Hate: The SPLC Is Redefining It In The Culture

Hate: The SPLC Is Redefining It In The Culture: Join us as we talk with Mike Farris about the Southern Poverty Law Center again today. Specifically, we”re addressing how to get big corporations to stop using the SPLC to determine who can get nonprofit benefits and all the other things that they are trying to keep any conservative groups from being able to get. The SPLC has a politically driven agenda and they are controlling so many aspects of our culture! Tune in now to learn more!

Air Date:Â 07/31/2018

Guest: Mike Farris

On-air Personalities: David Barton, Rick Green, and Tim Barton

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Transcription note: Â As a courtesy for our listeners’ enjoyment, we are providing a transcription of this podcast. Transcription will be released shortly. However, as this is transcribed from a live talk show, words and sentence structure were not altered to fit grammatical, written norms in order to preserve the integrity of the actual dialogue between the speakers. Additionally, names may be misspelled or we might use an asterisk to indicate a missing word because of the difficulty in understanding the speaker at times. We apologize in advance.

Faith And The Culture

Rick:

Welcome to the intersection of faith and the culture. This is WallBuilders Live! Where we talk about today”s hottest topics on policy, faith, and the culture. We always do that from a biblical, historical, and constitutional perspective.

We’re here with David Barton, America’s premier historian. And Tim Barton, national speaker and pastor. My name is Rick Green, I’m a former Texas legislator.

You can find out more about all of us at WallBuildersLive.com or you can go to WallBuilders.com, our main website, for a wealth of information and tools for you and your family. It will equip and inspire you to help restore our Constitutional Republic.

Later in the program, Mike Farris will be with us. We’re going to be talking about the Southern Poverty Law Center again today. And specifically, on how to get these big corporations to stop using SPLC to determine who can get nonprofit benefits and all the other things that they are trying to keep any conservative groups from being able to get.

David, Tim, before Mike comes on a little later, obviously, WallBuilders has been on the receiving end of this. David, you’ve been on the receiving end personally from these guys. They’ve been effective. They’ve caused some of our friends to be uninvited from military invitations to speak, all kinds of things where they”ve used their hundreds of millions of dollars to destroy the reputation of conservatives.

David:

Yeah, and the thing with these kind of groups is there is a network of people with a similar worldview that really kind of keep the stuff out there. So, when the SPLC reports that so and so, we kept them from being on a military base. Man, that goes all over Wikipedia and that’s there for permanence now. That’s part of the encyclopedia. When you look up this guy’s name, he was– the invitation to him was retracted, he couldn’t speak a military base because he is a hater. Says who? Says one group.

One Group, Huge Impact

David:

So, this one group, and this is the Soros funded kind of groups that are out there, they work together, and they really kind of all link arms together, and they have a huge impact. I don’t know of anything else you can really point to where that one group has the kind of impact that this group has with as little facts, as little information, and a pure political driven agenda where they’re able to control so many aspects of the culture. Whether it be the social media side, whether it be what goes on on the legal side, what goes on in the Justice Department, what goes on in the Pentagon, etc.. The reach of these guys, it’s really pervasive and I don’t think you can point to any other single group that has that kind of reach and that kind of influence.

But again, once they do something, once they get a little victory, their friends like Wikipedia and elsewhere really tout that and push it out there and make it seem like it’s a huge deal. But I think the tide is beginning to turn a little bit on that.

Rick:

And part of the reason is because people have fought back, right? So, you’ve got lawsuits against them, and they’ve lost a multimillion dollar defamation suit now. It’s taken some time because everybody just kind of, I don’t know, try to avoid them really, I think, because they did have an early on reputation for fighting against the KKK and groups like that. And obviously, we would all support that kind of a battle. But, man, they shifted so dramatically over time. Anything, anybody that’s pro marriage, they go after Â pro tradition biblical marriage.

So, for a while there, everybody was afraid to fight back. But now we’re finally getting some pushback. And part of it is because of the violence. Their hate speech, their riling people up, has caused actual violence out there and that’s causing people to say, “This has got to stop.”

