Along with the hate crimes legislation, the Matthew Sheppard Bill, that I have been writing about, a bill also just got introduced in Congress that would ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
From the report in the Boston Globe:
If Congress passes the bills, gay-rights advocates say, it reflects a dramatic change in the national political landscape. In the dozen years Republicans controlled Congress, GOP lawmakers paid little attention to the gay-rights agenda and kept some gay-friendly legislation from even being considered.
"For millions of Americans, it's a very important affirmation of their lives, and we're not talking about [just] symbolism here," said Representative Barney Frank, a Newton Democrat who is openly gay. "We are talking about real problems that exist in people's lives."
If anyone in Congress has earned the right to pop the cork on a bottle of champagne if these bills get passed, it is Rep. Frank who fought the good fight for equality with very little tangible support for a long time.
"We need stricter enforcement of present [anti discrimination] law, not a new law protecting special classes of people and not others," Cantor said. "Here in this Congress I feel it is not our duty, nor should it be our business, to distinguish between different kinds of murder. Murder is murder."
A group of African-American clergy members rallied on Capitol Hill yesterday against the hate crimes bill, which they said was akin to granting special legal protections to a class of "sinners."
Several of the ministers said they feared the measure could lead to prosecution of church leaders who preach against homosexuality if, for example, a church member were to commit a hate crime against a gay man or a lesbian after listening to a sermon that denounced homosexuality.
Well, then, perhaps they shouldn't preach a message that could stir anyone to violent acts against another person. Amazingly, these ministers showed up in DC to speak out for their right to do just that!
How can anyone claiming to be a Christian and seeking the will of God think that Jesus would want that type of message preached from the pulpit from where He is supposed to be exhaulted?
That is clearly people seeking their own will (to hate homosexuals) ahead of God's will, one of the primary definitions of sin.
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How? Because they've not taken the time to really read and understand their Bibles. Folks who foment that kind of hatred are pretty rare, though. From my experience, most homophobic fundys still advocate against violence. Heck, even the Phelpster hasn't yet started physically attacking people.
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