Hate crimes have increased dramatically

Hate crimes in the U.S. have reportedly increased dramatically in the last two years. How can Christians [and other people interested in spiritual and the human condition] tackle this issue?

As a side note, I personally don't think "hate crimes" should be isolated from other comparable crimes and treated differently or more harshly. I think the only issue regarding "hate" in connection with a crime is if it is the motive and therefore it explains why the crime took place and who the victim was. This thread is about the reportedly dramatic increase in crimes motivated by hatred for other groups of people in the last two years in the U.S.

@fmf said
As a side note, I personally don't think "hate crimes" should be isolated from other comparable crimes and treated differently or more harshly. I think the only issue regarding "hate" in connection with a crime is if it is the motive and therefore it explains why the crime took place and who the victim was. This thread is about the reportedly dramatic increase in crimes motivated by hatred for other groups of people in the last two years in the U.S.

@caissad4 said
Let me see. Could it be because we have a president who foments hate ?
Could it be because he encourages bigoted right wing Evangelicals ?
Nah, all those hate crimes are just a gigantic coincidence.

@suzianne said
It doesn't help when the supposed "Christians" try to minimize the evidence by saying things like "define hate".

@fmf said
Hate crimes in the U.S. have reportedly increased dramatically in the last two years. How can Christians [and other people interested in spiritual and the human condition] tackle this issue?

But again, is it true? Hate crime stats are easy to misrepresent. It’s widely believed that there was an increase in the number of hate crimes from 2016 to 2017. But that’s fake news. The narrative goes, “According to the FBI, hate crimes in the U.S. rose about 17 percent in 2017 compared to the previous year.”

The Uniform Crime Reporting Program’s Hate Crime Statistics report, which comprises incidents reported to the federal government by law enforcement agencies, shows 7,175 hate crime incidents in 2017 compared with 6,121 incidents in 2016.

The 2017 incidents encompass 8,437 total offenses, meaning some involved multiple criminal charges. But there’s a reason for the jump in numbers. The outgoing Obama administration set up a request for more hate crime reporting from law enforcement agencies all across the country, resulting in the number of police departments reporting hate crimes to the FBI to increase by more than 1,000.

@suzianne said
It doesn't help when the supposed "Christians" try to minimize the evidence by saying things like "define hate".

@philokalia said
I do not think there is an actual increase. It is simply a change in the way that it is measured and a political tool to vilify certain groups of people.

But again, is it true? Hate crime stats are easy to misrepresent. It’s widely believed that there was an increase in the number of hate crimes from 2016 to 2017. But that’s fake news. The narrative goes, “Accor ...[text shortened]... .

http://growtheheckup.com/hate-hoaxes-and-the-myth-of-the-rise-in-hate-crimes-in-america

@philokalia said
How dare people want words to be defined in debates~!

@fmf said
Do Christians saying things like 'define hate' preclude you from offering some ideas in answer to the OP?

@fmf said
As a side note, I personally don't think "hate crimes" should be isolated from other comparable crimes and treated differently or more harshly. I think the only issue regarding "hate" in connection with a crime is if it is the motive and therefore it explains why the crime took place and who the victim was. This thread is about the reportedly dramatic increase in crimes motivated by hatred for other groups of people in the last two years in the U.S.

Part of the idea behind hate crime legislation is that crimes motivated by bigotry or bias are not only crimes against the individual victim, but also pose a threat to an open and pluralistic society. Opponents of hate crime legislation argue that it the laws merely cater to special interest groups, and that there is no good public policy reason to distinguish between crimes motivated by bias and crimes committed for other reasons. Proponents of hate crime laws assert that victims targeted due to bias suffer greater psychological harm than others; and that racial, ethnic, and religious minorities and gay people are more likely to be targeted for—and therefore need greater protection from—violent crime.

However, hate crime laws protect everyone who is targeted for a crime motivated by bias, not just people who are members of a minority group.

https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/hate-crimes-laws-and-penalties.htm

@thinkofone said
In what ways do you believe the following line of thought is flawed?

@philokalia said
I do not think there is an actual increase. It is simply a change in the way that it is measured and a political tool to vilify certain groups of people.

http://growtheheckup.com/hate-hoaxes-and-the-myth-of-the-rise-in-hate-crimes-in-america

@caesar-salad said
Yeah, kind of like how crimes against Black people used to be okay and therefore not newsworthy. Thank goodness we can still beat up or murder trannies with impunity, because they are sick-in-the-head freaks <that's sarcasm, doncha know>.

Wouldn't you agree that in the present day (never mind our historical tendency to do so anyway), it's not such a bad idea to vilif ...[text shortened]... physical violence has evolved into more refined forms, such as economic and psychological violence.