They Chose the Wrong Target

David:

Well, I’ll point out that you mentioned that lawsuit, they lost the defamation lawsuit they had to pay, what, 3.2, 3.4 million, but that was not to a conservative group. They went after the wrong group. They went after one who is closer to their philosophy than to our philosophy and they got it wrong. So, it’s not like that they’re getting pushback and losing from the conservative side. They just chose the wrong target and had to settle out of court. So, I’m glad for that and it’s opened the door now for all of these other groups to jump on them.

Tim:

And I would say too, it’s the challenge of they’ve redefined what hate means. And not just “they”, culture has. Culture has said if you don’t support whatever is now politically correct, whatever is now culturally acceptable, if you’re not supporting that, even if you were holding a traditional view or belief that your faith or the world has held for thousands of years, if you no longer, or if you will not now accept this new structure and new belief system, that then you are therefore hateful. And actually, the group that they pay the lawsuit to, I was thinking it was more than 3 million, but either way, it was a large amount.

And actually, it was a group, it was a Muslim guy, who was, in my recollection, he was calling out some radical Muslims and saying that it wasn’t good and they came against him. So, the SPLC has been quick to defend–

David:

He was a guy really promoting how good Islam is and how that the radicals have hijacked it and it needs to come back to its faith.

Tim:

Well, but because he opposed Muslims in this case it”s hateful. And not not opposing behavior, mind you, it’s hateful because he opposed Muslims, and you can’t oppose Muslims, and you can’t tell them they’re wrong even though he, in fact, was a Muslim.

David:

That”s right.

Very Much A Confused Issue

Tim:

Right. So, it’s very much a confused issue. But they’ve redefined hate to be what they think it is and what they want it to be. And if you don’t line up with their ideology and worldview, it’s not even that– you can no longer disagree with them, right. It used to be you can disagree and still be respectful, but now it doesn’t matter how respectful you are – if you disagree with them, you are hateful. And I can’t imagine that just because you disagree with someone that makes you hateful. However, in their mind, in their eyes, on certain issues, if you disagree you are hateful.

So, it’s allowed them to really turn from what we could argue used to be a noble position of defending rights of people who needed their rights defended, to where now it seems more like you can much more readily find them for what they’re against than really what they support. But, it’s because their ideology is really changed.

Rick:

Well, one of the groups that they have gone after over the years is Alliance Defending Freedom. Our friend, Mike Farris, heads that up now and that will be our guest when we come back from the break to talk about how to push back appropriately in this, literally, battle over people’s reputation.

Stay with us, folks. Mike Farris, our special guest. You”re listening to WallBuilders Live.

Moment From American History

This is Tim Barton from WallBuilders with another moment from American history. Founding Fathers John Adams and Thomas Jefferson originally worked closely together but later became ardent opponents.

This troubled Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the declaration, who knew both of them very well. In the Bible, second Corinthians 5:18 tells us that God has given each of us the ministry of reconciliation. Dr Rush believed this and set out to bring the two back together.

It took a while, but Adams and Jefferson once again became close friends. Looking back on his role in helping bring about this reconciliation Dr. Rush stated, “It will give me pleasure as long as I live to reflect that. I have been in any degree instrumental in effecting this reunion of two souls destined to be dear to each other and motivated with the same dispositions to serve their country, though in different ways.”

For more information about Dr. Benjamin Rush and his other remarkable achievements go to WallBuilders.com.

Rick:

Welcome back. Thanks for being with us here on WallBuilders Live. Mike Farris back with us. Over at Alliance Defending Freedom now, but has done amazing work with Home School Legal Defense, and Convention of States, and so many other organizations, argued before the Supreme Court. Yet, the SPLC doesn”t like him much. Mike, how are you, brother?

A Badge of Honor

Mike Farris:

Well, I’m good and I count it an honor that the Southern Poverty Law Center doesn’t like the me.

