Hatewatch Tweets
Hatewatch is managed by the staff of the Intelligence Report, an investigative magazine published by the Alabama-based civil rights group Southern Poverty Law Center.
Anti-Gay Groups Protest SPLC with Claims of Hate and Intolerance
About a dozen African American pastors joined anti-gay extremists today in condemning the Southern Poverty Law Center for using its “hate group” label to describe faith-based organizations that demonize the LGBT community, characterizing it as part of an orchestrated liberal plot.
The pastors spoke at a press conference staged outside the SPLC offices in Montgomery, Ala., by Americans for the Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), which the SPLC lists as an anti-gay hate group.
“The SPLC has moved from monitoring actual hate groups like the KKK and neo-Nazis to slandering mainstream Christian organizations with that very same hate group label,” said Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel, affiliated with Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University. “By extension, the SPLC is smearing billions of Christians and Jews worldwide as haters simply because they embrace the traditional Judeo-Christian ethics.”
Rachel Conner of Abiding Truth Ministries, also listed as a hate group, charged that “the Southern Poverty Law Center has now become a tool of the God-haters, promoting hatred in the form of vicious lies against Christianity.”
“This has nothing to do with hate and tolerance,” said Peter LaBarbera, president of AFTAH. “It has everything to do with pro-gay politicking.”
In fact, it has everything to do with hate and intolerance.
Mark Potok, editor of the SPLC’s Intelligence Report and this blog, responded to the accusations: “Our listing of anti-gay hate groups is completely unrelated to religion, Christianity or the Bible. These groups are listed because they repeatedly lie in an effort to defame LGBT people, an exercise they’ve been extraordinarily successful at. The idea that we are criticizing these groups because they represent Judeo-Christian morality is simply ludicrous.”
The SPLC does not identify anti-gay hate groups based on their religious views. Instead, the SPLC lists anti-gay groups on the basis of spreading known falsehoods and demonizing propaganda against LGBT people, such as the claim that gay men largely orchestrated the Holocaust.
In 2007, LaBarbera claimed that there was “a disproportionate incidence of pedophilia” among gay men — a devastating accusation, but one that is entirely false, according to all the relevant scientific organizations. LaBarbera has also compared the alleged dangers of homosexuality to those of “smoking, alcohol and drug abuse,” and the AFTAH website describes it as a “lethal behavior addiction.”
In a written statement read at the news conference, Abiding Truth Ministries founder Scott Lively called on God to destroy the SPLC: “My prayer, as one who really does hate irrational prejudice, is that the Lord by His sovereign power will remove this dangerous, hate-spreading organization from our nation and cause its leaders and members to repent for their wickedness. … I want to make clear that I am asking God himself to destroy their organization.”
What Lively might not know is that others have tried, including Klansmen who pleaded guilty to firebombing the center’s office in 1983.
on January 17th, 2012 at 5:48 pm
Sounds like a huge collective guilty conscience to me! They desperately need Jesus in their hearts! Get thee behind me, Satan!
on January 17th, 2012 at 5:51 pm
Oh..and I call on God to PROTECT the SPLC and remove the sinful homophobia from the hearts of those who defile America and Jesus with their evil! God is good! Amen!
on January 17th, 2012 at 6:01 pm
A wise and godly woman once taught me “The mark of a true follower of God is peace, joy and love. You don’t have to ask them if they are; all you have to do is stand back and observe them in their every day life. If they lack these markings, they are not of God”. I see the likes of these groups and I tell you and stand witness before Holy God Himself that the spirit of God is far from them. Hallelujah, Southern Poverty Law Center, and bless you, for exposing these Ichabods to the light!
on January 17th, 2012 at 6:04 pm
‘Mainstream Christian’ organizations?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
Pardon my amusement.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
on January 17th, 2012 at 6:05 pm
If this represents mainstream Christianity and Judaism, them I’m from Pluto. The idea that treating others with respect and as equals to ones’ self is a strictly liberal ideology is simply mindboggling to me. I hope this protest gets as little coverage from the media as possible.
