Amazon on the Attack against Christian Organizations, But Why?

Amazon is on the attack against the Alliance Defending Freedom, a non-profit organization run by my friend Michael Farris.   As you may know, Amazon has a program called AmazonSmile which allows organizations to receive a very small portion of the sales that come through their links.  The customer gets to decide which entity gets the donation.

Farris says his organization — which helps defend persecuted Christians in America and around the world – has been excluded from the list of options, because the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) helps determine who’s worthy of such an honor.  Here’s more from ADF’s blog:

Yes, that SPLC. The one that exploits the terms “hate” and “hate group” against any organization it disagrees with.

Here’s the thing: SPLC did good work many years ago, but it has since devolved into a propaganda machine dedicated to crushing dissent. It does this by labeling anything they disagree with as “hate” – even if those beliefs are widely held and constitutionally protected (as ours – and those of our clients and supporters – most certainly are).

ADF, on the other hand, is well respected in the legal profession. We are the world’s largest legal organization advocating for the right of people to freely live out their faith without fear of government punishment. And we do this work at the highest levels. Our Supreme Court victories speak for themselves, with seven victories at the High Court in the past seven years. Just last year, we secured a 7-2 victory representing a church-run preschool.

But our work also extends beyond the Supreme Court. We want to secure the rights guaranteed in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution for every American. That’s why we defend people from many backgrounds and from many different walks of life, including artists, healthcare professionals, and university students.

The SPLC, however, would prefer to silence all opposing views, ridding the public square of civil discourse. SPLC Senior Fellow Mark Potok has made clear its goal regarding organizations who dare to hold a dissenting viewpoint: “I want to say plainly that our aim in life is to destroy these groups, to completely destroy them.”

If it’s tolerance Amazon is looking for, that’s not the way to get it.

But if Amazon wants to choose a different course, we would be happy to help the company create a participation policy for AmazonSmile that does not ban legitimate, well-respected, faith-based organizations like ADF. (We’ve even offered to do so in our recent letter to Amazon regarding this situation.)

Farris composed a letter to Amazon which said, “If you are going to rely on a discredited partisan organization like the SPLC to determine who is eligible to participate in AmazonSmile, you should disclose that in your policy and to your customers. Your customers have a right to know that you’ve placed such an organization as the gatekeeper to participation in a charitable program.”

I’m getting sick and tired of people treated the Southern Poverty Law Center with one ounce of respect.  They themselves are bullies, and it’s time we shun them as quickly as they try to get others to shun regular Christian organizations.

Hat Tip: Daily Wire