Dems pass Hate Crime Bill; W might veto

What a surprise...

Bush is threatening to get out his veto pen once again - this time for a bill that would expand the definition of federal hate crimes to include those against gays and gender-related offenses.

I'm not shocked, but no less angry that Bush would veto something like this. After all, he did propose amending the Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. All in the name of religion. I'm working on a much larger piece about theology and its role in our government - I'll publish it over the weekend.

This is reason 1,001 why I vehemently distrust organized religion. Faith has always been a private thing to me - I don't like discussing it with people, for the most part, except close friends and family. I'm a Christian, and I believe in Jesus Christ, but I don't believe in pushing it on other people, but Bush and his cabal have made doing just that a matter of governmental policy.

Quite frankly, it's my belief that Jesus would view criminals who commit crimes against gays as infinitely more reprehensible than a gay person who lives a good life and respects people for their differences.

In the wake of the Matthew Shepard tragedy (which is nearly 10 years ago), I'd think we could make more progress than this. Instead, we have a president who's eager to veto legislation that would provide harsher penalties for such atrocious hate crimes.

I guess we'll have to wait for a Democratic president to get it done.

Below is a video about the Matthew Shepard Foundation, which is run by his mother. I'm getting one of these bracelets.