on January 17th, 2012 at 6:14 pm
I think SPLC actions are long overdue. Religious entities have been spreading lies about GLBT people for years and I’m certain contribute to young gays committing suicide or others perpetuating crimes against gays. Now, they have been called on the carpet. Good for you, SPLC! Keep up the good work.
on January 17th, 2012 at 6:24 pm
“My prayer, as one who really does hate irrational prejudice, is that the Lord by His sovereign power will remove this dangerous, hate-spreading organization from our nation and cause its leaders and members to repent for their wickedness. … I want to make clear that I am asking God himself to destroy their organization.”
God’s response: No.
on January 17th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
Good for the SPLC! These groups, who claim to be under the guise of religion, are spewing hate just like the KKK, Nazis, etc. It’s reprehensible for these pastors to stand on the steps and condemn SPLC>
Stand tall, SPLC! Speak the truth……….
and these religious zealots should go back to their caves..
on January 17th, 2012 at 7:27 pm
I think the problem is one in which marriage was stated in the bible, (which is the book Christians follow) as between a man and a woman. The body of each was designed by the Maker to fit into each other. It is difficult for the people of colour to promote any thing less. Per ratio there is more caucasian gay than blacks, yet the media will blow up this idea of the “DownLow” a practice that was promoted as dispicable practice of blacks. More white people dying from Aids, but it is still promoted as a black and gay disease for the most part. The prisons are filled with 88% blacks and latino, mainly male,…. Of all the races, the black women have had to carry the burden alone as single parents within a society that every day promote them as not good care givers, sensitive , motherly beings, but as lazy angry individuals. Irregardless of how many of us are law abiding, hard-working upright citizens So why is it a problem if the church Pastors sees that you may be using this tactic to help encourage our men to be women? I personally have no problem with a person choosing to be gay, to each his own,. There still need to be more study done on this subject. I.nevertheless, adamontly and strongly DISAGREE with anyone that use violence against a gay person. On the other hand, I think pastors are concern that we have so few productive men that your organization may play a role in hindering their teachings to promote healthy, viable male in the black population…I am just saying….Many blessings. Keep up the good work of exposing racial prejudice in the political, education and yes religeous sector.
on January 17th, 2012 at 7:36 pm
what’s the website listed on that banner in the picture?
on January 17th, 2012 at 7:49 pm
These self-righteous anti-gay bigots have no defense for the gay bashing lies they tell, and instead call on “the Lord” to destroy an organization that is exposing the lies they tell. If it weren’t for all of the harm they cause to innocent human beings, it would be funny. But I would of course laughing at them, not with them.
on January 17th, 2012 at 7:51 pm
The SPLC definition of a Hate Group is any group that disagrees with the SPLC.
on January 17th, 2012 at 8:02 pm
This is disheartening… yet expected. Stay strong SPLC. You are a blessing to us all.
on January 17th, 2012 at 8:20 pm
Seems Lively has been teaching his Christian hate to a younger generation. http://jesusfetusfajitafishsti.....stian.html
on January 17th, 2012 at 8:28 pm
These protesters remind me of the words of Comedian Ron White – you can’t fix stupid
on January 17th, 2012 at 8:37 pm
so were there any actual press at this press conference?
on January 17th, 2012 at 8:48 pm
It would seem that Mr. Lively requires a lesson in the purpose of prayer. Prayer is not about trying to bend God to your will. Prayer is about asking God to align your will with His. It is about affirming one’s obedience to God. It is about bearing witness to God’s glory, offering praise for His gifts of mercy and eternal life.
It is not about condemnation, asking God to smite your enemies.
