According to a recent consumer complaint, Fidelity Charitable allegedly blocked an account holder from sending money to a conservative non-profit that appears on the Southern Poverty Law Center's (SPLC) so-called "hate map."
Michael Ross is an attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), one of the non-profits that may have been blocked from receiving money anonymously. He does not think the incident cited in the complaint was an isolated one.
"We've had dozens of donors report to us that they cannot give anonymously to Alliance Defending Freedom through Fidelity Charitable," Ross relays. "We had one consumer who filed this complaint in Louisiana, expressing her disbelief at this and saying, 'Look, one of the reasons I set up my account was because you said that you'd be called neutral, and you would not screen donations based on the religious or philosophical views of the charities I want to support.' But it appears that Fidelity is not holding true to that promise."
As reported exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation, donations to conservative non-profits were marked "awaiting information" for over a month, whereas donations to left-leaning groups were quickly approved.
Ross says ADF is "considering all of our options."
Another non-profit whose donations may have been blocked is Pacific Justice Institute (PJI). President Brad Dacus calls it a "classic example the tyranny that has found its way as a result of the SPLC and what they've done through their hate-filled activities to try to silence and destroy Christian faith-based organizations."
He says non-profits that are committed to a Christian biblical worldview are the "archenemy" of the SPLC.
"We've got to stand up against this," Dacus insists. "Individuals using these financial resources and companies need to switch to other companies that are not so overtly beholden to the Southern Poverty Law Center and their very evil, anti-Christian, hate-filled agenda."
Meanwhile, Ross asserts that as "the world's largest legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, marriage and family, parental rights, and the sanctity of life," ADF will not back down from its work.
"There's a reason that we have free speech and freedom of religion put first, because those are foundational to self-governing republic," he notes. "ADF will proudly continue the work that it's doing."
Also identified in the Daily Caller News Foundation's article are Family Research Council and the Center for Security Policy.
Fidelity Charitable has not returned AFN's email seeking comment.
