Tag Archives: Group: Focus on the Family

HeraldNet.com – Local news: Around the country, there are 39 other Family Policy Institutes like Washington’s. Each is independently run yet share one thing in common — an association with the Focus on the Family arm of the Alliance Defense Fund, Family Research Council and CitizenLink. Backholm made clear association is legally different than affiliation. “We are totally self-sustaining, self-funded and self-operating,” he said. “We get no funds for operation.” Yet the ties are strong. The Alliance Defense Fund planned to dispatch lawyers to Olympia last week to strategize with lawmakers opposed to legalizing same-sex marriage.

LifeNews.com: James Dobson, the founder and former president of Focus on the Family, has joined a number of social conservative and pro-life leaders have who announced endorsements for Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum.

Glenn T. Staunton at National Review: This was the stated criteria for inclusion in the study. But there are very few same-sex homes where both married parents are the adoptive parents. And confine that small number to only those in Massachusetts, and you could probably fit them in a mini van. As Greg Scott of the Alliance Defense Fund explains, that means Minnery was indeed correct about 99.9999 percent and Franken caught him on a snarky 0.00001 percent technicality that he turned into a laugh-line.

NYTimes.com: “This is the $100,000 question: Can the evangelical leadership unify behind Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum or Rick Perry?” said John Stemberger, president of Florida Family Policy Council.

NCRegister.com: As some ask why Catholics seem to be the only ones fighting for religious freedom, a high-profile theological group prepares to issue statement in early 2012.

LaTimes.com: Officials say an $80,000 Stonehenge-like worship center underscores a commitment to embrace all religions.

Baptist Press: The Alliance Defense Fund reports that in all the state votes on same-sex marriage over the last decade, 63 percent of all active voters have voted to affirm natural marriage. The record that counts — the one at the ballot box — show that those who report supporting same-sex marriage are not as likely to show up to vote their convictions.

The New American: Even before its debut, reported by The New American, the show had come under an intense assault from a group called the Coalition for the War on Illegal Pornography, which charged that the show was little more than prime-time porn that should never be aired. The coalition was made up of such groups as Focus on the Family, the Alliance Defense Fund, the Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, and the American Family Association, among others, whose leaders issued a stern condemnation, declaring that “NBC is contributing to the sexual objectification and exploitation of women and encouraging greater acceptance of pornography with its soon-to-be-aired series.”

The Colorado Independent (includes video): The ADF doesn’t seem to be arguing that such political practices from the pulpit is legal, but that it should be legal. The group views the restrictions placed on church as a part of their tax-exempt status as an undue shackle, which they believe violates the constitutional right of free speech . . . Below, video of Bishop Phillip Porter, Jr., or Aurora, CO, speaking in favor of Pulpit Freedom Sunday . . .

NYTimes.com: The Alliance Defense Fund, a nonprofit legal defense group whose founders include James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, sponsors the annual event, which started with 33 pastors in 2008. This year, Glenn Beck has been promoting it, calling for 1,000 religious leaders to sign on and generating additional interest at the beginning of a presidential election cycle . . . “It’s frustrating,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel at Alliance Defense. “The law is on the books but they don’t enforce it, leaving churches in limbo.”

Dallas Voice: Her defense is that New York law requires employers to accommodate employees’ religious beliefs and the town would have to accept hers. She said she will seek the help of Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal group.

WCFCourier.com: A lease agreement with Kaio Church. The space at 815 Orchard Hill Drive will be used to house two of the district’s preschool programs. According to the rental agreement the district will pay the church $8,000 to use the space from Sept. 1 to through June 30, 2012. The board already had approved a $61,940 construction contract with Kidder Construction to make the space suitable for preschool classrooms. The plan has drawn fire from the Freedom from Religion Foundation and support from the Alliance Defense Fund and Focus on the Family.

News from Missouri Family Policy Council: “The ACLU cannot mask its attempts to turn school computers into porn portals for children by expressing a supposed concern for censorship,” says Jeremy Tedesco, legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. “Parents expect schools to be places where their children learn–not places where they access pornography.”

