That puts them on a collision course with those pressing the demands of the homosexual political agenda – including, sadly, many in the U.S. Congress.

So the Christians have to be silenced. That's where this new "hate crimes" law comes in. It is, in effect, a Congressional gag order on anyone voicing meaningful public opposition to homosexual behavior.

Democrats have made that clear. Introducing the bill on March 20, Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan) described it as an effort "to provide basic rights and protections for individuals so they are protected from assaults based on their sexual orientation." Since the legislation includes "intimidation" as a form of violence, it could soon be less of a crime to beat up a pregnant woman than it is to criticize homosexual behavior from a pulpit.

Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee tried to head off that travesty by adding an amendment to protect the rights of people of faith. Their amendment, offered by Congressman Mike Pence, R-IN, said "Nothing in this section limits the religious freedom of any person or group under the Constitution." Every Democrat voted against that amendment, and it failed.

Incredibly, Caroline Fredrickson, director of the American Civil Liberties Union Washington Legislative Office, calls the new law "a milestone for both First Amendment rights and civil rights." Only the ACLU (and its Congressional co-conspirators) could declare legislation that so openly violates the Constitution a triumph for the First Amendment.

And make no mistake: this law is unconstitutional. As former Attorney General Edwin Meese recently wrote, "Congress only has express constitutional jurisdiction over three crimes: treason, counterfeiting, and piracy on the high seas. Because the federal government is one of limited and enumerated powers, Congress must find authority in other constitutional clauses to federalize particular crimes."

Otherwise, Meese says, "such acts would violate federalism principles, the Tenth Amendment, or other structural limits in the Constitution."

In fact, there is no such authority … so Congress has decided it can live with the violation. Its members are flagrantly rewriting the law to suit the extreme and inflexible demands of their politically-correct power base. But don't let them kid you that they're just trying to stop "hate crimes."

What they really want is to keep their most vocal supporters pouring money into campaign war chests. And they can do that by voting to silence those who oppose homosexual behavior.

They won't succeed. Some courts may play along. Some Christians may be intimidated.

But in the end, these politicians' problem is with God. And God won't be gagged.