Fundamentalists Cheer Hate-Crime Immunity

Fundamentalists praised an amendment to the hate crimes legislation which ensures that vitriol spewed under the guise of religious speech will remain immune to hate crime prosecution unless it can be shown that the intent was to incite imminent violence. Violence next week? Maybe not.

Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), known recently for his truly visionary legislative assault on mermaids, introduced an amendment to the hate crimes legislation before the Senate on Thursday, July 16.

Brownback’s amendment states that nothing

shall be construed or applied in a manner that infringes the rights under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, or substantially burdens any exercise of religion (regardless of whether compelled by, or central to, a system of religious belief), speech, expression, association, if such exercise of religion was not intended to 1) plan or prepare for an act of physical violence or 2) incite an imminent act of physical violence against another.

The National Religious Broadcasters weren’t entirely satisfied . . . probably because they can’t intentionally incite their congregations to violence:

There could still be some room for concern in the “incite” portion of that caveat. NRB Senior V.P. and General Counsel Craig Parshall said the hate crimes legislation was still bad policy and that the amendment would make abusive prosecutions “less likely.”

But without that amendment, he said, “our Christian communicators would face an unbridled, vicious juggernaut of censorship, where federal criminal ‘hate crime’ laws could be used to shut-down free speech and religious expression.”

Well, only free speech which incites violence and hatred. But, as we know, these elements are key to fundamentalism!

What do you think? Should religious broadcasters be permitted to spew hatred?

Look, a comment box, waiting for you to say something!

Related articles:

1. Fundamentalists Fight Hate Crimes Act
2. Fischer: The Bachmanns Are Victims Of A Hate Crime Based On Their Heterosexual Orientation
3. Fischer: Pointing Out My Bigotry Is A Hate Crime
4. Fischer: Gay Activists Are "Number One Perpetrators Of Hate Crimes In America"
5. Why are there more Christian congregations where there is more crime?

Mike Daniels is co-editor of Secular News Daily.

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