Even if today’s shooting at the Family Research Council headquarters was indeed motivated by the shooter’s support of same-sex marriage (or abortion, or anything else the FRC opposes), people should not leap to the conclusion that violent extremism is typical of the political left. Recall that in 2009, a pro-life activist named Scott Roeder murdered George Tiller, a Kansas-based doctor who performed late-term abortions, in Tiller’s church. The killing was quickly condemned by pro-life groups and individuals, including several on this website.
Were all pro-life activists nevertheless responsible for or somehow implicated in Roeder’s actions? If you want to answer that question in the negative, you probably shouldn’t blame the Family Research Council shooting on gay rights activists. Every cause has its violent extremists, unfortunately.
August 15th, 2012 | 5:58 pm
It appears today’s shooter was not motivated by his support of same-sex marriage but, rather, by his profound misunderstanding of The Family Research Council.
August 15th, 2012 | 6:14 pm
I completely agree with this that we shouldn’t blame an ideology based on their extremists, but one thing we can do is compare how certain media outlets treat these kinds of stories differently and then blame the media for bias (and then take that into consideration as we evaluate the reliability of these certain media outlets).
August 15th, 2012 | 8:16 pm
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August 16th, 2012 | 4:07 am
To infer a person’s likely conduct from the nature of some doctrine which he holds, or from the conduct of other persons who hold the same doctrines with him, would be plausible, if (1) everyone reasoned in the same manner on the same data, and (2) always did what they thought it their duty to do. But both conditions are manifestly false in fact.
August 16th, 2012 | 11:23 am
“There is no cause so noble that it will not attract some kooks.” – Larry Niven
August 16th, 2012 | 12:27 pm
There aren’t any cited in this article, so I’m curious — who in fact is blaming gay-rights activists for this shooting?
August 16th, 2012 | 12:58 pm
Mr. Hundt- Some people accused Matthew Schmitz (in his earlier post on this blog) of blaming gay-rights activists. Other conservatives veered towards explicitly doing so, as this Daily Beast piece shows: “Concerned Women for America president Peggy Nance (commented), ‘This shooting is yet another reminder that recent comments by the Southern Poverty Law Center and Human Rights Campaign labeling FRC a ‘hate group’ are not only false, they are irresponsible and should not be tolerated.’” I don’t consider FRC a hate group, but the shooting cannot be blamed on the SPLC or the HRC any more than the Tiller shooting could be blamed on FRC and other pro-life groups.
August 17th, 2012 | 11:56 am
‘This shooting is yet another reminder that recent comments by the Southern Poverty Law Center and Human Rights Campaign labeling FRC a ‘hate group’ are not only false, they are irresponsible and should not be tolerated.’”
It is true: calling them a ‘hate group’ is irresponsible and should not be tolerated.
And the shooting can be construed as a reminder of this without necessarily going so far as to say the SPLC is actually culpable.
The SPLC does very much need to stop abusing the term “hate group”. A hate group is one that perpetrates or incites violence against a demographic, and it’s just plain lying to use that rhetoric against groups that have done no such thing.
August 17th, 2012 | 1:09 pm
Blake: Is that the undisputed definition of ‘hate group’, or just your own, personal definition? It seems to me that a hate group is a group that… hates a lot.
Like the FRC, whose senior officials advocate for criminalizing and “exporting” gays. It even fits your definition of intending to perpetrate violence, unless you believe that jailing people is not violence. If you do, then that opens up a whole new can of worms.
August 17th, 2012 | 4:26 pm
Blake: Is that the undisputed definition of ‘hate group’, or just your own, personal definition? It seems to me that a hate group is a group that… hates a lot.
And you yourself can just tell when someone is motivated by “hate”, whether they themselves use that word, or claim that as their motivation.
In other words, any group you hate = hate group. (But you yourself are free to hate, because obviously it’s logical to hate those who hate, right? So it’s not that you’re hateful if you hate those who hated, even if they didn’t hate, because your own hate is the only real measure here, isn’t it?)
August 17th, 2012 | 5:37 pm
Indicative of dubiousness of your position is that you did not respond to my question – whether that is the definition of hate group held by everyone, or just you.
So what is it? If you persist in claiming that only groups that advocate violence are hate groups, you would have to say that Nation of Islam is not a hate group, even though it calls us white devils. And that’s just scratching the surface.
I have avoided a response to your main point, regarding whether it is right to hate some people, because I expect you would avoid the points I have made here above, if I did.
August 17th, 2012 | 11:20 pm
Indicative of dubiousness of your position is that you did not respond to my question – whether that is the definition of hate group held by everyone, or just you.
I did answer your question.
I do not grant to you the right to decide what a hate group is. The people who are the most inclined to use that term are just coincidentally the ones who are also most inclined to project onto others.
August 17th, 2012 | 11:26 pm
Other conservatives veered towards explicitly doing so, as this Daily Beast piece shows: “Concerned Women for America president Peggy Nance (commented), ‘This shooting is yet another reminder that recent comments by the Southern Poverty Law Center and Human Rights Campaign labeling FRC a ‘hate group’ are not only false, they are irresponsible and should not be tolerated.’”
FRC is blaming SPLC:
I understand there is talk of a defamation suit against SPLC.
I believe that if the term “hate group” is not defined in terms that are both (a) precise and (b) clearly linked to specific behavioral lines being crossed, then calling someone a “hate group” is itself a hateful act – both defamation and incitement, as the entire point of the term is that it is associated with domestic terrorists such as the KKK at its heyday.
August 18th, 2012 | 9:26 am
Blake: “I understand there is talk of a defamation suit against SPLC.”
And only talk, and no action, because an actual defamation suit would show that the claims made by the SPLC are absolutely correct.
I am willing to bet $10,000 that the FRC would never win a defamation suit. Are you willing to take it?
“I believe that if the term “hate group” is not defined in terms that are both (a) precise and (b) clearly linked to specific behavioral lines being crossed, then calling someone a “hate group” is itself a hateful act ”
Again, that is your personal definition. And your personal definition excludes, for example, the Nation of Islam, which defines us as white devils created by a mad scientist. And more groups like that, if you think about it for a second. Surely, that is not your intention?
August 19th, 2012 | 5:08 pm
Sorry, threats of violence are common on LGBT blogs, but not on pro-family blogs. The FRC shooting will never be prosecuted as a hate crime because LGBT death-threats are protected hate-speech.
August 19th, 2012 | 7:00 pm
You frequent LGBT blogs, Charlio? If you do, let your spirit be soothed by the fact that the “pro-family” FRC advocates for jailing and exporting ay people, and even praised a Ugandan bill to give them the death penalty.
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