Ben Carson placed on Southern Poverty Law Center's ‘Extremist Watch List’

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a nonprofit legal advocacy group, has placed potential 2016 presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson on its “Extremist Watch List” for his views against same-sex marriage. 

The group cites comments from Dr. Carson’s book in labeling him a potential extremist. The group singled out this line from his book, “America the Beautiful”: 

“[I]f we can redefine marriage as between two men or two women or any other way based on social pressures as opposed to between a man and a woman, we will continue to redefine it in any way that we wish, which is a slippery slope with a disastrous ending, as witnessed in the dramatic fall of the Roman Empire.” 

The SPLC also takes issue with a statement Dr. Carson made in March 2013 on Fox News’ “Hannity.” “Marriage is between a man and a woman. It’s a well-established pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA [North American Man/Boy Association, a group advocating pedophilia], be they people who believe in bestiality — it doesn’t matter what they are, they don’t get to change the definition,” the retired neurosurgeon said at the time. 

According to the SPLC, “Extremists in the U.S. come in many different forms – white nationalists, anti-gay zealots, black separatists, racist skinheads, neo-Confederates and more.” 

Dr. Carson is on the same list as former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, and Infowars founder Alex Jones. Groups on the extremist list include the Aryan Brotherhood, Westboro Baptist Church, and New Black Panther Party.

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