Is this still America? Because I don’t recognize her anymore.

When government agencies start spending resources on figuring out which Americans are engaging in “hate,” we end up with this story.

The federal agency that is supposed to be protecting the financial system from unlawful activities has put together a list consisting of “hate groups,” which just so happens to include many Christian organizations.

According to The Daily Signal:

Is it a “financial crime” to allow a conservative Christian to open a bank account?
The very idea sounds absurd, but in the wake of Jan. 6, 2021, the federal agency tasked with protecting the financial system from illicit use endorsed a list of “hate groups” that includes mainstream conservative Christian organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom and the Family Research Council.

The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network sent an email to leadership at major banks, highlighting a report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and Global Disinformation Index titled “Bankrolling Bigotry: An Overview of the Online Funding Strategies of American Hate Groups.”

When Americans think of “hate groups,” images of burning crosses come to mind. The U.S. does have a troubling history with racist hatred from the Ku Klux Klan, but the report wasn’t talking about racist thugs who string up innocent black men. No, the report spent its time warning about those evil conservative Christians who want the freedom to *checks notes* live according to their faith.

Take Alliance Defending Freedom, for example. “Bankrolling Bigotry” mentions ADF as a “hate group,” but ADF has won multiple cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing for the free speech and religious freedom of Christians and non-Christians to live out their faith. ADF represents Jack Phillips, who won at the Supreme Court because Colorado had targeted him for his faith, accusing him of discrimination because he wouldn’t use his artistic skills to craft a custom cake to celebrate a same-sex wedding.

Then there’s Liberty Counsel, the Christian law firm that represents former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis in her legal appeal after a judge allowed a same-sex couple to exclude religious believers from a jury, which ordered Davis to pay more than $300,000 in damages and legal fees. (She is refusing to pay until the appeal is resolved.)
The “Bankrolling Bigotry” report included all these organizations and more on a list alongside white nationalist, white supremacist, black supremacist, and Holocaust denial groups. Readers of The Daily Signal may not be surprised to hear that the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and the Global Disinformation Index took the idea from the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The “Bankrolling Bigotry” report warns that retail platforms like Amazon, cryptocurrency sites using Bitcoin and Ethereum, content subscription sites, and crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe and Facebook Donations, allow “hate groups” to raise money. The report urges these platforms to cut off the spigot to conservative organizations.

The last time I read the Constitution I do not remember there being an Amendment that gives the government the right to monitor “hate.” Maybe this federal agency is a bit confused. I don't think it was ever the job of unelected bureaucrats to persuade platforms to monitor and punish "hate."

On top of that, it is unclear what they mean by “hate” but it is clear that a government agency is attempting to punish thoughts it does not approve it. So while we assumed Americans had the freedom to think, the government disagrees.

Do you think they know that our founding documents limit the powers of what the government is allowed to do? Do you think they are aware that if our founding document is not specific on what “rights” the government has or does not have, then those “rights” are afforded to the people? Do you think they know any of that? Because it would not be surprising if they did.

That said, the government or its staff members were never afforded the right to police the thoughts of Americans. This country was founded on the idea that officials are public servants who are intended to serve the people. And I don’t know about you, but it sounds like this agency is doing the exact opposite of what it should be doing.

But sadly, the bigger the government gets, the more likely this is to happen. And with the way things seem to be headed, it would not be surprising if it were to keep on growing.