Hate Crimes and The Other Kind
Huh?
Side note: Shout out to the Governor of Florida who so thoughtfully signed Florida legislation regarding ‘hate crimes’ in Israel. Makes you just wonder about every little thing, right? It is a head scratcher for sure. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for Israel and I have a special place in my heart and life for the God of Israel.
On that note:
Forgive me. I am not on the cutting edge of criminal behavior or the classification of crime. I do apologize. (Sorry! Not sorry!) Here is the official word from Miriam-Webster; Definition of crime
1: an illegal act for which someone can be punished by the government especially : a gross violation of law
2: a grave offense especially against morality
3: criminal activity; efforts to fight crime
4: something reprehensible, foolish, or disgraceful. It's a crime to waste good food.
(*All the emphasis is mine)
Okay, so now that we have that straight, let me just share with you that I am confused. The above offenses sound hateful to me. Illegal. Violation. Offense. Criminal. Reprehensible. So, why is there a big push to classify some crimes as “hate” crimes?
Are there love crimes? If someone is so jealous when they catch their spouse in bed with another and kill their supposed loved one, is that a love crime? Is there less of a penalty because it was done with raging, jealous love? A person is just as dead, whether killed with love or hate, no matter how classified. A person is just as grafitti-ed or just as violated, no matter the color of skin or religious identifier.
Crime is crime. Intent or feelings are irrelevant if the end result is the same. To the victim anyway. Here is the definition of hate crime from Miriam-Webster
Definition of hate crime: any of various crimes (such as assault or defacement of property) when motivated by hostility to the victim as a member of a group (such as one based on color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation)
However do you know what motivates a criminally insane person anyway? There are just so many things they could be all messed up in the head about…they could hate blondes, old people, weak people, people preferring to walk solo down a dark alley, the defenseless, children, people with houses, people with cars. The list is endless.
So…if you are a victim of a crime, any crime, some apparently aren’t as hateful as others. Isn’t all crime motivated by hostility? Help me out here, my criminal friends. I looked up love crime. Here is what Miriam-Webster had to say.
Love Crime:
“The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary. Click on a spelling suggestion below or try again using the search bar above.”
Dang. I guess if there is malice aforethought then it makes the crime much worse. Really, criminal intent, no matter the outcome, is just BAD. If a white woman gets attacked, is it considered a hate crime? Because she was white? When Asians started being mindlessly attacked at the start of Covid, they called it hate crimes because the mindless idiots who attacked them, well, attacked people who were Asian. If someone leaves a deuce on the lawn of Moshie Doenstein, is it worse than leaving one on the lawn of John Smith? Is it labeled a ‘hate crime’ for the former but not for the latter? WTH. How about we call a crime a crime? Call illegal, illegal?
I think categorizing crime by placing the word “hate” in front of it is ridiculous. No matter the intent of the persuasion of intended victims, criminal behavior is criminal behavior. I am an equal opportunity locker-upper. I don’t care about the thought process of the criminal. I just want them off the street. There is good and there is evil. Pick a side.
“I am an equal opportunity locker upper” LOVE IT! That describes me too, and anyone else who is of sound mind. So very tired of all the word salads and changing word meanings to fit agendas, and adding words to hone in on the boogeymen. It’s exhausting.
Hate crime legislation could be a precursor to censoring speech, deemed hate speech. This seems based on the context of free speech being limited by yelling fire in a crowded auditorium, when there is no fire. Yet, hate speech and its effects are far more difficult to define than crime. If I say that I hate my boss, would I be prosecuted, because it could be said to incite a wave of crimes against bosses in general? This is the inception of legitimizing thought police.