Rick:

Me too. A badge of honor, brother, badge of honor. Looks like they’re finally getting some pushback. The multimillion dollar lawsuit they had to pay out for defaming people and folks were finally calling them on the carpet.

Mike Farris:

Indeed, they are a very effective organization at one thing – that’s raising money. Their founder, longtime president, is in the fundraising Hall of Fame and he deserves a place there. He’s really an excellent fundraiser. So good that they have a lot of money, millions of dollars, I think over 50 million dollars, in offshore bank accounts.

Rick:

Wow.

Mike Farris:

So, that’s what they’re about. The mantra that they”ve found to be effective raising money from liberals is to call decent, law abiding, God fearing, constitutional loving organizations, they call us hate groups and they raise money on that.

Rick:

And these are– they have been at the heart of stirring up a lot of the hate. Of course, the Family Research Council shooting, other other examples like that. And yet, corporate America, some of corporate America anyway, certainly some of the social media giant’s like Facebook, Amazon, others like that, are still using SPLC really in some powerful positions to decide who gets their– for instance, with Amazon what do they call it–

Mike Farris:

The Smile Program.

Letting SPLC Have a Say

Rick:

Yeah, so if you want a nonprofit and you want people to be able to donate whatever that small percentage of their purchases, they’re letting SPLC have a say in this?

Mike Farris:

They are relying exclusively on SPLC. Although, Amazon is– we’ve been in discussions with them and they’re looking at it.

Rick:

Yeah.

Mike Farris:

That’s all I can say is that they’re looking at it.

Rick:

Good, good.

Mike Farris:

But the fact that corporate America relies on them– originally, I think it’s probably true, at least in some cases, that they just thought they were a well recognized, neutral, organization that is just pointing out the Ku Klux Klan.

Rick:

So, there might have been some naivety here in putting them in this position.

Mike Farris:

At least in some instances.

Rick:

Yeah.

Mike Farris:

But that day is long past. The groups that are continuing to rely upon them are doing so purposefully. Even though the SPLC will say that they don’t research groups on the left that they advocate violence. They”re from the left perspective, they get a free pass from the SPLC.

As Long As It”s From A Leftist Perspective

Mike Farris:

So, surely there has to be one group on the left that would qualify as an extremist organization advocating violence. And that every American would agree that these people are outside the core of the mainstream, we don’t really support them. But SPLC will not name the name, will not list them, no matter how violent, no matter how much they want to tear down the Constitution of the United States, as long as they’re trying to do it from a leftist perspective.

Rick:

But yet if, it’s on the right, or if it’s anyone that’s– in fact, it looks like just what you described. I mean, if you”re Constitution-loving, if you’re, certainly, if you advocate for the Bible, or biblical principles. And very specifically, it looks like a common theme with them is if you’re for a biblical definition of marriage, that will definitely get you into their hate group category.

Mike Farris:

That’s what it is with ADF is because we oppose same sex marriage we are labeled with their hate group label. And the vast majority of Americans share our opinion. We voted on these issues. California, on the day that Barack Obama was elected, voted on Proposition 8 and said that marriage should be between one man and one woman. So, as of that date at least, a majority of Californians would meet their definition of a hate group. Which is, obviously, to point that out is to show how ridiculous the SPLC is.

Rick:

Yeah, yeah. No doubt, no doubt. So, what can people at home do? What’s the best way to put pressure on Google, Facebook, Twitter, these groups that are still using them?

Cite The Right Source

Mike Farris:

Well, I think that they should do two things. One is they should contact their corporate offices and tell them you don’t like them using SPLC, that they”re a disreputable organization. During Barack Obama’s presidency the FBI stopped using them because they found that they are an unreliable source. So, cite that. You don”t cite any conservatives like me. Just right cite the Justice Department under Barack Obama as your source.

