Wikipedia

Family Research Council

amerikanische Non-Profit-Organisation
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Family Research Council (FRC) is a Christian conservative non-profit think tank and lobbying organization. It was formed in the United States by James Dobson in 1981 and incorporated 1983. The group was designed to be a lobbying force for conservative legislation on Capitol Hill. In the late 1980s the group officially became a division of Dobson's main organization Focus on the Family, but in 1992 IRS concerns about the group's lobbying led to an administrative separation. Its function is to promote what it considers to be traditional family values. The current president is Tony Perkins.

The Family Research Council has been publicly involved in promoting socially conservative views on many issues, including divorce, homosexuality, and abortion. The Church Report ranks FRC first in the category of Christian political organizations. [1]

History

According to the organization's website, "the Family Research Council (FRC) champions marriage and family as the foundation of civilization, the seedbed of virtue, and the wellspring of society. FRC shapes public debate and formulates public policy that values human life and upholds the institutions of marriage and the family. Believing that God is the author of life, liberty, and the family, FRC promotes the Judeo-Christian worldview as the basis for a just, free, and stable society".

"The idea of the Family Research Council originated at the 1980 White House Conference on Families. Among the conferees, James Dobson stood out because of his rare combination of Christian social values and academic and professional credentials. A practicing clinical psychologist and noted author, Dobson had recently transitioned into radio broadcasting and also launched a nonprofit, family service organization. He felt that the time was ripe to establish an organization that would drive the national debate on family issues. In 1983, the Family Research Council incorporated as a nonprofit educational institution in the District of Columbia; its founding board included Dobson and two noted psychiatrists, Armand Nicholi Jr. of Harvard University and George Rekers of the University of South Carolina," it states.

"Under the leadership of Jerry Regier, a former Reagan Administration official at the Department of Health and Human Services, FRC began to link policy makers with researchers and professionals from a variety of disciplines. Gary Bauer, a domestic policy advisor to President Ronald Reagan, succeeded Regier in 1988 and by the mid-1990s the organization had grown into a $10 million operation with a nationwide network of support...", it states.[2]

The FRC is associated with James Dobson's Focus on the Family and William J. Bennett.

Edgar Prince helped Gary Bauer start the Family Research Council. Edgar Prince is the father of Erik Prince, founder of the private military contractor Blackwater USA.[3]

Politics and Policies

The FRC policies are in general those of the Christian Right:

  • FRC campaigns for an increase in abstinence-only sex education, particularly in state schools.
  • Does not endorse the wide availability of a vaccine for human papilloma virus (HPV), a virus that causes cervical cancer, while favoring abstinence to prevent HPV.[4] The New Scientist quotes Bridget Maher, an FRC analyst, as saying, "Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful, because they may see it as a licence to engage in premarital sex." [5]
  • They have commented in support of intelligent design creationism and the movement's "Teach the Controversy" campaign.[6][7][8] They are strong supporters of homeschooling or private schools over public education, a position influenced by this issue and others.
  • Frequently campaign for extremely tight regulation of pornography bordering on complete prohibition, especially internet pornography and indecency on broadcast-TV. Actively opposed the introduction of a .xxx domain name, and lobbied for an increase in indecency fines from the FCC.
  • Support making abortion criminal.
  • Oppose embryonic stem cell research.
  • Opponents of LGBT social movements (sometimes called "gay rights") in terms of legal recognition (in either 'homosexual marriage' or 'civil partnership' form) for domestic partners and hate crime legislation.
  • Opponents of bullying prevention programs in schools on the basis that they promote homosexuality.

In the May 30, 2005 edition of Harper's Magazine, Chris Hedges in Soldiers of Christ II writes that the Family Research Council sponsors radio broadcasts the Dominionist movement and that Perkins, president of the Family Research Council appears in videos promoting the dominionist message that "America’s culture was hijacked by a secular movement."[9]

In their report Funding the Culture Wars[10] the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy[11] lists the Family Research Council as one of the leading organizations funding the activities of the Christian right. Along with the Heritage Foundation, Christian Coalition, and Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council is identified as an dominionist organization by TheocracyWatch[12][13], which says that the Congressional scorecard of the Family Research Council illustrates its success and the strength of dominionists in Congress.[14]

The FRC publishes frequent e-mail updates, usually in the form of three short articles. These can also be viewed on their website. These articles typically take the form of advocacy for a conservative Christian perspective on current political and social issues.

