Donald Wildmon
Encyclopedia
Donald E. Wildmon is an ordained United Methodist minister, author, former radio host, and founder and chairman emeritus of the American Family Association
and American Family Radio
.
in 1960. In 1961, he married Lynda Lou Bennett, with whom he has two sons and two daughters. From 1961 to 1963, he served in the U.S. Army
. He gained his Master of Divinity
(MDiv.) from Emory University
's Candler School of Theology
in 1965. He was ordained as a minister of the United Methodist Church
in 1964 and served as a pastor until 1977, when he left the pastoral ministry to campaign against pornography and violence in the media.
In June 1977, he moved to Tupelo, Mississippi
to establish the National Federation for Decency (NFD), the predecessor to the modern American Family Association, because after watching television one night in December 1976 he felt that no primetime television program was appropriate for his family with young children. With a membership of 1,400, NFD's first television advertiser boycott was during spring 1978 and against Sears for sponsoring All in the Family
, Charlie's Angels
, and Three's Company
. Sears withdrew sponsorship of the latter two programs.
In February 1980, Wildmon founded the Coalition for Better Television (CBTV), this time with the help of the Rev. Jerry Falwell
and claiming a nationwide membership of 5 million. However, following a dispute with Falwell, the organization disbanded two years later. That same year, Wildmon formed a new organization, Christian Leaders for Responsible Television (CLEAR-TV).
Wildmon's son Tim is president of AFA and ran a news organization called Agape Press, which went offline in early 2007, when it merged with AFR News to create One News Now.
, M*A*S*H, and Dallas
.
Other productions and organizations against which he has campaigned against include
, chronicled the battle between Wildmon and artists Andres Serrano
and Robert Mapplethorpe
. The documentary received several awards, including the International Emmy for Best Documentary. After a distributor got the rights to show the film in the United States, Wildmon sued the producers for $8 million in damages, stating that he had a contract with the producers that prevented distribution in the USA. A federal court found that Wildmon's contract did not support his claim concerning distribution of the film.
. After running tests, however, doctors determined that he had St. Louis encephalitis
, a disease usually contracted from mosquitoes. He spent 121 days in the hospital and rehab, and later underwent surgery for cancer on his left eye.
On March 3, 2010, it was announced that Wildmon was stepping down as chairman of the American Family Association. His son Tim was expected to become the new chairman.
American Family Association
The American Family Association is a 501 non-profit organization that promotes conservative Christian values, such as opposition to same-sex marriage, pornography, and abortion, as well as other public policy goals such as deregulation of the oil industry and lobbying against the Employee Free...
and American Family Radio
American Family Radio
American Family Radio is a network of more than 180 radio stations broadcasting Christian-oriented programming to over 40 states.-Overview:AFR was launched by Rev...
.
Biography
Wildmon graduated from Millsaps CollegeMillsaps College
Millsaps College is a private liberal arts college located in Jackson, Mississippi. Founded in 1890, the college is recognized as one of the country's best private colleges dedicated to undergraduate teaching and educating the whole individual. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, Millsaps...
in 1960. In 1961, he married Lynda Lou Bennett, with whom he has two sons and two daughters. From 1961 to 1963, he served in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. He gained his Master of Divinity
Master of Divinity
In the academic study of theology, the Master of Divinity is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America...
(MDiv.) from Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
's Candler School of Theology
Candler School of Theology
Candler School of Theology, Emory University, is one of 13 seminaries of the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1914, the school was named after Warren Akin Candler, a former President and Chancellor of Emory University and a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South...
in 1965. He was ordained as a minister of the United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
in 1964 and served as a pastor until 1977, when he left the pastoral ministry to campaign against pornography and violence in the media.
