ABC
News’
Pete Madden and Erin Galloway smeared Christians who believe the Bill of Rights
secures religious liberty as a “hate group,” in an article this week headlined,
“Jeff Sessions addresses ‘anti-LGBT hate group,’ but DOJ won’t release his remarks.”
The story made it clear this was not
just the work of a rogue headline writer, but the failure of the reporters
themselves.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions
delivered a speech to an alleged hate group at a recent event closed to
reporters, but the Department of Justice (DOJ) is refusing to reveal what he
said. Who is this “hate group”? – Alliance
Defending Freedom (ADF).
ADF is by no means a hate group;
rather a civil liberties organization that battles for religious liberty. And they’re not a fringe group either. They just weeks ago won their most recent U.S.
Supreme Court (SCOTUS) victory — Trinity Lutheran v. Comer — 7-2. It was their 5th SCOTUS victory in 7-years … during
which time they’ve had no losses at the high court. ADF is ranked among the top law firms in the
country for its successes at the SCOTUS.
In fact, this non-profit law firm found out that the SCOTUS has agreed
to hear another one of their cases dealing with artistic freedom and religious liberty.
To characterize such an accomplished
civil rights group as a ‘hate group’ is unacceptable and inexcusable. Why would ABC
News, in the midst of cratering credibility, disparage Christian efforts in
favor of religious liberty in such a mendacious way? How in the world did this happen?
For reasons unknown, ABC News chose to wholly adopt the
Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) framing for the significance of the
attorney general’s speech to the group.
Here’s why reporters such as Pete
Madden and Erin Galloway should be wary before slightly rewriting SPLC press
releases and passing off the work as their own. SPLC previously had a reservoir of credibility
based on a history of good work exposing legitimately nefarious individuals and
groups. In recent years, however, that
reservoir has all but dried up as SPLC has gone after reasonable groups it
merely disagrees with politically but labels as hate groups. It engages in this campaign while ignoring
serious problems on the left.
SPLC listed the Family Research Council
(FRC) as a “hate group,” for instance, even after an SPLC follower used an SPLC
“hate map” to locate the FRC offices in Washington, D.C., and commit an act of
terrorism and attempted mass murder against the group. Thankfully, the SPLC-inspired terrorist was
stopped by the security guard he shot when he arrived.
The other week, the SPLC found itself
in the awkward position of disavowing the man who opened fire on Republican
members of Congress during baseball practice. “We’re aware that the SPLC was among hundreds
of groups that the man identified as the shooter ‘liked’ on Facebook,” SPLC President
Richard Cohen said in a statement. “I
want to be as clear as I can possibly be: The SPLC condemns all forms of
violence.”
It’s not just Christians who SPLC
targets. SPLC also faces legal action
for placing British Muslim author and counter-extremism activist Maajid Nawaz
on an anti-Muslim “hate list.” He is the
only Muslim on the list. Not only has this
smeared his name, but puts him in physical danger.
ABC
News
can certainly quote the SPLC’s extreme views, but it shouldn’t build a story
around the wholesale acceptance of their flawed premises. That turns journalism into anti-religious propaganda
on behalf of a partisan group. Media
outlets do not want to be perceived as enemies of average Americans. They should avoid giving people reason to view
them as just that.
This is a warning to
those news outlets who think they can throw around damning labels like
‘Islamophobe’ ‘racist’ and ‘Nazi’ without any evidence and simply get away with
it. Check your sources! Do your own homework!
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor,
Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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