Hate Intrudes on Thanksgiving

By Brian Fitzpatrick
WorldNetDaily

Report discovers new name for normal, God-loving citizens ...
Southern Poverty Law Center smears champions of God's sexual morality.

WASHINGTON – The Southern Poverty Law Center has placed a virtual who's who of pro-family and Christian organizations, including the Family Research Council, the American Family Association and the Traditional Values Coalition, on a list of 13 "hate groups" for opposing the homosexual political agenda.

In its freshly released Winter 2010 Intelligence Report, SPLC labels five additional groups as "anti-gay," including Concerned Women for America, the Christian Anti-Defamation Coalition, and Coral Ridge Ministries.

No authentic "hate" groups, by any conventional definition, are listed in SPLC's article, "18 Anti-Gay Groups and Their Propaganda."

"No organization better defines what a hate group is all about than the Southern Poverty Law Center," said Robert Knight, Washington correspondent for Coral Ridge Ministries. "Smearing legitimate groups merely for disagreeing about homosexuality is a very hateful act."

"Lumping Christian groups in with violent, racist gangs is a form of 'bracketing,' a political tactic described in the gay strategy manual 'After the Ball.' It's guilt by association and it's meant to intimidate," Knight told WND.

Don't believe the lies of the God-haters. Read "God and America's Leaders"

"This underscores why many of us opposed passage of the federal hate-crimes bill, which lays the groundwork for making Christian morality into a form of hate punishable under the law," Knight continued. "The SPLC has included several groups in the past that did not belong on a legitimate list, such as Family Research Institute, Mission America, and Americans for Truth about Homosexuality, and now they've widened their smear to include even more Christian organizations that defend traditional morality in the public square."

SPLC officials were not available to comment.

According to the article, " ... the SPLC’s listings of these groups is based on their propagation of known falsehoods – claims about LGBT people that have been thoroughly discredited by scientific authorities – and repeated, groundless name-calling. Viewing homosexuality as unbiblical does not qualify organizations for listing as hate groups."

"The Left's smear campaigns of conservatives is being driven by the clear evidence that the American public is losing patience with their radical policy agenda as seen in the recent election and in the fact that every state, currently more than thirty, that has had the opportunity to defend the natural definition of marriage has done so," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. "Earlier this month, voters in Iowa sent a powerful message when they removed three Supreme Court justices who imposed same-sex marriage on the state. Would the SPLC also smear the good people of Iowa?"

"We are going to form a coalition of organizations to lobby Congress to withhold funds from SPLC," Christian Anti-Defamation Coalition head Gary L. Cass told WND. "We will also demand Congress restrict federal law enforcement from relying on the biased SPLC reports, like the discredited 'Report on Right-Wing Extremism' SPLC wrote for the Department of Homeland Security."

"It's disturbing that the U.S. Department of Justice takes its cue from Morris Dees' SPLC as to which groups fit the 'hate' criteria. I wonder how many Americans would be comfortable with seeing their tax dollars go toward supporting a hate group like the SPLC," Knight added.

Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, contended that SPLC is more focused on advancing a radical political agenda than on combating hatred.

"This might be an opportunity to point out who are actually filled with hate and bigotry," said Wright. "If they were to judge according to actions, they would have to have a special section for homosexual groups that vandalize and threaten people who oppose the homosexual agenda. We've had death threats against us posted openly on websites because of our work to uphold traditional marriage."

"It's the homosexual groups that have violated and invaded churches, vandalized homes and cars, that instigate death threats against people who are simply trying to uphold traditional values," Wright observed.

Knight suggested the SPLC report might be timed to influence next week's Senate hearings on the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

"The timing is very curious, with the story breaking just before homosexual activists and their allies in the Senate launch their final assault of the year on the military's law barring open homosexuality. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not," said Knight. As WND has reported, SPLC is currently advising the Department of Homeland Security on threats posed by "violent extremists." SPLC produced a highly controversial report linking tea-party activists to the Oklahoma City bombing.

SPLC's condemnation of groups fighting the homosexual political agenda parallels its 2007 designation of the Federation for America Immigration Reform as a "hate group" for helping to shoot down a 2007 amnesty bill in the U.S. Senate. SPLC hate group monitor Mark Potok reportedly acknowledged, "what we are hoping very much to accomplish is to marginalize FAIR."

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