This past Sunday, I was channel surfing and came across an interesting movie. The movie was entitled "Equilibrium" starring Christian Bale (from Batman Returns). Equilibrium is about a future totalitarian society where they have eliminated murder, war, and all crimes of hate. They have done so by eliminating all emotion. Citizens are required, several times a day, to inject themselves with a chemical which supresses emotion. The movie continues its Orwellian themes -- gray or black clothing, video monitors, secret police, etc.

There was one scene that I thought was particularly enlightening. In that scene, Christian Bale's character's son is sitting in front of a video screen watching a "Big Brother-like" character (I didn't catch the character's actual name) talking about how their perfect society was achieved. "Big Brother" says that society became enlightened when they pass the first hate crime laws. That is when my brain slipped into overdrive thinking about the role of hate crime legislation.

So called hate crimes are normal crimes that are motivated, in some sense, by hatred. In truth, hate crimes don't do anything other than make "hate" a crime. For instance, hate crime status has been mostly added to crimes of physical violence (assault, murder, etc.) that have some racial component -- e.g., the beating of a black man by a white man. Hate crime status has also been applied to crimes committed against homosexuals. Some have even lowered the degree of criminal activity below physical violence. For instance, in Canada and Europe, anyone speaking out against homosexuals can be convicted of a hate crime. A Christian pastor in Europe was arrested and imprisoned for preaching about the Biblical view on homosexuality. Once again, the crime here is "hate," not speech.

According to the movie, the advent of "hate crimes" was the opening that led down the road to their perfect society. A society where emotion is prohibited. Possession of art and music that provokes an emotional response is outlawed and the offending art is collected and burned (in the opening scene the police raid a home and find the Mona Lisa, which is then burned). In the real world, hate crimes are still being pushed and expanded -- more so in Europe than in here in the U.S. Speech is being targeted for hate crime status. American universities are already implementing speech codes for their campuses. Any "intolerance" is being rooted out through the application of hate crime status. Who determines what speech is worthy of hate crime status? I would also point out that where hate crimes are being advanced, liberals are the ones behind them. I find this particularly interesting.

Something to think about.