The Patriot Post® · SPLC: Pirates, Poverty and Wealth in the Caribbean
The Southern Poverty Law Center likes to boast about its mission to “destroy” the groups it labels as “hate groups” — groups that now include mainstream conservative and Judeo-Christian organizations. But thankfully it appears the only thing being destroyed is its own credibility. Credibility that hit a near all-time low last week after the Department of Defense became the latest government entity to publicly distance itself from a group that’s been connected in federal court to domestic terrorism. Assistant U.S. attorney Brian Field stated in response to a Freedom of Information Request that “all references to the SPLC have been removed from any current [Department of Defense] training.”
If you are a longtime Washington Update reader, you may remember that it was nearly four years ago that we sent a letter asking the Department of Defense to take this very action. The DOD is now getting in line behind other government agencies like the DOJ and the FBI. In February, the FBI admitted to removing the SPLC from its hate crimes resources page over a “number of concerns.” In May, the news broke that the Obama Department of Justice rebuked SPLC lawyers for using the poverty center’s “hate group” label to dismiss a conservative advocacy group. Using a map contrived by the poverty center “overstepped the bounds of zealous advocacy and was unprofessional,” a disciplinary lawyer in the department said in an internal document. Such behavior, it said, was “uncivil” and “constitutes frivolous behavior and does not aid the administration of justice.”
This summer eyebrows were raised when The Washington Free Beacon and Weekly Standard found that the SPLC had moved tens of millions of its $320 million endowment fund into offshore accounts. Other questions about the SPLC’s trustworthiness have been raised in The Wall Street Journal, on PBS, and even in The New York Times. Both the Left and Right have the same question: What kind of nonprofit has “poverty” in its name but pours millions of dollars into offshore accounts? Well, we’ve created a new video that tries to explain SPLC’s overseas “treasure map.” The SPLC’s captain tells the tale. Sail over to SPLCexposed.com for more.
Originally published here.
Keeping One Eye Open on Government
“See something, say something.”
In an age of terrorism, we’re used to lending government a hand when it comes to alerting authorities about potential threats to American lives. But what about threats from government entities to our God-given constitutional freedoms? Can we trust government agencies that have been staffed during the eight-year reign of a lawless Obama regime to protect the freedom of hardworking Americans who seek to live their lives according to their faith?
Last Friday, in the wake of scaling back the oppressive HHS mandate, the Trump administration also announced guidance to the Department of Justice (DOJ) directing federal agencies to respect religious freedom. This was a much-awaited implementation of the executive order on religious liberty signed by President Trump in May. As I told Martha MacCallum on Fox News Friday evening, this day could be considered as the “religious Armistice Day” — the day that the federal government’s attack on people of faith ceased in America.
Policies that restore the rightful place of our first freedom are a step in the right direction, but with government we know all too well that policies don’t always translate into practice. As the Trump administration seeks to roll back the unconstitutional anti-religious policies enacted and enforced by the Obama administration, resistance by the entrenched Left will be strong. Federal positions staffed by Obama loyalists may be tempted to look the other way when faced with violations of religious freedom, hoping they never see the light of day.
That’s where you and I can help. Government of the people, by the people, and for the people requires vigilance by the people to protect our unalienable rights. We want to hold government accountable for its actions in respecting the religious freedom of the American people. To that end, we’ve created a reporting tool to help expose such violations where they occur. If you or anyone you know has had their freedom threatened in the workplace, say something.
Originally published here.
This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.