 |
|
|
|
|
Act Now to Stop HR 1592!
Mark Gabriel • 4/27/2007
 About five years ago, I was arrested while trying to enter Canada to join a Christian friend to do pro-life ministry there. I had a case of literature containing flyers entitled, "What the Bible Says About Homosexuality." This literature was confiscated (stolen) at the border. They wanted over $200 for me to get it back. The literature was to be given to my Canadian friend, Bill Whatcott, who distributes Chrisitan literature door to door, and on university campuses. All the literature he passes out, deals primarily with abortion, homosexuality, and the threat of Islam.I spent 8 days in a very old Canadian prison. It happened to be the same length of time that I had planned to stay in Canada. My Canadian friend has lost his nursing license in Canada because he publicly told the truth about Planned Parenthood on his own time. He was also drug before a special "Civil Rights" tribunal, where he was convicted of "hate crimes," which in his case was saying that homosexuality was a sin, and quoting relevant Bible passages to prove the point. This happened to me and to him because Canada has "hate crimes" laws.
Our Congress will be voting on a similar "hate crimes," bill - H.R. 1592. I cannot urge you strongly enough to write and call your congressman to get him to vote against this evil legislation. The bill really is not about punishing those who do violence to homosexuals because there are already laws on the books to deal with assault, battery, etc. This law is about silencing religious speech. Below is a description of the conversation that occurred in committee that sent this bill to the floor of the House of Representatives to be voted on next week:
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 For almost 11 hours Rev. Lou Sheldon, Chairman of Traditional Values Coalition, monitored every move in the Judiciary Committee relevant to the HR 1592, the Hate Crimes bill. They sat in the front row from early morning until it was concluded around 9:15 p.m. All 25 Republican amendments were defeated. The purpose of the Markup is to vote on amendments to the bill. There are 23 Democrats and 17 Republicans. HR 1592 passed by a party line vote, all Democrats supported it and all Republicans opposed. Following is their account of the “Markup.” The first Republican amendment was proposed by Congressman Jim Jordon from Ohio adding those unborn babies and those partially-born babies to the list of protected classes. However, Chairman Conyers ruled the amendment was non-germane, which means the members were not allowed to vote on it. Republican Congressman Dan Lungren from California stated that no where in the bill are the terms “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” defined and he asked for a definition. The Democrats did not want to discuss a definition of even sexual orientation or have it in the bill. They wanted no definitions. Republican Congressman Louis Gohmert of Texas moved to remove "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" from the bill. It failed on a recorded vote of 19 to 13. Congressman Mike Pence from Indiana offered the important amendment on Freedom of Religion. “Nothing in this section limits the religious freedom of any person or group under the constitution.” A number of Republicans spoke in support of it. But the Democrats Jerrold Nadler, Tammy Baldwin and Chairman John Conyers kept evading the issue. Finally, Congressman Gohmert asked, “If a minister was giving a sermon, a Bible study or any kind of written or spoken message saying that homosexuality was a serious sin and a person in the congregation went out and committed a crime against a homosexual would the minister be charged with the crime of incitement?” Gohmert was attempting to clarify and emphasize that the legislation would have an effect on the constitutional right to religious freedom and thus the Pence amendment was needed to protect religious speech. The Democrats refused to accept the amendment. Lundgren pressed them on his question, “What is your answer? Would there be incitement charges against the pastor?” Finally, Democrat Congressman Artur Davis from Alabama spoke up and said, “Yes.”
HR 1592 is not about homosexuals and cross dressers suffering with no food, shelter or jobs,
The Judiciary Committee could easily have accepted the amendment, “Nothing in this section limits the religious freedom of any person or group under the constitution.” |
|
|
|