And number two, you should let your Congressman know that you don’t like this. Because all these groups are going up to Capitol Hill with their hand out for various things. And the fact that Congress is putting pressure on them is the real reason that a lot of the attention is coming on the right path right now. So, if you just simply call your congressman and ask them to look into them. Say that you understand that Google, and Amazon, and Facebook, regularly come to Congress with their lobbyists wanting various things from the federal government. And they should be asking their lobbyists when they’re there to visit, “Why are you relying on this unreliable group, the SPLC?”

Rick:

Yeah. Alright, what about direct contact to those companies like Facebook, and Twitter, and what not?

Mike Farris:

Yeah, you should do that too. Start there. That’s item one.

Rick:

Yeah.

Mike Farris:

You could make it one and three.

Rick:

Alright, well, Mike, while I”ve got you on, any cases you want to tell us about? Or should we just go to the website– our listeners, hopefully a lot of them, if they’re not they need to be on your e-mail list. Go to– is it ADF.org? Still got the right?

Mike Farris:

ADFLegal.org.

Rick:

ADFLegal.org.

Praising God For Two Victories

Mike Farris:

Yeah. Well, of course we are still praising God for the two victories that we won on the Supreme Court last month. The Masterpiece Cakeshop case was ours and the NIFLA free speech * the pro-life case from California that I personally argued in the Supreme Court, we won that as well – 5 to 4 vote, 7-2 on Masterpiece.

Rick:

Both huge victories.

Mike Farris:

Both of those are, you’re going to see a round two in both of those. So, you need to– everybody’s pay attention. The bad guys are not going away. There’s going to be still more fighting to do.

Rick:

Yeah. No doubt about it. Well, keep up the great work, brother. We look forward to another great update from you. And we certainly send our listeners to the website today.

Mike Farris:

Thank you, Rick. God bless you.

Rick:

That’s Mike Farris. Stay with us, folks. We’ll be right back with David and Tim Barton.

Share a veteran’s story

We Want To Hear Your Vet Story

Rick:

Hey friends! If you have been listening to WallBuilders Live for very long at all, you know how much we respect our veterans and how appreciative we are of the sacrifice they make to make our freedoms possible. One of the ways that we love to honor those veterans is to tell their stories here on WallBuilders Live. Â Once in awhile, we get an opportunity to interview veterans that have served on those front lines that have made incredible sacrifices have amazing stories that we want to share with the American people.

One of the very special things we get to do is interview World War II veterans. You’ve heard those interviews here on WallBuilders Live, from folks that were in the Band of Brothers, to folks like Edgar Harrell that survived the Indianapolis to so many other great stories you heard on WallBuilders Live.

You have friends and family that also served. Â If you have World War II veterans in your family that you would like to have their story shared here on WallBuilders Live, please e-mail us at [email protected] Â Give us a brief summary of the story and we’ll set up an interview. Thanks so much for sharing here on WallBuilders Live!

Rick:

Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us here on WallBuilders Live. Thanks to Mike Farris. Always good to have him on the program. And of course, Alliance Defending Freedom doing great work out there. Be sure and get on their e-mail list, stay in touch with what they’re doing, contribute, help them continue that great work.

We’re back with David and Tim Barton. Guys, Mike”s spot on – they go after anybody that’s against redefining marriage to whatever feels good. He said that’s really what caught their attention with ADF and drew their ire. But we’ve got to get these big companies to stop using them because that’s having a negative effect on a lot of good organizations out there, and certainly on people’s view of those organizations.

If That Logic is True

David:

Backing up for a minute, you look at SPLC and they call them a hate group. And they’re extremist, and that’s why Amazon, and Amazon Smile, and Facebook, and all of these need to get away from them because they’re extremists. And I have to point out if that logic is true, then I have to say that people on the U.S. Supreme Court – whether it be Justice Breyer, or Justice Ginsburg, or all these, then they are facilitators of hate.

