How America Stopped The Hate Bill In The
Senate Judiciary - Battle Still Not Over

Rev. Ted Pike | October 24 2005

If freedom is to be preserved, we must have many more victories such as we experienced last Thursday when, despite all odds, the Senate Judiciary stripped the hate bill S.1145 from the Children's Safety Act.

This was no fluke. It was the result of concentrated pressure on Judiciary members. Such came, in my opinion, largely from the most potent reservoir of concern in America: tens of thousands of die-hard activists who listen to "far right" AM talk radio.

After the House of Representatives suddenly passed the hate bill on September 14, 2005, I knew this Orwellian legislation would race through the Senate Judiciary Committee and across the floor of the Senate in fast track to almost certain signing by the President.

I therefore asked hundreds of thousands of listeners via dozens of broadcasts on AM talk radio (primarily the Genesis and Republic networks) to do the unprecedented: not just fulfill the usual "call your members of Congress" obligation but also contact every crucial Republican Senator in the Senate Judiciary Committee. About two weeks later, I took to the airwaves again requesting that they protest to all 55 Republican members of the Senate.


LIGHT ON CAPITOL HILL


Like sunlight focusing through a prism onto dry grass, the heat on the Judiciary became intense. Finally, it broke into flame as Senator Orrin Hatch compelled a voice vote of Senate Judiciary members to declare against the hate bill. The Children's Safety Act, modified to become the Sex Offenders Registration Act, S.1086, was then allowed to proceed toward the Senate unencumbered by the hate bill.

Incidentally, for two and a half hours, the call-in lines were jammed as, on two major broadcasts on big Salt Lake City talk radio, I roused the people of Utah against the hate bill. Such heat was good for Mormon Senator Orrin Hatch because three years ago he joined with Senator Edward Kennedy and Senator Gordon Smith in support of a "modified" hate bill, which was actually much more dangerous than the hate bill that preceded it. Hatch said it was time for America "to grow up and pass the hate bill." Since then, Hatch has come back to his former position and opposed the hate bill. Last Thursday, with fires of a Mormon constituency beneath him, Senator Hatch took leadership in refusing to add S.1145 to the Sex Offenders Registration Act. He showed himself the champion of all who love freedom.

JOINING FORCES FOR VICTORY

Over the past year, about 40 talk show hosts have been working closely with me, warning of the hate bill's imminent passage. We were vividly aware that on September 28, 2004, House members, by a symbolic procedural motion, voted 233 to 186 in favor of the hate bill. Since then, the House had been poised to pass it at the first opportunity.

After more than a year of preparation, vast audiences of the far right were ready for action. This is a highly concerned audience, most of whom have made the decision to get their news and views from shortwave or the Internet. They are a concentrated pool of very focused activists who showed themselves willing to phone, email, and phone again exactly where and when it is needed.

After the hate bill was approved by the House on September 14th, national New Right Christian leaders, such as Dr. James Dobson and Beverly LaHaye, sounded the alarm to their massive evangelical audiences. Without doubt, the response they generated enormously contributed to the victory last week.

Result: Victory in Congress, for a change. Hope for the future.

BACK INTO BATTLE

But there is no time to bask in victory. Senator Edward Kennedy is determined to reattach the hate bill, S.1145, unmodified, to The Sex Offenders Registration Act, S.1088. If that fails, he may attach it to the Streamlined Procedures Act. Kennedy's staffers told me they are confident of victory, considering the Senate's 65-to-33 vote in favor of the hate bill last year.

Since a Senate vote could occur very quickly, even within a week, I encourage all patriots to go to their phones again. Keep up the pressure on the 55 Republican Senators. Tell them: "Please do not add any hate crimes bills to legislation before Congress."

Also, let's start protesting to Democrats in the Senate. Dr. Dobson in a recent alert describes how Christian ex-homosexuals have been walking the halls of the Senate office building, objecting to the hate bill. They have been receiving a very courteous response from Democratic Senators. Some Democrats, Dobson says, are beginning to question whether special protection of homosexuals is really such a good idea after all. Maybe our traditional justice system, they query, is adequate to punish hate crimes.

At www.truthtellers.org I have listed the 44 Democrats and one Independent. Call them. Fax them my powerful flyer and brief articles which are posted online.

It is my fervent prayer that God will help us defeat S.1145 in the Senate. I hope that all Christian/conservative leaders throughout America will join me to educate the public about the recurring threat that hate laws pose to freedom of speech and religion.

If we come before God in faith and humility, and also fulfill our civic duty, God can give us many more " impossible" victories.