Likely 2016 presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson Monday fired back at the
Southern Poverty Law Center, which has included him in its "Extremist Files" because of his long-stated opinions against same-sex marriage.
"It is important for us to once again advocate true tolerance," the retired neurosurgeon said in a statement. "That means being respectful of those with whom we disagree and allowing people to live according to their values without harassment."
Further, said Carson, the nation is approaching the stage where "wrong is called right" at a time "when embracing traditional Christian values is equated to hatred" and "it is nothing but projectionist when some groups label those who disagree with them as haters."
By naming Carson to its list, the SPLC includes him along with former Ku Klux Klan leader and Louisiana politician David Duke and numerous KKK members, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and more.
The SPLC, using a series of Carson quotes to back up its assertions, claims that after Carson came to conservatives' attention with his speech condemning the Affordable Care Act at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast, he soon "was appearing as the keynoter at a rash of right-wing and hate group gatherings, linking gays with pedophiles, comparing the U.S. to Nazi Germany and endorsing biblical economic practices for 21st century America."
The SPLC is based in Montgomery, Alabama, and describes itself as a civil rights organization. It includes on its "Hate Map" what many on the right consider to be simply conservative groups, such as the Family Research Council.
Carson is not the first prominent conservative to land on one of the SPLC's lists,
reports The Blaze. Last year, historian David Barton and American Center for Security Policy founder Frank Gaffney were also added to the center's lists.
The SPLC says its
"hate map" targets those groups that follow "beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics" and is "compiled using hate group publications and websites, citizen and law enforcement reports, field sources and news reports."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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