Because I’m looking here at a list of cases that just pulled up – I see 26 cases that Alliance Defending Freedom has had at the U.S. Supreme Court and they have won so many of these cases, including with the support of liberals on the court. I wonder if these justices on the court know that they’re defending this group that SPLC claims is a hate group. And you look at the cases they have at the Supreme Court and they range from religious liberty, from business defense cases, to free speech cases, to all sorts of stuff. And yet, SPLC has this really credible group that keeps winning cases, including in front of the liberal judges. They have them as being a hate group, really?

So, Rick, returning to your question going back to why would these business groups look to SPLC as the great source. Number one, they shouldn’t be because you”ve got groups ** the U.S. Supreme Court that certainly don’t look at SPLC as the source.

Tim:

Well, and it’s something too, obviously in culture there are things that are trendy that are not always accurate. There are there are things that are promoted that are not true. And this is where SPLC has built a name and reputation themselves. And again because, back up to when they started, they started on some noble thoughts, and causes, and missions, and they did some great things early on.

But where they’ve come today, it’s almost like affirmative action. Where affirmative action used to be trying to help get rights for people who argue African-Americans, right. They might not have had some rights on some levels. You can look back to where they found– or where they were started and founded and go, “That might have been some some noble thoughts, but now that’s not really how they use the organization, it”s not really what they accomplish. They’re not really promoting equality anymore.”

Is This Where They Could Be Exposed?

Tim:

And this is the same thing with SPLC. What they’ve done, although they might have had noble beginnings, that’s not who they are and what they do today. But because they’re kind of the popular trendy group, at least they have been, then if you don’t listen to them, it’s easier for news outlets, for the media, to criticize you because, “Oh my gosh, you’ve gone against this group who is the best in our time at labeling hate groups and how dare you.” It would be interesting to know if the SPLC still views Chick fil A as a hate organization. Because I feel like this is where they can be exposed pretty well.

Rick:

Yeah.

Tim:

Because there’s a lot of liberals that really are frustrated with Chick fil A. And yet if you talk to a normal consumer, the normal consumer will tell you their favorite place to eat – if they had options, fast food, nobody’s going to get higher ratings than Chick fil A. It’s not a hate organization. Everybody who steps in Chick fil A feels loved. And yet they’re a religious organization whose foundation is based on things that the Southern Poverty Law Center would say makes them a hate group.

David:

Who was the guy recently that got in such trouble? He was the CEO of a company and it’s a liberal company and he said something good about Chick fil A. He went there and got the food and said–

Rick:

Oh, it was the twitter guy, right? The CEO of Twitter.

Tim:

That was the CEO of Twitter and people blasted him–

Rick:

For eating chicken.

A Different Agenda Than The Facts

Tim:

— “How dare you go eat a chicken sandwich at a hate organization.” And really, that’s– but this is kind of the vitriol that we see from the other side that they’re not always concerned with facts, they’re not always concerned with truth. They’re more concerned with their agenda. Which is what’s happened with the SPLC. And that’s why you look at groups like Alliance Defending Freedom and Mike Farris and the great things they’ve done. How in the world can you label them a hate group if you look at the facts, and all the cases, and what they’ve done?

But this is where I would argue SPLC has a different agenda than the facts. And that’s why they can label a group like Alliance Defending Freedom a hate organization.

Rick:

Yeah, no doubt. Quick, quick, break, guys. When we come back we’ll talk about, again, the take home message for our listeners today and how to push back on this. And there”s some very specific steps that Mike Farris talked about and that we should all be taking to help on this one. So, stay with us, folks. You’re listening to WallBuilders Live.

Avalon Project

Tim:

Hey, guys, this is Tim Barton with WallBuilders. I know you hear my dad and Rick talk a lot about our Founding Fathers about the original intent of our nation, a constitutional heritage that we have. And really we’ve seen how far we slipped away from that. And I know a lot of us as we hear my dad and Rick talk think, “I wish there was a place that I could go where I could see these documents and I could read and learn about the Founding Fathers firsthand. Â See the things they did.”

