In the current state of political discourse in the United States, it seems as if we have moved beyond the point where we can actually have rational reasonable arguments with each other. All too many people have descended back to the schoolyard, and are simply calling people names
The cause of my reflection on this lamentable trend is the appearance of several news stories about the Attorney General speaking to the group Alliance Defending Freedom. There's certainly nothing remarkable about a high-ranking public official who is a prominent lawyer speaking to another group of attorneys. The Attorney General is a political and social conservative and Alliance Defending Freedom is a well-known defender of traditional moral values when it comes to life, marriage and religious liberty. So it's hard to see anything newsworthy about such a commonplace event. And, in fact, the speech itself was nothing extraordinary. It was a well-balanced defense of the role of religion in our society and the importance of religious liberty
But nothing is so simple in our modern age. Several major news outlets covered this story before the text of the speech was released, and prominently repeated a despicable slander against ADF propagated by an advocacy organization called the Southern Poverty Law Center. The SPLC is a self-appointed watchdog over "hate groups" around the country. There certainly are many hate groups around the country who are dedicated to violent action motivated by bias, and it's a good thing that someone is keeping an eye on them. In reality though, the SPLC is not a neutral agency like the FBI, but is instead a partisan advocacy organization for socially progressive causes, especially so-called gay rights, and a prodigious fund-raiser based on that advocacy
Because ADF has the temerity to disagree with SPLC on those issues, the SPLC has designated them a "hate group", and the media has now compliantly parroted the calumny. All that you need to do to qualify as a so-called "hate group" in the eyes of the SPLC is to disagree with them about issues like the effects of sexual hedonism on society, or the morality of homosexual conduct, same-sex "marriage", and "transgender" rights. In other words, if you're not with the progressive program you are a "hater"
Now the SPLC can call people any name they like, since it is still a free country. But what's really outrageous is that so-called reputable news organizations uncritically repeat the outrageous calumnies of the SPLC as if they were credible and objective, rather than the ideological name-calling that they really are
We really shouldn't be too surprised at this though. The Supreme Court in its decisions about homosexuality has been slandering people for years who have the nerve to hold to traditional moral values on sexuality. In 1996, the Court said that the only conceivable reason for a law passed by referendum that excluded sexual orientation from civil rights laws was "a bare . . . desire to harm a politically unpopular group" — in other words, pure malice. In 2013, the Court upped the ante when it struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act and said that the virtually unanimous Congress and the Democratic president who signed the law we're motivated by a "bare . . . desire to harm", "disparage and injure", "demean", and "impose a stigma" on homosexual people. Justice Scalia rightly dissented from that decision and accused the court of declaring anyone opposed to same-sex "marriage" an enemy of the human race. Finally, in 2015 when the Supreme Court invented a right to same-sex "marriage", the Court again accused those of us who believe in authentic marriage as being motivated by a desire to "demean or stigmatize" homosexuals, and even to "disparage their choices and diminish their personhood"
When the highest court in the land says such things, then the message goes out that anyone who disagrees with the progressive agenda is irrational and bigoted, with no legitimate motivations and no opinions worthy of respect. That gives the SPLC and their allies in the media carte blanche to slander groups like ADF as "haters". Others have barely avoided the term "hate" by using other words of disapprobation, such as "odious", "bigoted", "unkind", "hurtful", "intolerant", and "needlessly cruel". But the message is the same
What the Supreme Court, the SPLC, and the media have not — yet — come out to say, however, is that what they are describing as "hate" is normal, mainstream, traditional, historical, Christian belief. By the way, that includes the beliefs contained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which have been held and taught by the Church since its founding
Make no mistake about it. The supposedly "hateful" position that traditional orthodox Christians are accused of holding is the firm conviction based in Revelation, science, reason and tradition that maleness and femaleness are not accidental or arbitrary, that they have a meaning and a purpose oriented to unity of man and woman in marriage and the procreation of children, that homosexual desires and homogenital activity are incompatible with that meaning and purpose, and that a person can live a healthy and fulfilling life without acting on all of their sexual desires.
That's not hate, that's truth embedded deep into human nature, and it cannot be changed no matter what courts or advocacy groups say. And it doesn't mean hating anyone—those of us who hold those beliefs still love our relatives, friends and neighbors who disagree with us
Let me get back to ADF. I am very familiar with their work. I have been to their legal Academies, I have collaborated with their attorneys, and I have friends who are closely associated with them. I admire many of those in leadership positions there. I have found that they are an altruistic, heroic group of committed Christians who have sacrificed much to defend life, marriage, and religious liberty. They have done nothing to deserve the calumnies of the SPLC and the media. In fact they have done much to deserve the applause and support of all Americans who cherish traditional morality and decency, and the freedom to live by those values — and of those who disagree with them but defend their rights to free expression. Maybe the reason that groups like SPLC dislike ADF so much is that they're so successful—they've won a number of key victories in court, including major cases in the Supreme Court
Even in an era of debased public conversation, accusing people of "hatred" is a sign of intellectual bankruptcy, and indicates that you've lost the argument or that you don't have enough confidence in your position to defend it. If you disagree with our positions on life, marriage and religious freedom, oppose us openly in the public square, legislatures and the courts. Don't hide behind schoolyard insults
(Questions or comments? Email me at [email protected])