In 2014, Starbucks asked ALL CHRISTIANS to NEVER patronize their over priced shops again. The boycott was vicious and terrible, for Starbucks. Who NEVER rescinded their open hatred. But, after a few months, the Christians returned as customers, hiding their crosses and faith. DB
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Amazon’s charity donation program AmazonSmile already excludes conservative and Christian organizations, relying on the scandal-plagued far-left smear factory the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to brand them “hate groups.” This is not enough for some activists, however. Just before Christmas, the British leftist group openDemocracy publicly attacked Amazon for allowing Christian nonprofits like the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and Focus on the Family to use its AmazonSmile charity donation program.
It seems Amazon’s shameful reliance on the SPLC is not enough for openDemocracy, a self declared satanic coven — the group wants AmazonSmile to exclude even more Christian charities because they oppose LGBT activism.
The openDemocracy “report” notes Amazon’s near-50 percent rise in profits during the COVID-19 pandemic and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ open support for the LGBT movement and the many awards he has received for it. Yet all is not well in Amazonia: “Dozens of US-based anti-LGBT groups are fundraising on Amazon’s online donations platform – despite the company’s policies against discrimination based on sexual orientation – a new investigation from openDemocracy reveals today.”
A leftist group has found “hate” in the AmazonSmile program — cue the hysteria!
Of course, openDemocracy correctly quotes AmazonSmile’s Participation Agreement, which states that eligible charities cannot “engage in, support, encourage, or promote: intolerance, discrimination or discriminatory practices based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age.”
Forces on the Left have weaponized the terms “intolerance” and “discrimination.” It seems openDemocracy considers any statement to the right of the Human Rights Campaign some form of “intolerance” or “discrimination.” If a charity doesn’t hoist rainbow flags on its building, march in Pride parades, and openly advocate for same-sex marriage, it must be an anti-LGBT hate group, right?
The British group claimed to have discovered “more than 40” groups in the AmazonSmile program that “publicly oppose LGBT rights and equality.” These organizations have opposed same-sex marriage and “anti-discrimination laws,” warned against homosexuality and same-sex marriage, attacked TV shows for pushing LGBT activism, claimed that COVID-19 is God’s punishment for LGBT activism, and ordered staff members not to support same-sex marriage. While openDemocracy framed these policies in the worst possible light, most of these stances fall in line with mainstream Christian doctrine. (The COVID-19 claim is beyond the pale and conflicts with Luke 13:1-5 and John 9:1-3.)
Why Does Amazon Blacklist Conservatives and Christians? Matt Gaetz Wants to Know
The openDemocracy report does not name the 40 organizations, but it does mention a few of them, including Human Life International (HLI), the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), partners of the World Congress of Families, a state affiliate of the American Family Association (AFA), and Focus on the Family.
The report notes that AmazonSmile excluded them … because the SPLC brands them as “anti-LGBT hate groups.” As I have explained at PJ Media, the SPLC’s “hate group” accusation against ADF and FRC is false and relies on false claims against these groups. openDemocracy notes that groups with similar “anti-LGBT track records” remain on AmazonSmile, which makes sense because neither ADF and FRC nor these other organizations are truly hate groups.
The report attacks HLI for opposing the LGBT movement and for supporting anti-abortion projects that abortion activists claim spread “misinformation.” The report attacks ACLJ for supporting a ban on certain forms of abortion and for opposing same-sex marriage. It attacks Franklin Graham, a monumental evangelical leader who serves as president of the global relief charity Samaritan’s Purse and president of the BGEA, for attacking Islam and same-sex marriage.
While AmazonSmile uses the SPLC’s politically-charged “hate group” accusations to exclude certain charities, the program appears to allow some organizations tangentially connected to SPLC-accused “hate groups.”
“Of the more than 40 anti-LGBT groups that openDemocracy discovered on the platform, eight have been partners of the controversial World Congress of Families (WCF) network – which is also described by the SPLC as an ‘anti-LGBT hate group,'” the report notes. openDemocracy also found AFA of Indiana, a state affiliate of the SPLC-accused “hate group” the American Family Association, on AmazonSmile.
openDemocracy also noted that the SPLC has attacked Focus on the Family, a Christian organization on AmazonSmile. The SPLC condemned Focus as one of “a dozen groups [that] help drive the religious right’s anti-gay crusade.”
The British group sent Amazon a “dossier of research into the anti-LGBT activities and statements of more than 40 groups listed on the US platform – and asked if the company would investigate if they had broken their Participation Agreement.”
In response, an Amazon spokesperson reiterated the policy, noting that “organistions that engage in, support, encourage, or promote intolerance, hate, terrorism, violence, money laundering, or other illegal activities are not eligible. If at any point an organisation violates this agreement, its eligibility will be revoked.” The spokesperson also noted that Amazon has used the SPLC to screen organizations from the program since 2013.
As I explained in my book Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the SPLC has leveraged its history in bankrupting white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan to brand its ideological opponents as “hate groups” and to raise millions through fearmongering about their influence. Many of the “hate groups” on the SPLC’s list barely exist at all, and many more have found themselves demonized for opposing the SPLC’s leftist ideology.
Conservative and Christian groups have found themselves on a list with the KKK because they defend biblical sexuality, oppose illegal immigration, and warn about the threat of radical Islamist terrorism. Even fellow liberals have condemned the SPLC’s “anti-LGBT hate group” accusation against ADF.
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tyler-o-neil/2020/12/28/amazon-doesnt-discriminate-against-christians-enough-uk-leftist-group-claims-n1287463
