Mark Twain is attributed with having observed “a lie can travel half way around the world before the truth even gets its shoes on.” In this age of instant and round-the-clock media, Twain’s warning is even truer today.

It is interesting to see how some of the biggest cultural issues in America recently have been based upon the lies of liberalism.  For example, the Jane Roe of the Roe v. Wade abortion case was supposedly seeking an abortion after being the victim of a gang rape.  Years later, Norma McCorvey, now a born-again Christian and pro-life advocate, admitted that she was never raped at all. It was an intentional lie meant to advance an agenda that has led to 55 million aborted babies.

In the case of Lawrence v. Texas, which paved the way toward the normalization of homosexuality and the unraveling of marriage, the emotional misnomer was that a police officer looked in the window of a home and saw two males engaged in a sex act, entered the house and arrested them on the spot.  In reality the police were there on a tip about a man with a gun, when they entered the home the clothed men were in two different rooms. Both told officers various lies for differing reasons, and later plead no contest after being coached about making their case into something that could be used by cultural activists.

Although some attempted to point out these facts years ago, the case of Matthew Shephard has reemerged with the publishing of a new book. It is notable in part because it is written by a homosexual (who is now persona non grata with the homosexual demands crowd.)  After interviewing hundreds of people involved in the case, he points out that Shephard was not the victim of a brutal hate crime committed by rednecks because of his homosexuality. 

(Today, a radical gay activist like Dan Savage can insult Christian children with profane, vulgarity-laced speeches in schools to the praise of many. Choose not to make a wedding cake and your business can be shut down based upon your “hate.”)

In reality, the case that launched the nationwide hate crime statute frenzy, which may threaten freedom of speech, was actually a gay on gay crime involving drugs.  Shephard had recently slept with his killer in exchange for methamphetamine.  During that time, one of the murders who had been strung out for five days and owed his dealers money learned that Matthew was part to be a part of a $10,000 drug deal.  He and a friend came back, found Matthew and killed him hoping to get the drugs or money.   The truth was nothing like the hate crime narrative endlessly repeated by the media.

What does it all mean? Perhaps it is just another indictment of causes that are so lacking in righteousness that they need lies to advance them. (As Ronald Reagan once warned, “private values must be at the heart of public policies.”)  Hopefully, it is a reminder that making laws on emotional reactions instead of facts and consideration of the full policy ramifications can have sweeping consequences.