FReepmail to be added to the Congress Watch Ping List.
Posted on 08/04/2007 9:52:39 PM PDT by monomaniac
In Tennessee, Rep. Steve Cohen (D) is finding out the hard way that pastors aren't buying the liberal line on H.R. 1592, the federal "hate crimes" bill.
A growing number of ministers are sensing that the wave of support for applying "hate crimes" to sexual orientation spells trouble for religious leaders and their ability to speak freely from the pulpit.
Although Cohen is doing his best to reassure Tennessee's churches that they'll be unaffected, the state's faithful are challenging his vote in favor of the bill.
Together with a powerful alliance of black and white pastors, congregations have ignited a firestorm across the Volunteer State that has resulted in a massive letter-writing and phone campaign.
Cohen said his office fielded about 400 calls on the issue after local Memphis churches distributed thousands of fliers about where the bill could lead.
Yesterday, the congressman proved the churches' effectiveness by unleashing his anger on the House floor, accusing "right-wing, evangelical" groups of "misleading pastors."
His accusation missed the mark; it is Cohen and his liberal leadership that are misleading the American public.
Both have said that the bill, which is still pending in the Senate, would not trample on Americans' First Amendment rights.
Pastors like Chester Berryhill know better, saying that he and his colleagues understand that the purpose of the bill is to silence moral opposition. "If you get up in a pulpit now, and if you say homosexuality is a sin, you have 'attacked homosexuality.' ...We want absolutely no restrictions on what a preacher can preach..." We're encouraged that these Tennessee pastors have taken such a principled stand and reached a level of engagement that FRC is working to help all states imitate.
For more information on how your congregation can get involved, log on to www.frc.org and order our new DVD on the drive for sweeping "thought crimes" laws, "Censoring the Church and Silencing Christians."
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Censoring the Church and Silencing Christians
FReepmail to be added to the Congress Watch Ping List.
Funny, I always thought we would go to jail for saying abortion is a sin.
Now, I guess we’ll end up in the clink for saying homosexuality is a sin.
Nero made Christians into torches, a few putzes in the US Congress will not be able to top that..yet.
These pastors need to understand, the Kos Boyz and the mainline Dhimmis despise them, this Congress thing is lying to them and they need to stick by their principles as found in the Word.
Don’t be deceived.
Thank God for those left in America who haven’t yet become weak and morally corrupt, who are as yet holding the thin line. Praise God!
I live in the Memphis area, and this is nothing but BS on both sides. Steve Cohen thinks that he is pandering to the Blacks, and the pastors are mad because a white captured the ninth district.
The whole concept of a hate crime is moron stupid. Hate crime is a Liberal, “Feel Good” concept perpetrated on the public by ignorant people. If comeone commits a crime there is no need for a crime amplifier called hate crime. The crime is the crime. If someone intentionally murders someone then of course there is hate involved. All hate crime does is elevate misdomeanor offences to a felony to satisfy the ego of someone making the charge. It’s primary objective is to inject racism into a situation where it usually wasn’t existing before. Living within a country where there is a racially mixed population, there will always be instances where the criminal is of one race and the victim of another, it would actually be racist if it weren’t. Adding the crime amplifier “hate crime” to the mix only serve to perpetuate racism.
The UEFA in Europe the other day fined a Croatian soccer coach 1,800 euros for the offense of "homophobia" for having said in 2004 that he didn't want any homosexuals on his team.
That seems to be the wave of the future, and all we can hope to do is delay the day when this is par for the course in the US as well...except that the fines will no doubt be much higher.
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