Alicia Hardin, the 19-year-old African-American student who anonymously sent “racist” letters to fellow minorities, may become the strangest conviction ever for hate crimes. Hardin, who wanted to convince her parents to withdraw her from Trinity International University, was manifestly not motivated by racial hatred. It was a lie to her parents that, as they say, “went bad.” Why, then, does Hardin face a hate crime charge? The whole concept of hate crimes, as many have said before, punishes not hate but political incorrectness. Yet these laws say nothing about rampant black-on-black crime, which is a far bigger problem in society. No question that racism is bad, but let’s face it: All crimes reflect a certain degree of hate toward our fellow man. Let’s agree to convict people for the crimes they actually commit, but not try to divine their state of mind while doing it.
About Stan Guthrie
Stan Guthrie is an editor at large for Christianity Today magazine and for the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview. His latest book is God's Story in 66 Verses. He also is author of All that Jesus Asks: How His Questions Can Teach and Transform Us, Missions in the Third Millennium: 21 Key Trends for the 21st Century, and A Concise Guide to Bible Prophecy. He is co-author of The Sacrament of Evangelism. Besides authoring, writing, and editing books, Stan is a literary agent, bringing together good authors, good books, and good publishers.
Stan writes the monthly Priorities colum for BreakPoint.org. He has appeared on National Public Radio's Tell Me More, WGN's Milt Rosenberg program, and many Christian shows, including The Eric Metaxas Show and Moody Radio's New Day Florida. A licensed minister and an inspirational speaker, he served as moderator for the Christian Book Expo panel discussion, Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does It Make?