It’s “Thy will be done” not “My will be done!”
on January 17th, 2012 at 9:01 pm
Wish you had gotten a crowd shot. Would have loved to see the “tens” of people who attended.
on January 17th, 2012 at 9:06 pm
Invoking divine power to blow people away, huh? Gee, how could we ever call them a hate group…
on January 17th, 2012 at 9:49 pm
actualy it dose have everything to do with religon “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.” (Leviticus 20:13).
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion. ‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you.” (Leviticus 18:22-24).
“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.” (Romans 1:26-27).
on January 17th, 2012 at 9:55 pm
Thankyou SPLC. I am so proud to support you!
on January 17th, 2012 at 11:03 pm
It would be interesting to see if any of the groups have asked or lobbied for the designation to be removed. I have heard of any member of the hate groups dispute the substance of the SPLC’s fact-finding, by saying that they have told the truth. The basis for the hate group designation are secular statements — relating to claims of health and politics — false facts about gays harming society. They don’t seem to be related to Christianity or religion in any way.
on January 18th, 2012 at 12:10 am
“characterizing it as an orchestrated liberal plot.”
And sadly for them, virtually most African-Americans are “liberals”. i.e. NAACP, Civil Rights, Rev. Al Sharpton, etc.
While I agree that homosexuality among gay men, is an abhorrent act,….sometimes associated with pedophilia. But one must not forget the hypocrites vehemently lurking within these extremists right-nut groups. Hence, many homosexuals were revealed in the vile WN movement. There are no worst hypocrites than those in the lunatic Right.
on January 18th, 2012 at 5:39 am
It amazes me how much groups can hate such an orginzation that do good for others.
on January 18th, 2012 at 7:50 am
“I think the problem is one in which marriage was stated in the bible, (which is the book Christians follow) as between a man and a woman. ”
1. The Bible defines marriage in several ways, monogamous, polygamous, with concubinage, and I think at least in one case incestuous.
2. The Bible is not history nor should it be the basis for law in a secular state. They can believe what they want, but they don’t have a right to impose their religious views on other people. I don’t see why that is so threatening to them.
on January 18th, 2012 at 8:49 am
As a proud and avid supporter of the Southern Poverty Law Center, since 1999, I applaud your tireless and dedicated work for equality. The world is a better place because of you. Please keep up the great work of shedding the light on the truth. Thank you to each and every employee and donor !!
on January 18th, 2012 at 8:52 am
these comments just spurred my first $ donation to the splc.
on January 18th, 2012 at 8:53 am
Jason Smith said: “The SPLC definition of a Hate Group is any group that disagrees with the SPLC.”
It really isn’t. But then again, anyone who has done even an iota of research would know that.
on January 18th, 2012 at 10:20 am
Who accredited these people as ministers?
Matthew 5:44: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
See also: http://tinyurl.com/LoveThineEnemies (Exodus 23:4; Proverbs 25:21; Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:35; Leviticus 19:17-18; 1 John 3:15, 4:20-21; Matthew 7:1; Luke 6:37; Romans 2:1; Romans 14:10; James 4:12; Proverbs 24:17)
on January 18th, 2012 at 10:33 am
Talk about irony!!! They’re accusing the Southern Poverty Law Center of being a hate group.
on January 18th, 2012 at 11:45 am
‘Rachel Conner of Abiding Truth Ministries, also listed as a hate group, charged that “the Southern Poverty Law Center has now become a tool of the God-haters, promoting hatred in the form of vicious lies against Christianity.”’
I’m not quite sure why I bother, but I have to try: Ms. Conner, can you give us some specific examples of these lies? No generalizations, now; I want to see you refute SPLC statements with some hard evidence.
on January 18th, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Why didn’t Peter LaBarbera & the rest of these groups just hold up signs at this event saying things like “HOMOSEXUALS ARE 20 TO 30 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO MOLEST CHILDREN THAN HETEROSEXUALS!” or “HOMOSEXUALS WERE IN THE NAZI REGIME DURING WORLD WAR II THEREFORE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MURDERS OF MILLIONS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE!” or “HOMOSEXUALS ARE DESTRUCTIVE TO THE ARMED FORCES THEREFORE SHOULDN’T BE ALLOWED IN THE MILITARY!”
