ALERT! - Freedom Of Religion Dies In The United States Of America

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Yesterday, July 17, 2009 marked the end of religious freedom in America. The Senate has just passed Amendment 1539 to the Defense Appropiration Bill, also known as the "Hate Crimes Bill," and the "Pedophile Protection Act." The bill essentially makes it possible to prosecute priests, pastors, rabbis and clerics for a "hate crime" if it is claimed that anything they preach from behind the pulpit might have in some way caused anyone who heard it to commit a "hate crime." Even the bill's sponsors admit there is no protection for religious speech in this legislation. The House recently passed a similar version of the bill, and once the two are reconciled, it is sure to be signed into law by alleged President Barack Obama in the very near future.

Opponents of the bill point out that this will effectively have a chilling effect on religious speech in America, causing most clergy to skip over portions of the Bible condemning homosexuality, and avoiding any sermons related to a similar topic. Most clergy would just consider the risk too great. Those clergy who continue to exercise their religious duties to preach against these sins will be subject to criminal prosecution and at the mercy of the local district attorney. The bill also elevates pedophiles to a "protected class" on par with homosexuals.

Similar laws in Canada and Europe have proved disastrous to free religious expression, resulting in the criminal prosecution of some clergy and the silencing of others. Now that the law has come to America, we can expect similar results.

Some might point out that this law is unconstitutional. To which they would be right. However, determining that is not as simple as it seems. The bill claims to protect the constitutional rights of homosexuals and other sexual deviants. So the courts will be forced into a balancing act, trying to uphold the religious rights of Christians, Jews and Muslims, while simultaneously trying to uphold the rights the law claims to protect. It's a balancing act that the federal courts will surly disagree on, and one the Supreme Court of the United States might have difficulty sorting out. In the mean time, criminal prosecutions of clergy will go forward, and the gag effect on everyone else will slowly go into effect. As a result, even this blog 'The Catholic Knight' may be shut down, for no other reason than upholding Catholic teaching on human sexuality.

The Democrats have sought this "holy grail" of civil rights legislation for decades. Now they have it. With it they can finally silence the churches, synagogues and mosques from stopping their gay constituents from promoting homosexuality among our children.