“The Centrality of Prayer” (Illinois Family Spotlight #113)

Today’s spotlight features a conversation between Illinois Family Institute’s David Smith and Family Research Council‘s Pastor Pat McManus at a recent IFI prayer event in Springfield. Pastor Pat is the Illinois director of FRC’s Watchmen on the Wall.

They discuss September 17th’s prayer meeting and the spiritual warfare going on in Illinois and the nation; truth under attack; the importance of prayer; the need not just to vote, but to vote your biblical values; why the pastor needs to lead; the consequences of the U.S.… Continue Reading

Southern Poverty Law Center Is a Hate Group

Written by Josh Goldstein

Like many leftist organizations, the Southern Poverty Law Center, or SPLC, started out with good intentions. It was founded in 1971 by Morris Dees and Joseph Levin and is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama.  The Southern Poverty Law Center rightly condemned, as did conservatives such as the great William F. Buckley and Ronald Reagan, the American Nazi Party and the Democrat-affiliated Ku Klux Klan.

A favorite SPLC tactic was suing Klan affiliated organizations for their crimes and then distributing the money to the victims.  … Continue Reading

Congress Fails to Repeal Johnson Amendment in Tax Bill

Written by Michael Gryboski

A measure within the federal tax overhaul bill that would end the IRS regulation barring churches from endorsing political candidates has been removed from the proposed legislation.

The U.S. Senate’s parliamentarian struck out the language overturning the Johnson Amendment, with the Hill reporting last week that the reason was because it “did not meet Senate rules that require elements of the tax bill to have something to do with the budget.”

“The Senate is seeking to move a House-Senate conference report under special budgetary rules that prevent Democrats from using a filibuster,” explained The Hill.… Continue Reading

What Can Religious Liberty Movement Learn From Success of Pro-Lifers?

Written by Samuel Smith

As conservative Christians continue to push for religious freedom protections in the wake of the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage, there might be lessons religious freedom advocates can take away from the successes of the pro-life movement.

Two pro-life leaders and a religious liberty scholar participated in a panel discussion on Saturday titled “What the Religious Liberty Movement Can Learn From the Victories of the Pro-Life Movement” at the Family Research Council’s Values Voters Summit.… Continue Reading

Hate, Bernie Style

Written by Robert Knight

Two remarkable things unfolded last month.

The Democrats openly embraced socialism in the form of single-payer health care. And they announced a secular, anti-Christian test for public office. The two go together like Abbott and Costello. Or better yet, since this is far from funny, Marx and Lenin.

“Democratic Socialist” Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ scheme for a single-payer, government-run health care system has already been endorsed by 16 Democrat senators.… Continue Reading

Conservative Coalition Urges Media to Stop Citing SPLC

Written by Peter LaBarbera

A coalition of 47 conservatives has written a letter appealing to the media to stop citing the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as an authority on “hate,” calling it “an attack dog of the political left” that slanders traditional conservatives as “extremists.”

In the wake of the race protests and riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, CNN and other media and blogs have cited the SPLC’s “hate map” as a guide to locate “hate groups”and “extremists” across the United States.… Continue Reading

Mud-Slinging, Left-Wing SPLC on the Defense

Written by Peter Gemma

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) claims to be a watchdog over “hate groups and racial extremists throughout the United States.” But perhaps the SPLC is a radical left-wing organization itself, with an extremist agenda of its own.

According to a June 21, 2017 article in the Wall Street Journal,

“Aided by a veneer of objectivity, the SPLC rightly condemns groups like the Ku Klux Klan and New Black Panther Party, but it has managed to blur the lines, besmirching mainstream groups like the Family Research Council, as well as people such as social scientist Charles Murray and Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a critic of Islamic extremism.”

Mainstream Conservatives Are On CNN’s “Hate Group” List

Written by Jordan Schachtel

CNN has published a list of “hate groups” currently operating in the United States, relying on an extremely partisan analysis from the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

Several truly extremist groups populate the list, such as the Ku Klux Klan, New Black Panthers, Nation of Islam, and others.

But along with the neo-Nazi and Islamic extremist groups on the list, the SPLC has lumped in as “hate groups” mainstream, well-known conservative individuals and organizations who merely speak out about the threat of radical Islam.… Continue Reading

Guidestar to Remove ‘Hate Group’ Labels on Conservative Groups for ‘Time Being’

Written by Rachel del Guidice

The nation’s leading source of information on U.S. charities announced it will modify its use of a controversial “hate group” designation in listings for some well-known and broadly supported conservative nonprofits.

“We have decided to remove the SPLC annotations from these 46 organizations for the time being,” read a statement posted Friday on GuideStar’s website. “This change will be implemented during the week of June 26, 2017. In the meantime, we will make this information available to any user on request.”… Continue Reading

Watchman on the Wall (Spotlight #045)

Pastor J.C. Church is the Founder and Senior Pastor of Victory In Truth Ministries, a growing multicultural church, birthed in September of 1997. He currently serves as the P50 Pastor in Ohio for the Family Research Council. He is also the President and Founder of 3 Cord Alliance. JC joins Monte Larrick on this issue of Illinois Family Spotlight.

Pastor Church has a passion for leaders and leadership principles. He has been called to “equip the body of Christ to know how to operate in faith, and possess the promises that God has for them”.… Continue Reading