Point of View

Don Walton is founder of Time for Truth Ministries and a full-time evangelist and conference speaker. For more information visit www.timefortruth.org.

With the recent passing of the "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007," liberals in the House of Representatives are hoping to empower Big Brother to start picking more than just our pockets. This scary piece of thought-policing legislation will enable government to start picking our brains as well. Though it was passed under the guise of ridding our society of hate, H.R.1592 will inevitably lead to the policing of our opinions and the criminalizing of all politically-incorrect thinking. As a Senate staffer whose boss opposed the legislation astutely pointed out, this bill "actually punishes someone for what he thinks. That's pretty scary."

A federal law enacted back in 1969 authorized our government to prosecute hate-crimes committed against individuals participating in federally protected activities, such as voting or going to school. Whereas the 1969 law relegated hate-crimes to crimes committed against individuals on the basis of their race, color, religion or national origin, the bill passed recently by the House of Representatives expands the definition of hate-crimes to include violence perpetrated against someone because of their perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

Whatever happened to the liberal mantra: "You can't legislate morality?" When did liberals change their minds? What epiphany has brought about their miraculous transformation? Could it have happened while they were kneeling at the nuptial altar of same-sex marriage? One thing is for sure, it was radical homosexual groups that egged the House of Representatives on to expand the definition of hate-crimes to include violence perpetrated against gays, lesbians, drag queens, drag kings, cross-dressers, and transvestites.

Far from being about hate, H.R.1592 is about normalizing homosexuality and criminalizing any opposition to it. This is easily proven by the fact that amendments proposed to the bill to protect other groups, such as military personnel, senior citizens and the homeless, were quickly shot down and never seriously considered. Furthermore, Congressman Mike Pence's Freedom of Religion Amendment, which would have assured that the new law could never be used to prosecute people of faith for speaking out against homosexuality, was squashed in committee.

Although the problems with this legislation are obvious and voluminous, I'll only take the time to point out three of the most unmistakable.

First, the Bible makes it plain that the judgment of men's thoughts and hearts has been committed by the Father to the Son, because Christ alone is capable of policing men's thoughts and searching their hearts (John 5:22 and John 2:25). While we can judge men's actions by God's Word as to whether they are right or wrong, we cannot judge men's motives, since their hearts and thoughts are unknown to us. Therefore, no human tribunal is capable of usurping Christ's place, as Sir William Blackstone taught in his famous Commentaries on the Laws of England: "No temporal tribunal can search the heart, or fathom the intentions of the mind, otherwise than as they are demonstrated by outward actions, it therefore cannot punish for what it cannot know."

In his Bill of Religious Freedom in 1779, Thomas Jefferson taught that "the rightful purpose of civil government" is to punish "overt acts against peace and good order," not to "intrude...into the field of opinions." According to Jefferson, whenever a "civil magistrate [judge] intrudes...into the field of opinions," he makes "his own opinions the rule of judgment and approves or condemns the sentiments of others only as they square with or differ from his own." Do we really want to empower judges to impose lighter sentences upon those sharing their opinions and severer sentences upon those disagreeing with them? I think not.

Second, this legislation is a clear violation of the Fourteenth Amendment - the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. As Concerned Women for America's policy director for cultural issues, Matt Barber, points out: "It clearly sets up a two-tiered justice system with a first class of victims and a second class of victims." For instance, if your grandmother gets mugged, her muggers won't face as severe a penalty under the law as will the muggers of a lesbian, drag queen or transvestite. Now, no one is suggesting that mugging a lesbian, drag queen or transvestite is okay, it's just not any worse than mugging grandma. Instead of providing equal protection under the law, as the Constitution demands, this legislation provides unequal protection under the law. Therefore, it is clearly unconstitutional.

Third, this legislation will inevitably lead to the criminalizing of biblical preaching and Christian convictions. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, warns that this legislation will "lead to serious infringements of our First Amendment freedom of speech protections in the United States." James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, insists that the true intent of H.R.1592 is "to muzzle people of faith who dare to express their moral and biblical concerns about homosexuality."

While Washington politicians pooh-pooh Christian concerns about hate-crimes legislation, Christians are already being prosecuted under hate-crimes laws in England, Sweden, Canada, and even here in America. In Canada, a man was fined by a provincial human-rights tribunal for taking out a newspaper ad in Saskatchewan with Scripture references to verses that clearly teach that homosexuality is a sin. In Sweden, Pastor Ake Green was arrested at his church for reading Bible verses condemning homosexuality. And even right here in the good old USA, Arleen Elshinnaway, a 75-year-old grandmother, was arrested in Philadelphia, Pa., for simply sharing the Gospel on a public sidewalk during a gay-pride rally.

As has been pointed out by numerous commentators, the House of Representatives new hate-crimes legislation is eerily reminiscent of George Orwell's classic novel 1984, in which the "thought police" of a tyrannical government quickly arrest anyone thinking "wrong thoughts." If we're not careful, 1984 may soon be reality rather than fiction in these United States, with Big Brother watching and waiting to prosecute and punish us for any politically-incorrect thinking.

Has the day finally come in this country when Christians will be jailed for their biblical beliefs and Christian convictions? If not, it appears to be just around the corner. Still, most church-goers today have little to fear, since there's clearly not enough evidence to convict them.

Don Walton is founder of Time for Truth Ministries and a full-time evangelist and conference speaker. For more information visit www.timefortruth.org.