The New American: As reported by The New American, a group called the Coalition for the War on Illegal Pornography, led by Morality in Media, “said the show is nothing more than a pornographic attack on families and the culture that should never see the light of day.” The coalition, made up of such groups as Focus on the Family, the Alliance Defense Fund, the Family Research Council, and Concerned Women for America (to name just a few), said in a press release that “NBC is contributing to the sexual objectification and exploitation of women and encouraging greater acceptance of pornography with its soon-to-be-aired series.” The Parents Television Council added to the attack, charging that The Playboy Club is little more than a “blatant attempt to obliterate any remaining standards of broadcast decency.”

Sarah Posner and Anthea Butler at Religion Dispatches: That’s too narrow, and I think has (1) opened a door for the dominionism deniers, and (2) caused people to overlook some of the real-world creations of dominionism. The religious right has, in so many ways, succeeded in creating institutions meant to supplant “secular” ones. One of the founders of Oral Roberts University law school (where Michele Bachmann earned her law degree) called this his “dominion mandate.” Look at Regent University, where Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell earned his graduate degrees, or Liberty University Law School, where students are taught to engage in “civil disobedience” when a court order conflicts, in their view, with “biblical law,” or the Alliance Defense Fund, a law firm created to take on cases that would result in overturning of Supreme Court jurisprudence on separation of church and state. That’s the sort of thing dominionism has actually accomplished, in the legal field alone.

Minnesota Independent: . . . “[T[he Minnesota Supreme Court’s Baker decision is undoubtedly binding and controlling here,” MFC’s attorneys wrote. Those attorneys are from the Alliance Defense Fund, a group founded by prominent religious right groups including James Dobson’s Focus on the Family and the American Family Association, an organization that has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Deseret News: he Coalition for the War on Illegal Pornography, a coalition of more than 70 groups, said “NBC is now contributing to and encouraging a highly dangerous sexualized culture as they stoop further into the gutter for programming and profits.” That coalition includes Morality In Media, Focus on the Family, the Alliance Defense Fund, the Family Research Council and Concerned Women For America, among others.

Greg Scott at Human Events: So when Minnery said that he assumed that “nuclear family” meant Mom, Dad and kids, he was somewhere around 99.99999% right. Or, one might say that the good senator was 99.99999% wrong, and should reconsider the weight of Minnery’s principled science.

OneNewsNow.com: “We are seeing growing evidence that the polygamists are moving forward in their attempts to redefine marriage to being more than one spouse,” the Focus spokesperson warns. “To use the same-sex ‘marriage’ arguments will be one of the best ways that they will be able to achieve that.”

Heritage Foundation, The Foundry via Fox News: First, the panelists noted the government’s profound interest in sustaining the integrity of the institution of marriage because of the unique contribution a married mother and father make to child welfare. As Austin Nimocks, Senior Legal Counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, explained . . . As Nimocks pointed out, however, “These advocates are asking the whole of society to ignore the unique and demonstrable differences between men and women in parenthood: no mothers, no fathers, just generic parents. But there are no generic people. We are composed of two complementary, but different, halves of humanity.” [Tom Minnery and Ed Whalen also quoted]

Christian Post: An Alliance Defense Fund/ Public Opinion Strategies poll also found that 62 percent of Americans still believe that marriage should be defined only as a union between one and one woman. “Americans understand marriage,” ADF Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks testified at the hearing. “Since 1968 over 32 jurisdictions have voted on marriage it’s passed by an average of 63 percent. They don’t need a legislature to define it for them.”

GantDaily.com: Also on the witness list were Tom Minnery of Focus on the Family and Austin Nimocks, senior legal counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund and one of the lawyers for proponents of Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage.

New American: But the Coalition for the War on Illegal Pornography, led by Morality in Media, said the show is nothing more than a pornographic attack on families and the culture that should never see the light of day. “NBC is contributing to the sexual objectification and exploitation of women and encouraging greater acceptance of pornography with its soon-to-be-aired series,” the coalition charged in a press release. The coalition is made up of more than seventy groups, including Focus on the Family, Alliance Defense Fund, Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, American Family Association, Torah Jews for Decency, Wallbuilders, and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Historically, American voters have been blunt in evaluating the wisdom of social change. When a bad idea, which was originally considered to be good, slips through and into law, the American people haven’t been shy about fighting for its repeal and holding corresponding leaders to account. With the benefit of the new media and widespread access to endless streams of data, voters are now able to even more quickly discern fact from fiction and evidence from mere promise.

