If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably not an ostrich. If a leftist group cited by the FBI puts Christian nonprofits on a “hate map” and says Christian moral theology is evidence of “hate,” it’s probably anti-Christian—even if it swears to high heaven that’s not true.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which the FBI cited in its notorious memo on “radical traditional Catholics,” puts conservative Christian nonprofits on a “hate map” alongside chapters of the Ku Klux Klan, claiming they are part of the “infrastructure upholding white supremacy.”
For years, the SPLC claimed it was a “major misconception” that the SPLC is anti-Christian.
“A major misconception—one that is deliberately promoted by anti-LGBT hate groups in order to accuse the SPLC of being ‘anti-Christian’—is that the SPLC considers opposition to same-sex marriage or the belief that homosexuality is a sin as the sole basis for the hate group label,” the SPLC claimed. “This is false. There are many organizations, such as Focus on the Family, that oppose same-sex marriage or oppose homosexuality on strictly biblical grounds that the SPLC does not list as hate groups.”
Yet this year, the SPLC added Focus on the Family to the “hate map,” branding it—you guessed it—an “anti-LGBTQ+ hate group.” Meanwhile, the language about the “major misconception” no longer appears on the SPLC website. No matter, I have it archived here (the 2017 version) and here (the 2020 version).
Thanks, SPLC. I’m glad to have that “major misconception” cleared up.
It turns out the critics were right all along, and SPLC is anti-Christian, now by its own admission.
Remember when Colorado prosecuted a Christian baker because he refused to craft a custom cake to celebrate a same-sex wedding? Well, the SPLC represents an institutionalization of that anti-Christian animus—the kind that says, “You must celebrate the LGBTQ+ revolution, or else!”
Some Christian groups, like Alliance Defending Freedom, fight for Christians’ free speech to opt out of celebrating the rainbow, and—you guessed it—ADF is on the “hate map.”
Some groups, like Moms for Liberty, fight for parental rights in schools where activists push gender confusion on children, and they’re on the “hate map,” too.
Some organizations of doctors, like the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine and Do No Harm, oppose the grotesque “transgender” interventions on kids that the legacy media euphemistically calls “gender-affirming care,” and the SPLC has a spot for them, too.
Even gay and lesbian groups, such as Gays Against Groomers, who have problems with things such as “drag queen story hours” for kids, are on the “hate map” as “anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups” because they won’t get with 100% of the program.
Why is this anti-Christian? Well, both the Bible and Christian tradition teach that God made humans male and female (Genesis 1:27), that marriage is between one man and one woman (Matthew 19:5-6), that homosexual activity is sinful (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Romans 1), and that marriage is a symbol of the union between Jesus Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:22-32).
None of this means that people who struggle with gender confusion or same-sex attraction cannot be Christian. The Gospel is for everyone, and all Christians admit that we are redeemed sinners. However, there is an inherent contradiction between traditional Christianity and the demands of LGBTQ “Pride.”
The SPLC proved as much by branding the Ruth Institute, a Louisiana-based nonprofit dedicated to helping those who have been harmed by the Sexual Revolution, an “anti-LGBTQ+ hate group.” The organization maintains that the Sexual Revolution harmed men, women, and children by deemphasizing marriage and the family. As evidence of the Ruth Institute’s “hate,” the SPLC cites a quote from the institute’s founder, Jennifer Roback Morse.
“The church is very clear that same-sex sexual acts are intrinsically disordered and can never be morally acceptable,” Morse said. That’s not her opinion—it’s a quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a binding faith document for 1 billion Christians across the world.
R.G. Cravens, manager of research and analysis at the SPLC arm that publishes the “hate map,” explained SPLC’s reasoning for including Focus on the Family last week. While he mentioned other issues, he also expressly stated that Focus’ position on human sexuality is harmful.
“Like other hate groups that SPLC lists, they weaponize Christian rhetoric against LGBTQ+ people,” Cravens said. “They sow division and ideas that tear families apart by perpetuating political notions that LGBTQ people can’t be, for example, truly Christian unless they deny who they are.”
“That’s just, one, patently false, and it’s, two, really dangerous,” he added.
This isn’t a dispassionate analysis of Focus on the Family’s harms for America. It’s a statement of faith that directly contradicts the Bible and Christian tradition.
This animus helps explain why an LGBTQ activist targeted the Family Research Council for a terrorist attack in 2012, using the SPLC “hate map.”
It also explains why it was such a big scandal for the FBI to cite the SPLC in its memo on “radical traditional Catholics”—and, according to documents unearthed by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, that wasn’t even close to the first time.
It’s long past time that law enforcement, corporate America, and the Democratic Party wake up to the fact that the SPLC is an extreme force for polarization and division in America—and distance themselves accordingly.