In June 1977, he moved to Tupelo, Mississippi
Tupelo, Mississippi
Tupelo is the largest city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. It is the seventh largest city in the state of Mississippi, smaller than Meridian, and larger than Greenville. As of the 2000 United States Census, the city's population was 34,211...
to establish the National Federation for Decency (NFD), the predecessor to the modern American Family Association, because after watching television one night in December 1976 he felt that no primetime television program was appropriate for his family with young children. With a membership of 1,400, NFD's first television advertiser boycott was during spring 1978 and against Sears for sponsoring All in the Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
, Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...
, and Three's Company
Three's Company
Three's Company is an American sitcom that aired from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984, on ABC. It is based on the British sitcom, Man About the House....
. Sears withdrew sponsorship of the latter two programs.
In February 1980, Wildmon founded the Coalition for Better Television (CBTV), this time with the help of the Rev. Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...
and claiming a nationwide membership of 5 million. However, following a dispute with Falwell, the organization disbanded two years later. That same year, Wildmon formed a new organization, Christian Leaders for Responsible Television (CLEAR-TV).
Wildmon's son Tim is president of AFA and ran a news organization called Agape Press, which went offline in early 2007, when it merged with AFR News to create One News Now.
Campaign for Decency
Throughout the late 1970s, Wildmon actively protested television shows that he thought promoted immoral lifestyles. He spoke against such programs as Three's CompanyThree's Company
Three's Company is an American sitcom that aired from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984, on ABC. It is based on the British sitcom, Man About the House....
, M*A*S*H, and Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
.
Other productions and organizations against which he has campaigned against include
- DisneylandDisneyland Park (Anaheim)Disneyland Park is a theme park located in Anaheim, California, owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division of the Walt Disney Company. Known as Disneyland when it opened on July 18, 1955, and still almost universally referred to by that name, it is the only theme park to be...
/Walt Disney World for not actively preventing LGBT community groups from hosting "gay days" at the park. - The Last Temptation of ChristThe Last Temptation of ChristThe Last Temptation of Christ is a novel written by Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1953. It was first published in English in 1960. It follows the life of Jesus Christ from his perspective...
- Madonna'sMadonna (entertainer)Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
Like a PrayerLike a PrayerLike a Prayer is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on March 21, 1989 by Sire Records, three years after her previous studio album. Madonna worked with Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard, and fellow icon Prince on the album while co-writing and co-producing all the... - Robert Clark YoungRobert Clark YoungRobert Clark Young is an American author of novels, essays, short stories and journalism. Recurring themes in Young's fiction include the relation between alcoholism, the abuse of power, and institutional dysfunction in American life, while his nonfiction has recently focused on eldercare topics...
's novel, One of the GuysOne of the GuysOne of the Guys is an earnestly satirical and picaresque novel by Robert Clark Young, published in 1999, concerning the fantastical adventures of a man posing as a chaplain on a U.S... - Blockbuster Video for stocking NC-17 rated movies
Radio host
Up until mid-April 2007, Wildmon hosted the daily radio program AFA Report, which can be heard weekdays on AFR or anytime on AFR's website. Wildmon left the program because he felt he didn't have adequate time to prepare for it each day, and he needed more time to fulfill other duties. He returned to the program in late April 2008, after receiving letters from listeners asking for him to come back, and after expansions in staff and studio space allowed him more preparation time. In early September, however, Wildmon suddenly left the program once again, this time for undisclosed reasons. He also hosted My Turn with Don Wildmon, a short devotional segment, which no longer airs.Damned in the USA
In 1991, the British film Damned in the USA, directed by Paul YulePaul Yule
Paul Harris Yule is a photographer and film maker.Born in South Africa his family emigrated to England when he was 8 years old. After studying at Aldenham School and Oxford University he became an acclaimed photojournalist and documentary film maker, founding Berwick Universal Pictures in London in...
, chronicled the battle between Wildmon and artists Andres Serrano
Andres Serrano
Andres Serrano is an American photographer and artist who has become notorious through his photos of corpses and his use of feces and bodily fluids in his work, notably his controversial work "Piss Christ", a red-tinged photograph of a crucifix submerged in a glass container of what was purported...
and Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer, known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white portraits, photos of flowers and nude men...
