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Fox News
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Focus on the Family's Jim Daly rejects SPLC ‘hate group' label: ‘This isn't hate, it's the love of Christ'
In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Focus on the Family President Jim Daly responded to the Southern Poverty Law Center's (SPLC) recent decision to classify his organization as a "hate group," calling the label "discouraging," "dangerous," and a reflection of "what's wrong with the culture right now." Focus on the Family, a Colorado-based nonprofit founded in 1977 by Dr. James Dobson, is one of the most visible Christian ministries in the United States, offering counseling, crisis intervention, parenting resources, foster care support, and to Daly, the group reaches six million radio listeners and several million digital viewers, with a mission of "helping parents to be the best parents they could be, all with the undertone of a Christian understanding." But now, the nonprofit finds itself added to a controversial SPLC list typically associated with white supremacists and violent ALLEGES FBI USED BIASED SOURCES IN ANTI-TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC MEMOS UNDER BIDEN ADMINISTRATION "Southern Poverty Law Center made the decision in some kind of criteria that they, and only they know, and that is to put us on the hate list," Daly said. "I think, again, it exemplifies what's wrong with the culture right now—that we can't have differing opinions on things." At the core of the SPLC's issue is Focus's belief in traditional marriage. Daly was direct: "Our Christian tradition is marriage between one man and one woman, and that's what we believe and we believe we can advocate for that." While Daly acknowledged that society is shifting, he said Focus will not abandon its scriptural roots to satisfy cultural trends. "For us, we can't relent on changing what we believed to be scriptural truth for the current place of where the culture is at." "For some reason that then deems us as a hate group," he said. "It's very discouraging really, because I think the SPLC started in a good place… but they have turned that muscle now on the Christian community."CONCERNED PARENTS OF TRANS KIDS COMPARED TO 'HATE GROUPS' BY COLORADO DEM: WOULDN'T 'ASK THE KKK' FOR OPINION The implications, Daly warned, are not just reputational. He recalled the 2012 shooting at Family Research Council (FRC), another Christian nonprofit SPLC labeled as hateful. A gunman entered the FRC office with the intent to kill, and was later quoted saying he was inspired by the SPLC's "hate map." "He said… his motivation was aroused because Family Research Council had been placed on the SPLC hate list," Daly said. "They are dancing on very dangerous territory when they put these labels out." That danger isn't theoretical. According to Daly, Focus had protestors at its doorstep within 24 hours of the SPLC's announcement. "We had protesters harassing our employees coming into the door here… so we had to get and pay for extra police presence on our campus," Daly said. "It raises danger for everybody. I don't know if that's their motivation, but it is a consequence." But even in the face of hostility, Daly says Focus remains committed to "doing the work that the Lord has called us to do." That includes extensive work in foster care and pregnancy resource services. "My wife and I both have been foster parents for 15 years," he shared. "We support pregnancy resource centers with ultrasound machines." He also pointed to Focus's measurable impact. "Last year we helped 140,000 couples get through a marital crisis, 540,000 couples to strengthen their marriage," he said. "That's a good thing." And he asked a pointed question to the SPLC directly: "Why would you go after an organization doing that much good and label us a hate group? It just, it makes no sense." Daly was clear that the mission isn't about political gain or culture war bravado, but the gospel. "This is not hate," Daly said. "This is the love of Christ trying to show people God's design for marriage and parenting and people." That message, however, is increasingly misunderstood in a culture that Daly says punishes theological conviction. He referenced a meeting with the late Pastor Tim Keller and gay rights activists in New York City as a model. "Tim Keller said it so well. He said, 'New York City works because we don't go out of our way to put our finger in the other group's eye'," Daly recounted. "We need to accept where we're at together and then be at the table of pluralism and say, how do we coexist?" He continued: "Creating a hate list because of your views, your theology, your ideology, just isn't helpful." Asked whether Focus planned a legal response, Daly said it's under serious consideration. "There has to be a line where an organization that creates a hate list has to be responsible for that," he said. "If we were to go to court, I think they would be hard-pressed to win that defamation lawsuit." Still, Daly struck a hopeful note. He said the biggest response they've received wasn't fear or funding loss, but support. "People that do know us, people that have experienced us helping them through a crisis in their marriage or a crisis with their teenager, they know us," Daly said. "This isn't who you are, and they get it." Above all, Daly urged believers to respond to cultural hostility with character. "Romans 2:4 says it's God's kindness that leads one to repentance—and I believe in that," he said. "You can have the most crusty person who hates out for a reason you may not even know, and you start to dialog with them… and then you find a hurt, a pain that occurred in their life." And for churches wondering how to speak into culture without compromising biblical convictions, Daly offered a closing challenge: don't just preach orthodoxy: live HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "We know truth. We know orthodoxy, the spoken word. We need more orthopraxy, the doing of the word," Daly said. "We could literally wipe out the foster care list if we just got engaged—one family per church." That vision, he said, is what keeps him going. "Wouldn't it be nice if Fox News and the New York Times ran a headline that said: 'Christian Church wipes out waiting foster care list'? I'm looking forward to that headline. And that's what I work for every day."
