A prominent evangelist is threatening to sue the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) after it labeled his Internet-based ministry a "hate group."
According to a press release, Bill Keller -- deemed "the world's leading Internet evangelist" and the founder of LivePrayer.com -- is planning a $100 million defamation lawsuit against the SPLC.
"The sad shooting the other day at the Family Research Council by a man who supports the radical homosexual agenda, was clearly fueled by the left wing group, the Southern Poverty Law Center," Keller is quoted by ThinkProgress as saying. "I receive at least 4-5 death threats a month for taking a Biblical stand on issues like homosexuality, the false religion of Islam and other cults, and the fact life begins at conception and choosing to end that life is nothing more than legalized infanticide."
He continued, "Groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center give license to individuals who oppose a Biblical worldview to take whatever actions they deem fit, even acts of violence, to silence those they disagree with. Sadly, this intimidation has worked, because there are very few like myself who are willing to go into the mainstream media and promote Biblical truth that a large percentage of society now rejects."
Keller's nod to the Family Research Council (FRC) is particularly appropriate given that the organization's similar designation as a "hate group" has been the subject of recent debate, following this week's shooting of a security guard at the FRC's Washington, D.C.-based headquarters. Alleged shooter Floyd Lee Corkins was reportedly carrying a backpack full of Chick-fil-A sandwiches and had recently been been volunteering at a local community center for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, according to the Associated Press.
Keller has become notorious for his vehemently anti-Muslim and anti-LGBT stance. Following the suicide of gay teen Jamie Hubley last fall, Keller penned a statement blaming "the homosexual community and media who promote this lifestyle to society," naming Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow and Ellen Degeneres, according to Right Wing Watch.
"A 15-year-old has no real understanding of sexuality, and most are still trying to figure out life and how they fit in," Keller said in a statement at the time.
"It is the homosexual community and media who promote this lifestyle to society, forcing it to validate legally and ethically this choice of sexual behavior and relationships to our children as normal, even desirable behavior!"
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