. The documentary received several awards, including the International Emmy for Best Documentary. After a distributor got the rights to show the film in the United States, Wildmon sued the producers for $8 million in damages, stating that he had a contract with the producers that prevented distribution in the USA. A federal court found that Wildmon's contract did not support his claim concerning distribution of the film.
Illness and retirement
On August 18, 2009, Tim Wildmon released the news via email that his father had been admitted to the North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo over the weekend of August 15–16, with what was thought to be a serious case of meningitisMeningitis
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...
. After running tests, however, doctors determined that he had St. Louis encephalitis
St. Louis Encephalitis
St. Louis Encephalitis is a disease caused by the Culex mosquito borne St. Louis Encephalitis virus. St. Louis encephalitis virus is related to Japanese encephalitis virus and is a member of the Flaviviridae subgroup. This disease mainly affects the United States...
, a disease usually contracted from mosquitoes. He spent 121 days in the hospital and rehab, and later underwent surgery for cancer on his left eye.
On March 3, 2010, it was announced that Wildmon was stepping down as chairman of the American Family Association. His son Tim was expected to become the new chairman.
See also
- Culture warCulture warThe culture war in American usage is a metaphor used to claim that political conflict is based on sets of conflicting cultural values. The term frequently implies a conflict between those values considered traditionalist or conservative and those considered progressive or liberal...
- Speechless: Silencing the ChristiansSpeechless: Silencing the ChristiansSpeechless: Silencing the Christians is a 2008 documentary series produced by the American Family Association and hosted by commentator Janet Parshall; the 13-episode series was first televised by The Inspiration Network...
- Religious RightReligious rightThe term religious right may refer to religiously motivated right wing movements such as:*Christian right*Hindu nationalism *Islamism*Jewish right*Theravada...
- Religious Fundamentalism
Publications
- Wildmon, Donald E. (1975) Stand up to Life. Abingdon PressAbingdon PressAbingdon Press is the book publishing arm of the United Methodist Publishing House which publishes sheet music, ministerial resources, Bible-study aids, and other items, often with a focus on Methodism and Methodists. Abingdon Press was begun in the early 1900s by The Methodist Church, and is...
. ISBN 9780687392902 - Wildmon, D. (1985) Home Invaders. David C. Cook Publishing Company. ISBN 9780896935211
- Wildmon, D. (1986) The Case Against Pornography. David C. Cook Publishing Company. ISBN 9780896931787
- Wildmon, D. (and Randall Nulton; 1989) Don Wildmon: The Man the Networks Love to Hate. Bristol Books. ISBN 9780917851148
- Wildmon, D. (1997) Following the Carpenter: Parables to Inspire Obedience in the Christian Life. Thomas NelsonThomas Nelson (publisher)Thomas Nelson is a publishing firm that began in Scotland in 1798 as the namesake of its founder. Its former US division is currently the sixth largest American trade publisher and the world's largest Christian publisher. It is owned by the private equity firm Kohlberg & Company...
. ISBN 9780785272151 - Wildmon, D. (2009) Speechless: Silencing the Christians: How Secular Liberals and Homosexual Activists are Outlawing Christianity (and Judaism) to Force Their Sexual Agenda on America. Richard Vigilante Books. ISBN 0980076331
- Friedeman, Matt. Wildmon, Donald E. (2001) In the Fight: A Mississippi Conservative Swings Back. Well Writers' Guild. ISBN 9780971100411
External links
- Don Wildmon's biography on the American Family AssociationAmerican Family AssociationThe American Family Association is a 501 non-profit organization that promotes conservative Christian values, such as opposition to same-sex marriage, pornography, and abortion, as well as other public policy goals such as deregulation of the oil industry and lobbying against the Employee Free...
website