Punishing individuals for what they believe and not what they have done is a scary precedent which avoids the real cultural challenges we face and potentially devalues the significance of crimes not rising to the level of a hate crime.
For the eleventy-billionth time, hate crimes do not punish thought, speech, or belief. They punish acts. How is it possible, considering we as a nation have been discussing the issue for roughly a decade now, this isn't clear? Is Rabbi Hirschfield that stupid?
Or is he deliberately misrepresenting what hate crimes are?
I suppose offering the choice is disingenuous of me; he could be both. . .
