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Founder: Dr. James C.
Dobson
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President/Chief Executive Officer:
James D. Daly |
Established: 1977 |
Finances: $137,848,520
(2004 Focus on the Family revenue);
$24,988,036 (2004 Focus on the Family Action
revenue) |
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Principal
Activities |
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- Focus on the Family's
mission is to cooperate with the Holy
Spirit in disseminating the Gospel of
Jesus Christ to as many people as
possible, and, specifically, to
accomplish that objective by helping to
preserve traditional values and the
institution of the family.
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Focus on the Family (FOF)
is the largest international
religious-right group in the United
States, a multi-media empire that
includes its own "campus" and zip code
in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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FOF is a strong supporter of the Defense
of Marriage Act; since the decision of
Massachusetts to recognize same-sex
unions, FOF closely monitors the status
of same-sex marriage prevention measures
being enacted in each state across the
country.
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Focus on the Family
Action launched an ad campaign in 16
states urging calls to U.S. senators in
support of an up-or-down vote on
President Bush's judicial nominees.
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FOF provides
"Evangelical Christian" self-help in a
variety of forums, via radio and their
publications, and by conducting seminars
across the country to help evangelical
Christians become involved in the
political process. Focus on the Family
uses its radio show and magazine,
Citizen, to urge "pro-family" voters to
become active in state and local
primaries and caucuses.
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FOF is anti-choice, anti-gay, and
against sex education curricula that are
not strictly abstinence-only. Local
schoolbook censors frequently use Focus
on the Family's material when
challenging a book or curriculum in the
public schools. FOF also focuses on
religion in public schools, encouraging
Christian teachers to establish prayer
groups in schools.
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- FOF supports
student-led prayer in public schools,
although it points out that it doesn't
support teacher-led prayer for fear that
a teacher would encourage Christian
students "to pray to Allah, Buddha or
the goddess Sophia against the wishes of
the parents and/or students." ("Religion
in Public Schools," February 1998.)
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- FOF also supports private school
vouchers, tax credits for religious
schools, rejects education efforts that
address multiculturalism or
homosexuality, and recommends that
Christian parents withdraw from the
Parents and Teachers Association (PTA)
on the grounds that it has a liberal
social agenda. FOF supports faith-based
social services and "charitable
choice."
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- FOF works against "special rights" for
homosexuals and hate crime legislation,
and supports "reparative therapy" for
homosexuality, which has been widely
discredited and rejected by the vast
majority of doctors and physicians. FOF
sponsors "Love Won Out," conferences
held around the U.S. that claim to prove
that "homosexuality is preventable and
treatable," where many of the speakers
are "ex-gays." "Love Won Out" is from
the title of a book by John Paulk, an
"ex-gay" who is the host of the
conferences and is an employee of Focus
on the Family.
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- For those ex-gays who cannot change, FOF
considers sexual celibacy another
option. FOF regularly asserts the idea
that there is a "homosexual agenda" and
associates homosexuals with pedophilia
and recruitment of children as sex
partners.
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Source |
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