Ben Carson Slammed By Civil Rights Group for 'Extremist' Views, But Later Receives Apology

A civil rights group has apologized to book author and retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson – a popular public figure rumored to be gunning for a Republican presidential nomination – after it denounced him for his "extremist" views on marriage and American politics.

The Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center earlier put Carson on its "Extremist File" which it posted on its website last October.

The civil rights advocate said it was compelled to make the apology after it came under "intense criticism" from people it did not name.

In what appeared to be a dramatic turnaround, the group hailed Dr. Carson for his many contributions to medicine and his philanthropic work, adding that "we, like so many others, are inspired by his personal story."

Nevertheless, the Center said the views expressed by Carson "should be closely examined."

It added: "We've also come to the conclusion that the question of whether a better-researched profile of Dr. Carson should or should not be included in our 'Extremist Files' is taking attention from the fact that Dr. Carson has, in fact, made a number of statements that express views that we believe most people would conclude are extreme."

The Center said among the supposed "extremist" views by Carson were his view on marriage. "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," Carson said on Fox News' "Hannity" on March 26, 2013.

Three days later, Carson told The Baltimore Sun: "I think people have completely taken the wrong meaning out of what I was saying. First of all, I certainly believe gay people should have all the rights that anybody else has. What I was basically saying is that as far as marriage is concerned, that has traditionally been between a man and a woman, and nobody should be able to change that."

The Center also posted other Carson's views that it believes most people find extreme.

"[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" -- America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great, 2012

"If you look in the writings of a lot of the neo-Marxists, when they talk about the New World Order, they say there's only one stick in the mud: the United States. How do you get them out of the way, or how do you change them? And they said there were two fundamental things, their Judeo-Christian faith and their strong families. Those were the things that had to be attacked and those things have been systematically attacked over the last several decades." -- Speech to the National Organization for Marriage, June 19, 2014

"Obamacare is really the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. And ... in a way, it is slavery." -- Values Voter Summit, Washington, D.C., Oct. 11, 2013

"I mean, [our government and institutions] are very much like Nazi Germany. ... You know, you had a government using its tools to intimidate the population. We now live in a society where people are afraid to say what they really believe." -- Quoted by Breitbart News, March 12, 2014