Family Research Council
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The Family Research Council (FRC) is a right-wing Christian non-profit lobbying organization, formed in the USA and incorporated there in 1983. It exists to promote what it considers to be traditional family values. James Dobson was a founding board member. The current president is Tony Perkins.
The FRC has been publicly involved in promoting conservative Christian views on many issues, including divorce, homosexuality, and abortion.
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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 formulate 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 Nicholoi. 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 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. [1] (http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PG03F06&f=WX03E10)
The FRC is associated with James Dobson's Focus on the Family and William J. Bennett.
Personnel
- Tony Perkins, President
- Colin Stewart, Executive Vice President
- Connie Mackey, Vice President for Government Affairs
- Alan Crippen, Vice President for Policy and Academic Affairs
- Genevieve Wood, Vice President for Communications
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. [2] (http://www.family.org/docstudy/newsletters/a0035339.cfm) 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." [3] (http://www.nbr.co.nz/home/column_article.asp?id=11140&cid=1&cname=Media)
External links
- Family Research Council home page (http://www.frc.org/)
- List of issues in which the FRC has sought involvement (http://www.frc.org/context.cfm?c=RESEARCH)
- Get to know Tony Perkins (http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/4070.html) discusses controversies surrounding the group's president.