SPLC should rename 'Hate Map' to 'Groups We Hate Map'

The Southern Poverty Law Center admitted its fault and removed a town from its “Hate Map” this week. That map irresponsibly mixes religious organizations with violent hate groups, and this time it included the town of Amana because an unknown source alleged some people who might have been associated with The Daily Stormer met one time in a restaurant for coffee. This is one of many inaccuracies and gross over-characterizations that can be found on SPLC’s map. Amana, an innocent town, was then blacklisted by the SPLC. People living there were brought under a cloud a suspicion because of the improper, sweeping accusation of the SPLC. The SPLC makes wide generalizations and then seeks to harm those within its self-proclaimed classification of others. In a similar manner, the SPLC targets anyone who disagrees with them on issues related to the LGBT agenda. Then it claims civil disagreement as “evidence” for falsely classifying a peaceful organization as “hateful.” To do so is just as wrong and even more harmful than the SPLC’s mischaracterization of the city of Amana.

Liberty Counsel has complied a comprehensive answer to SPLC’s false name-calling of its nonprofit Christian ministry and its pro bono work in the legal field. The SPLC continually grossly misrepresents and labels Liberty Counsel as a so-called “hate group.” However, Liberty Counsel is not a “hate group” and hates no one. In addition to its many ministries, Liberty Counsel has a humanitarian relief program and had been providing help to victims of Hurricane Harvey, regardless of their beliefs, status, background or actions. In direct opposition to the SPLC’s false campaign, Liberty Counsel believes in reaching out with kindness and truth to all Americans.

“As a pastor before becoming an attorney, my heart then and now is for hurting people,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “Liberty Counsel exists to help other people. Right now, we are focusing resources on helping victims of Harvey. We believe that every person is created in the image of God and should be treated with dignity and respect. We are putting those beliefs into action in Texas. This is hardly the action of a hate group! If the SPLC were intellectually honest, it should re-title its ‘Hate Map’ into ‘Groups We Hate Map,’” said Staver.

In 2016, the Disciplinary Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice, under President Obama, sharply rebuked and reprimanded attorneys for employing the SPLC’s “hate group” label to dismiss a conservative advocacy group. It stated that using the SPLC’s map “overstepped the bounds of zealous advocacy and was unprofessional.” It continued that such behavior is “uncivil” and “constitutes frivolous behavior and does not aid the administration of justice.”