Topic: WorldNetDaily
A July 18 WorldNetDaily article by Bob Unruh is a veritable compendium of falsehoods and distortions about the hate-crimes bill.
Unruh begins with a distorted, pejorative description of the bill as creating "federal protections and privileges homosexuals and others who have chosen alternative sexual lifestyles" and that it "essentially makes homosexuals a protected class of citizens."
Unruh also repeats the false claim, as forwarded by the right-wing group Liberty Counsel, that "Matthew Shepard is touted by homosexual advocates as a hate crime victim, but the evidence now shows he was not targeted because he was homosexual but was killed because of a drug deal." As we've detailed, by promoting this claim, Liberty Counsel has chosen to believe convicted killers and known liars over law enforcement and the official record of the case.
Unruh calls the bill "The Pedophile Protection Act" without mentioning that, as we've also documented, the bill does not protect pedophiles. Unruh also repeats claims that the bill will lead to "prosecutions of pastors and churches for teaching the biblical injunction that homosexual is sin" without mentioning that the bill contains a clause stating, "Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this Act, shall be construed to prohibit any expressive conduct protected from legal prohibition by, or any activities protected by the Constitution" -- which would include the First Amendment protection for freedom of religion.
Like we said -- a perfect storm of lies and bamboozelement from a writer with a long record of lies and bamboozelement.