There has been much written about the unfortunate shooting Wednesday at the Family Research Council offices near the nations Capitol in Washington, D.C. The gunman, Floyd Corkins, entered the lobby with a bag that held about 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches and a 9mm handgun. Corkins shot FRC’s building operations manger Leo Johnson in the arm. Johnson the subdued the shooter until the police arrived. Honestly, I don’t know if I could have exercised that much patience if I had been shot. But Johnson’s decision was the right one.
I’m sure we’ll get more details in the coming days but one remaining issue that warrants discussion is why the Southern Poverty Law Center classifies FRC as a “hate” group, along with the KKK and other neo-Nazi groups. Really – a “hate” group?
Comparing FRC to a group that wants to exterminate non-whites is like comparing Billy Graham to Charles Manson. It is simply hard to wrap your mind around the similarities shared by the two.
But one of the best op-ed’s I’ve read on the issue is by one of The Washington Post’s more liberal writers, Dana Milbank. Just as he makes the point that he doesn’t see eye-to-eye with FRC’s Christian worldview, neither to I agree with Milbank, however he raises some excellent points why FRC does not deserve a “hate” label.
Click here to read Milbank’s article.
Below is an article I penned Thursday in The Christian Post after FRC’s Tony Perkins addressed the group. I hope it gets you thinking about why more civil discourse is needed when we discuss such emotional issues.
FRC Head Accuses SPLC of Creating ‘Reckless Environment’ That Led to Shooting
Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, held a press conference Thursday afternoon, stating in no uncertain terms that while the suspected shooter was responsible for wounding the group’s unarmed building operations manager, organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center (that label FRC as a “hate” group) created the environment that ultimately led to Wednesday’s shooting at the FRC offices in Washington, D.C.
Perkins held the press conference with the specific purpose of clearing up any misinformation that may be circulating about the shooting and the possible intent of the shooter, Floyd Corkins. However, he first wanted to thank the organizations – many of whom do not agree with FRC on matters of political policy such as traditional marriage – for their outpouring of support. And he also issued a challenge for them to take some additional steps.
“I want to express my appreciation to the groups and organizations that we do not agree with on many public policy issues, who have also expressed their outrage at what took place here yesterday. For that I appreciate it. But I would ask they go a step further and join us in calling for an end to the reckless rhetoric that led to what took place here yesterday.”
Perkins called out the “recklessness” of groups such as the SPLC, located in Montgomery, Ala.
“Let me be clear that Floyd Corkins was responsible for firing the shot yesterday that wounded one of our colleagues and our friend, Leo Johnson,” said Perkins.
