This is an open-comment theology blog where I will post various theological musings, mostly in sermon or essay form, for others to read and comment on. If what I say here interests you, you may want to check out some of my books. Feel free to criticize, to critique, to comment, but keep comments to the point and respectful. Many of these posts have been published elsewhere, but I wanted them collected and made available to a wider audience.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Hate Crimes
I rarely enter into politics here, and this is only tangentially political but it is an interesting thing to think about. There was a triple homicide recently, where a guy killed (this is just terrible and sad, and heartbreaking) these three Muslim students over a parking spot. Because the guy was a rabid anti-theist who constantly posted violent anti-religious messages, people are investing the crime as a hate crime. Let's assume he killed them because of his ideological hatred of religion. IF that is the case, would this count as a hate crime? Is killing them because they were religious enough? Or does it have to be due to an adherence to a specific religion?
Positing this is true; yes it should be a hate crime. We simply must stop making allowances for folks that look like us. The racists out there are generally smarter than to put on a hood and burn a cross. That is considered declasse' these days.
ReplyDeleteIf we wait for a full blown genocidal act, we have missed the opportunity and the point. We have to come down hard on this crap. To do otherwise is to give a lie to the idea that justice is for all.
Likely this opinion comes as no surprise so perhaps someone on the other side might want to weigh in.