Last week, this hateful and vulgar message was sent to IFI’s Facebook page:
A prayer for all of you. Dear Lord, I ask that you strike down the children of any staff, supporters or friends of this EVIL hate group. May their children have cancer, be hit by cars or be murdered. May the staff and founders be victims of a mass shooting or bombing—that would be nice!!! And finally, may any children of that very unattractive WHORE—Laurie Higgins—be slaughtered and offered to your greatness lord. May her entire family be struck down and return to Hell from which they came. F*** YOU Laurie Higgins and your entire disgusting family!!! Amen.
This troubled person chose to communicate his feelings in the form of a twisted prayer to a god he calls “Lord.” He describes IFI as an “EVIL hate group.” He asks that the IFI staff and our families be violently attacked and murdered. And he singles out my good friend Laurie Higgins with an especially demeaning and misogynistic attack.
This is the toxic fruit of the social and political movement that regularly demonizes its opponents with the most hateful and dehumanizing tactics. Ultimately it seeks to silence anyone or any group that opposes them.
If you are alarmed and shocked — good, you should be. The degree of hatred that some on the Left have for conservative groups like IFI, simply because we believe and articulate orthodox Christian moral teachings, is beyond the pale.
How does anyone get to the point of wishing violence and murder on another human being, let alone the innocent children of those with whom you have philosophical and political disagreements?
The hatred expressed in this Facebook comment is aggravated by liberal groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) that label pro-marriage groups like IFI as “hate organizations.” The SPLC’s inclusion of organizations that uphold Judeo-Christian views of sexual morality with racist groups is not only intellectually dishonest, but incendiary.
These comments reflect the growing sentiment of some Leftists, and it predicts a culture increasingly hostile to religious belief and practice. Comments like this — and this writer is not alone — reflect an embrace of perversity and portend even violence. Most important, such rhetoric points to a culture that hates the God of the Bible.
How do we respond? While we are relatively accustomed to hateful, harassing, obscene, and hostile messages, this Facebook message cannot be ignored. Threatening the lives of the IFI staff and our children is criminal. In the wake of the shooting at FRC a couple of years ago, we cannot ignore it.
Our good friends at the Thomas More Society helped us draft a letter to the FBI and local law enforcement officials, asking for their help and protection. At the very least, I hope that we can secure a restraining order against this angry person.
IFI supporters can respond to this situation by praying for God’s continued protection of the entire IFI Team. Additionally, please pray for the person who sent this message to us. He obviously doesn’t realize how wicked his thoughts and words are. Ask God to change his heart and mind.
Finally, we need your financial support to help fund the work and ministry of IFI: your voice in the public square that many on the Left want to eliminate.
The fact is, we need your help. We cannot do it without you.
We need your partnership, your prayers, and the resources to do the work we are called to do.
If American institutions like IFI don’t speak perseveringly and clearly on marriage, family formation, life, and human sexuality, our society WILL continue this descent into the dark, violent, and wicked abyss that led to the destruction of many once strong and proud cultures.
Our commitment at the Illinois Family Institute is to boldly stand up for Judeo-Christian values and to make sure that biblical principles and God’s standards are heard in our contemporary culture.
We must not be intimidated.
What then shall we say to these things?
If God is for us, who can be against us? ~Romans 8:31
If Christians refuse to stand up for truth, our children and grandchildren will suffer in an America that is willing to marginalize, criticize, bully and even attack Christians.
Please help the IFI team to remain strong on the front lines of this critical cultural and moral battlefield by praying for us and by contributing to the costs of running a state-wide ministry and family policy organization.
Thanks for your prayers and support.
Sincerely,
David E. Smith, Executive Director
Illinois Family Institute
P.O. Box 88848
Carol Stream, Illinois 60188
P.S. Become an IFI Sustaining Partner by pledging monthly support, and I will rush a copy of a special DVD featuring an inter-faith conversation between best-selling author Eric Metaxas (author of Bonhoeffer), syndicated radio show host, Dennis Prager, and Dr. Erwin Lutzer, author and pastor of the historic Moody Church.