William Lolli at SanDiego.com: If Focus on the Family or the Alliance Defense Fund were successful in bringing the DOMA [Defense of Marriage Act] into law in such a way as to protect the definition of marriage from meddling minorities; or if they were able after 40 years of trying to finally pass laws to protect the unborn, there would be no need for them to raise money.

Christian Post: “Conservatives approve of Boehner’s repayment proposal as well as his decision to hire the Bush administration lawyer. Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Brian Raum commended the decision to choose Clement as lead counsel to defend DOMA. Hausknecht, also a licensed attorney, also praised Clement for his prestigious legal pedigree and experience arguing cases before the U.S. Supreme Court . . . ”

The offending app by religious group Exodus International — which aims to “help” gay individuals through the Bible’s teachings — directly contradicts Apple’s guidelines, and constitutes inappropriate hate speech, argued activists from gay-rights group Truth Wins Out . . . . . . Sure, the Alliance Defense Fund and Focus on the Family and several thousand various Christian organizations have their apps (surprisingly) still in the app store, but where is Apple going to draw the line? If enough petitions come in about those apps, will they be iExiled too?

Current-Movie-Reviews.com: “The Day of Dialogue is scheduled for April 18, 2011 on high school campuses across America . . . Countering the Silence, the Day of Truth began in 2005. The Alliance Defense Fund launched the event with the goal of supporting students of faith who wanted to peacefully engage in a free exchange of ideas and respectfully share a Biblical perspective when issues like homosexuality are brought up and celebrated in their public school. Focus on the Family became the events sponsor in late 2010. Changing the name to The Day of Dialogue (which makes more sense to me), Focus hopes to encourage peaceful, student-initiated conversation and ensure there is a safe space for different perspectives and viewpoints, including faith-based ones.” | Day of Dialogue

Associated Press: “Colorado-based Focus on the Family is considering ending its sponsorship of a national conservative political action rally because of the involvement of a gay conservative group.”

Christian Today: “The drafters of the Manhattan Declaration submitted a revised app to Apple on Wednesday after the company pulled its original one for being ‘offensive’ to some. The revised app no longer contains a poll that asked users about same-sex relationships and abortion.”

Michael-In-Norfolk – - Coming Out In Mid Life Blog: “The Family Foundation based in Richmond, Virginia, has a long history of promoting an over the top anti-gay agenda. Thus, it is surprising that TFF has been silent on the designation of its allies – e.g., Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, American Family Association, etc. – as either anti-gay groups or anti-gay hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center (“SPLC”) [ADF listed as allied organization]”

TPMMuckraker: “The James Dobson-founded Christian ministry Focus on the Family has stepped in to replace Exodus International as the event’s sponsor, and has re-branded and re-framed it The Day of Dialogue . . . ‘The Day of Dialogue is an excellent opportunity for students to respectfully present a different viewpoint than the Day of Silence,’ ADF Senior Counsel [David Cortman] said. ‘ADF always stands ready to offer pro-bono legal assistance to student participants who have their First Amendment rights violated.’”

Christianity Today: “Focus on the Family is taking the reins of the Day of Truth, which was previously run by Exodus International and the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF). The rebranded ‘Day of Dialogue’ is an annual event that coincides with the ‘Day of Silence’ events sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).”

OneNewsNow: “Focus on the Family is taking over the program formerly known as the ‘Day of Truth.’ Last month, Exodus International decided to step away from leading the annual campaign that was created in 2005 by the Alliance Defense Fund. Exodus spearheaded the event last year and had supported it for several years prior.”

The Gazette (Colorado Springs): “Focus on the Family’s decision Thursday to take over sponsorship of a student-led observance that emphasizes Christianity’s viewpoint on homosexuality has polarized conservatives . . . Jon Henke, co-founder of political-action website The Next Right, said Focus has made a mistake . . . The observance was started in 2005 and called the Day of Truth by the conservative law firm the Alliance Defense Fund.”

Augusta Chronicle (AP): “Focus on the Family, of Colorado Springs, will take over sponsorship of the former ‘Day of Truth,’ which has been co-sponsored since 2005 by Exodus International, a Christian group in Orlando, Fla . . . The Alliance Defense Fund, a group of Christian attorneys, remains the other co-sponsor.”

Ex-Gay Watch: “Focus on the Family has taken the helm of the Day of Truth, which was spawned by the Alliance Defense Fund to oppose GLSEN’s Day of Silence.”

