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The brutal beating and subsequent
death of Matthew Shepard has set the liberal media and the promoters of
sexual perversion off on yet another frenzy of guilt mongering in hopes of
shaming citizens of Wyoming and the rest of the nation into accepting the
imposition of federal hate crime laws as well as state hate crime statutes
where they are not in place already. In other words, the assault on
Matthew Shepard is being used to launch yet another assault on one of the
bulwarks of our liberty and system of jurisprudence, equal justice under
the law. Hate crime laws are unconstitutional; and they conflict with the
basis of all true law, the revealed law of "nature's God" which
is the foundation of our Republic's political and legal institutions. You
shall not show partiality in judgment (Deuteronomy 1:17).
All across America last week, men, women, and children
were brutally murdered; yet it is the murder of Matthew Shepard which we
will have recounted to us over and over for months to come because his
death benefits those who would impose an ungodly, unjust system of
government on America.
To listen to the chorus of voices crying for hate crime
legislation, one would think such laws to be the panacea for all violence.
The truth is, hate crimes have negligible effect in stopping the most
violent of crimes. The two men who assaulted Matthew Shepard are facing
murder and kidnapping charges. It is highly doubtful that the possibility
of a hate crime charge would have deterred them from their murderous act.
On the other hand, hate crime statutes do elevate one group of citizens
above another and accord the elite group with a sort of title of nobility
which aids greatly in the advancement of the group's agenda.
Whoever murdered Matthew Shepard should be executed as
a murderer. Meanwhile, it should be remembered that the new saint of the
"gay" world was a twenty-two-year-old man engaged in sexual
perversion who was apparently cruising a bar for the purpose of finding a
partner, or two, to commit vile acts which also violate the laws of
"nature's God." One legitimate law, if enforced, which may have
saved Mr. Shepard's life is a law against sodomy and other homosexual
acts. But of course, that would be imposing our morality on others.
Since the death of Matthew Shepard, I have been
interviewed by a number of media sources. Last Tuesday, for instance, I
spent an hour defending our Biblical worldview on one of the most liberal
talk shows in one of America's most liberal cities, the socialist city
state of Madison, Wisconsin. During these heaven-sent opportunities to
share truth, I have attempted, by the grace of God, to make a number of
very important points regarding hate crimes, points which I would like to
share with you:
1) The murder of Matthew Shepard is being shamelessly
exploited to promote and justify grossly immoral, eternally unlawful
sexual behavior. Victimization is one of the pillars of the sodomite
agenda. Homosexual strategists have repeatedly revealed as much over and
over. In an article titled, "The Overhauling of Straight
America," which appeared in Guide Magazine, sodomites Marshall Kirk
and Erastes Pill wrote, "Gays must be cast as victims in need of
protection so that straights will be inclined by reflex to assume the role
of protector."
The murder of Matthew Shepard is being used as a club
to bludgeon Christians into either shameful silence or, at the very least,
patronizing equivocation.
2) The murder of Matthew Shepard is being used to
advance a corrupt political agenda. As one part of a multifaceted strategy
to shove sexual perversion down America's throat, homosexuals and their
comrades-in-arms have long striven to pass a federal hate crime statute,
as well as state hate crime statutes in those states not yet having such
laws on the books. Hate crime statutes are inherently unbiblical and
unconstitutional.
This nation was founded upon, and meant to be forever
governed by, the laws of nature and of nature's God, as made clear in our
nation's charter the Declaration of Independence. America's founders and
their predecessors defined those laws as God's creation law and His
revealed law as found only in Holy Scripture.
Our founders mandated that all states admitted into the
Union must also govern themselves under a republican form of government.
In other words, states are to be under the rule of law, not under the rule
of men; and that law is to be the laws of nature and of nature's God.
Hate crime statutes violate the revealed law of God.
They are in violation first because they show partiality to one group of
people over another. Deuteronomy 1:17 commands, "Ye shall not respect
persons in judgment." Deuteronomy 16:19 warns, "Thou shalt not
wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons . . ."
