Was Virginia Tech Massacre a Hate Crime?

BUDAPEST, Hungary, April 19 /Christian Newswire/ -- America is still reeling over the horrific slaughter of students and faculty at Virginia Tech. The shooter's actions have not been listed as a hate crime, but what makes that heinous crime somehow less hateful or less important than a crime of bias? No one doubts that there was a great deal of hatred on the part of the gunman who shot so many people regardless of race, sexual orientation or religion. Another recent story should give us pause as well, Jury gives S.D. woman life in prison, in which a black lesbian woman killed a white heterosexual woman, then burned and chain-sawed her body into pieces. Yet this case will not be listed as a hate crime because the black lesbian did not kill the white heterosexual because of orientation or color, she did it out of jealousy. "What is striking about these two cases is that it shows the amazing hypocrisy of those who want hate crimes legislation. How can anyone say that it was not a hate crime for any of these students or faculty to die the way they did? Where is their equal protection of the law? The fact remains that all crimes are a crime of hate because real love does no harm towards our neighbor. The existing laws should be equally severe against anyone who does physical harm to any person. The actions of criminals like the shooter have already clearly shown blatant bias to disregard the safety of their fellow neighbors by choosing to do them physical harm. Isn't that bias enough?" So says Phil Magnan, director of Biblical Family Advocates Magnan continued "Society would do well to punish the crime and not the bias lest we begin to punish people for their private beliefs or their words. And if mere offense be the measure of the limits of free speech, then no one will be able to speak. I am offended every day by the words of others, but I will not take away their right to free speech in the public forum. We should all be mature enough to take the disagreement of others, without punishing them for not agreeing with us." Biblical Family Advocates affirms that all crimes against all persons are crimes of hate and as such should be prosecuted according to the degree of those crimes. Though hate crimes legislation is well intentioned, it diminishes the value of millions of victims, by exalting the rights and value of others over the rest of society.