The Southern Poverty Law Center Is A Non-Credible, Anti-Conservative Hate Group

by John Hawkins | November 30, 2010 1:16 pm

The Southern Poverty Law Center used to be an organization that targeted hate groups. They let people know what these groups believed, catalogued their activities, and generally kept a watchful eye on them. Today, the Southern Poverty Law Center is an organization that targets conservatives and as a sideline, also dabbles in tracking hate groups.

Here’s an example of the sort of political based smear that the South Poverty Law Center regularly engages in[1],

18 Anti-Gay Groups and Their Propaganda

Even as some well-known anti-gay groups like Focus on the Family moderate their views, a hard core of smaller groups, most of them religiously motivated, have continued to pump out demonizing propaganda aimed at homosexuals and other sexual minorities. These groups’ influence reaches far beyond what their size would suggest, because the “facts” they disseminate about homosexuality are often amplified by certain politicians, other groups and even news organizations. Of the 18 groups profiled below, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) will be listing 13 next year as hate groups (eight were previously listed), reflecting further research into their views; those are each marked with an asterisk. Generally, 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.

Among the groups it lists here are the American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, Family Research Council, & the National Organization for Marriage. In other words, despite what the Southern Poverty Law Center says, being a mainstream Christian conservative who opposes gay marriage makes you the equivalent of a Nazi in the eyes of the SPLF.

This is actually kind of sad, because keeping an eye on hate groups is actually a worthwhile endeavor. But, what they apparently don’t realize is that when they go partisan like this, it’s going to eventually destroy their credibility with everyone except other left-wing hacks. If you want to be Media Matters with a different spin, which is all the SPLF really is today, you shouldn’t be surprised when nobody but left-wingers believe what you have to say about anything.

PS: Let me add to that, that I’ve personally dealt with the SPLF and have found them to be completely disinterested in putting out accurate information[2]. Their attitude is if it hurts people they don’t like, they don’t care whether it’s true or not. So, I would take ANYTHING the SPLF had to say about ANY GROUP with an hourglass full of sand.