AFA Quietly Deletes “Bigotry Map”

Hemant Mehta has the news at The Friendly Atheist:

It was a year ago today when the American Family Association released a “Bigotry Map,” a sort-of response to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s famous list of “hate groups.” But while the SPLC’s list consisted of groups that “have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics,” the AFA’s map appeared to have just one prerequisite: You disagreed with them.

The SPLC’s list included groups like the racist KKK and the anti-gay Illinois Family Institute. The AFA’s list included… random local atheist groups. Because their members don’t believe in God. (Which, as you all know, amounts to bigotry.) Seriously, the map listed groups whose members’ worst crime was disagreeing with Christianity and creating a safe space for atheists to discuss their doubts.

Mehta notes that the AFA’s map backfired on them when overlooked atheist groups demanded to be added. Other categories included “homosexual agenda” – where groups like GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign were listed.