Anatomy of a ‘hate crime’

A 31-year-old landscaper has admitted in a jailhouse interview that
he killed a Redding, Calif., homosexual couple as they slept — just
because they were homosexuals.

The story is receiving a fair amount of publicity, as you would
expect.

Benjamin Matthew Williams seems to be that bogeyman the media elite
have been waiting for — a guy who kills homosexuals and, possibly,
burns down synagogues, because he thinks the Bible instructs him to do
so.

Better yet, Williams attends “preparedness expos,” including one at
which I spoke, and challenges Christians to do what he does in response
to what he interprets are God’s commandments to us.

To say this guy is a loony is the understatement of the 20th century.
I’m quite certain his attorney allowed Williams to give this interview
to lay the groundwork for an insanity plea. Unfortunately, that’s not
how this story is being presented by the press. This is the missing
link, I fear, to prove that all Christians are inherently dangerous,
violent, reactionary, intolerant, potential murderers.

Just listen to this guy: “So many people claim to be Christians and
complain about all these things their religion says are a sin, but
they’re not willing to do anything about it. They don’t have the guts.”

Few have offered a poorer Christian witness to the world than
Benjamin Matthew Williams.

Recently, I have written about so-called “hate crimes” and
demonstrated the disparities in terms of how certain stories are treated
by the establishment press based solely on the racial or lifestyle characteristics of the victims and perpetrators.
The Williams story is another example, but so much more.

Did Williams act out of hate toward his victims? Based on his own
words, it appears obvious he did. But, again, the question is whether
his heinous crime deserves more punishment because of what went on in
his mind? Does it matter what his motivation was? I don’t believe it
does. First of all, if found guilty of the crime to which he has already
confessed, Williams should be, without question, executed swiftly and
expeditiously.

That is the biblical and Christian remedy, by the way, for those who
murder other human beings, as Williams apparently did.

How much worse could the punishment be than death? Should we torture
him to death? I don’t think the “hate crime” Gestapo has proposed
anything quite that barbaric. Interestingly, many of the proponents of
“hate crime” legislation are the same people who say that the death
penalty does not serve as a deterrent to capital crime. If the death
penalty is not a deterrent to capital crime, does it make any sense to
argue that harsher punishment for “hate crimes” will serve as a
deterrent? I don’t think so.

That’s just one of the many false suppositions about “hate crimes”
that propel this trend forward into the popular lexicon and, ultimately,
the force of law.

“Hate crimes” remain, essentially, “thought crimes.” And thought
crimes are the bread and butter of police states, not free republics.

It matters not to me what this idiot, Benjamin Matthew Williams,
thought about when he murdered Gary Matson and Winfield Mowder in their
bed last July 1. What matters is that he murdered them. For that he
deserves to die. He doesn’t deserve to die because of who the victims
were or for his misreading of the Bible. Had they been heterosexual, the
crime would be no less heinous, nor more heinous. Had he killed them
because he wanted their money, the crime would be no less serious. Had
they been black or Hispanic, it would be no more or less grievous a
crime. Williams deserves to die because Matson and Mowder were human
beings. Period. End of story.

What the Benjamin Matthew Williamses of the world need to understand
is that they are not God’s judges, juries and executioners. Yes, from a
Christian perspective, we are all sinners on this earthly plane. We are
all deserving of death. Should all of us who recognize this fact
collectively commit suicide? That might make Janet Reno and Louis Freeh
happy. But God’s Son came to Earth in mortal form 2,000 years ago to
give all of us — including Matson and Mowder — a chance for
redemption.

Even Williams has another chance for salvation. But, if he’s going to
take advantage of that opportunity, he better act fast. Because there’s
nothing that should keep him from the gas chamber.