Supreme Court rejects Christian hate group’s case over ‘hate group’ label (Hemant Mehta at Only Sky)

If you guessed Clarence Thomas was the only justice to buy the church’s argument, please collect your Kewpie doll.

A request by a Christian hate group asking the Supreme Court for help in getting people to stop calling it a “hate group” has finally ended in failure. The Court said on Monday that it would not take up the case, with only Clarence Thomas dissenting.

It’s the latest and final twist in a pointless battle that was fought by Coral Ridge Ministries (formerly called Truth in Action and also known as D. James Kennedy Ministries) after they were included in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s 2010 list of “Active Anti-LGBT Hate Groups.” (Kennedy himself died in 2007.)

The ministry said in its initial 2017 lawsuit that being put on the SPLC’s list hurt them financially because Amazon (also a defendant) refused to allow them to fundraise via AmazonSmile precisely because they’re considered a “hate group.” GuideStar (also a defendant) temporarily labeled SPLC hate groups as such on their website, and the ministry said that also hurt fundraising.

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