The second chapter of James makes it clear that God is
against unjust partiality. James 2:9 states, "but if ye have respect
to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as
transgressors."
Acts 10:34 tells us that God is no respecter of
persons. In other words, He does not show partiality with regard to His
mercy or His justice. Obviously, He expects us to follow His example when
it comes to matters of law and justice.
Psalm 82:2 asks the question, "How long will ye
judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked?" Hate crime
statutes not only show partiality to one group of people over another; but
when applied to homosexuals, they also mandate partiality to a wicked
group of people.
Hate crime statutes also violate God's revealed law
because they judge the heart, and the civil government has neither the
authority nor the ability to judge the heart. I Chronicles 29:17, Proverb
17:3, Jeremiah 11:20, and a number of other Scripture verses make it clear
that it is God that "triest the heart." I Samuel 16:7 reveals
that "the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." Romans 13 makes it
very clear that civil authorities are to punish evil actions, not thoughts
of the heart.
So hate crime statutes, regardless of which groups are
covered, violate the revealed law of nature's God; therefore they violate
the U.S. Constitution and every state constitution as well.
Hate crime statutes make men unequal under the law. The
foundational precept of our Republic, rooted in the Bible and delineated
in our nation's charter, is that all men are created equal. This does not
mean that all men are created equal physically or with regard to talent,
intellect, social status, or economic condition. What this means is that
all men are created with certain God-given rights to life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness—rights which governments of men have no
authority to infringe upon.
If every man is equal, then every man must be treated
equal under the law. Equality under the law is one of the bulwarks of our
liberty and is at the core of a system of jurisprudence which has served
this nation well up until recent times.
It is interesting to me that the same crowd who often
uses the Fourteenth Amendment to bludgeon the states into accepting
federal jurisdiction in any number of ways ignores the basic stated
purpose of that amendment—to provide all persons "equal protection
of the laws."
If there was one principle America's founders wanted
enshrined into law, it was that the government would not be allowed to
show preference to one citizen over another. Article 1, Section 9 of our
U.S. Constitution forbids the granting of titles of nobility. What the
founders had in mind here is more than just the simple granting of
deferential labels to certain individuals. What they had in mind is the
granting of government favors or special protection to certain individuals
and groups of individuals. They were dead set against the establishment of
even the hint of such a government-ordained nobility or royalty in
America. The thought of granting a de facto title of nobility to each and
every person practicing sexual perversion in this country certainly would
have been abhorrent to America's godly founders.
Last week, any number of men, women, and even little
boys and girls were brutally murdered; yet it is the death of one of
America's new nobility, a homosexual, which sends our nation's immoral
elite into spasmodic convulsions of staged grief in hopes of furthering a
corrupt agenda. Instead of shrieking for more unconstitutional laws, they
should be calling for the execution of whoever tortured and murdered
Matthew Shepard.
3) A third point I want to make about hate crime
statutes is that they do not work to prevent crimes such as the murder of
Matthew Shepard. The men who are accused of that crime, if convicted, are
looking at death. Wyoming executes murderers. Does anyone in their right
mind think that an extra five-year hate crime enhancement penalty on top
of execution would have deterred Matthew Shepard's murderers? Sodomite
leaders in my home state of Wisconsin are using the Wyoming situation to
trumpet the fallacious claim that hate crimes against their brethren are
supposedly rampant in our state.
The only problem with their assertion, beyond the fact
that it is untrue, is that Wisconsin has a well-enforced hate crime
statute on the books which includes the category of sexual orientation.
Now if we are still experiencing a tidal wave of hate crimes against
homosexuals, that would be a plain indication that hate crime laws have no
effect.
4) A fourth point concerning hate crime laws is that
they fuel hate. This is a self-evident truth. When the government protects
one class of people more than another, the government is saying that the
excluded persons are less than full citizens, perhaps even less than full
humans. This, coupled with the lower penalties for attacking individuals
in such a group, encourages criminals to select them as victims.
