Free speech really shouldn’t be controversial

Last week’s headline was sensational. Not “sensational” in the sense of being particularly well-crafted; rather, it was the kind of headline that provokes public interest and excitement, at the expense of accuracy.

The story picked up where the headline left off, breathlessly alerting readers to a “controversial group” seeking to fund its work through sales of “In God We Trust” license plates.

That group is Alliance Defending Freedom, the world’s largest legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom and free speech. ADF has been successfully defending First Amendment freedoms for 25 years; we’ve litigated nine victories at the Supreme Court since 2011. ADF’s work protects the fundamental freedoms of speech, religion, and conscience for all Americans. We’ve defended the rights of Evangelicals, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and people of no faith.

Outside the U.S., ADF combats genocide against Christians, Yazidis, Shia Muslims, and other religious minorities in the Middle East, advocates for increased legal protection for women and girls in India, and advances fundamental freedoms that promote the inherent dignity of all people.

So how does a respected legal organization that advocates for this nation’s preeminent constitutional freedoms get labeled a hate group? One need look no further than the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The SPLC did good work years ago, but it has transformed into a partisan organization with a self-proclaimed goal to “destroy” its enemies. ADF is just one of its targets. In recent years, the SPLC’s shoddy work has been subject to multiple lawsuits stemming from its practice of spreading falsehoods about groups or people with whom it disagrees. For example, the SPLC recently paid $3.375 million and issued a public apology to settle a threatened defamation lawsuit by Muslim reformer Maajid Nawaz, whom SPLC falsely labelled an anti-Muslim extremist.

Not surprisingly, investigative journalists, charity watchdogs and commentators are increasingly exposing the SPLC as activist, partisan, and unreliable. Nonetheless, the SPLC has retained (thus far) its cultural foothold despite its blatant dishonesty. As British author Terry Pratchett once wrote, “A lie can run round the world before the truth has got its boots on.”

Which brings us to state Sen. Juan Mendez. Mendez has accepted the lies promulgated by the SPLC and unwittingly (or otherwise) weaponized them against citizens of his own state. Urged on by the atheist group Secular Coalition for Arizona, Mendez has introduced a bill to eliminate the “In God We Trust” license plate.

Never mind that more than 60 organizations participate in Arizona’s specialty license plate program, representing a wide diversity of viewpoints and interests. Never mind that ADF receives no tax dollars through this voluntary program, but that private individuals make private choices to spend their private money on specialized plates. Never mind that Secular Coalition of Arizona could itself seek to create a license plate that expresses its views.

To Mendez and the Secular Coalition of Arizona, only one outcome is acceptable: shutting down a viewpoint with which they disagree. What’s next? Will the abortion lobby target the “Choose Life” license plate? Will anti-war groups target the new Luke Air Force Base plates?

There is much about which we can respectfully disagree. But we should all agree that we build a tolerant and diverse society by adding voices to the conversation, not by shutting them out.