The topic of the Southern Poverty Law Center and the misinformation that they put out has been on my mind for quite a while. They like to throw around the term “Hate Group” because they know that will get people’s attention in a hurry.
I will admit that many of the 917 entries that SPLC lists really are hate groups and I, as much as anyone else, believe that “real” hate groups need to be exposed for what they are. However, the SPLC goes to the next level and lists legitimate groups that they just disagree with as hate or extremist groups as well.
If you are a Conservative Christian, and you believe that what the Bible says is true and accurate, then you probably would be right along side of groups like Alliance Defending Freedom, friend of the podcast David Barton of Wallbuilders, and Family Research Council and be considered hate-filled or extremest. Not to give them exposure, but I put links on those groups to show you that SPLC lists them and what they have to say about them.
Many people (mostly uninformed or intentionally close-minded) use the SPLC to reference hate and extremist groups and individuals. My suggestion is that you use another source or do the research yourself, because to me – the Southern Poverty Law Center is an EXTREMIST GROUP itself.
Below is a video from Prager U on this topic, followed by a partial article from PhilanthropyRoundtable.
Some People Love to Call Names
The Southern Poverty Law Center’s extremist list isn’t a Consumer Reports guide. It’s a political tool.
At the end of 2016, the Chronicle of Philanthropy published an article headlined “Dozens of ‘Hate Groups’ Have Charity Status, Chronicle Study Finds.” The “study” took at face value a list of 900 entities pinned with the “hate” label by a notoriously partisan attack group—the Southern Poverty Law Center. Over the years, numerous investigators have pointed out that most of the scary KKK and Nazi and militia groups that the SPLC insists are lurking under our beds are actually ghost entities, with no employees, no address, hardly any followers, and little or no footprint. But “hate groups” and “extremist organizations” are great copy, especially for fundraising (more on that below). So the SPLC list of stormtroopers-in-our-midst is catnip for journalists looking for dramatic stories.
When the Chronicle’s reporter found that 63 of the groups tarred as dangerous by the SPLC are actually IRS-approved charities, did this spark concerns about the accuracy and fairness of the “haters” list? No, just the opposite. The Chroniclewondered if the IRS “is essentially granting government subsidies to groups holding views that millions of Americans may find abhorrent.”
One month later came another example of journalism built on the tendentious SPLC definitions of who, in America’s roiling democratic give and take, is evil. The Los Angeles Times wrote in a January 2017 story that a donor who owns “the world’s second largest presenter of live music, sports, and entertainment…has donated to a number of anti-LGBTQ groups such as Alliance Defending Freedom, National Christian Foundation, and Family Research Council. A number of these organizations have been listed as ‘extremist groups’ by the Southern Poverty Law Center.”
Finish reading this very informative article by clicking here.
Pastor Ed Boston 