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05/29/2007
Don't make you a criminal? Don't worry, we have no desire to!
So this is a flyer being distributed (at a cost) by the folks at StopHateCrimesNow.com:
Now, our first thought after reading this is: The second sentence is worded in a horribly awkward fashion! I mean, come on:
"Laws already exist to punish crimes without setting up a victim hierarchy, as this bill would do by making homosexual activists more protected than grandmothers."
Who wrote this, a grandmother imprisoned for flunking English?!
But clumsy syntax aside, there are a couple of other things that need to be addressed. First and foremost among them is the fact that the folks responsible for this flyer and website, Faith2Action, are charging their followers 20 bucks to send the above to their 2 Senators! Never mind that anyone with beginner-level Photoshop skills and a stamp could send the same thing to their Senators (probably with better wording). Or, better yet, that most anyone with Internet access and an ability to Google could get the document to SOMEONE on the Senator's staff! No, no -- to be truly Christian and to truly express your distaste for gay-inclusive hate crimes legislation, you must fork over twenty dollars to cover some sort of unbeknownst costs. And you must send it through Faith2Action's automated system, where (a) you can really never be fully sure of what, exactly, was sent, and (b) it is surely to look less significant to any reasoned Senator, as it will seem to have just thoughtlessly come from a large organization, not an independent thinker.
However, even more than both the poor wording, the money-making nature, and the ineffectiveness of the political tactic, what really strikes us as silly about the flyer is that it is complete and utter bull feces. We saw these kids try and make the House version of this legislation look like it would stifle religious freedom and suppress thought, much to no avail (that version easily passed). So now that the Senate version is gearing up for debate, they are once again trotting out their same lies lines of illogic logic to make it seem like no other group is currently protected from bias-motivated attacks, and that by seeking help to curb the true problem of gay-motivated violence, the LGBT community is launching an unwarranted attack on anyone who is not part of that rainbow umbrella (even though the legislation would remove restrictions that would help curb all bias-motivated violent crime).
It's a rationale as disturbing in its duplicity as it is in its ultimate intent (gay demonization)!
We've gone over the flaws in their logic until we're blue in the face, and we have not the energy or desire to even dignify them again at this point (As there is still a long ways to go before we get to Bush's announced veto). That being the case, we'll just say to the Faith2Action crowd:
Anyone you are going to speak to with this flyer has already bought into and signed on to your flawed logic, either to satiate their own desires or to court a vote that they need to stay in office. If you really think you are going to convince even one Senator to change his vote with pleas of "Don't Make Me A Criminal!" then the degree to which you kids just don't get it is even higher than initially thought! Because you see, F2A, the message on which your side has agreed to stay in terms of this hate crimes debate is perhaps the most insanely baseless, deceitful, unwarranted bit of antipathy that you guys and gals have ever shown for any pro-gay concept to ever grace this nation. It is simply astounding!
So F2A, why don't you stop ripping off both the pocket books and intellect of your allies, and start presenting them with the true nature of hate crimes legislation. This little flyer idea may put a few bucks in your coffers, but it would only seem to us to put yet another nail in your movement's coffin!
DON'T MAKE ME A CRIMINAL! [F2A]
**Another annoying point: Grandmothers, children, and pregnant women are not ONE THING. Some are African-American. Some are Jewish. Some are Hispanic. Some are Christian. And some of them -- gay, lesbian, boys, girls, transgender, disabled.
The difference between the first four and the last three? Only the former are fully protected under current federal statutes! Under proposed legislation, the latter would be added and loopholes would be removed [hopefully ensuring that all bias-motivated violence (including against Christians) is adequately investigated and prosecuted].
**UPDATE: HRC wants you to support the Senate version (and they're not gonna charge you a penny).
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