Of course that headline is click-bait. Much like the News & Observer's headline of Lt. Gov. Dan Forest's speech. I'll circle back to the ISIS-related point.
The left is rushing to smear NC Lt. Gov. Dan Forest as a racist for telling a multicultural, diverse church congregation that dividing people and pitting them against each other vis-a-vis identity politics, diversity, and multiculturalism is not what God wants. Forest preached that God wants us united against the real enemy - Satan.
The smear was first published by by the leftwing opposition research PAC American Bridge - which framed Forest's comments as (of course) a dog whistle to racists.
That smear was lapped up and vomited back by the leftwing blog ThinkProgress.
It was amplified by the cadre of social media users.
Then, the noxious chum was once again ingested and regurgitated by the News & Observer.
And at every step, it's the left that links Forest's comments to white supremacists. Not Forest - who said the love of God and the idea of America is strong enough to unite everyone.
At one point, Forest literally looks out over the audience of blacks, whites, Hispanics, and Asians, and says "I love you."
Truly a racist thing to say, obviously.
Forest released a statement:
Undoubtedly, white supremacists believe that diversity is, by default, more bad than good. They make this argument by taking a situationally true statement and extrapolating erroneous conclusions of far greater magnitude.
One does not become a white supremacist by simply stating or questioning whether diversity - without any unifying cohesive bonds in a society - can foment discord (particularly when people and organizations exploit it). Ironically, American Bridge, ThinkProgress, and the News & Observer proved this precise point for Forest.
At the heart of the attack against Forest is a lie that diversity is always and automatically good.
It is not.
For if it were, then we should recruit ISIS fighters to America. In the name of diversity.
What's that? We should NOT import ISIS murderers into America?
Well, I think that makes you a racist.
You can hear Forest's speech in my podcast from yesterday.
You can view the entire speech here.