Christian Post: “Focus on the Family announced on Thursday that it is the new sponsor of the ‘Day of Truth,’ except now the ministry has changed the name to the ‘Day of Dialogue’ . . . The Day of Truth was established by the Alliance Defense Fund in 2005 to ‘counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda and express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective.’”

The Gazette (Colorado Springs): “GLSEN became a sponsor of the Day of Silence in 2001. Five years later the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian law group, organized the Day of Truth as a rebuke to the Day of Silence. Soon after, Exodus International took over sponsorship. More than 10,000 students have participated in the Day of Truth, Schneeberger said.”

The Oklahoman (AP): “The other co-sponsor remains the Alliance Defense Fund, a group of Christian attorneys. The sponsorship change was first reported by CNN.”

CNN Belief Blog: “Focus on the Family, an influential evangelical organization, will begin sponsoring the event known as the Day of Truth but will change the name of the happening to the Day of Dialogue, the group is set to announce Thursday . . . The Day of Truth was started by the conservative group Alliance Defense Fund, Chambers said, but the group transferred primary responsibility for the event to Exodus this year.”

“The director of the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network in San Francisco, Lahl has become a lone voice for a message that many of her fellow evangelicals are uncomfortable hearing: If embryos are human lives, she argues, then it is time for Christians to be consistent about their moral objections and unite against IVF . . . Whatever their leaders think, evangelicals themselves have been using IVF widely, the numbers suggest . . . ”

Omaha World-Herald: “The top leadership of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce said Monday that it opposes an effort to enact legal protections for homosexual and transgender people, although the chamber’s young professionals group endorsed the ordinance . . . The Christian organization, Family First, said the proposal is of statewide concern . . . Family First has ties to such groups as Focus on the Family and the Alliance Defense Fund.”

Focus on the Family president Jim Daly writing at CNN: “Not only is Christianity not to blame for attacks against gays and lesbians, when properly interpreted and practiced, it is the cure for and solution to the mistreatment and abuse of anyone, for any reason.”

The Daily Caller: “Two weeks out from an election in which Republicans are poised to make major gains, top social conservatives are voicing decidedly tepid support for House Minority Leader John Boehner, who stands ready to take the Speaker’s gavel if Republicans take the House in November . . . Struggling for relevance amidst the rise of Tea Party activists energized by spending, small government and economic issues, social conservatives had to fight Boehner to get language promoting traditional marriage into the GOP’s ‘Pledge to America.’”

All of this makes the growing evangelical interest in adoption seem particularly countercultural. With the widespread availability of artificial reproductive technologies such as in-vitro fertilization, many couples who previously would have chosen adoption can now use surrogates, donor sperm or donor eggs to have a baby who shares their DNA (or whose DNA they have carefully chosen), and whose prenatal care they can closely monitor. Taking a child as he or she comes to you may be a difficult choice for some parents to make these days.

Christianity Today: “A group of charities, colleges, and churches wrote a letter to the Senate which stated that they opposed efforts to ‘dilute the right of faith-based social service organizations to stay faith-based through their hiring’ . . . The Alliance Defense Fund also took on the issue of religious liberty through its third annual ‘Pulpit Freedom Sunday’ . . . ‘The question at stake is: Who should decide what is preached from the pulpit? Government bureaucrats and regulators, or the church and its leadership?’ asked ADF president [Alan Sears].”

Christianity Today Political Advocacy Tracker: “Labor Day may be the symbolic start of the campaign season, but for some Christian political activists, the campaign begins with a 40-day prayer vigil that will culminate before the November elections . . . Pray & Act is endorsed by scores of pastors as well as leaders of advocacy groups, including Jim Daly (Focus on the Family), Mike Huckabee (former governor of Arkansas), Richard Land (ERLC), Penny Nance (Concerned Women for America), [Douglas Napier] and [Alan Sears] (Alliance Defense Fund) . . . Alliance Defense Fund won a victory for a Catholic student organization that was denied funds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.”

LifeSiteNews: “China’s Yunnan Province is implementing a new program to encourage chastity in students, using materials produced by the evangelical protestant organization Focus on the Family, according to local media reports.”

