Well, another of my favorite pro-family organizations was just listed as a “hate” group on a supposedly objective web site. It might be amusing if it didn’t hurt the reputations of tireless and upstanding Christian groups.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is based in Montgomery, Alabama, and originally was a watchdog for racist groups, and I certainly appreciate this focus. But the group also has a long history of radical left-wing activism, including more recently, becoming defenders of “tolerance.”By their priorities, though, we are to tolerate every religion except Christianity. There is to be no criticism of law-breaking and financially-draining illegal immigrants, because that’s “racism.” And homosexuality and transgenderism are to be considered worthy lifestyles. Those who oppose homosexuality in the public arena are now automatically suspect.
The SPLC identifies groups they deem as “hate” groups. They regularly publish hate group lists, and this wouldn’t matter if they were just another goofball leftie group out there. But some law enforcement agencies use this group’s information for their own “watch” lists, and the SPLC even conducts some “hate crimes” training.
Along with the neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan groups, they have recently begun adding others they call “anti-gay.” And that’s where these pro-family groups come in. Traditional Values Coalition based in California is headed by Reverend Lou Sheldon. His daughter, Andrea Lafferty, is based in Washington and is a tireless and astute lobbyist for pro-life and pro-family issues, well-known and respected among conservatives. But TVC is now a so-called ‘hate’ group listed on the SPLC web site. So is Illinois Family Institute, a Christian public policy group in the Chicago area, that I work with frequently. This reputable organization has worked in close affiliation over the years with both Focus on the Family and American Family Association. IFI staff members are Bible –believing, well-informed defenders of morality---not advocates of violence or anything like it. Also the Family Research Institute in Colorado has been listed. I have appreciated the careful research Dr. Paul Cameron has published over the years. They are definitely not a hate group, either, but there they are, on that list.
Two other groups, Mass Resistance and Abiding Truth Ministries, both based in Massachusetts, made the list last year. I have worked closely over the years with the heads of both these groups. Brian Camenker is a thoughtful, conservative Jew, and Scott Lively is a lawyer and an ordained minister. Neither of these folks even remotely meet any definition of being racist; and neither are advocates of violence. In fact, they have worked tirelessly in a lawful way for years to educate and warn parents about the dangers of homosexuality in the schools, and the marriage issue.
And that is why I think they have made these lists. They are all very effective groups. There is a “guilt by association” that is intent on destroying reputations, when people go to a web site and see invaluable groups like these side by side with Nazi skinheads.
The folks on this list have contributed so much to our ongoing pro-family struggle against the purveyors of sexual corruption, so this false labeling is truly a tragedy. Once again, certain rabid folks on the left are trying to intimidate anyone who dares to stand up against abortion and against the promotion of homosexuality.
If you have a minute, please send these pro-family leaders an e-mail of encouragement. And also send one to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Let them know their idea of “tolerance” is not very tolerant after all and that these groups need to be removed from their list.
Southern Poverty Law Center
Nice--not ‘Hate’--groups' contact information:
