What exactly is a hate crime?  Is it hurting someone because of who they are or what they believe?  Do only certain people count?  Such questions marinate on my mind these days as debate twizzles over a new bill passed by the House on the issue of hate crime. 

At first you might guess that a hate crime is when a member of a minority group is targeted.  If a black or Jewish or gay person is targeted, then you have a hate crime right?  I hear women also count.  So every crime is a hate crime unless it’s against straight white people?  No, because minorities are killed everyday without mention of a hate crime.  So if blacks or Jews or gays or women are killed just because, then don’t sweat it, but look out if the killer acted because of skin color, religious belief, or sexual orientation.

Look, if someone kills me I’m pretty sure they hate me. I don’t think my family cares much what motivated my murderer.  What if I was killed for being 6’3″?  Maybe some angry, short guy hates tall people.  That would be a hate crime right?  As a dead person I don’t think I would really care.

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The current scuttlebutt revolves around fears that anyone opposing gay lifestyles or marriage will get nabbed when someone they know does something bad.  According to Fox News contributor James Osborne: “For much of the last decade gay rights activists have been fighting for inclusion within the federal hate crimes law, which places greater penalties on crimes that are committed based on race, ethnicity and religion.”

Many conservatives are up in arms over the bill saying that prosecutions will be extended against groups, particularly Christians, who teach that homosexuality is morally wrong.  Another group against gays would be Muslims, but I don’t want to go off course here. Continue Reading…