I want to give you some websites today that can help you accomplish that very thing. If you get online you can go to places like Library of Congress and you can look under their century of lawmaking or historical documents. You can go to the Avalon Project, to the Founders Constitution, Google Books, or even the internet archives. Â

Or you can just go to WallBuilders.com. We have a section for our WallBuilders Library. And under that section we have different subgroups for historical documents, historical writings, even a place where you can get helpful links to find out more information about other websites. Â Where you can do research for yourself and find the truth for yourself. Friends, this is the time that we need to know who we are and where we came from. WallBuilders.com is a great place to go.

First Things First

Rick:

Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us here on WallBuilders Live. Going to talk about some action steps from today’s program. And of course, guys, any time we’re going to talk about action steps for defending groups that are pro traditional marriage and fighting against the hate groups out there that are intolerant, the first step is always to eat a Chick fil A sandwich. Right?

David:

That”s right.

Rick:

You go to Chick fil A and buy a Chick fil A sandwich as a way of showing your support for traditional marriage. Then while you’re eating that Chick fil A sandwich you can think about these other things we’re about to discuss.

David:

Well, while you’re eating your Chick fil A sandwich you can do what Mike said and call your congressman to say–

Rick:

That”s right.

David:

“I want you to look into this stuff.” It’s interesting, Mike went through some action items there I think were significant and important. And it really struck me as interesting because Mike was saying contact your congressman. Which, I hadn’t particularly thought about that, but he’s right. And it is interesting, this very week I was contacted by people on Capitol Hill saying, “Hey, we’re looking into this.” And there are a number of groups who have been targeted in the same way that are not hate groups.

Already Something Brewing on Capitol Hill

David:

So, already there is something brewing on Capitol Hill. Because off Capitol Hill I was getting contacts on, “Hey, give us give– tell us what’s happening with you. Tell us what’s happening with you on Facebook and on other things.” And then we find out also that after this defamation case that went down with this Muslim guy that they claimed was a Muslim hater. After that case went down we now find that it looks like there’s about 60 different groups lining up to start going after SPLC who have had the same kind of defamation experiences.

So, this thing may be getting ready to turn. But now is the time to really be able to jump on this. Now is the time to contact Amazon, and Amazon Smile, and Facebook, and others, and say, “What are you doing listening to SPLC? These guys are discredited.” And by the way, their house of cards may be tumbling very soon. Contact your congressman and say, “This is wrong. You need to look into this. These guys do come to Capitol Hill wanting funding and money. And you guys need to really put some pressure on them.” So, those are are great actions steps from Mike.

Rick:

And again, making those personal contacts to Facebook, to Twitter, to Google, it does add up. If they hear from enough users and customers– granted, they’re hearing from the other side as well, that”s part of, if nothing else, at least balancing that out where they’ll bring on other voices. You notice he said that they’re looking into it.

So, if they’re looking into it that means they’re thinking about changing their policy. Meaning Amazon on the Smile accounts and that’s a significant amount of money. That’s millions of dollars that nonprofit organizations have been able to do their good work with because so many people– we’re all in that category here. Almost everybody I know is buying something from Amazon on a regular basis. Well, if, I think it’s a half percent maybe, can go to your favorite nonprofit organization.

In fact, I’ll tell you, Patriot Academy is actually– we”re low enough on the radar that we have a Smile account. So, you can do Torch of Freedom Foundation as your Smile account and it”s going to go to Patriot Academy. I don’t know if WallBuilders, if we’ve tried or not, but we haven”t, let”s do it!

David:

We do. WallBuilders has a Smile account as well.

Do Smile!

Rick:

We have a Smile account. Okay, so, we slipped in there before the SPLC could stop us. So, folks at home should have that on their Amazon. If you don’t have a nonprofit group and instead of going to Amazon.com go to Smile.Amazon.com, you need to put WallBuilders on there so that that half a percent of everything that you spend, and you may say, “Well, that’s not much.” But over the course of a year it is and it means adding a station to WallBuilders Live, it means training another legislator, or training another student, or some other thing that we’re doing to help spread the word and restore the constitutional republic.