Tag Archives: Group: Focus on the Family

Citizen Link: “Dr. James Dobson, founder and former chairman of Focus on the Family, is stepping down 33 years after he began the organization that has helped countless families.”

Religion Clause Blog: “In the first ever use of the review panel process, a Panel last week found that ICANN’s board acted improperly in 2007 when, under pressure from the U.S. government and others, it reversed a decision it had reached earlier and refused to allow ICM Registry to introduce a new .xxx top level domain that would identify pornographic website . . . ”

AlterNet: “Throughout [CPAC], there were special youth-targeted events. In the exhibit hall, a quick pass yielded a treasure trove of college-focused literature from the likes of the Alliance Defense Fund, Students for Liberty, Young Americans for Liberty, the Young Americans for Freedom, and a very jazzy-looking booklet, complete with CD-ROM, for elders called, ‘Reaching Millennials’ from Focus on the Family Action. If there’s anything I’ve learned from my years of reporting on the right is that they’re in it for the long haul.”

ADF President and General Counsel Alan E. Sears appeared on Focus on the Family with Dr. James Dobson and John Fuller to discuss the work of the Alliance Defense Fund.

First MP3 (28 mins. approx.)
Second MP3 (28 mins. approx.)

ADF Information Page: Alan Sears to Appear on Focus on the Family Broadcast

Metro Weekly: “A not insignificant focus of [CPAC} centered around the impact of a change in policy on military chaplains, in part because of the attention drawn to the issue in a 5-page letter sent by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) to the president and Secretary Gates on Wednesday. As Jordan Lorence, the senior vice president and senior counsel at the ADF, said at the news conference, ‘This change in policy will negatively affect military readiness by creating a conflict of conscience for military chaplains. One of the first times in American history, there will be an open conflict between the virtues taught by the chaplains and the moral message delivered by the military.’”

OneNewsNow: “Elaine Donnelly is president of the Center for Military Readiness, which has been leading the charge against repealing the law. On Thursday she was joined by a number of other conservative organizations — including Focus on the Family, Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, The Center for Security Policy, and Alliance Defense Fund — in voicing strong opposition to repealing the law . . . ‘I said at the time [of] the president’s speech that . . . the statement that he wants to repeal this law was going to backfire,’ she stated yesterday.”

Stars and Stripes: “Members of the Alliance Defense Fund said a change to the law could compromise the work of military chaplains, possibly forcing them to teach acceptance of homosexual lifestyles even when it violates their faith. Earlier in the day, the International Conference of Evangelical Chaplain Endorsers reiterated its opposition to allowing gays to serve in the military.”

Advocate: “Leaders of antigay groups, including Center for Military Readiness president Elaine Donnelly (pictured), will hold a press conference Thursday afternoon to call for maintaining the military’s antigay ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy . . . Joining Donnelly at the press conference, according to information obtained by People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch blog, will be . . . Jordan W. Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund. . . .”

Though Saletan’s criticism is less shrill than NARAL’s, he makes the same basic attempt to draw the square peg of “pro-choice” beliefs through the round hole of pro-life mothers who highlight the personhood of their preborn children.

Jeremiah Dys of the Family Policy Council of West Virginia writes in the Daily Mail: “SUPER Bowl XLIV will long be remembered for a quarterback who is yet to play his first NFL football game. The game was eclipsed by an off-the-field message – that women have a choice – one that is difficult and seemingly lonesome to make, but need not be. The choice pits self versus selflessness, life versus death, and potential versus present . . . ”

LifeNews: “Officials at the pro-life group announced today that they are unveiling a second ad that will air before the Super Bowl begins. The second commercial plans to go further than the first . . . ”

LifeNews: “CBS is facing pressure from pro-abortion groups to scrap the pro-life advertisement Focus on the Family plans to run featuring Tim Tebow . . . ”

Iowa Independent: “In an e-mail to supporters allegedly on behalf of Republican state Sen. Nancy Boettger of Harlan, Iowa Family Policy Center’s action arm announced that Senate Room 24 in the Iowa Capitol was reserved at 10 a.m. Monday, and at that same time for the remainder of the legislative session, for a showing of ‘The Truth Project.’ . . . The Iowa Independent had not yet received confirmation on whether the full series of reservations had been approved by the office. It also unclear if an Iowa Senator can use their privilege to reserve space for several weeks on behalf of a non-governmental, third-party organization such as the Iowa Family Policy Center, which indicated in its e-mail to supporters that they should call the organization’s office to make reservations for the 10 a.m. meeting.”

