Fla. ministry called No. 1 ‘hate group’ in state

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A well-respected Florida ministry is suing after finding its name on a CNN map of “all the active hate groups where you live,” in addition to seeing local news reports calling it the No. 1 hate group in the state.

The organization, D. James Kennedy Ministries, provides resources about faith and religious liberty. In media coverage following the situation in Charlottesville, Virginia, the ministry was noted alongside about 60 other Florida groups on a map of “hate groups” posted on the website of the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

According to the site, “All hate groups have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics.” Conservative Christian organizations have challenged the SPLC’s “anti-LGBT” category for quite some time, but D. James Kennedy Ministries, which filed a lawsuit against SPLC on Aug. 23, is the first to take the battle to court, according to Christianity Today (CT).

In mid-August, several Christian groups on the list asked for apologies and to have the hate label retracted, according to CT. The Family Research Council, which also was included on the map, applauded the suit, saying, “The SPLC is inciting hatred against Christians, which has already led to violence. It needs to stop.”