When I recently testified before the House Judiciary Committee, I did not come to defend bitterness. I came to ask for truth.

Words matter. A word such as “hate” carries moral weight. It should be used carefully, because real hatred has wounded families, churches, communities, and nations. My own family knows something about that history.

But when the word “hate” is stretched until it covers ordinary Christian conviction, it becomes a tool of fear. It teaches citizens to suspect one another instead of listening, reasoning, repenting, forgiving, and loving.

That is the concern I brought to the hearing. Hate speech is not the same thing as speaking the truth. Nor should accusations of hate be used in a fearmongering way to control what Christians may believe, teach, or say in the public square.

Testimony & Truth

The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled “The Southern Poverty Law Center: Manufacturing Hate, Part II.” I testified as a Christian, as a member of the King family, and as an American who still believes truth and love belong together.

The issue is not whether Christian ministries should be above criticism. They should not be. Every organization, including every Christian organization, should be willing to examine its words, its methods, and its witness.

The deeper issue is whether biblical conviction itself will be treated as a threat.

If a pastor teaches that every person is made in the image of God, he is speaking truth. If a ministry defends unborn life, it is not preaching hatred. If a Christian organization teaches marriage according to scripture, it may be unpopular in some circles, but unpopularity is not the same as violence, bigotry, or hate.

Christians must speak with humility. We must examine our hearts. We must never confuse courage with cruelty. Yet love does not require silence, and truth does not become hate because someone objects to hearing it.

One Blood & Human Dignity

I was raised in a family that believed public justice begins with the truth about God and human beings. Acts 17:26 teaches that God made the nations from one man. In the language I often use, we are one blood, one human race.

That truth reaches from the womb to the tomb and beyond. Human dignity does not begin when government recognizes it. It does not expire when culture rejects it. It is given by God.

This conviction rejects racism, white supremacy, antisemitism, and every false hierarchy that ranks human worth by color, class, sex, age, ability, or political usefulness. It also rejects the idea that believers with traditional Christian convictions should be treated as hateful because they will not surrender biblical truth.

My uncle, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., did not labor for a nation where new labels would replace old injustices. The dream was not for Americans to become experts in suspicion; the dream was beloved community, truth, repentance, justice, and reconciliation under God.

Civil Rights, Then & Now

The Southern Poverty Law Center began in the civil rights era. Its own history records that it was formally incorporated in 1971 and that its early work included legal efforts against racial discrimination and violent white supremacist groups.

That history should be viewed honestly. Klan terror was real. When crosses were burned on lawns where Americans longed to be free, legal efforts against intimidation and racial hatred were necessary.

For that reason, I pray the SPLC receives a reawakening to the early dream of helping humanity. But reawakening requires self-examination. A civil rights mission loses moral clarity when it treats peaceful Christian conviction as though it belongs in the same moral category as racial terror.

Today, the SPLC is also known for public “hate” and “extremist” designations. It has placed groups such as Alliance Defending Freedom in its extremist files. That kind of label is not neutral. It can affect donors, partners, schools, churches, ministries, and public trust.

A society needs honest debate. It does not need fear-driven categories that punish people for telling the truth as they understand it before God.

All Hands on Deck

As America moves beyond her first 250 years, we need more than patriotic memory. We need spiritual clarity. The old hymn’s wisdom is still timely: storm-tossed people need a Savior, and nations need an anchor.

The image of a ship helps us understand this moment. In a storm, a captain may first call, “All hands on deck.” If the danger is averted and the crew and passengers are rescued, that is good. In more desperate moments, some may cry, “Abandon ship,” or “Every man for himself.”

I do not believe this is a time for America to abandon ship. It is not every man or woman for yourself. This is a time for all hands on deck: pastors, parents, teachers, ministries, lawmakers, and citizens who believe truth and love must stand together.

Christians should not be controlled by fear. Fear is a poor shepherd. It makes the church hesitant when the world needs clarity. It tempts ministries to soften biblical truth for the sake of comfort. It can even persuade believers that silence is safer than faithfulness.

Faith, Hope & Love

First Corinthians 13:13 reminds us that faith, hope, and love abide, and the greatest of these is love. Love does not erase truth. Truth does not excuse cruelty. In Christ, both hold together.

My friends, in the days ahead, let us lead the way in repentance, forgiveness, and love. Let us pray for those who oppose us. Let us reject racism and every false hierarchy of human worth. Let us also reject the weaponization of “hate” against Christian conviction.

Truth is not hate. Love is not silence. In times like these, the church must keep its anchor in Christ and put all hands on deck for the good of our neighbors and the glory of God.