Jailhouse confessions are rarely as inflammatory as the one given by Terry Mangum, accused killer of a gay flight attendant in Houston. His killed his victim, Kenneth Cummings, Jr., he says because, "I planned on sending him to hell."
If that doesn't send shivers up your spine I don't know what will. Mangum told a reporter for the Houston Chronicle that he felt called by God to carry out the killing as retribution for the "sin" of "sexual perversion". Mangum has admitted to killing Cummings after luring him out of a bar and then stabbing him to death.
This is another example of why hate as propagated from the pulpit by fundamentalists is dangerous. Nothing fires up a person who is vulnerable to delusion like telling them God has a mission for them. Should churches have the right to preach hate? Well that's a good question. Personally I figure they can preach anything they want, but these wackos need to understand that what they say has deadly consequences. If their preaching rises to the level of death threats, there are laws to deal with that and they should be prosecuted.
There are few better cases than this for a federal Hate Crimes Bill. Clearly this murder was motivated by nothing but blind hatred, and as such it should be treated the same as a person who lynches someone because of their race or nationality.
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Has there ever been a case where a church or minister was charged with accessory to a crime or sued by a family for cival damages for preaching about something that prompted an individual to act so outrageously? If not, do you think it could ever happen? Just curious here.
Thanks!
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