SPLC Gets Catholics Removed from Amazon Smile
News:
At advice of SPLC, Catholic organization cut from fundraising program
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RICHMOND, N.H. (ChurchMilitant.com) - Amazon.com has removed a Catholic group from its donation feature.
Brother André Marie from the St. Benedict Center reported on Tuesday that the apostolate was removed from Amazon Smile, a feature that allows Amazon users to pick a charity or non-profit that will receive a small percentage of the money they spend on Amazon.
He asked Amazon for an explanation. The company's reply stated:
The AmazonSmile Participation Agreement states that certain categories of organizations are not eligible to participate in AmazonSmile. We rely on the Southern Poverty Law Center to determine which charities are in certain ineligible categories. You have been excluded from the AmazonSmile program because the Southern Poverty Law Center lists Saint Benedict Center Inc in an ineligible category.
Brother André Marie wrote, "Of course, Amazon.com is a private company that can do what it pleases in such things. I'm not crying foul on that. But to partner with the SPLC is to take a side in the culture wars: it is to take the wrong side."
Church Militant contacted Br. André Marie on Thursday and asked him about the situation with the SPLC. He said, "The SPLC attacked us for opposing 'divorce, abortion, birth control, pornography, sodomy and public education' and misrepresented our community's mission to evangelize America as an affront to American pluralism and the free will of the individual."
Another one of the topics of discussion was the charge of anti-semitism against his religious congregation, the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Brother André Marie said:
[T]his accusation is preposterous and is easily met by the multiple Jews who have interacted with us and who simply don't believe it. As one Jewish newspaper reporter told me, after covering the story for a while, "I knew you weren't an anti-Semite when I first met you." A Jew who is currently undergoing instruction to become a Catholic has told me how incredibly charitable he finds us here. He knows that the message is conversion, and that message is for everybody, including Jews.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) was originally founded to combat racist organization the Ku Klux Klan, known for wearing white hoods, burning large crosses and lynching African-Americans. To this day, the SPLC still documents racial discrimination and racist organizations. But in recent years, it has been weaponized by the Left to demonize supporters of traditional marriage and outspoken critics of Islam, among other supporters of mainstream conservative causes.
The Ruth Institute, for instance, is listed as a hate group by the SPLC. The Ruth Institute is a Catholic non-profit that seeks to help individuals and families wounded by the Sexual Revolution and its resulting chaos. One of the many parts of that mission is opposing gender ideology and same-sex 'marriage.' As a result, the SPLC has labeled Ruth Institute as an 'anti-LGBT' 'hate group.'
Much like Amazon, YouTube also uses the SPLC to help identify alleged hate groups. The Daily Caller reported on this owing to a tip from an inside source. (YouTube keeps its monitoring partners confidential.)
Specifically, YouTube gets help from the SPLC in identifying hateful content in the countless videos uploaded to YouTube daily. On average, about 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.
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