THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: It's official. The United States Federal Government declared war on the U.S. Catholic Church yesterday (October 28, 2009) when U.S. President Barrack Obama signed the federal "hate-crimes" bill into law, effectively making it ILLEGAL for Catholic priests (or any Christian pastor for that matter) to publicly criticize homosexuality. The effect of this legislation on free speech is chilling, imposing a federal edict upon religious teaching. Similar legislation has been enacted in Canada and Europe. From experiences gathered there, we can ascertain that prosecution of Christian pastors will be slow and rare at first, as the federal government floats trial balloons to determine which method of prosecution will be most effective against appeals to higher courts based on first amendment violations. After the federal government has determined which method of prosecution is most effective, we can expect them to become more frequent. The U.S. Catholic Church is expected to be the most effected by this legislation, as doctrinal condemnations against homosexuality are determined in Rome (outside the United States) forcing Roman Catholic priests inside the United States to choose between loyalty to Rome or U.S. federal law. It remains to be seen how many Roman Catholic priests will remain faithful to Catholic teaching on the matter. Those choosing loyalty to Rome can expect federal prosecution at some point in the not-too-distant future...
(WND) - A "hate crimes" bill opponents claim will be used to crack down on Christian speech, even the reading of the Bible, was signed into law today by President Obama.
The Senate approved the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act by a vote of 68-29 on Oct. 22 after Democrats strategically attached it to a "must-pass" $680 billion defense appropriations plan.
Most Republicans, although normally strong supporters of the U.S. military, opposed the bill because it hands out federal money to states and local governments in pursuit of "preventing" hate crimes. The bill creates federal protections and privileges for homosexuals and other alternative lifestyles but denies those protections to other groups of citizens.
Obama signed the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act at a White House ceremony today. Prior to signing the act into law, Obama spoke briefly of the hate crimes bill.
"After more than a decade, we've passed inclusive hate-crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray or who they are," he said. "I promised Judy Shepard when she saw me in the Oval Office that this day would come, and I'm glad that she and her husband, Dennis, could join us for this event. I'm also honored to have the family of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy who fought so hard for this legislation. I just want you all to know how proud we are of the work that Ted did to help make this day possible."
American Family Association President Tim Wildmon warned that the new law "creates a kind of caste system in law enforcement, where the perverse thing is that people who engage in non-normative sexual behavior will have more legal protection than heterosexuals. This kind of inequality before the law is simply un-American."
Wildmon said the legislation creates possible situations where pastors may be arrested if their sermons on sexuality can be linked in even the remotest way to acts of violence.
"It threatens free speech and freedom of religion and is totally unacceptable," he said.
As WND reported, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder admitted a homosexual activist who is attacked following a Christian minister's sermon about homosexuality would be protected by the proposed federal law, but a minister attacked by a homosexual wouldn't be....
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