Maybe if they did then people passing by would have realized what complete IDIOTS these people are for not realizing why the Southern Poverty Law Center listed them as hate groups!
on January 18th, 2012 at 3:30 pm
And finally, I’m wondering why they didn’t enlist the detestable notorious Westboro Baptist Church during their little conference. They’re in the same boat, are they not?
on January 18th, 2012 at 5:14 pm
What’s interesting is that one of LaBarbera’s ardent supporters — who wisely chose not to show his face at the protest — is none other than Arthur Abba Goldberg, convicted swindler/ex-con/disbarred lawyer, and co-founder of JONAH, a Jewish organization that promotes gay “therapy cures.” Goldberg reinvented himself after he got out of the slammer, and for a while was an executive of NARTH until he was “outed” as having done time for various Federal crimes. JONAH sent “a message of support” to the other gay-bashers.
on January 18th, 2012 at 5:59 pm
Take at look at this ridiculous blog article gcmwatch which fails to even go into detail about the lies the SPLC debunked that these “Christian” groups say, if anyone wants to give them a piece of your mind and hit them straight with your thoughts please do on their blog such as how “homosexuasls molest children at higher rates than heterosexuals please” do:
http://www.gcmwatch.com/8443/s.....ence-today
on January 18th, 2012 at 7:37 pm
Here’s an example of the all so looooving Bible that these wonderful people are being so hideously persecuted for:
“If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity.”
Deuteronomy 25:11,12; New International Version.
on January 18th, 2012 at 8:04 pm
Mark and the entire SPLC staff did a great job responding to these hate mongers. BTW, while Patrick Wooden insists on the “Dr.” honorific, on my site I have fully documented the worthless and phoney PhD.
LaBarbera and Wooden call us “perverts” and then they wonder why they are labeled as haters. Nice legacy that these cretins are leaving their children.
on January 18th, 2012 at 8:10 pm
Richard,
I dropped a post on their article. Though I very much doubt they will allow it past moderation.
They’re only good for laughs!
on January 18th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
@Shadow Wolf
You are one of those bigots, aren’t you? Spreading falsehoods just like them.
on January 19th, 2012 at 12:52 am
Hypocrites who claim to be Christians, yet publicly condemn, judge, and crucify others because of the indifference’s in love preferences, is disturbing. We are free to love, to learn, and to grow in Christ if we choose to do so. Some people may fight it, feeling that pressure from one way or another is too overwhelming to be the person we were meant to be. I say, under God’s grace, be the person He wants you to be, with love and respect for yourself, and with God’s word to guide you. Our relationship with Christ is OURS, nobody else can choose my path, pray my prayers, or ask forgiveness for my mistakes. Honor that freedom, fear no man, God is the only true judge!
Keep up the excellent work SPLC, and thank you for opening up new eyes to another form of hate. God bless & protect you!
on January 19th, 2012 at 3:45 am
I don’t agree with anything these Christian fundamentalist groups are advocating, however, I’m curious about how the SPLC goes about designating groups as “hate groups.”
First off, what exactly is a “hate group” and why is the SPLC in charge of deciding who is and who isn’t a hate group? Are there other groups that can decide?
Is a “hate group” a term with some sort of legal ramifications to it, that is, can the fact that you’re a member of a group that the SPLC says is a hate group effect the outcome of your trial, if you should happen to run afoul of the law for some reason?
Next, I can see how a group with members who go out and commit hate crimes as defined by the laws of the US and elsewhere can be called a hate group, especially if the members are acting as representatives of the group or on orders of the group. But what if everyone in the group is law abiding and doing nothing other than saying stupid, mean stuff? While libel is against the law, opinion is not. If these groups are saying something libelous and/or defamatory, then perhaps they should be taken to court.
