Amazon bars Christian group from receiving Amazon Smiles donations
Amazon has deemed a Christian group ineligible for its Amazon Smiles charity donation program. As a result, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) will not be able to receive a small percentage of what their supporters spend on the online retail store.
The ADF, which defends religious rights cases around the world, expressed its disappointment at the decision in a letter from its president Michael Farris to Amazon.
Amazon's decision comes after the ADF was designated as a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
Participants in the Amazon Smile donation program lose their eligibility to receive donations if they are deemed to promote intolerance and hate, as outlined in the terms of agreement. In 2017, the SPLC released a statement against the ADF, saying that it "spreads demonizing lies about the LGBT community in this country and seeks to criminalize it abroad."
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Caller that the company does rely on the SPLC's list to determine a Smile program member's eligibility. The spokesperson said: "In order for us to remove ourselves from the decision-maker and send away, because we don't want to be biased whatsoever, we're using the SPLC to establish the criteria for those organizations."
The SPLC's list, however, has attracted its own controversy, having been accused of being biased against conservative organizations. It has previously been reported that the FBI stopped listing the SPLC as one of its resources.
In his scathing letter to Amazon, Mr. Farris accused the SPLC of being partisan in favor of the Left.
"ADF recently drew the ire of SPLC because of its religious beliefs and advocacy. Although the SPLC did good work many years ago, it has devolved into a far-left propaganda machine that slanders organizations with which it disagrees and destroys the possibility of civil discourse in the process," he said.
"Unfortunately, it is aided and abetted by businesses like Amazon that uncritically accept SPLC's slander and use it as a basis for its own business decisions."
