Hate and Hate Crimes
By Ravenladyj
@Ravenladyj (22904)
United States
June 5, 2007 1:17pm CST
I was watchign a movie the other day called Hate Crime..the movie itself wasnt all that great as far as acting etc goes but it like so many other movies and books like that, really got me thinking...Now this particular movie was about Gay Hate and a murder of a gay man for no reason other than the fact he was gay....there are however other forms of Hate and other types of Hate Crimes such as religious, racial, social status and so on....
How do you feel about Hate Crimes of any kind? How do you feel about Hate overall?....What do you think we as a society could do to put an end to it? or at least maybe lower the amount of crimes commited etc etc? Should we make the laws more intense? would a far more severe punishment deter ppl from commiting such horrific acts? What should we do about the parents/caregivers who are teaching the kids to hate? Should they be punished in some way?
What are all your thoughts on it?
3 people like this
4 responses
@freak369 (5113)
• United States
7 Jun 07
The term "hate crime" is pretty open these days. When I curbed someone (smashed his face into the street curb) it was considered a hate crime even though we were both of the same color. It was self defense but seeing the words "hate crime" on a police report was a bit unnerving.
1 person likes this
@sunshinecup (7871)
•
7 Jun 07
Great topic and question! If only we could have an answer for it. I don't under stand it myself. I think teaching hate to children is the cause, it's like raising attack dogs. So a suggestion would be when a hate crime is committed, they should be punished to the full extent of the, but toss in some therapy in with it. I know you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. However if you don't try, that horse won’t stand a chance.
1 person likes this
@eden32 (3973)
• United States
11 Aug 07
I consider myself a rather radical & crunchy liberal, but the idea of stricter punishments for "hate" crimes doesn't sit well with me. It should be enough that we have a standard of rules & qualifications that apply to each type of violent crime. If I murder someone just like me, a white woman in her 30s with a couple of kids from an average income bracket- how is it not exactly the same as killing a person that is not as much like me? Motive in general is one of the qualifications for whether a killing is a "murder" in a legal sense. But other than establishing that to establish that it was murder (and not self-defense, an accident, etc) it shouldn't matter in terms of length of sentence.
Violent crimes are all 'hate' crimes when you strip away the particulars. Every victim should have the same value as any other, and each attacker should be punished with same harshness.
I also have an issue with families of victims giving testimony during the sentencing phase to provoke harsher sentences. It is a different angle of the same problem. If I murder a homeless man, without any family, job, or measurable contributions to society; should I just be let go because there is no one to say that I did a horrible thing to a great person?
@david2005 (798)
• Canada
14 May 08
I think that if a person commits a hate crime they should go to jail for a while so they can get the help that they need.
