Michigan Pastors Battle Hate Crimes Law
A public interest law firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan is representing four Christian leaders who filed a federal lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., challenging the constitutionality of the recently-enacted federal Hate Crimes Act. Under the act anyone who preaches against behaviors involving sexual orientation or gender identity could be charged with a crime. Federal law now protects people who practice these behaviors, identifying them as a protected class of people.
Four Christians
The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) filed a lawsuit on behalf of Pastor Levon Yuille, Pastor Rene Ouellette, Pastor James Combs, and Gary Glenn, who is the president of the American Family Association of Michigan (AFA-Michigan). The suit was filed on Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
TMLC President and Chief Counsel Richard Thompson remarked, “There is no legitimate law enforcement need for this federal law. Of the 1.38 million violent crimes reported in the U.S. by the FBI in 2008, only 243 were considered as motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation. Moreover, Eric Holder himself testified at a Senate hearing that the states are doing a fine job in this area.”
Political Payoffs
In his statement on behalf of the pastors, Thompson noted that Holder was offering “…political payoffs to homosexual advocacy groups for support of Barack Obama in the last presidential election.”
He went on to say that the purpose of the law is to criminalize the Bible and threaten prosecution in order to muzzle Christians. Thompson concluded by stressing that Christians hate sin, but love the sinner and that the greatest threats of violence to homosexuals comes from other homosexuals, not Christians.
Commerce Clause
According to the lawsuit, the federal hate crimes law provision violates the plaintiffs’ rights to freedom of speech, expressive association, and free exercise of religion as protected by the First Amendment, and it violates the equal protection guarantee of the Fifth Amendment. The lawsuit also alleges that Congress lacked authority to enact the legislation under the Tenth Amendment and the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.
By filing suit, the Christian leaders are seeking judicial protection by way of declaratory and injunctive relief so that they can freely engage in their speech and associated religious activities without being investigated or prosecuted by the government or becoming part of official records because of their Christian beliefs.
TMLC Advocacy
The Thomas More Law Center describes its work as defending and promoting “America’s Christian heritage and moral values, including the religious freedom of Christians, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life.”
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Dominique | February 4th, 2010 at 10:19 am #
I wondered how long it would take before someone filed this law suit. I am glad it has been done. I will be watching this process with great interest especially in light of how the Supreme Court recently struck down parts of the McCain-Feinngold (?) Bill.
It is amazing to me that we are now living in an epoch that allows us to witness the persecution of Christians. It is not something many America Christians are familiar with but I think we may one day soon be experiencing many similarities to the struggles our sisters and brothers in other countries face on a daily basis.
Thanks for sharing this Matt.
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Matthew C. Keegan | February 4th, 2010 at 11:04 am #
Thank you, Dominique. Yes, the days of saying what we want are pretty much over. Sure, we can still speak out, but the consequences of that action are becoming crystal clear. I can see a day coming when when an abridged version of the bible will be printed. But, we already have so-called Christians who never read anyway.
Dominique | February 4th, 2010 at 4:43 pm #
I don’t know if you have heard about the Baptist group that was arrested in Haiti for allegedly kidnapping children? Well, I was reading the news about it today, and to me, it has the same feel as this here. The arresting of Baptist believing people just smells fishy to me.
Especially in light that so many people are in Haiti right now trying to help. I just don’t understand why the Haitian government couldn’t extend grace here. I really can’t help but wondering if it is because they are Christians.
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Matthew C. Keegan | February 4th, 2010 at 4:55 pm #
I just finished reading the article about the Baptists from Idaho, Dominique, when I saw your comment.
I have been following the story, but it is hard to ascertain what exactly happened. My main source has been The Wall Street Journal, but I cannot say for certain that their perspective is entirely correct. Nevertheless, there are some things about this group that disturb including naivete when it comes to transporting children internationally.
My wife and I have two sons, both of whom we adopted from Guatemala. The paperwork involved to ensure that our adoption passed muster was mind-boggling. We not only had to get permission from our state (New Jersey) but at the federal level as well as approval from Guatemala. It was a time consuming process, but obviously worth it.
The Baptist group appears to have broken a number of laws and some of the children were not orphaned. I am trying to be kind when I say this, but the woman who headed up the operation was acting foolishly especially as she ignored warnings from several sources in advance that her plan would not work. Still, she pressed on while the nine members of her team apparently had no idea that she did not have the authority to remove the children.
Long story short, this situation doesn’t parallel the Michigan case. As Christians, we are to be subject to the authorities:
As long as those authorities do not attempt to contravene God’s law we are to follow it. That goes for Haiti, the United States, or wherever.
Aldon @ Orient Lodge | February 5th, 2010 at 11:11 am #
I must admit, I’m really surprised at this, as well as the reaction here on this blog. I cover a lot of Freedom of Speech issues. Speech has never been so free as to include slander, libel, or advocating violence against people, and we as Christians should be glad of that.
Likewise, the hate crime legislation has always been focused on “a criminal offense committed against a person, property or society which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin” (according to the FBI’s definition). As Christians we should be against criminal offenses. When they committed because of an offender’s bias against religion, we should be especially concerned. Hate crime legislation was designed to protect us against persecution.
Now, there is a group of people that some Christians wish to condemn. These are people that believe homosexuality is not wrong and actively practice homosexuality. Some are event Pastors, Ministers, Priests and Bishops. Others of us might consider homosexuality a sin, and preach against that sin, but we are always called to love the sinner while hating the sin. I do believe that it is wrong to encourage criminal acts against a person because of their theological beliefs, whether it be a belief about whether baptisms should be full immersion or not, or whether it be a belief about whether or not homosexuality is a sin.
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Matthew C. Keegan | February 5th, 2010 at 11:46 am #
Thank you for your comment, Aldon. It seems that you and I agree on a number of points.
The problem with hate crime legislation is that it can be broadly interpreted. This means that if a pastor were to address the topic of homosexuality and offer scripture explaining why this behavior along with adultery, murder, stealing, fornication, and a host of other sins can keep someone from the kingdom of God, then someone might object and complain to the authorities.
Of course, how far that goes remains to be seen, but it does open up the possibility of legal action. Were the law not on the books that person’s complaint would be thrown out by a judge. But, with hate crimes the law of the land, lawyers can argue the case perhaps winning with damages being awarded.
I know that this represents a “what if” and not an actual case, at least not yet. But, it could happen.
I only know of one church who actively actively preaches violence or says awful things about homosexuals. I won’t mention their name, but they are in the news enough. And, they do not represent Christians who are called upon all sinners to repent and follow Jesus.