Discerning the Truth

You certainly can't believe everything you see or read these days.  That's why Faith Radio desires to be a trusted source of Biblical truth and information approached from a Biblical worldview perspective.  Gifted Bible teachers each day on Faith Radio open the Word of God to proclaim this truth.  Because powerful forces are present to push agendas that don't line up with Scripture.  And, we have to carefully process the information, and the way it's presented. In Philippians 1 (ESV), Paul states that he is praying for believers to have discernment:
9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

The headlines spread quickly of this news from last Tuesday, as announced by the U.S. Department of Justice:

A Grand Jury in Montgomery, Alabama, today returned an indictment charging the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) with 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.

That press release noted: "Between 2014 and 2023, the SPLC secretly funneled more than $3 million in donated funds to individuals who were associated with various violent extremist groups..."  Those groups included the Ku Klux Klan, United Klans of America, Unite the Right, and others.  The DOJ said, "According to the indictment, the objective of the scheme and artifice was to obtain money via donations through materially false representations and omissions about what the donated funds would be used for."

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated, "The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence,” adding, “Using donor money to allegedly profit off Klansmen cannot go unchecked. This Department of Justice will hold the SPLC and every other fraudulent organization operating with the same deceptive playbook accountable. No entity is above the law.”  FBI Director Kash Patel described it as a "massive fraud operation."

Now, the case has to go to court, but, if true, these are powerful allegations.  As Tyler O'Neil of The Daily Signal, who is an expert on the ways of the SPLC, having written a book on the topic, stated, the SPLC claimed that that paying informants in these organizations was necessary for the purpose of safety.

In another article, O'Neil examines the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, VA, which inflamed racial tensions.  He says:

According to the Justice Department’s new indictment, the Southern Poverty Law Center—which raises money by presenting itself as the top opponent of “white supremacy” and trades on its history of suing the Ku Klux Klan into bankruptcy in the 1980s to smear conservatives today—paid one of the “Unite the Right” organizers no less than $270,000 between 2015 and 2023.

Not only was the SPLC paying the person—identified as “F-37” in the indictment—but the leftist group was also supervising F-37’s “racist postings” and helped F-37 “coordinate transportation to the event for several attendees.”

To call this explosive would be an understatement. A brief reminder: Biden said he decided to run for president after watching the events of Charlottesville. He repeatedly used the event as a cudgel to demonize Trump, and he mentioned going after “white supremacy” in his inaugural address.

He goes on to discuss the partnership that developed between the Biden Administration and the SPLC, which has long been known for its "hate map," including Christian organizations such as Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, and others.

And, in another explosive development about which O'Neil reported, Texas Representative Chip Roy wrote a letter of response to the indictments.  He has called for further action , including a Congressional select committee against groups perpetrating a Marxist, left-wing agenda.  Roy is quoted as saying: “We know that there are significant efforts underway across agencies to continue to root out not just SPLC but the vast array of Marxists and leftists that are actively engaging in this activity to undermine our society,” adding, “I think it’s important that the indictments are indicative of what we know of the SPLC but we also know that it’s a much bigger network and the administration does, too.”

The Christian Post stated:

The indictment comes six months after the FBI terminated its partnership with the SPLC. The organization has been criticized for labeling Christian conservative groups with traditional views on marriage and sexuality as “hate groups.” At the time, Patel claimed that SPLC "abandoned civil rights work and turned into a partisan smear machine" a long time ago, adding that “their so-called ‘hate map’ has been used to defame mainstream Americans.”

In a piece at The Washington Stand, the digital news website of Family Research Council, Joshua Arnold wrote:

Where the indictment broke new ground was in exposing the unseen double-face of the SPLC — with one half condemning “hate” while the other half bankrolled it. “For years, the SPLC has used its platform to label and target organizations with whom it disagrees, often blurring the line between legitimate concern and ideological attack,” exclaimed Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. “That kind of reckless characterization doesn’t just damage reputations, it has put lives at risk.” In 2012, a gunman inspired by the SPLC “hate map” opened fire at FRC headquarters in Washington, D.C., an incident for which the SPLC has never apologized nor been held accountable.

Again, there is a grand jury indictment based on these allegations, but the case has to be heard in court.  Nevertheless, these actions have shone a brighter spotlight on an organization that has misrepresented the actions of Christian groups as being purveyors of so-called "hate," just because they stand on Biblical truth.  In attempting to fulfill its stated goal to fight what it calls racism, as it's been pointed out, this organization has amplified it.

That seems to be the modus operandi of certain people and groups: they say there are fighting "racism,"  but they end up building it up; some have actually said they were fighting what they call discrimination by discriminating against other groups.  And, Christians seem to be on the receiving end.  For instance, in the name of so-called "inclusion," Christians become ostracized because they stand on Biblical truth on matters of sexuality.

The answer to racism is not creating more of it and it is certainly not solved by dividing people along racial lines.  It is a sinful condition of the human heart, and through submission of the heart to the love of God, who truly can change a heart, we can see others in the way God sees them.  The Church, as I have said previously, should be leading the way in addressing issues of race, because the love of God, as 1st Peter 4 says, covers a "multitude of sins."  The heart is desperately wicked, the Bible says, but God can give us a new heart and new eyes through Jesus Christ.