Religious conservatives have increased their campaign to label the Hate Crimes legislation as the “pedophile protection” act. An email from the American Family Associaiton declared:
“If a mother hears that their child has been raped, and she slaps the assailant with her purse, she is now gone after as a hate criminal because this is a protected class,” said Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas.
It’s simply not true that the legislation protects pedophiles. It protects people engaged in adult, consensual homosexuality.It’s also not likely that slapping someone with a purse would constitute a felonious crime of violence.
My concern is that such laws have included so many “protected classes” that there really are no protected classes. The same protections provided gays in the law are also be afforded victims of violence on the basis of religion, for instance..
Come to think of it, if a gay were to physically attack a conservative evangelical because of his religion — including his religious views on moral issues — the Christian could use the same hate crime law to prosecute the gay.
Why are religious conservatives not highlighting the ways the Hate Crime laws can be used to protect Christians from rampant anti-Christian violence perpetrated by gays?