What People Are Commenting
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Progressivism & SPLC Have Similar Agendas
Protest by a Parishioner to the Pastor of Holy Innocents Church
As a parishioner of Holy Innocents, I feel it is my obligation to register my strong objection to our Parish hosting Joseph Levin from the Southern Poverty Law Center on September 17th.
The SPLC is a highly controversial organization that takes positions on issues that are direct contradiction to the teachings of the Catholic Church. On that basis alone, this talk should never have been scheduled. When you consider that it has recently emerged that the SPLC uses less than 3 percent of its donations in support of its own claimed mission statement (e.g. legal defense for the poor) and that they are harboring large amounts of cash donations in offshore accounts, the notion that we would host a member from such a group becomes even more rancid.
What is most troubling to me however, is the group's on-going publication of a 'hate map' which has grown in scope to include many traditionally religious and conservative organizations. This list is odious and there are documented examples of the list being used by extremists to justify violence again those people and organizations on the list. I would point you to an article covering this issue in the National Catholic Register to further educate you on the danger of this group.
I would appreciate the courtesy of a reply.
Thank you,
J.W.
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Answer by Fr. Hugh Burns, OP
I am sorry that you object to our hosting a lecture by Joseph Levin of the SPLC. They stand against hate groups, white supremacy, the KKK etc. The Church also vigorously opposes these ideologies.
Several prominent lawyers in the parish have applauded the choice for this lecture, one of whom worked with the group on civil rights cases in the past and another a prosecutor.
The SPLC hate map is a very helpful instrument for identifying hate groups across the country, They have been shining the spotlight on these groups for years and in Charlottesville we all witnessed the full display of their vicious ideology with Nazi slogans, anti semitic chants, openly brandishing weapons and even resorting to murder. These groups exist and sadly are growing.
The public and law enforcement needs to know who and where they are. It is interesting that the negative coverage of SPLC has been coming out post Charlottesville, when we all saw the true colors of these hate groups. These groups are using the alt right blogosphere to deflect attention from their hateful ideology and focus on organizations like the SPLC and others that expose them. It is basically a " shoot the messenger" strategy.
As far as the National Catholic Register reporting is concerned, I haven't taken them seriously since they were bought out by the Legionaires of Christ. It used to be a very respectable conservative Catholic journal, which the Legionaires shamelessly transformed into a "rag." It assiduously avoided reporting on the crimes of the founder of that order, Fr. Marcial Maciel (incestuous pedophile and charlatan), for years even after he was removed by Pope Benedict. They are very selective in their outrage.
Come to the talk and talk to Mr. Levin. If the allegations against the group are true I sure they would have been prosecuted long ago in Alabama, where they are incorporated. Any number of prosecutors in that state would long to indict the SPLC and Morris Dees.
Peace,
Fr. Hugh, op
Posted September 21, 2017
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See the email exchange below.
Perhaps you can call some attention to an event where the Holy Innocents Catholic Parish in Pleasantville, New York, has seen fit to host the Southern Poverty Law Center on September 17th.
I remained shocked that a parish priest (Father Hugh Burns, a Dominican) would take it upon himself to give a public platform for this radically anti-Catholic and anti-Christian organization in our community.
I am finding it very hard to find the right channels to challenge this decision.
Being on the SPLC hate list, perhaps you can offer some aid or advice on how to challenge this clear injustice in our local faith community.
Thank you for your consideration.
J.W.
The Editor responds:
Greetings J.W.,
Thank you for your e-mail and for the consideration you have for our opinion.
The SPLC is, according to the saga of the Left, an impartial association to fight against racism. This saga was used as a pretext to make the SPLC a source of information for many organisms of the Left, including some related to the eight-year Obama administration.
We at TIA did not have the opportunity to make a careful study on the SPLC’s opinion on racism to check whether what it found was objective. What we can say is that, regarding Tradition in Action, the SPLC was entirely wrong, unjust and arbitrary, as we have proved in our rebuttal to their inclusion of TIA on their list of hate organizations.
If SPLC were honest, after reading our answer, it would have immediately apologized to TIA for having included us on that list. Now then, we posted our response less than 10 days after their article and sent it directly to the SPLC directors. Nonetheless, they have never acknowledged receiving our answer and our arguments, never apologized for their ensemble of lies and, to this date, they continue to spread the same calumnies.
This attitude reveals that SPLC – at least in the case of TIA – does not care about the truth. It also shows that SPLC has an agenda that includes labeling any organization that opposes its leftist-homosexual platform as racist, anti-Semitic, Nazi, etc.
Far from being a representative of justice, SPLC exposes itself as being nothing but a tool of these movements in order to defame their opponents, intimidate them and try to reduce them to silence.
The case you mention of the Holy Innocent Church pastor hosting a talk by one of the SPLC directors shows that Progressivism – which unfortunately contaminates the Catholic Church today – is also an ally of this leftist agenda.
To inform our readers, I am reproducing below the correspondence you had with Fr. Hugh Burns, the pastor of the parish.
Cordially,
Atila S. Guimarães