What Is Hate Speech And Does It Matter

CBN News reported today on a group called the Southern Poverty Law Center, founded in 1971.  The group's website features a 'hate map' listing hate groups in the United States.  There are groups in the United States that teach hate and prejudice, and it is good idea to know who they are and where they are.  However, there is a problem--who determines exactly what is hate speech?  That seems to be the question.

According to the CBN article, the Southern Poverty Law Center has now included Christian and pro-family organizations as hate groups. 

The article at CBN reports:

"A recent issue of the SPLC's magazine, "Intelligence Report," claims that homosexuals are the most targeted minority in America. 

"The magazine lists 13 organizations as haters because of their stance on homosexuality.  The Christian organization, Family Research Council, is among those added to the hate groups list this year.

"Editor Mark Potok, who helped compile the hate list, told CBN News that just because a group believes homosexuality is unbiblical does not earn it a spot on the list.   

"Potok says if the organization engages in name-calling and spouts arguments that the Southern Poverty Law Center believes have been proven untrue, then it's a hate group.

""While I am not absolutely trying to draw a comparison between say, the Family Research Council and a neo-Nazi organization, it does meet our criteria," Potok said. "The FRC does engage, certainly in our view, in the propagation of known falsehoods in an effort to defame gay people."" 

The Family Research Council (FRC) was added to the list because of their reporting on a study that linked homosexuality to pedophilia.  The FRC has stated that it welcomes a debate on the study, while the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has started its own campaign by trying to convince CNN not to give air time to guests from what they call, "the anti-gay industry."

Hate speech is something that should be strongly discouraged.  However, the problem occurs in determining exactly what is hate speech.  What is the difference between hate speech and speech that is simply politically incorrect?