But it seems like labeling a group a hate group for merely saying stuff, even nasty provably false stuff, cheapens the meaning of “hate group.” Most people think of a “hate group” as an organized bunch who go around destroying people and assaulting or murdering people. Or perhaps that’s the point – to label a group of people who are just saying stupid stuff with a designation that will lead many people to think that they are committing acts of violence?
on January 19th, 2012 at 5:45 am
So these pastors couldn’t find anything more productive to do with their time such as feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, providing assistance to the unemployed? Really?
SPLC needs to keep up their good work.
on January 19th, 2012 at 10:12 am
Um, Jamaal, the first step in making hate crimes possible is dehumanizing your target. By lying about gays and linking them to hated groups (pedophiles, Nazis, etc.) and disparaging their lifestyle, you’re making it OK, nay obligatory, to attack them. Words have consequences.
on January 19th, 2012 at 11:30 am
The Homophobe Scott Lively was trained as an activist by the one and only Rev. Don Wildmon founder of the “Dark Side” of Tupelo, MS. Wildmon’s Michigan AFA, under the control of Lively, was actively working to deny gays there constitutional rights in that state. You can search Traverse City Michigan and AFA on the web to find the info you need to understand why SPLC would designate LIVELY AND WILDMON AND THE AFA A HATE ORGANIZATION.
That’s exactly what they are despite the choice verses they pick from an “Errant Bible” to support their hate campaigns.
Lively and Wildmon were allied with Rev. Fred Phelps in their Traverse City campaign against Gay Rights in the state. That was all I needed to know when I recently declared to the world that Tupelo, Mississippi has a “Dark Side.” (My hometown!) A pseudo-Christian Dark Side that is a total disgrace to America and to the people of Tupelo! Is it really any wonder why, according to Biblical texts, that someone added the verse that reminds Christians of the time when “Jesus Wept”?
on January 19th, 2012 at 11:49 am
3 thoughts – 1. I’m happily married (hetero) but don’t give a rats ass what goes on in another adult’s bedroom. I don’t want anyone sticking their nose into my bedroom either!!
2, Homosexuality has always been with humanity – 10-11% of every population. They were often special among Native Americans. All embryos start out as female – testosterone floods the embryo after creation to change it to a male. Nature is imperfect. Live with it.
3. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. Canadians? Other tribal nations in my area? Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I wear reading glasses – is there some wiggle-room here? My uncle’s wife violates Lev.19:19 by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester). Do we get the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16 or just burn them to death like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
on January 19th, 2012 at 1:18 pm
I believe in the Bible. I don’t believe in Hate Crimes or the bigotry that precedes them.
on January 19th, 2012 at 1:37 pm
Christian cries of “oppression” is a classic example of privileged people defending their privilege by taking on the mantle of victimhood, acting as if resistance to their privilege somehow constitutes misunderstanding, bigotry, and oppression.
on January 19th, 2012 at 1:52 pm
Wow, it sure looks like SPLC opened a can of “religious” worms on this one! Despite the fact that SPLC historically and intentionally “cherry-picks” it’s hate issues, this one will never go away since virtually all Christian/Protestant faiths see homosexuals as errant. Fortunately, few preach hate but rather seek some sort of therapy/healing process….like Mr. Palin’s therapy organization.
Frankly, there’s a lot of other more blatant hate issues out there to address that CAN be solved.
on January 19th, 2012 at 3:04 pm
@JoeBuddha
I’m not a law expert so if someone knows more than me, please correct me if I’m wrong – but if these groups are lying, can’t they be sued for libel or defamation? Isn’t that the appropriate thing to do here?
If they can’t be sued, then labeling a group a hate group just for stuff they say seems a bit… weak, honestly. I mean, if all the members are law abiding and haven’t physically harmed anyone, then what’s the big deal? Again, by applying the “hate group” label, it looks like the SPLC is trying to associate law abiding folks with people who have actually committed hate crimes.
