Flyer Felons (May 25, 2007)

Hand out a few flyers and you may get charged with a felony hate crime.

That’s what happened recently to two sixteen year-old girls in Crystal Lake, Illinois. They were arrested after distributing around 40 fliers outside their school. The fliers included a photograph of two males kissing and a derogatory remark about homosexuals.

I strongly disagree with the message that was on the girls’ flyers – God doesn’t hate homosexuals, He loves all who have sinned and wants them to come to Him.

However, charging these teens with a felony under the state hate crimes law is way too much! A call to the principals’ office, some in-school detention, or even a suspension for several days might be appropriate. But, becoming a felon for fliers? This is where hate crime laws take us.

Sources for some content:

“Teens face hate crime charge for anti-gay flier,” Chicago Tribune, 16 May 2007.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-hatecrime_16may16,0,5098417.story?coll=chi-education-hed or

http://americansfortruth.com/news/girls-face-felony-hate-crimes-charge-for-passing-out-anti-homosexuality-fliers.html

Matt Barber, radio interview, Faith2Action with Janet Folger, VCY America Network, 21 May 2007. Listen online at http://f2a.org/radio/2007-05-21.ram

To learn more about how to put your faith into action, go to www.f2a.org, and tell all your friends! Listen to all of our commentaries at www.f2a.org/commentaries/mp3/