CNN: “Focus on the Family, a Christian non-profit group, said it will air its first Super Bowl spot during the upcoming game. The 30-second ad will feature Tim Tebow, a former quarterback with the University of Florida’s Gators and 2007 winner of the Heisman Trophy, along with his mother Pam . . . The Tebows decided to participate in the ad ‘because the issue of life is one they feel very strongly about,’ the Colorado-based organization said in a press release.”

CitizenLink: “Focus on the Family is re-launching the Roe IQ Test. The quiz checks Americans’ knowledge of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion on demand . . . ‘The current debate over the expansion of federal funding for abortion in the proposed health care reform legislation is just another manifestation of this debate,’ [Steven Aden] said. ‘In many ways, Roe is the defining issue of our times, and one that so many people know so little about.’”

Boston Globe (AP): “The academy superintendent, Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Gould, says the improvements are the result of a topdown campaign to foster respect and a commitment to accommodate all cadets, even nonbelievers and an ‘Earth-centered’ religious group that needed a place for a stone circle so it could worship outdoors.”

Citizen Link Video: Focus on the Family Action has launched the Stand for Christmas Web site that allows consumers to give feedback on how naughty or nice retailers are being when it comes to the word “Christmas

CBN: “Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, gave a deposition Tuesday after being named in a suit claiming the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional . . . ‘Prayer proclamations are a long-established and cherished American tradition going back to the Founding Fathers,’ said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Joel Oster. ‘This is simply a ridiculous lawsuit and an example of one radical organization’s allergic reaction to anything involving God.’”

USA Today: “Several gay rights organizations have announced they plan to protest a Focus on the Family ‘Love Won Out’ conference on homosexuality that will be held Saturday (Nov. 7), at this city’s Metropolitan Church of God.”

Focus on the Family: “Focus on the Family Founder and Chairman Emeritus James C. Dobson, Ph.D., will leave the ministry as its primary radio voice at the end of February, the ministry announced today.”

Christian Post: “Concerned Americans are being encouraged to help raise awareness of the harms of pornography and highlight the need to enforce obscenity and related laws as they observe the 22nd annual White Ribbon Against Pornography (WRAP) Week. From Sunday …

“The Obama administration’s point man on civil rights said Wednesday he will seek to fight discrimination against gays, an area in which the Justice Department has had only a small role in the past . . . ”

Eugene Volokh writes at the Volokh Conspiracy about the recent ruling in Campion v. City of Minneapolis, No. 07-3935 (D. Minn. Aug. 11, 2009). He includes lengthy excerpts from the opinion.

CitizenLink: “The cheerleaders from Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School made signs to encourage fans and players. They used Bible verses as their motivation . . . After one complaint, the school created an area outside the stadium for the banners . . . ‘There are many legal groups out there,’ [Bruce Hausknecht, legal analyst for Focus on the Family Action] said, ‘like the Alliance Defense Fund, that will defend these schools and religious freedom for free.’”

Miami Herald: “The parents of an Ohio teenager who ran away to Orlando because she thought her life was in danger for converting from Islam to Christianity filed court papers Monday to get the case moved to Ohio.”

Politico: “Abortion funding in health care right now is our main priority, a top priority,” said Ashley Horne of the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family. “We are very deeply concerned, as are our constituents. We will do everything we can to ensure this bill either goes down or excludes abortion funding. We are that serious about it.”

Morning Sentinel: “More than 1,000 gay-marriage opponents are expected to rally in Augusta for an evening event Sunday featuring religious and conservative leaders from across Maine and the country.”

Citizen Link: “This is going to be a minefield of lawsuits by people who are suddenly feeling that they are discriminated against.”

“Avoid the phrase ‘ban gay marriage,’ the talking points suggest, adding that opponents ‘know it causes us to lose about ten percentage points in polls.’”

Jim Daly, president and CEO of Focus on the Family, writes at the U.S. News & World Report “God & Country” blog: “So, what should President Obama do? At a minimum, he should promote policies ensuring a woman’s informed consent before she receives an abortion, including the opportunity to view an ultrasound image of her child. Our research indicates that of those women still at risk for abortion after counseling, 65 percent expressed their intent to carry their baby to term after viewing the ultrasound image.”

Christian Post: “Focus on the Family announced on Tuesday that it will be passing the reigns of its Love Won Out conferences on homosexuality to another ministry . . . Starting November, Love Won Out conferences will be led by Exodus International, one of the largest Christian organizations that deals with homosexual issues and promotes ‘freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ.’”

