Hate crime bill not about hate

A reader recently wrote that is was time to pass hate crime legislation, mentioning the murders of several homosexual men in the last year as the necessary impetus for this suggested law. The driving force behind this proposed hate crime bill is actually an attempt at further normalization of homosexuality in society.

The murders of Matthew Sheppard and Carl Warren, both homosexual men, were heinous, to be sure, as all murders are. But there are already laws in existence against murder. To create special laws to pander to a certain class of people, namely homosexuals, is to elevate one group of people above another. Do we then create laws to single out transvestites for special protection? Or bisexuals? Or adulterers?

To create this hate crime law would only serve to legitimize homosexual behavior and further entrench it as a bona fide minority status, which it is not. We, for the sake of ourselves and for our children, shouldn't let the unfortunate deaths of those in a sexually aberrant group compel us into passing legislation which would contribute to driving this country further into moral deviancy.

Jeff Dykes
Montgomery

President Clinton's and other writers' comments that the estate tax relief would only help the rich is absurd. It's their money to begin with that the government is basically stealing from them. It's called "double taxation." Neither I nor my parents are rich and it doesn't apply to me, but people who are rich have earned that money and already paid taxes on it.

Money doesn't just drop out of the sky to certain people. Somebody along the line worked for it. The wealthy, or even someone who takes out a $200,000 life insurance policy because they have six children to provide for, should be able to expect that money to go to their family/children without the government getting its greedy hands on it again. It's part of the American dream that you can leave your family better off than you were.

Jennifer Paxson
Montgomery

One of your recent correspondents says, "I find that there is not one law for the rules of society that is not based on the Ten Commandments." Even on superficial examination, we find this is not true.

What commandment forbids rape? What commandment forbids me to injure someone to a point just short of death? Where is the commandment that forbids one to keep slaves?

Wouldn't this last one have saved humanity a lot of grief? Aren't these items worth mentioning? These questions are just for starters. Yes, the Bible elsewhere deals with such matters, but we are talking about the Ten Commandments, aren't we?

Also, are we under the impression that other cultures, even heathen cultures, did not have many of the same laws? Moses murdered the Egyptian and fled in fear because he had broken Egyptian law, even though he himself had not yet received the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" from his own God. Hundreds of years earlier, Hammurabi published his code and invoked the name of Baal.

The Ten Commandments are a triumph of packaging. Though they are neither complete nor original, we like the idea that the wisdom of the universe can be wrapped up in such a short list, an even 10 items, one for each finger. That is their chief appeal.

Charles Craig
Montgomery

As a member of what the majority of the world refers to as Generation X, I have become increasingly more disappointed with the apathy that is spreading throughout the youth in the state of Alabama when it comes to political or current issues.

Currently, approximately 28 percent of the eligible voters ages 18-25 actually turn out to the polls in Alabama. This is the lowest percentage of turnout that our age group has ever seen, not to mention that it is almost 20 percent lower than the next lowest level of group turnout. For this, I am disappointed in my peers.

However, I do not think that the youth are only half of the problem. In studies that have been done on this subject, the two reasons that are given by the youth for their lack of participation are the feelings of alienation from the political arena, and the lack of information in order to make an educated decision. This is where elected officials and candidates need to begin to make an effort, but yet no one does, and for this I am disappointed in the older generations.

This is why I was glad to hear about Mayor Bobby Bright's Montgomery Youth Commission. It is an organization that will select youth and utilize their ideas and thoughts to help with problems facing the youth in Montgomery. I hope that the youth will take advantage of this great opportunity.

Jared Lyles
Montgomery

I've read recently that Logan Martin Lake lawyers could see some money in about six months from a class action lawsuit filed for polluting Logan Martin Lake with PCBs, reducing lake residents' property values. The total amount of the settlement was $43.7 million, of which $21 million will be spent on remediation PCB projects. This leaves nearly $11 million for the lawyers.

"We're pleased the settlement is going to be implemented," said one lawyer. The injured plaintiffs will receive whatever is left. No, this is not a lawyer joke.

Armond Simmons
Pell City

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