Matt Barber - no hate crimes protections for ANYBODY

The question that always seems to be ignored by the religious right is if hate crimes legislation is not a good idea for the lgbt community, then what about in cases of religion and race - two categories that do have hate crimes protection.

Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber has finally answered that question via a column in Town Hall.

Apparently he believes in a scorched earth policy, i.e. if sexual orientation and gender identity have to be protected under hate crimes legislation, then there should be no hate crimes legislation at all:

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle - in Washington and around the country - should not only reject S. 909, but should also begin working toward repeal of all state and federal hate-crimes laws.

. . . When the 1968 federal hate-crimes bill passed, there were multiple and verifiable cases of local prosecutors refusing to indict whites for violent crimes committed against blacks. This was the justification for the law at the time.

We've moved well beyond those days, and FBI statistics bear out that reality. In today's America, every citizen, without fail, is both guaranteed and granted equal protection of the law regardless of race, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, dominant hand, favorite color or "American Idol" pick. This renders all extraneous hate-crimes laws woefully obsolete and fatally discriminatory.

And he, of course, continues to repeat that lie that Matthew Shepard was not targeted and murdered because of his sexual orientation.

It's not a challenge anymore to refute Barber on this point. His constant inaccurate statements about Shepard's death is like someone saying that the sky is not blue during a sunny day.

In layman's terms - NO ONE BELIEVES YOUR LIES, MATT! Every time you tell that lie about Shepard's death, you lose the little bit of credibility that you do have.

Heck, even the commentators aren't interested in Barber's bleatings. Usually Town Hall columns elicit a plethora of responses. Barber's column at last count has only 12.

I wonder if the rest of the religious right will echo Barber's scorched earth policy.

Hat tip to People for the American Way's Religious Right Watch. Also, check out how the site refutes Barber's lie about the number of hate crimes perpetrated against lgbts.