Edge Boston (Warning: ads advocating homosexual conduct): “Anti-gay groups worried that efforts to promote safe schools and counter bullying say that Christians who believe gays are ‘sinners’ are being sidelined and ‘belittled’ . . . ‘We feel more and more that activists are being deceptive in using anti-bullying rhetoric to introduce their viewpoints, while the viewpoint of Christian students and parents are increasingly belittled,’ [Focus on the Family's] education expert, Candi Cushman, said . . . The Post noted that Cushman had created True Tolerance, a website that purports to help parents ‘respond in a loving and fact-based way’ . . . to ‘homosexual advocacy’ in schools. The site offers materials prepared in conjunction with anti-gay groups the Alliance Defense Fund . . . and Exodus International . . .”

Media Matters (includes video): ADF, which Dobson co-founded, encouraged pastors to endorse candidates in 2008 and “challenge IRS rules that prohibit tax-exempt churches from engaging in partisan politics.” In a September 2008 post onThe Washington Post’s On Faith blog, David Waters wrote that the Alliance Defense Fund, which Dobson co-founded, “is recruiting preachers to challenge IRS rules that prohibit tax-exempt churches from engaging in partisan politics, step up to the pulpit … and endorse a candidate.”

Denver Post: “As kids head back to school, conservative Christian media ministry Focus on the Family perceives a bully on the playground: national gay-advocacy groups. School officials allow these outside groups to introduce policies, curriculum and library books under the guise of diversity, safety or bullying-prevention initiatives, said Focus on the Family education expert Candi Cushman . . . Public schools increasingly convey that homosexuality is normal and should be accepted, Cushman said, while opposing viewpoints by conservative Christians are portrayed as bigotry.”

LifeNews: “Focus on the Family recently donated to a local pregnancy center the 500th ultrasound machine designed to help women contemplating abortion see an image of their unborn baby. The program is credited with saving as many as 81,000 children from abortions across the United States.”

ACLU: “The American Civil Liberties Union and a broad coalition of religious, political, human rights and civil rights groups today called on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to immediately adopt a set of proposed standards aimed at eradicating sexual assault in the nation’s prisons.”

ADF News Center: “You may have just heard [Alan Sears] on the Focus on the Family radio broadcast. As he explained on the program, religious freedom in America is under attack by advocates of the homosexual agenda. The goal of these radical activists is to silence and punish Christians so that they can force their agenda on our families, schools, churches, and even our military.”

OneNewsNow: “‘I firmly believe that Elena Kagan is a solid, liberal vote for same-sex marriage,’ [Bruce Hausknecht of Focus on the Family] states. ‘The question is perhaps what does Justice [Anthony] Kennedy think about this. Since he wrote the Lawrence v. Texas opinion, he’s provided evidence that he’s in the camp of same-sex marriage.’”

“A three-judge panel in New York says a rule on unscripted expletives on live broadcast TV and radio creates a ‘chilling effect’ in violation of the 1st Amendment.”

CentreDaily.com: Today, Liberty Institute filed an amicus brief in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the National Day of Prayer in Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Obama. Among those Liberty Institute represents in the brief include Dr. James Dobson, the Family Research Council (FRC), Focus on the Family Action (Citizenlink), the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU), Let Freedom Ring, and Liberty Counsel, along with 28 family policy councils located in states nationwide . . . View the brief online at http://tinyurl.com/2837gj5.

Centre Daily Times: “Today, Liberty Institute filed an amicus brief in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the National Day of Prayer in Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Obama. Among those Liberty Institute represents in the brief include Dr. James Dobson, the Family Research Council (FRC), Focus on the Family Action (Citizenlink), the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU), Let Freedom Ring, and Liberty Counsel, along with 28 family policy councils located in states nationwide.” | Liberty Institute Press Release (Google Viewer) | Brief (Google Viewer)

Christianity Today (see page 2): “[Gregory Baylor] of the Alliance Defense Fund said the constitutional issues at stake are still up for debate. ‘The conflict still exists,’ said Baylor. ‘The Hastings policy actually requires CLS to allow atheists to lead its Bible studies and the College Democrats to accept the election of Republican officers in order for the groups to be recognized on campus. We agree with Justice [Samuel] Alito in his dissent that the Court should have rejected this as absurd.’”

Washington Times: “Angry over health care reform and the abortion fight it reinvigorated, worried about the expansion of gay rights and frustrated by President Obama’s criticisms of Israel, religious conservatives are eager to play a key role in the outcome of the 2010 midterm elections.”

ABC: “Former first lady Laura Bush has broken with her husband on the premier social issues of his administration and said she backs gay marriage and abortion.”