The “words have consequences” argument is a lot like the sort of arguments Christians themselves use that, for example, trashy and violent movies will make people more likely to have sex and commit violent crimes against one another and therefore Hollywood should be censored and so on. Nobody buys that argument, except extremists who believe in controlling what other people can see and hear.
on January 19th, 2012 at 4:43 pm
oldoc you might want to take a look at the chart at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.....osexuality. There was a time when most Christian denominations in the US thought slavery was OK.
on January 19th, 2012 at 6:05 pm
When will SPLC write about hate against Christians? There appears to be many Christianophobic people commenting here.
on January 19th, 2012 at 8:16 pm
How soon these black Ministers forget Martin Luther Kings struggle to free the blacks in the 1950′s and 60′s not to mention their Great Grand Fathers and mothers who were slaves under the whip of white Christians only 150 years ago.
They fought for freedom to be a first class citizen in America and won. Now it is the LGBT people, the gays who are fighting for that same right to be Equal and have the same Civil Rights as them. Too bad people forget where they came from because one day they might find themselves being slave again. History does repeat itself no matter what and it is up to us all to stand up for freedom for all if Americans if we are to survive as a free country. To make a slave of one it to make a slave of us all.
on January 19th, 2012 at 10:29 pm
William,
When will you take the time to find your own answers? The SPLC has written about prejudice against Christians PLENTY of times.
Though I doubt you’ll take the time to read any of the articles…
on January 19th, 2012 at 11:34 pm
Jesus never spoke on this subject, and I wish these crazies would follow His lead.
on January 20th, 2012 at 4:11 am
Patricia Kayden,
I’ve thought the same things about these groups. Why is it these “Christian” groups such as the Family Research Council, American Family Association, Traditional Values Coalition, Americans For the Truth About Homosexuality, Abiding Truth Mininstries, etc. never donate to charity to help homeless people, feed the hungry, the unemployed etc. instead of being obsessed with portraying gay people as child molesters or Nazis? If they’re so concerend about the safety of children, why do they seem so focused on only boys being molested yet not seem to care at all about the safety of numerous young girls molested by men? Girls are still more likely to be molested than boys! Why are they so obsessed with rewritting history to blame gays for the murders of millions of people during World War II? Why are they so concerned about gays serving openly in the military if many countries already have been letting gays serve openly in the military for a long time with no problems? These groups just can’t find someting positive to do yet instead want to concentrate their time on doing evil, useless things just to domonize a group of people!!!!!!!!
on January 20th, 2012 at 5:41 am
Not all Christian/Protestant denominations condemn homosexuality, by a long shot. Mainstream Episcopalians, Congregationalists, UCC churches, and Unitarian-Universalist (not all members of which would self-identify as Christian), among others, do not do so, and many other mainstream denominations are becoming more affirming – and, at the very least, not promulgating false information and accusations.
on January 20th, 2012 at 10:16 am
Bob Moyer, the Presbyterians accept us, and a Methodist church in SF does too. I believe that Jesus is coming on the next bus and gay people need to come to Him with their very next breath. Even if you do not believe that, this is a good way to fight these idiots on their own level.
on January 20th, 2012 at 6:17 pm
BTW, if the SPLC want to label me a hateful bigoted person because I believe gay & lesbian activities are comparable to crack smoking & that sex changes are sad mutilations which must be abolished, then I’ll accept that label :) SPLC in the past did good things to help Black Americans have = chances, but given that the SPLC is an apologist for gay/lesbian activites, they’ve become apologists for evil behavior-gay/lesbian activities are evil.
