It sounds completely ludicrous that a well-known ministry that has been spreading the Gospel message since the early 1960s is being labeled a hate group. But that is exactly what happened when the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a nonprofit legal advocacy organization that specializes in civil rights litigation, called D. James Kennedy Ministries a hate group.
Formerly known as Truth in Action, the Florida-based media outreach ministry got its start in 1962. And now because they have chosen to embrace Biblical truths about marriage, sex, and other family issues, they have been viciously attacked by the SPLC, a left-leaning organization that has been known to receive funds from George Soros and his Open Society Foundations.
As the SPLC ramps up its accusations, it has begun to receive millions of dollars from companies like Apple and J.P. Morgan. Even George Clooney has jumped on the SPLC “fake hate” bandwagon and has donated one million dollars through his foundation.
The Southern Poverty Law Center website lists hate groups by category, and there among the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis, and the Racist Skinheads, are several Christian organizations that are lumped together under the “Christian Identity” category. But that’s not the group that lists D. James Kennedy Ministries. Instead, they have been categorized as Anti-LGBT, along with other Christian-based groups like Family Watch International, American Family Association, Liberty Counsel, and even the American College of Pediatricians.
James Kennedy Ministries is not taking the accusation lying down, however. They have chosen to file a federal lawsuit against the SPLC saying the organization has defamed the ministry as an “active hate group” because of its Biblical stance on homosexuality.
John Rabe is a spokesman for Kennedy Ministries and he says, “It’s completely disingenuous to tag D. James Kennedy Ministries as a hate group alongside the KKK and neo-Nazis. We desire all people, with no exceptions, to receive the love of Christ and his forgiveness and healing. We unequivocally condemn violence, and we hate no one.”
Rabe goes on to say that their ministry upholds a traditional view of marriage – one that has been around for 2,000 years – and it’s because of that particular belief that the ministry has been unfairly tagged a hate group. “It’s nothing more than an attempt to bulldoze over those who disagree with them, and it has a chilling effect on the free exercise of religion in a nation built on that. We decided not to let their falsehoods stand.”
Matthew Krepcho, director of partner relations for D. James Kennedy Ministries says that the ministry is “being slandered by the Southern Poverty Law Center.”
The recent lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Montgomery, Ala, which is where the headquarters of the SPLC is located. Besides filing the lawsuit, Kennedy ministries placed a full-page ad in the Sunday edition of the Sun Sentinel, a newspaper in South Florida, condemning the SPLC and its hate map. The ad contained an open letter with the headline, “D. James Kennedy Ministries Is Not A Hate Group.”
In a press release sent out by Kennedy Ministries, President and CEO, Dr. Frank Wright stated, “We embarked today on a journey to right a terrible wrong. Those who knowingly label Christian ministries as ‘hate groups’ solely for subscribing to the historic Christian faith, are either woefully uninformed or willfully deceitful. In the case of the Southern Poverty Law Center, our lawsuit alleges the latter.”
Other pro-family groups, including the Family Research Council (FRC), were on the SPLC’s list of hate groups but were removed after backlash earlier this summer. The FRC has stated, “The SPLC is inciting hatred against Christians, which has already led to violence. It needs to stop.”
The SPLC was founded in 1971 with the intent to fight the KKK. More recently however, and especially after Donald Trump became president, the SPLC seems to simply be going after organizations that don’t have the same liberal position as they do on certain social issues.
According to their website, the SPLC has currently identified 917 hate groups across the country and have listed them on their “hate map.” Throughout the years, Christian leaders have applauded SPLC for their strong stance against racism. But as the advocacy group expanded to other hot-topic issues including immigrants, Muslims, and those in the LGBT community, it has caused even liberal comedian and left-wing talk show host, Bill Maher to take sides against the SPLC.
~ Christian Patriot Daily
