Last week, a Federal Grand Jury charged the SPLC with building a network of fictitious shell organizations
to hide their gifts to actual hate groups. Why in the world would a legitimate organization like the SPLC
want to give money to the KKK, Aryan Nation or the National Socialist Party of America (the American
Nazi Party)? They claim the money was spent on informants meant to thwart future attacks and
ultimately save lives. The Justice Department uncovered gifts totaling $3 million directly to the hate
groups the SPLC works to counter. The implied idea is the money was intended to create racist activity
that the SPLC could then condemn and use to perpetuate their already full coffers (apparently, they hold
over $786 million in assets).

Why does this matter? Why would I devote time in an article to this conversation? The SPLC has long
been noted as an organization that condemns the Biblical stance on LGBTQ and gender matters. The link
between gender rights and racism is inflated to say the least. It offends me when a LGBTQ activist group
compares their struggles with the struggles faced by our African American brothers and sisters in and
before the Civil Rights movement. Slavery and all its derivatives do not in any way compare to the
opposition faced by a person who chooses to live in gender confusion. Are there groups that should be
qualified as ‘haters’ of the LGBTQ movement? Absolutely. And they are being prosecuted as shooters
and rioters. The majority of Americans cannot stand when comments are made against people in the
LGBTQ lifestyle anymore than they stand for comments made against Jews, African Americans or any
other non-white group. But that is where the comparison stops. I get upset when remarks are made,
insinuating anyone not on board with full acceptance of the LGBTQ lifestyle is a hater. The SPLC likes to
inflame this idea and when they were indicted for playing both sides of the coin, Americans should get
upset.

Is there any truth at all to the idea of a superior race? Does the Bible state or even insinuate that people
in anything other than a monogamous, heterosexual lifestyle are condemned? Is there any room for
racism at the Biblical table. Not at all. Can I say that any clearer? This type of hatred does not come from
the Bible. I realize the Church has harbored some of these ideas in our history. I fully understand how
slave owners manipulated the Biblical text to endorse and promote slavery. I have a clear understanding
of how people who call themselves Christians have carried the “Death to Sodomites” banner for years.
But that is NOT Biblical nor is it mainstream. The majority of Christians decry this kind of thinking and
behavior. To paint the Church as a hate group for saying the LGBTQ lifestyle is wrong, is not ok. It’s
inflammatory and not at all helpful in advancing the Gospel.

If there is any truth at all to the indictment of the SPLC, I hope they are shuttered. What’s more, I hope
any church that shouts “Death to those in the LGBTQ lifestyle!” is shuttered. But that isn’t reality. If the
SPLC closes, there will be other groups that take up their charge. There will always be hate groups like
the KKK and there will always be shadowy figures that support their cause. But that doesn’t mean their
actions are ok and it certainly doesn’t mean the Church at large should stop condemning their actions.

Hate speech must be redefined if we are going to move forward in these issues. It’s not hate speech to
disagree. It’s not hatred to stand on the long-held beliefs of the Church that homosexuality and every
one of its peripheral subsidiaries are wrong. It’s not hatred to condemn adultery, polyamory or
polygamy. There is such a thing as right and wrong; truth and lies; sin and purity. And there is also such a
thing as grace. The point of the Gospel is not to say, “those who disagree with me are condemned.” The
point has always been to say, “no one is righteous…all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
(Romans 3.10, 23) AND THEN, “…but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ
died for us.” (Romans 5.8) Is that hatred? No, that’s love.