5) The last point I want to make about hate crimes is
that they are inconsistent and arbitrary. Hate crime statutes are meant to
punish those criminals who select their victims based on race; religion;
ethnic background; disability; and increasingly, so-called sexual
orientation. In other words, the government is now in the businesses of
training discriminating murderers, rapists, and robbers. Yet if the point
is to punish criminals for selecting their victims based on a defining
characteristic, the promoters of hate crimes are stopping well short of
consistent application of their own standards.
Isn't it a fact that small people get selected to be
beaten up more often than large, muscular people? Do not serious thieves
generally target people with money, especially rich people, as opposed to
poor people? Are not women who get picked up in bars raped more often than
moral women who exercise wisdom? Isn't it true that old people are
frequently targeted by criminals and that gullible people are preyed upon
by con-artists and cheats? Isn't the property of absentee home owners
often targeted for vandalism or theft because they are not there as
opposed to home owners who are at home? Where are the hate crime statutes
to protect all of those people?
The list goes on and on, but my point should be clear.
Hate crime statutes are not about protecting people; they are about
dividing a nation; subverting the rule of law; and in some cases,
advancing corrupt political agendas. Those who are shamelessly exploiting
the murder of Matthew Shepard to promote hate crime legislation as the
panacea for crime in America are, for the most part, delusional,
disingenuous, and diabolical.
Such legislation is worthless concerning any good. It
is unbiblical, unconstitutional, and divisive. Hate crime laws are nothing
less than a murderous assault on our republican system of government. The
strongest deterrent against crime and the best safeguard for the people
lies in the aggressive, consistent preaching of the Word of God coupled
with the consistent, fair application of the law and the appropriate
punishment of those who break it. Yet hate crime champions are generally
opposed to both the gospel and the rule of law.
One last thought on the death of Matthew Shepard. It
has come to my attention that Kansas Pastor Fred Phelps and his people are
planning on picketing the funeral of Mr. Shepard. During similar past
escapades, the Phelps contingent has used signs reading, "Filthy fag
burn in hell." I personally view Phelps's activity as inappropriate
and reprehensible. I know of Pastor Phelps, and there is no doubt he may
be a brave man; but he is certainly not a discerning, compassionate man.
The family of Matthew Shepard is burying a loved one.
Yes, a loved one who was engaged in vile behavior and who, short of
repentance, is now in the eternal fire of hell. That notwithstanding, he
was still their loved one, their son, grandson, nephew, and brother. How
many of you have relatives that are fornicators, drunkards, adulterers, or
sodomites? Ask yourselves, How would you feel if they were murdered and
Fred Phelps came to their funeral?
Matthew Shepard was involved in behavior which Romans
1:32 says made him worthy of death, but that does not in any way justify
his murder or the mocking of his family at this time. On the other hand,
liberal media and the sexual anarchists have been holding candle light
vigils to honor him. It may fairly be asked, What are they honoring? Has
the word taken on new meaning? Are they honoring him for being murdered
while seeking to commit lewd acts with his assailants? Are they honoring
him because he was involved in sexual perversion to such a depth that he
was apparently willing to engage in vile acts with two men at the spur of
the moment?
No, let me tell you why they are honoring Matthew
Shepard. They are honoring him because his death will suit their purposes
far more than his life. Beyond that, they are honoring him because they
are just like him; and in honoring Matthew Shepard, they are paying homage
to themselves, which is something they must do to sear their own
consciences and enable them to continue on in a life of rebellion and
perversion with the help of America's civil government and a fair number
of her churches. I fervently hope Matthew Shepard repented before he
perished. I pray God will use his death to change the lives of others and
bring them to the cross of Jesus Christ before it is too late for them as
well. Christ is the only hope for mankind, the way, the truth, and the
life.
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