As to the Ku Klux Klan, let me say that people who are bigoted & I’m sure the SPLC will agree, aren’t necessarily dumb people. There are White Supremacists who can fluently speak Chinese, Japanese & Vietnamese. During the Vietnam War, there were Klansmen who fought next to Black soldiers though sometimes race fights happened between Blacks & White soldiers in Vietnam. There were also Klansmen who fought in the Korean war. Yes, some of the Klansmen do speak Korean & Vietnamese. Not to promote Stormfront but I’ve found that quite a few of the White Nationalists can speak German, Polish, Spanish & I’ve even found individuals who can speak Chinese. Patrick J. Buchanan who the SPLC has condemned visited China during the Nixon Administration & in his columns, he sometimes uses Bengali words such as Pundit, jungle, guru & Pariah. Again for those of you who know me, I’m Bengali, so I have to say that while I am against discrimination & segregation, White Supremacists can be smart people. Finally, Klansman David Ernest Duke has been to India & during the Vietnam War, he taught English to Laotian officers.
on January 20th, 2012 at 10:09 pm
As a former employee of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, I would like to remind everyone of the poem that sums up WHY the SPLC speaks out against ALL injustice and hate crimes and the organizations who perpetrate them…..written by Martin Niemöller (1892-1984) was an ardent nationalist and prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last 7 years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.
Niemöller is perhaps best remembered for the quotation:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out —
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out —
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out —
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.
Another lesson of the Holocaust that I have taught and firmly believe is this: If you choose to be a silent bystander and do nothing in the face of adversity or oppression of those around you, the guilt and shame of the perpetrator is also yours.
Or, to put it simply: “Evil thrives when good people do nothing.”
Thank you SPLC, and to everyone here, PLEASE do more than express your opinion. DONATE to the SPLC. You may be in need of their services in the future.
on January 21st, 2012 at 2:59 pm
Funinsnow,
This is getting tedious. Those words you used to demonstrate Paddy Buchanan’s ‘worldliness’ demonstrate nothing. While they are indeed Bengali in origin, they are a part of the common American English lexicon. I will bet you dollars to doughnuts that about 95-97 per cent of the people who use the term ‘pundit’ do not know its actual meaning or origin.
I’ve already lectured you on this exact subject. And it has grown tiresome.
Since you’re such a fan of Stormfront and the Duke-holes, why don’t you hang around there? You aren’t winning any friends or converts here.
(Also, you might want to look into your formatting. For someone who writes such long-winded comments, your spacing makes it very difficult to read.)
on January 21st, 2012 at 9:32 pm
It’s about time the shepards of the flock started fighting off the wolves!
If a true believer is known by their love and peace then the SPLC is by no measure godly. The SPLC is filled with lies and hate for all that is godly. May god have mercy on your souls.
on January 21st, 2012 at 10:47 pm
funinsnow, Germany in the 1930′s had one of the best educated populations in the world. Their major error, in fact, was thinking they were so smart they ought to control everybody’s thinking. This is also your error when it comes to GLBT issues. We can fall prey to this delusion as well, which is why the Rainbow Flag was developed to equalize all variants on unconventional gender roleplaying.
on January 22nd, 2012 at 1:53 am
It amazes me at the kind of idiotic articles I come across which again fail to discredit the SPLC’s 10 anti-gay myths. Michael Cook at Mercatornet.com writes this article claiming that the groups the SPLC lists as hate groups have no reason to be listed as hate groups comparable to the Ku Klux Klan. While Cook lists all 10 of the anti-gay myths, he fails to even explain how any of them are true at all and goes on to attack the scientific authorities the SPLC lists. Cook says “It turns out that, for the most part, they are not scientific authorities at all, but professional groups like the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychiatric Association.” But again, Cook fails to even point out how any of those myths that these groups frequently say are true are actually true at all such as how “Homosexuals molest children at far higher rates than Heterosexuals”. What kind of idiots like Cook can’t get it through their heads that the groups the SPLC lists as hate groups just make up their own junk science research, try to rewrite history and also just distort the work of other scientific researchers?:
http://www.mercatornet.com/art.....nd_dispute
on January 22nd, 2012 at 7:20 pm
Aron, I’m not a follower of Stormfront but I have visited their website & that of David Ernest Duke. Just because some1 visits a website doesn’t mean they agree with everything they say. I don’t agree with the Holocaust revisionist view of Stormfront as I believe an extermination program happened.