The National Day of Prayer will be holding a summit on Oct. 16-18, 2009. More information is available here.

“Researchers are just beginning to study the phenomenon, but the few who do estimate that openly polyamorous families in the United States number more than half a million, with thriving contingents in nearly every major city.”

Paige Winfield reports in Christianity Today: “Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said that while churches and their ministers will probably not be directly prosecuted, pastors could still be called upon to testify in the prosecution of a hate crime just because they preached on homosexuality. ‘I think once that happens, that is going to send a huge chill through the pastorate,’ Stanley said.”

Stuart Shepard offers this inspiring bit of Stoplight video from Citizen Link.

Denver Post: The secret of Jim Daly’s success, he says only half-jokingly, is “low expectations.” Daly, president and chief executive of Focus on the Family, has achieved more by dint of low expectations than most heads of international multimedia giants. Daly, 47, a self-made “business guy,” succeeds psychologist James Dobson as leader of one of the world’s largest Christian media ministries.

Tiffany Stanley reports at USA Today (RNS): “There is no evidence that a lack of prosecutions is occurring,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel of Alliance Defense Fund. “There is a well-documented pattern that these crimes are being punished under current criminal law without adding any kind of hate crimes provisions.”

Adam Serwer writes at Tapped, the group blog of the American Prospect: “Proponents of the referendum included Bishop Harry Jackson, often the religious right’s point man on such issues in communities of color, as well as Brian Raum, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group founded by James Dobson, among others. Local leaders for the anti-gay marriage side like Rev. Patrick Walker were also present. Gay marriage opponents made a number of arguments: they raised the specter of children being exposed to homosexuality, argued that District voters were disenfranchised by the City Council, and made the usual religious arguments against gay marriage.”

CitizenLink: “‘While the debate over the lack of religious-liberty protections revealed the dangers to the First Amendment rights of citizens, the language added to the bill is pitifully ineffective,’ [Bruce Hausknecht of Focus on the Family Action] said. ‘Not only will the law create family situations where children will be deprived of either a mother or a father, but citizens are being deprived of significant First Amendment rights, as well.’”

Citizen Link: “Focus on the Family hosted several dozen dignitaries at a lunch briefing today at the U.N. headquarters, as the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights marks its 60th anniversary.”

Washington Post: “Robin Wilson, a law professor at Washington and Lee University who has been pushing for religious exemptions in states where legalizing same-sex marriage is under consideration, said she agrees with Focus on the Family that there is risk for commercial enterprises and also for individuals ‘in the stream of commerce’ of same-sex weddings, such as wedding advisers, caterers and photographers, who may be compelled to provide services even though it would violate an individual’s deeply held religious beliefs.”

Kathryn Joyce writing at Religion Dispatches: “The desire to forward the bill as something with a more universal appeal is likely why, though the board of the Parentalrights.org website it overwhelmingly affiliated with the homeschooling movement, little mention has been made of it as an issue. Indeed, of the HSLDA-dominated Parentalrights.org ‘top ten’ list of treaty targets, homeschooling doesn’t even make an appearance. But that doesn’t mean that homeschoolers are any less its core constituency; just that they’ll be working more quietly behind the scenes, and defending their interests through appeals to non-homeschooling parents.”

WorldNetDaily: “Remarkable is a word reserved for very few extraordinary men to describe their contributions and legacies, but it captures the nature, charisma, consistency and work of Michael P. Farris,” Star Parker said. The media spotlight currently is on Farris again as the Parental Rights Amendment makes its way through Congress.

Concerned Women for American reports on the Christian Newswire: “A coalition of groups representing hundreds of thousands of Americans around the country sent a letter to senators today opposing the nomination of Judge David Hamilton to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.”

Christian Post: “A Senate panel is scheduled to vote Tuesday on the bid of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as health and human services secretary. But pro-life activists are making an eleventh-hour push to derail her nomination.”

OneNewsNow: “[What TrueTolerance.org] it does is help encounter one-sided, pro-gay messages that are coming in through these events and curriculum — and it does that by putting at their fingertips tools from legal experts,” Cushman explains. “There’s a memorandum on the website from one of the biggest legal groups in the nation — Alliance Defense Fund — that deals with these issues. There [is] social science data on there, and it’s all packaged in a professional format that parents can easily email to their school officials through this website.”

