackers with alleged sexual advances or blunted his own judgment by drinking excessively, this was a shameful and tragic crime that rightfully outraged decent people everywhere.

But was it purely a hate crime? And do pastors and others who preach about the sin of homosexuality as defined in Scripture commit “spiritual violence” and provoke such crimes, as gay activists claim? Are they in danger of being prosecuted under a federal hate-crimes law because someone attempts to connect the demise of a gay person to a sermon? Would such an allegation itself not be motivated by hate and God-phobia?

Other countries that are farther down this road than the U.S. offer sobering tales of caution. The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) was involved in an unsettling case in Sweden, where a pastor, Ake Green, was threatened with jail because he “preached a message essentially urging his congregation to love those involved in the sexual immorality of homosexual behavior, and … [ based on Romans 1] -- that it was the church's duty to lovingly call people to leave that lifestyle behind,” according to ADF’s Chris Stovall. That case went all the way to the Swedish Supreme Court before Green was acquitted.

Will our Constitution always guarantee the protection of free speech, regardless of how controversial or offensive?  That remains to be seen. We clearly need to tread lightly on hate-crimes legislation that categorizes certain victims of violence as more deserving of retribution than others.

The sword of anger and hate cuts both ways. One need look no farther than the recent death of Jerry Falwell to see how much venom can spew forth from the mouths of anti-religionists. Every crime, regardless of other contributing factors, has its origin in a hardened heart that has refused to let the light of Christ’s love in.

One class of people that arguably would deserve protection by an updated hate-crimes law but could be targeted for possible prosecution instead are those considered to be ex-gays -- people who have chosen to seek help in changing their same-sex attraction and have found healing through repentance and forgiveness. They are despised by gay-rights activists, who contend that some people are born gay and cannot change. These mild-mannered folks are regularly targeted by vile, inflammatory speech and even death threats.

But untold numbers of men and women have, indeed, shed the burden of homosexuality. I am privileged to know some of them. The primary source of their transformation is the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Through sold-out conferences like Focus on the Family’s Love Won Out, they offer a message of truth in love to others who are troubled about their gender confusion. It would be a travesty if these conferences were shut down.

The truth chafes and offends. It always has. But speaking it ought never to be a hate crime. It is an act of compassion. I pray we do not lose sight of that in an age that compels Christian more than ever to fulfill the Great Commission and shepherd the lost with God’s truth.

Debbie Thurman is an award-winning commentator and author who writes from Monroe, Va. Her e-mail address is debbie@debbiethurman.com.

"Real Answers™" furnished courtesy of The Amy Foundation Internet Syndicate. To contact the author or The Amy Foundation, write or E-mail to: P. O. Box 16091, Lansing, MI 48901-6091; amyfoundtn@aol.com

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