Tuesday, November 30, 2010  What's a hate group?  From
Dispatches From the Culture Wars:  The Southern Poverty Law
Center has added several "mainstream" religious right groups to
their list of hate groups for their zealous opposition to equal
rights for gays and lesbians, including the American Family
Association and the Family Research Council. And the theocons
are throwing quite a fit over it. I've said many times that I
think the SPLC sometimes paints with too broad a brush so it's
always a good idea to examine the evidence on which they base
such conclusions. You can see their report on these anti-gay
groups here and judge for yourself. I think they make a stronger
case against some than against others. "No organization better
defines what a hate group is all about than the Southern Poverty
Law Center," said Robert Knight, Washington correspondent for
Coral Ridge Ministries. "Smearing legitimate groups merely for
disagreeing about homosexuality is a very hateful act." But the
evidence is pretty good in so