But the reason I mention Klansmen & Stormfront is because just because some1 is a bigot, doesn’t mean that they’re uneducated. How do you explain Aron, that there are individual Klansmen who can speak Vietnamese, Chinese & Korean? As Germany & Japan were untrustworthy allies during WW2, there were Nazis who could speak Japanese & there were Japanese who could speak German-both Germany & Japan believed they were the master races beginning from the late 1800s to their defeat in WW2.
Many Japanese soldiers who took part in WW2 atrocities could speak Chinese, Korean, Tagalog (language of the Phillipines), etc. My point about people who are racists is that racists can be knowledgable about other groups. You don’t like Patrick J. Buchanan, but Mr. Buchanan is a well traveled man & has very good knowledge about history esp. as he was President R.M. Nixon’s speechwriter.
The SPLC has a right to label who they wish as hateful bigot. If the SPLC wants to label me as a hateful bigot because I’m against gay/lesbian activities, I’ll accept that label. But I & those who are against gay/lesbian activities & sex change mutilations have a right to show just how silly the SPLC is comparing us to the KKK. Also fail to understand why Rebecca of the Holocaust Museum raises the Holocaust on this? If she is implying that any1 who is against gay/lesbian activiities as I or any1 else who the SPLC labels as ‘hate’ is comparable to Holocaust of 6 million Jews in extermination program, well that’s just silly.
on January 23rd, 2012 at 10:46 am
Something else, in Dec. 2011, Elton John condemned those who don’t have sympathy for AIDS victims as being ‘fascists & idiots.’ Elton John is a recovered drug junky & alcoholic so his lecture’s worthless. But it seems that when you hate some1′s views such as when people hate the opinions of Patrick J. Buchanan, FRC, etc., then they get called Nazis, Fascists, etc. comparing them to mass killers which is silly.
With gay AIDS victims, let me say that while gay/lesbian activities in the U.S. are legal, if a gay is going to be promiscous, not use condoms & use drugs, then I have no sympathy for him if he gets AIDS. Many people wouldn’t sympathize with a straight man if he had sex with many women, didn’t use condoms & then got a deadly VD (I like the old word VD) as they’d say the man took the risks. So for the same reason, I don’t sympathize with gay AIDS victims because they took the risk. I guess that makes me a ‘fascist idiot’ but I don’t care.
on January 23rd, 2012 at 12:46 pm
Funinsnow,
For once, you’re absolutely right. That final sentence seems to be the unvarnished truth.
on January 28th, 2012 at 11:01 am
“It amazes me how much groups can hate such an orginzation that do good for others.”
you won’t be so amazed when a group you agree with finds itself on their hit list
on January 28th, 2012 at 11:07 am
“Family retainers” were in America even in this century. They were not treated like “slaves” like we saw in that movie.
So some read the Bible and assume it’s talking about cruel slavery because of their ignorance of their own history and this economically viable solution for people who need work and money.
on January 31st, 2012 at 11:27 am
Something which Southern Poverty Law Center, Aron, etc. overlook is that people such as Dr. Paul Drummond Cameron share my view that sex must be limited to penis/vaginal sex between man & woman. Most straights don’t take part in sodomy or anal, even if gay/lesbian groups say otherwise. Sex is mainly supposed to be about the woman pleasuring the man with viceversa minor. Hopefully this language is allowed for this post but I’m also not a believer in oral sex, but that if it happens, it’s only supposed to be a woman giving a man oral but not viceversa-man’s mouth is not meant to do oral. Also I agree with what Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi did when he paid young women for sex because after a woman hits menopause, it’s best not to do her anymore. There you have my views on sex-limit it to penis vaginal sex between a man & woman, that sex is mainly supposed to be about the woman pleasuring the man & that once a woman hits menopause, it’s best to not have sex with her.