Senate Democrats insist the hate-crimes amendment (S. 909) they attached to the defense appropriations bill won't criminalize preaching or speaking out against homosexuality.
Washington Sen. Patty Murray suggested the measure could actually protect people of faith by boosting penalties for hate crimes motivated by anti-religious bias. "Burning down a building is a crime -- but that crime takes on a new character when that building is a church or a synagogue or a mosque," she stated. "It's wrong when one person attacks another person on the street, for sure; but it has a different meaning when violence occurs because a victim is a different race or religion or sexual orientation."
But Sen. Jim DeMint said that since opposition to homosexuality is "a biblical concept," the measure could "serve as a warning to people not to speak out too loudly about their religious views lest the federal law enforcement come knocking at their door." The South Carolina Republican asked, "Can priests, pastors, rabbis be sure that their preaching will not be prosecuted?
Michigan Democrat Carl Levin responded that only biased acts of violence, and not speech, would be prosecuted as hate crimes.
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