New York Times
6 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Pro-Trump Kennedy Center Executive Says He Was Fired
Floyd Brown, a longtime right-wing activist, said on Thursday that he had been fired from the Kennedy Center because of his views on same-sex marriage. Mr. Brown said in a long post on X that he was fired on Wednesday by Richard Grenell, whom President Trump appointed as the interim leader of the center in February after he began imposing his grip on it. Mr. Brown said his dismissal happened about two hours after CNN contacted him for comment on his past statements on homosexuality and marriage. The Kennedy Center did not announced Mr. Brown's appointment. He said in a LinkedIn post this month that he had started working at the center as vice president of development. The executive in that position leads the department responsible for raising millions of dollars for the center. It was not immediately clear what activities he was involved with at the center. The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to requests for comment made outside business hours on Thursday. Mr. Brown said Thursday that his requests for an explanation for his dismissal and to speak with Mr. Grenell, who during the president's first term was recognized as America's first gay cabinet member, have been ignored. Mr. Brown claimed that he was told he would be fired if he did not recant his position on 'traditional marriage.' 'Needless to say, I refused to recant and was shown the door,' he wrote. Mr. Brown was the operative behind the racist Willie Horton attack ads during the 1988 presidential campaign. He later promoted conspiracy theories about Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, too. Mr. Brown has also made comments denigrating homosexuality in the past. In an archived page from one of his defunct websites, he lamented the victories of 'secular pro-gay culture.' 'Comments rooted in my personal Christian views, which I have made in the past, have no impact upon my work here at the Kennedy Center nor do they impinge on my interactions with colleagues,' Mr. Brown wrote in his X post. 'I have never intended to attack or demean any person in my statements, and have always shared the mission of Jesus, striving to love others unconditionally.' This is the latest episode in months of upheaval at the Kennedy Center. Mr. Trump stunned the cultural world in February when he made himself chairman of the Kennedy Center and purged its previously bipartisan board of Biden-era appointees, making his loyalist Mr. Grenell the president. Mr. Trump's actions have prompted criticism, and some artists have canceled their engagements at the center in protest. Mr. Grenell has culled the Kennedy Center's staff, saying it faces serious financial problems. He has also denounced some of the center's efforts to embrace diversity, saying it should promote 'common sense programming.'
Telegraph
6 days ago
- General
- Telegraph
Kennedy Centre vice-president ‘fired for views on gay people'
The vice-president of the Kennedy Centre claims he was sacked by a gay ally of Donald Trump over his beliefs on homosexuality. Floyd Brown suggested that Ric Grenell, the president of the performing arts centre in Washington DC of which Mr Trump took control after taking office, had been 'intimidated' by a news article which relayed comments he previously made about homosexuality and gay marriage. Mr Brown said in a statement on social media he was threatened with dismissal if he refused to 'recant' his beliefs on homosexuality and that Mr Grenell, who is gay, refused to provide an explanation for his dismissal. But sources close to Mr Grenell have rejected Mr Brown's version of events. Mr Trump moved to take control of the Kennedy Centre soon after returning to office this year, replacing its board members with figures whom critics characterise as loyalists with scant interest in the arts. Sacking 'followed CNN questions' Mr Brown, the founder of the conservative Western Journal website, said he had been recruited as vice-president last month. In a post on social media, he said he was sacked two hours after receiving an email from CNN seeking clarity on his views about traditional marriage and 'homosexual influence' in the Republican Party. According to CNN, Mr Brown has made a series of anti-gay statements over the course of several decades. In 2023, he claimed on a conservative radio programme: 'Homosexuality is a punishment that comes upon a nation that has rejected God. They're debasing themselves and their humanity.' He has also criticised the 'acceptance of the open promotion of the gay lifestyle inside the tent of conservatism'. claimed same-sex marriage is 'godless', and attacked George W. Bush, the former president, for appointing a gay chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC). 'It was truly not my intention to offend anyone with my comments,' Mr Brown said in his statement. 'I have never intended to attack or demean any person in my statements, and have always shared the mission of Jesus, striving to love others unconditionally. 'The amazing beauty of the Maga [Make America Great Again] movement is we have people of many different beliefs inside our tent.' Mr Brown claimed he was told he would be sacked if he refused to renounce his beliefs on homosexuality, although it is unclear if he was claiming Mr Grenell delivered this message personally. 'Needless to say, I refused to recant and was shown the door. My beliefs are much more common to Biblical Christianity,' he said. Brown's account labelled inaccurate Mr Brown added: 'My only conclusion is Richard Grenell was intimidated by a CNN story… so he pre-emptively fired me for my Christian beliefs on marriage.' A source familiar with the Kennedy Centre told The Telegraph Mr Brown's social media post was inaccurate. Mr Grenell 'had not met with Brown, did not know him, and was not involved in his hiring', a source told CNN. Mr Grenell is a long-time ally of Mr Trump, serving as ambassador to Germany in the president's first term. His name was floated as a potential secretary of state before Marco Rubio's nomination last year, and he currently serves as presidential envoy for special missions.
