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Family Research Council

The Family Research Council (FRC) is a Christian right non-profit think tank and lobbying organization. It was formed in the United States by James Dobson in 1981 and incorporated in 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 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.

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.

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.

Politics and Policies

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

Supports an increase in abstinence-only sex education.
Supports the wide availability of a vaccine for human papilloma virus (HPV), a virus that causes cervical cancer, but "oppose any measures to legally require vaccination or to coerce parents into authorizing it.. In 2005, a representative of FRC described vaccination in an interview with New Scientist magazine as 'potentially harmful, because [young women] may see it as a license to engage in premarital sex.' FRC later released a clarification saying, "After extensive study of the vaccine and discussion with medical experts, we concluded that the public health benefits of developing and distributing such a vaccine far outweighed any potential, hypothetical concerns about its impact on sexual behavior. Therefore, we announced in October of 2005 that we would enthusiastically support the development of the vaccine and federal approval of its use, including its addition to the list of vaccines recommended to physicians and of those made available to lower-income families through the Vaccines for Children program."
Supports intelligent design and the movement's "Teach the Controversy" campaign.
Campaigns for tighter regulation of pornography, 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. Believes hotel pornography should be prosecuted.
Strongly opposes legal abortion.
Opposes research which involves the destruction of human embryos. Rather, it advocates research using adult stem cells to treat a host of diseases/disorders.
Opposes legal recognition of same-sex domestic partnerships (in the form of either marriage or civil unions).
Opposes gays serving in the Republican Party. Tom McClusky, chief lobbyist for the Family Research Council, has 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.
Favors preclusion of (in order to overturn) all legislative, executive, or judicial action at any level of state or local government designed to protect the status of persons based on their 'homosexual, lesbian or bisexual orientation, conduct, practices or relationships.'
Opposes population control measures.
Advocates for lower taxes and limited government.
Favors strong military action against "radical Islam".
Supports simplifying the tax code, increasing the child tax credit, and permanently eliminating the marriage penalty and estate taxes.
Opposes of the idea that humans are responsible for global warming.
Strongly opposes all forms of gambling. This position has created some controversy within the Christian community, as gambling is not prohibited in the Bible. This schism is evidenced by the fact that many churches hold gambling contests, especially bingo, to raise funds. Focus’ insistence on this position, as a result, has been interpreted as “extra-Biblical doctrine” that was created by some within the Christian Right who are personally opposed to gambling. At the November 14, 2007 House Judiciary Committee hearing entitled “Hearing on Establishing Consistent Enforcement Policies in the Context of Online Wagers”, Family Research Council Vice President Tom McClusky testified that his organization favored banning Internet poker in the United States. When questioned further by Rep. Steve Cohen [D-TN] on how much gambling FRC advocated banning, McClusky testified that FRC wished to ban all gambling in America, including even poker. Upon hearing this, Rep. Cohen incredulously asked "is there any fun you are for?", leading many in the blogosphere to nickname sister organization Focus on the Family “Foes of Fun”.

In their report Funding the Culture Wars the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy lists the Family Research Council as one of the leading organizations funding the activities of the Christian right and the conservative movement.

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

Alleged link between homosexuality and pedophilia

The Family Research Council has suggested that there is a link between pedophilia and homosexuality. The FRC claims that up to one-third of child molestation is committed by gays, and that gays only account for 1-3% of the total population; thus, the FRC concludes that homosexual men commit child sexual abuse at a disproportionately high rate. In a USA Today article, a number of experts strongly refuted the claims. Tony Perkins also linked the two issues in commenting about the Mark Foley scandal.

2006 Values Voter 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, among others. The summit became controversial when a number of religious figures took the podium to denounce homosexuality; one speaker referred to homosexuals as faggots, while another claimed that "the gay rights movement ascended to us from the pits of hell itself" and stated that the anti-Christ would be a homosexual. Co-sponsors of the event 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).

Racism

The Southern Poverty Law Center has linked the Family Research Council to racism through the activities of its president Tony Perkins. In the April 26, 2005 issue of The Nation magazine journalist Max Blumenthal wrote that Tony Perkins has longstanding ties to racist organizations, including an alleged 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."

Perkins has stated that he was unaware that David Duke had any relationship with Impact Media -- the organization that the 1996 Senate campaign of Woody Jenkins paid to make pre-recorded phone calls. Perkins has further indicated that he was "grieved" when he later learned of Duke's association with Impact Media because Perkins "profoundly opposes" Duke's racial views. Jenkins has accused media outlets of mischaracterizing the campaign's payment to Impact Media, stating that there "is absolutely nothing about the matter that should taint Rep. Perkins. His intentions were entirely honorable...

Dominionism

Along with the Heritage Foundation, Christian Coalition, and Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council is identified as a dominionist organization by TheocracyWatch, which says that the Congressional scorecard of the Family Research Council illustrates its success and the strength of dominionists in Congress.

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.

2007 Values Voter Summit

From October 19 to October 21, 2007, the Family Research Council convened a summit of several hundred conservative Christian activists in Washington, DC. The mission of the meeting was to conduct a straw poll on which presidential nominee would be the best choice for religious conservatives. There was a significant difference between the results of the online poll and those of the on-site poll (the online poll was conducted for several months prior to the summit).