A spokesman with the American Family Association says the hate crimes bill passed Thursday afternoon by the House could have a chilling effect on free speech and religious freedoms in the nation.

"For the first time in American history we are criminalizing thought," Fischer laments. "Thomas Jefferson said the reach of legislation should extend to actions only and not to opinions -- and now we are punishing people not just for what they did, but what they were thinking when they did it. 

"It's also going to have a chilling effect on freedom of speech, especially religious speech. And [in] other places where these hate crimes bills have gone into effect, pastors have wound up in jail or fined for preaching a biblical view of homosexuality."

Fischer says he would not be surprised if the bill passes through the Senate by the weekend. "I suspect the president is putting pressure on some Democrats in Congress to get this done so he can sign it by Saturday night," says the AFA spokesman. "[That very evening] he's going to give the keynote address at the Human Rights Campaign dinner. That's the major homosexual advocacy group in the nation.  I think he wants this scalp on his belt walking into that dinner." 

GOP opponents were not assuaged by late changes in the bill to strengthen protections for religious speech and association -- critics argued that pastors expressing beliefs about homosexuality could be prosecuted if their sermons were connected to later acts of violence against homosexuals.

Tom McClusky, vice president of the conservative Family Research Council's legislative arm, said the next step likely would be contesting the legislation in court. "The religious protections are pretty flimsy," he said. He contended that Democrats were trying to move their "homosexual agenda" this year because it would prove unpopular with voters next year.