The Illinois Family Institute has posted this article on OpposingViews.com in response to its being placed on a “Hate Groups” list prepared by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Alliance Defense Fund President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears praised Focus on the Family founder and ADF co-founder Dr. James Dobson for his “tireless service” to American families upon learning of his resignation as chairman of the Focus on the Family board of directors.

“. . . James Dobson has resigned as chairman of Focus on the Family but will continue to play a prominent role at the organization he founded more than three decades ago . . . ”

Michael Foust writes at Baptist Press: With the Senate in recess until Monday, pro-family groups are ratcheting up their opposition to Department of Justice nominee David Ogden, whose previous legal representation of pornographers and opposition to some child porn laws …

AP: . . . The criticism comes ahead of a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing Thursday for David Ogden, Obama’s pick for deputy attorney general, the No. 2 position at the Justice Department. “Ogden has been an activist in the …

Townhall carries this Baptist Press report by Michael Foust: [In Wyoming] ” . . . Vandeberghe estimates amendment supporters need to swing five votes in the House and three in the Senate to reach the two-thirds threshold. A December poll …

Citizen Link: “‘. . . Focus on Marriage’ will take place Saturday, Feb. 28, and will be broadcast live into about 500 churches. Featured speakers will be Beth Moore, Dr. Gary Smalley, Dr. John Trent, Dr. Del Tackett and Gary …

The Christian Institute carries this report from the UK: Barack Obama has become the 44th President of the United States, but some Christians have expressed concerns about his policies on ‘gay rights’, abortion and embryo experiments. A new White House …

. . . the church came under heavy criticism after promoting the “Love Won Out” conference sponsored by Focus on the Family which helps people struggling with homosexuality to overcome same-sex attractions.

The Iowa Independent reports: The state’s next turn in the national spotlight begins on Tuesday, Dec. 9, when the state Supreme Court hears arguments on same-sex marriage. The legal drama has been three years in the making . . . …

“There is a myth called the separation of church and state. What the First Amendment says is government can’t create a state church. The First Amendment was written to protect churches. It wasn’t to keep churches out of the public arena.”

Dead heat or Reagan like landslide?

“In this week’s Focus Action Election Update, Stuart Shepard and Tom Minnery discuss the status of state marriage amendments. John Stemberger, who is leading the fight in Florida, offers an update on efforts there.”

The Family Policy Council of West Virginia is call on the governor and others to back a state marriage amendment. WV Metro News reports: What is marriage? Related post on the Family Voice Blog: FPCWV: Poll shows huge support in …

The American Library Association reports: “Groups of students and parents staged rallies and presented some 85 books on homosexuality from a conservative Christian perspective for inclusion in the libraries at 11 schools in the Fairfax County (Va.) Public School District …

Jennifer Mesko has this report on Citizen Link. She writes: The mainstream media and homosexual activists regularly paint Focus on the Family as a “gay-hating fundamentalist group.” The rhetoric has resurfaced — and grown — this week, as Focus takes …

Kevin Clarkson, an Anchorage attorney who does work for the Alliance Defense Fund – loosely linked to Focus on the Family – knew of Palin’s work dating back to 1998 when she supported Alaska’s ballot measure outlawing gay marriage.

The Christian Newswire carries the Colorado for Equal Rights report that begins: “Focus on the Family on Tuesday encouraged Colorado voters to support and vote for the Colorado for Equal Rights Personhood Amendment.”

The San Francisco Chronicle has this report that mentions some of the big contributions flowing into California’s marriage battle.   The report begins: “When Bruce Bastian of Utah stood up Saturday night at a San Francisco dinner and wrote a $1 …

Family Voice, the official blog of The Family Policy Council of West Virginia, has published a series of videos entitled, Ten Persuasive Answers to the Question: Why Not Gay Marriage?

The Blog of the Family Council of West Virginia links to a Focus on the Family video answering the question. Baptist Press also linked to the DVD and provided contact information to purchase it.

Citizen Link reports: A California family-court judge has dismissed the case that led a higher court to call for a statewide ban on most forms of home schooling. Home-school advocates are hopeful the decision will influence the 2nd District Court …

Today, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear a case that tests how far states may go in telling judicial candidates how to deal with public interest group questionnaires they receive during campaigns.

Divorce and out-of-wedlock childbearing cost U.S. taxpayers more than $112 billion a year, according to a study commissioned by four groups advocating more government action to bolster marriages . . .

A petition effort to protect traditional marriage in the California constitution has collected about 900,000 signatures and is within striking distance of qualify for the November ballot.