Christian site raises tens of thousands for Norfolk police lieutenant fired after donating to Kyle R

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42. The Nation recently did a piece on this site

Crowdfunding Hate in the Name of Christ

When asked about the consistent pattern of hate group members fundraising on the site, Wells expressed doubt that the Proud Boys really were a hate group, explaining that he had visited their website and found it lacking in statements explicitly embracing discrimination. “Unfortunately, the media does have an agenda with the things they portray, whether it’s social media or other forms of media,” Wells said. “What are their core beliefs? Is it misconstrued by the media?” When I pointed out that the Canadian government had recently designated the Proud Boys as a terrorist group, Wells answered that this should be just one factor to consider. “We are learning just like everyone else,” he added.

The other core principle embraced by Wells and Wilson tracks with a doctrine known as “total depravity” in Christian religious discourse: the idea that all human beings are created sinners, damned without the grace of God. In this moral framework, all sin is equal, and the path to resolution is the love of Christ.

On GiveSendGo, this plays out as a curious flattening. When I brought up the Rittenhouse campaign and its massive cash influx, Wilson countered with the fact that the site had allowed an LGBTQ fundraiser. A search for “LGBTQ” on the site brought up three pages: two for a group of “former lgbtq individuals who have left the lifestyle of homosexuality to follow Jesus Christ” (sum raised: $7,900) and the other for the LGBTQ Freedom Fund, a nationwide nonprofit (sum raised: $0). “‘Politics, schmolitics,’ says GiveSendGo while at the same time giving a fundraising platform on behalf of Mr. Rittenhouse,” writes Joanna Galuszka, who set up the LGBTQ Freedom Fund page. Though the campaign hasn’t raised any money to date, it has garnered 25 prayers. When I asked whether raising funds for an LGBTQ charity was morally equivalent to raising bail for an alleged multiple murderer, Wilson replied, “We believe that anytime we disobey God, whatever it is, there’s no judgment as who’s worse.” In this moral view, causing death and being queer are not only on the same spectrum, they are identical.

The writer asked the founders whether they'd accept a KKK fundraiser...

Toward the end of our conversation, Wells returned to the question I’d asked earlier about the Ku Klux Klan. He had rid himself of hesitation: “If the KKK or any other group of people, if what they’re doing is within the law,” he told me, “I would consider it an honor to have them use the platform and share the hope of Jesus with them.”