Thought crimes in the USA

Divine coincidence or just ironic?

Yesterday I had a conversation with Madeleine over WhaleOil's boycott of the Tumeke blog due to WhaleOil's disapproval of Tim Selwyn's opinions on Israel and the Holocaust. Suffice to say, I will not be joining the boycott.

Today, I've been reading the WND articles on a new federal law about to be passed in the USA criminalising thought - the dreaded "hate crime" legislation that typically has chilling effects upon free speech (normally Christian free-speech) in every country it has been implemented in.

Critics have said "hate crimes" laws actually criminalize thought because they demand enhanced penalties due to the "perception" of the victim by the perpetrator. A mugger, for example, who attacks a victim while screaming an epithet denoting a race or sexual preference could receive a much more significant penalty than a mugger who attacks a victim but doesn't say anything.

Four years ago, in a post about the flawed thinking of Tim Selwyn when he tried to equate the invasion of Iraq by Americans with the invasion of Poland the Germans, I said:

On a serious note, I'm trying to impart something important here. It's not a thought crime to compare Iraq to Poland. Instead it's a minimisation of what happened in Poland. So it's not so much a "you said something wrong now I'm going to jump on you" attitude, so much as ... "Do these people not have a clue"??? Do you, Tim, not have a clue?

I hope the above establishes how against the concept of thought crimes I am.

Considering that most blogging servers reside in the USA, I wonder what ramifications there will be for disagreeing with homosexual acts on the blogs ... And who knows, maybe in our brave, new future, a potential Miss California could be jailed for her pro-male-female-marriage views, rather than just being denied the crown?

"Instead of treating all crime victims equally, it creates a caste system where select groups, such as gays and lesbians, are given greater priority in the criminal justice system. This is not progress; it is political correctness. In other nations and states, the adoption of hate crimes legislation has been the first step toward widespread suppression of speech and ideas critical of homosexuality," he said.

The sad thing is, that a number of American Jewish groups support this legislation. Maybe the thinking is that it will prevent another Holocaust. The thing is, the Holocaust was dreamed up by an elected government. Using the force of law to try and prevent another one, thus, reducing the ability of individuals to protest what they consider to be immoral things, is going to be counterproductive, to say the least.

Related Links: House to vote on 'hate crimes' bill
Will Christians face prosecution for speaking out against homosexuality?

Judiciary Committee greenlights 'hate crimes'
Members refuse to protect Christian pastors from charges