Most Dangerous Bill Every Introduced

By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

"This bill says that hordes of homosexuals are being forced to flee their home states because they are routinely denied access to goods, services and employment," he said. "This explains the mystery of the crowded highways and airports in San Francisco and New York. … The reasons for the bill are completely unsupported."

Debate has been launched in Congress on a federal "hate speech" proposal similar to a state law that already has been used to send grandmothers to jail for their "crime" of sharing the Gospel of Jesus on a Philadelphia public sidewalk. And Brad Dacus of the Pacific Justice Institute told members that "our society needs to heed voices of conscience – not haul them into court."

"This is the most dangerous bill in America," said Janet Folger, a WND columnist and the president of Faith2Action, which has launched an advertising campaign on the issue.

Dacus said in comments prepared for presentation to the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security that H.R. 1592 would use the power and authority of the federal government to stifle free speech, especially religious speech.

He talked about the misuse of "hate crimes" laws that give those claiming "sexual orientation" or "gender identity" discrimination special legal rights, pointing out that such a maneuver recently was used, as WND has reported, by the Hindu American Foundation to label a long list of Christian ministry websites who promote Christian beliefs and offer the choice of those beliefs to those involved in other religions as "hate speech."

"What makes America great is its tolerance for a diversity of viewpoints – even viewpoints we may not agree with. H.R. 1592 is a smokescreen for stifling dissent on important issues of national debate such as sexual orientation, gender identity and religion," he said.

"This so-called 'hate crime' legislation begins to lay the legal foundation and framework for investigating, prosecuting and persecuting pastors, business owners, and anyone else whose actions reflect their faith – as has already been starkly demonstrated in California, Canada, Europe and Australia," he said.

The proposal, on its face, would create bans on "hate crimes," but Rev. Louis Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition said it more accurately is "an attempt by the ultra liberals and the homosexuals to force Americans to accept homosexuality and gender disturbance as equal to God's Created Order of heterosexuality."

He said states already have the resources to deal with crimes of bodily harm or assault, and the plan is simply not needed. Worse yet, he said, it creates a crime of "thought."

Sheldon's organization is releasing a poster showing Jesus as a wanted fugitive, for "crimes" under the planned "hate crimes" legislation.