Andrew Sullivan writes at the Atlantic Monthly: “The days are past when this could be brushed under the rug. Let’s have an honest debate, can we? The way to counter prejudice is through truth – not avoidance. For the right to oppose Kagan merely because she is gay – if she is – would be one more step toward their self-destruction. By staying mum, the Obamites may be playing yet another rope-a-dope. I just cannot see how in 2010, ambiguity is an option.”

Sullivan follows up with this post arguing that Kagan should be asked whether she is a lesbian: “The only thing that could conceivably put this question into the zone of ‘whispers’ and ‘privacy’ is homophobia – and yes, that means the homophobia of liberal journalists . . . ”

The Capitol Fax Blog: “The problems of bullying at schools has attracted much attention over the past several years, and the General Assembly has just sent an anti-bullying bill to the governor. Schools will have to adopt anti-bullying policies. It was watered down from its original format, which also required education and record-keeping . . . Even so, Focus on the Family is not pleased . . . ‘There are good alternatives that provide protection to kids, but avoid entrapment in identity politics—such as the fair and objective model anti-bullying policy language drafted by the Alliance Defense Fund.’”

Jim Daly, CEO of Focus on the Family, has this commentary at the Washington Post on the National Day of Prayer ruling. He writes: “To even the casual observer, Judge Crabbs’s decision was a curious and perplexing one. After all, there have been federally recognized days of prayer in America for as long as there have been stars on the flag . . . ”

Freedom from Religion Foundation: “The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent letters April 12 to six mayors from Orange County, Calif., objecting to the Orange Coast Mayors’ Prayer Breakfast, headlined by Focus on the Family CEO Jim Daly.”

CitizenLink: “There’s a renewed effort in Congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). [Tim Tracey], legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, said HR 3017 would give sexual orientation and gender identity protected-class status. ‘It sets the statement that sexual orientation and gender identity are compelling interests, that those should override the religious freedom and free speech rights of religious individuals,’ he explained.”

The New American: “The arrests on March 28 and 29 of nine people associated with the so-called Hutaree Militia in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio has provided media commentators and reporters with an opportunity to broadly smear all political conservatives, constitutionalists, Tea Party activists, and opponents of President Obama’s health care as ‘extremist’ and ‘anti-government’ . . . Of course, the SPLC has been attacking the “Christian Right” for years, leveling the sandwich smear on such respected Christian and pro-family organizations as Dr. James Dobson’s Focus on the Family, the late Rev. D. James Kennedy’s Coral Ridge Ministries/Center for Reclaiming America, and Beverly LaHaye’s Concerned Women for America, as well as the Alliance Defense Fund, the American Family Association, the Chalcedon Foundation, American Vision, the Christian Action Network, the Family Research Council, Summit Ministries, and the Traditional Values Coalition.”

Christian Post: “After a year of work, the 25 members of the first Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships presented a report that included more than 60 recommendations for six issues: economic recovery and domestic poverty, fatherhood and healthy families, environment and climate change, inter-religious cooperation, global poverty and development, and reform of the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.”

Christianity Today Political Advocacy Tracker: “At a Focus on the Family chapel service to say farewell to retiring James Dobson, Tom Minnery of Focus on the Family Action recounted Dobson’s impact on public policy organizations. Dobson helped found three national policy organizations (American Family Association, Alliance Defense Fund, and Family Research Council) and 37 state family policy councils. According to Minnery, in 2010 these 40 organizations have 548 full-time employees and a combined budget of $89 million.”

Christianity Today’s Political Advocacy Tracker is a “roundup of what Christian activist organizations have been talking about over the last week.” Today’s edition includes some commentary on GOProud at CPAC: “CPAC was cosponsored by many social conservative organizations such as Alliance Defense Fund, American Center for Law and Justice, Americans United for Life, Concerned Women for America, Focus on the Family Action, and Prison Fellowship. This year, CPAC was also sponsored by GOProud, a group that ‘represents gay conservatives and their allies.’ Also at the conference were libertarian groups that support same-sex marriage and a repeal of the military’s ban on homosexuality.”

Citizen Link:  The NCAA took a Focus on the Family ad off of its Web site after homosexual activists complained. The print ad shows a father holding his young son. It’s titled: Celebrate Family. Celebrate Life. And the picture is captioned: All I want for my son is for him to grow up knowing how to do the right thing.