Reply #27: Were the punks who murdered Shepard Christians?

[megatherium]

I thought they were just meth users.

But regardless of what hate crimes against gays happen in the US, the point is that in Afghanistan, the state is preparing to put to death someone for a crime of conscience. Not dumb-fuck meth heads, but the state. So if the People of Wyoming tried Shepard for the crime of homosexuality, and then executed him -- that would be a fair comparison. Of course, Wyoming has and will do no such thing. (Sodomy in this country was never punishable by death, at least not since Colonial times; in modern times, prison sentences or forced "treatment" would be the result of a sodomy conviction. Of course, these laws were overturned in 2003.)

By the way: I am a gay man. I do know a few things about the "dominent 'religion of peace'" in this country -- I'm Episcopalian. The Episcopal Church has recently ordained a practicing gay man as bishop, as strong a statement of inclusion and acceptance as is possible in that Church.