SPLC at root of ADF's unjustified boot from charity program

Alliance Defending Freedom says it was kicked out of the AmazonSmile program after Amazon used "discredited" information from the Southern Poverty Law Center.

"AmazonSmile is a charitable program [that allows] people who are using Amazon to buy things [to] make a small charitable contribution," explains Greg Baylor, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom. "Amazon has a list of charities that they deem eligible (see below) to participate in the program, and ADF has long participated in the program – until recently, when Amazon decided it would no longer allow ADF to be a recipient of charitable contributions."

Baylor describes what he calls the "discredited" Southern Poverty Law Center as an organization that's essentially a "fundraising propaganda outfit" that "fills its ever-increasing coffers by attacking" various groups, such as veterans, Catholics, Muslims who oppose terrorism, and nuns.

"So we're calling on Amazon to change its mind about this and to stop relying upon the SPLC," the attorney tells OneNewsNow.

Does that mean a lawsuit? "We're keeping all of our options on the table at this point, but we really think that Amazon should do the right thing and not look to the SPLC," Baylor answers.

"[The SPLC is] an organization that just slanders people and raises money off of that [and] tries to put them out of business. It lumps together groups that don't belong with each other. ADF is one of the nation's most respected and successful Supreme Court advocates. We work to preserve our fundamental freedoms of speech, religion and conscience for people from all walks of life. We're not a racist or violent organization."

Baylor says it's right to call out racist and violent organizations, but it's wrong for SPLC to lump ADF in with them.

"Therefore it's wrong for Amazon to exclude us from their program based on the SPLC," he continues. "When Amazon kicked us out, they were initially unwilling to tell us why they had done so – and when we pressed them, they did reveal that they made what we think is a really unreasonable decision to just take at face value what the SPLC says."

OneNewsNow has requested - but has not yet received - an official response from AmazonSmile.