Special Program This Sunday Exposes SPLC, Which Labels Bible-Believing Organizations Like the American Family Association as ‘Hate Groups’
TUPELO, Miss.—Many Christian and conservative ministries and organizations, including the American Family Association (AFA, www.afa.net), are being irresponsibly and falsely labeled as “hate groups” by the media, charity watchdogs and even some law enforcement agencies.
Where do they get this information? From an organization that targets Christian organizations and works to defame them—the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), based in Montgomery, Ala.
- James Kennedy Ministries has produced a television exposé, airing nationally this weekend, to shine the light on the Southern Poverty Law Center, which once combated groups like the Ku Klux Klan but now makes huge profits off their reputation while demonizing Bible-believing Christians.
SPLC has falsely labeled AFA, D. James Kennedy Ministries, the Family Research Council (FRC) and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), among many others, as “hate groups.” Its list of “extremists” has included Ben Carson (now removed from the SPLC list only because of backlash), AFA President Tim Wildmon, FRC President Tony Perkins and historian David Barton, who’s listed just before David Duke on the SPLC website.
On Sunday, July 16, Dr. Frank Wright, president and CEO of D. James Kennedy Ministries, will host the special program, “PROFIT$ OF HATE: The Southern Poverty Law Center,” airing on the nationwide “Truths That Transform” broadcast. (To find the program in your area, click here.)
In at least one case, the SPLC’s “hate” designation led to bloodshed, when a radical homosexual activist chose FRC from its hate map and walked into that organization’s building and opened fire. Thankfully, the activist was thwarted by a courageous building manager, who was shot defending his coworkers. “PROFIT$ OF HATE: The Southern Poverty Law Center,” which will re-air in mid-September, tells this story and shows how the SPLC has joined the culture war on the side of the far left, while disguising itself as a neutral clearinghouse of information.
Earlier this summer, AFA also signed onto a letter spearheaded by FRC that called out GuideStar USA for using the SPLC’s “hate group” designations in GuideStar’s information on organizations. GuideStar bills itself as a neutral organization that seeks to “gather and disseminate information about every single IRS-registered nonprofit organization.”
After the dust-up, GuideStar said it would remove the “hate group” label from the pages of the nonprofits on its site, yet released a statement saying the organization will continue to provide the “hate group” information upon request and is considering other methods of disseminating that information, according to the AFA news service, One News Now.
“The SPLC has no bona fides to make such determinations,” read the GuideStar letter, which was signed by Wildmon. “It is not a governmental organization using a rigorous criteria to create its lists, and it is not a scientifically oriented organization. The SPLC is merely another ‘progressive’ political organization.
“The ‘hate group’ list is nothing more than a political weapon targeting people it deems to be its political enemies,” the letter continued. “The list is ad hoc, partisan, and agenda-driven. The SPLC doesn’t even pretend to identify groups on the political left that engage in ‘hate.’ Mosques or Islamist groups that promote radical speech inciting anti-Semitism and actual violence are not listed by the SPLC even though many have been publicly identified after terrorist attacks. Radical, violent leftist environmentalists or speech suppressing thugs—like the rioting ‘antifa’ movement—receive no mention from the SPLC.
“…We think it is a reasonable point that an aggressive political partisan like the SPLC should not be allowed to be the judge and jury of its opponents’ character and motivations. The fact that the SPLC only targets groups on the political right supports this contention.”
For further details on the Sunday “Truths That Transform” special exposé on the SPLC, click here for a trailer or here for channels and viewing times.
For more information on American Family Association, visit www.afa.net or follow AFA on Facebook or on Twitter @AmericanFamAssc. Read more about AFA.
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To interview a representative from American Family Association, Beth Harrison, Hamilton Strategies, 610.584.1096, ext. 104, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, or Deborah Hamilton, 215.815.7716 or 610.584.1096, ext. 102.