Controversy and criticism

Racism allegations

The Southern Poverty Law Center has linked the Family Research Council to racism through the activities of its president Tony Perkins.[2]. In the April 26, 2005 issue of The Nation magazine journalist Max Blumenthal wrote that Tony Perkins has longstanding ties to racist organizations, including a deal with David Duke to share his mailing list. "Four years ago, Perkins addressed the Louisiana chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), America's premier white supremacist organization...in 1996 Perkins paid former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke $82,000 for his mailing list. At the time, Perkins was the campaign manager for a Republican candidate for the US Senate in Louisiana. The Federal Election Commission fined the campaign Perkins ran $3,000 for attempting to hide the money paid to Duke."[15]

The FRC says Blumenthal's claims are false. They say Duke's "connection was not known to Mr. Perkins until 1999. Mr. Perkins profoundly opposes the racial views of Mr. Duke and was profoundly grieved to learn that Duke was a party to the company that had done work for the 1996 campaign."[16]

The SpongeBob SquarePants controversy

In January of 2005, the FRC hosted a banquet in Washington, D.C. in connection with the second inauguration of George W. Bush. Dobson, speaking at the FRC banquet, criticized a video that featured SpongeBob SquarePants and other cartoon characters. The video was distributed by the We Are Family Foundation. Although the video made no reference to sexual orientation, Dobson denounced the We Are Family Foundation for supporting gay rights. He subsequently denied the widespread reports that he was criticizing SpongeBob SquarePants on the ground that the cartoon character (who holds hands with his best friend, Patrick Star) was gay.[17] Both Dobson and the FRC, however, pointed to the incorporation of the video in a curriculum promoting tolerance. A "homosexuality detection expert" at the FRC stated that words like "tolerance" and "diversity" are part of a "coded language that is regularly used by the homosexual community." [18]

Hotel pornography

On August 22, 2006 a coalition of conservative groups including the FRC announced they "strongly believe" hotel porn is prosecutable, and that they have issued an "urgent appeal" to the Department of Justice to "immediately investigate" two leading in-room adult movie distributors.[19]

The ad in USA Today says the "DOJ and FBI should immediately investigate whether 'adult' videos being sold in hotels by OnCommand and LodgeNet violate long-established Federal and State laws regarding distribution of obscene material." The ad continues, "Adult hardcore pornography can tragically lead to sex crimes against women and children...Yet sex videos are available in millions of U.S. hotel rooms which we strongly believe are prosecutable."[20][21]

2006 'Values Voters' Summit

Between September 22 - 24, the political arm of FRC, FRCAction, sponsored a summit of evangelical voters, which drew Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Mike Huckabee, George Allen, Tony Snow and others. The summit turned controversial when a number of religious figures took the podium to denounce homosexuality, referring to homosexuals as faggots, with one preacher claiming that "the gay rights movement ascended to us from the pits of hell itself" and another angrily shouting "I want the gays mad at me, I want to be in their sights! The Anti-Christ will be a homosexual!".[22][23] The event was coordinated by FRC Action, the political action arm of the Family Research Council. Co-sponsors included other political action arms of major Christian Right groups: Focus on the Family Action (Dr. James Dobson), Americans United to Preserve Marriage (Gary Bauer), and American Family Association Action (Donald Wildmon).

Response to Mark Foley scandal

Tony Perkins, appearing on CNN on October 2, 2006, stated:

"There’s no defense of this behavior. It’s outrageous. It’s shocking. But it shouldn’t be totally surprising. When we hold up tolerance and diversity as the guideposts for public life, this is what you end up getting. You get congressmen chasing 16-year-olds down the halls of Congress. It’s a shame. It’s a tragedy and it does need to be addressed. But not just the symptoms here. We need to go to the source of the problem. And if the leadership was negligent, it should be dealt with and should be dealt with in the most severe way possible. But what prevented the leadership from acting? Were they fearful of acting because they would be seen as homophobic or gay bashing?" [24]

On the topic of gays continuing to serve in the Republican Party, Tom McClusky, chief lobbyist for the Family Research Council said:

"The big-tent strategy could ultimately spell doom for the Republican Party," ... "All a big-tent strategy seems to be doing is attracting a bunch of clowns." [25]

In United States politics

The Christian right in United States politics has helped shape domestic and foreign policy. The Christian right, as defined by a rightist/conservative political group with fundamentalist religious leanings, has grown and changed over the last few decades.

