There’s nothing like reading about hate crimes during your Monday morning work out. Seriously, there’s nothing like it. While “ellipticizing” to nowhere for 28 minutes I read, among other articles, two recent pieces on hate crimes in the most recent issue of Utne Reader. The first, “A Conspiracy of Hate,” is by Larry Keller and was originally published in the Intelligence Report. The second, “The Paranoid Center,” is by Jesse Walker and was originally published in Reason.

For those who know me well, I generally walk right in the middle of the view points professed by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report and those offered by the Libertarian publication Reason. The straddling is in no way meant to prevent taking sides, and in this case I have to side (mostly) with Keller’s assertion that militia-related activity is on the rise again.

Keller points out that, “Over the past year, men with antigovernment, racist, anti-Semitic, or pro-militia views have been linked to a series of high-profile murders.” This is indisputable, though I doubt any sort of coordinated activity is underway here.  Both of these articles focus more on organized militia activity and the influence of media on these groups.

But, I’ve noticed a few random personal incidents as well. Recently in St. Louis a group of homosexual men were beaten leaving a gay club, just for being gay. Other such events have been noted online and in newspapers. I don’t know if these types of crimes are actually on the rise but I do firmly believe that the election of a black president has awoken some beasts. Add to this the fact that some people actually believe Obama is a Muslim (what’s wrong with that?) and that he was born in Africa (only technically a problem) and you have the ingredients for ignorance-driven revolt by heavily armed lunatics.

I don’t see a day in the near future where hate groups have any substantial pull or presence, and that’s almost scarier than the alternative. Knowing the enemy and being able to monitor its activities is a much better option than not knowing when and where the next crime will occur. Think about it. Are you more scared of being the victim of an attack by North Korea or Al-Qaeda?