As a modern political force, the Christian Right began in 1974 when Robert Grant founded American Christian Cause to advocate Christian moral teachings in Southern California. Concerned that Christians overwhelmingly voted in favor of President Jimmy Carter in 1976, Grant founded Christian Voice to mobilize Christian voters in favor of candidates who share their values. Grant involved national conservative leaders including Gary Jarmin, Howard Phillips, Terry Dolan, and Richard Viguerie in his movement and made national headlines when Christian Voice-backed candidates including Ronald Reagan, Steve Symms, Dan Quayle, and John East defeated entrenched incumbents in the 1978 and 1980 elections. After Grant ousted Phillips, Dolan, and Viguerie several years later, the trio went on to recruit Jerry Falwell to build a new Christian Right organization, the Moral Majority. Grant's movement was said to have played a significant role in the election of President Ronald Reagan in 1980 and dozens of imitators were founded including Concerned Women for America, American Coalition for Traditional Values, and the Christian Coalition.

Personnel

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ The Church Report Top 20 List of Political Christian Organizations URL accessed May 12, 2006.
  2. ↑ Family Research Council: Over 23 years defending family, faith, and freedom. In: About FRC: History/Mission. Family Research Council, 2006, abgerufen am 12. August 2006.
  3. ↑ Jeremy Scahill: In the Black(water). In: The Nation. June 5, 2006, 2006 (thenation.com [abgerufen am 12. August 2006]).
  4. ↑ Amber Hildebrand: FRC Statement on Development of HPV Vaccines. Family Research Council, 2005, abgerufen am 22. August 2006. - "Media reports suggesting that the Family Research Council opposes all development or distribution of such vaccines are false....While we welcome medical advances such as an HPV vaccine, it remains clear that practicing abstinence until marriage and fidelity within marriage is the single best way of preventing the full range of sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, and negative psychological and emotional consequences that can result from sexual activity outside marriage."
  5. ↑ Debora MacKenzie: Will cancer vaccine get to all women? In: NewScientist.com. Reed Business Information Ltd., 2005, abgerufen am 22. August 2006.
  6. ↑ Will South Carolinas Science Curriculum Evolve? Washington Watch Daily Radio commentary, June 29, 2006.
  7. ↑ Intelligent Design Deserves Intelligent Debate Tony Perkins' Washington Update, October 18 2005.
  8. ↑ No Freedom to Choose in Education Tony Perkins' Washington Update, January 12 2006.
  9. ↑ Chris Hedges: Soldiers of Christ II: Feeling the hate with the National Religious Broadcasters. In: Harpers.org, Features. Harper's Magazine Foundation, 2005, abgerufen am 12. August 2006.
  10. ↑ Funding the Culture Wars: Philanthropy, Church and State By John Russell January 2005
  11. ↑ the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
  12. ↑ The Rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party [1]TheocracyWatch, Last updated: March 2006; URL accessed April 29, 2006.
  13. ↑ Taking Over the Republican PartyTheocracyWatch, Last updated: February 2005; URL accessed April 29, 2006.
  14. ↑ "Dominionist Influence in The U.S. Congress", TheocracyWatch, Last updated: December 2005; URL accessed April 23, 2006.
  15. ↑ Blumenthal, Max, "Justice Sunday Preachers", The Nation, April 26, 2005
  16. ↑ A Response to False Claims made by "The Nation". In: Special Publication. Family Research Council, 2006, abgerufen am 23. August 2006.
  17. ↑ James Dobson: Setting the Record Straight. In: Dr. Dobson's Newsletter: February, 2005. Focus on the Family, 2006, abgerufen am 12. August 2006.
  18. ↑ Till, Francis, "Muddling SpongeBob: Gay or straight?", National Business Review, January 24, 2005.
  19. ↑ David Crary: Conservatives try to curtail hotel porn. In: News. Associated Press, 2006, abgerufen am 23. August 2006.
  20. ↑ Campaign for Corporate Responsibility targets hotel porn sellers. In: Press release. Citizens for Community Values, 2006, abgerufen am 23. August 2006.
  21. ↑ Ron Brynaert: Coalition of conservative groups believe hotel porn may be prosecutable. www.rawstory.com, 2006, abgerufen am 23. August 2006.
  22. ↑ Think Progress: ‘Values Voter Summit’ Features Attack on ‘Faggots,’ Claim That Gay Rights Movement Inspired ‘From The Pit Of Hell Itself’. Think Progress, 2006, abgerufen am 14. Januar 2007.
  23. ↑ The Nation: With the Party of Dobson. The Nation, 2006, abgerufen am 14. Januar 2007.
  24. ↑ Tony Perkins: ‘Tolerance And Diversity’ Are To Blame For ‘Congressmen Chasing 16-Year-Olds’ at thinkprogress.org. Retrieved on October 4, 2006
  25. ↑ Some Seek 'Pink Purge' in the GOP Johanna Neuman. Los Angeles Times, October 18 2006.
  26. ↑ Lobby Watch, Family Research Council The Center for Public Integrity.
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