Family Research Council - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Family Research Council (FRC) is a conservative or right-wing

Right-wing politics

In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...

Christian group and lobbying organization formed in the United States in 1981 by James Dobson

James Dobson

James Clayton "Jim" Dobson, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder in 1977 of Focus on the Family , which he led until 2003. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influential spokesman for conservative social positions in American public life...

. It was fully incorporated in 1983. In the late 1980s, FRC officially became a division of Dobson's main organization, Focus on the Family

Focus on the Family

Focus on the Family is an American evangelical Christian tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s...

, but after an administrative separation, FRC officially became an independent entity in 1992. The function of FRC is to promote what it considers to be traditional family values

Family values

Family values are political and social beliefs that hold the nuclear family to be the essential ethical and moral unit of society. Familialism is the ideology that promotes the family and its values as an institution....

, by advocating and lobbying for socially conservative policies. It advocates against LGBT rights, abortion

Abortion

Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...

, divorce

Divorce

Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...

, embryonic stem-cell research, the theory that global warming

Global warming

Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...

is the result of human activity, and pornography

Pornography

Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...

. The FRC is affiliated with a 501(c)(4) lobbying PAC

Political action committee

In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...

known as FRC Action. Tony Perkins is the current president of FRC. The organization has been involved in the politics of social policy

Social policy

Social policy primarily refers to guidelines, principles, legislation and activities that affect the living conditions conducive to human welfare. Thus, social policy is that part of public policy that has to do with social issues...

, notably in controversy concerning its position on homosexuality

Homosexuality

Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

History

The Family Research Council was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1983. Dr. James Dobson, Armand Nicholi, Jr.

Armand Nicholi

Armand M. Nicholi, M.D., Jr. is a clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital. His clinical work and research has focused on the impact of absent parents on the emotional development of children and young adults. He is the editor and coauthor...

of Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, and George Rekers of the University of South Carolina

University of South Carolina

The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...

were some of its founding board members. In 1988, following financial difficulties, the FRC was incorporated into Focus on the Family, and Gary Bauer

Gary Bauer

Gary Lee Bauer is an American politician notable for his ties to several evangelical Christian groups and campaigns.-Biography:...

joined the organization as president. The FRC remained under the Focus on the Family umbrella until 2002, when it separated out of concern for Focus' tax-exempt status. Tony Perkins joined the FRC as its president in 2003.

Politics and policies

The Family Research Council supports the wide availability of a vaccine

Vaccine

A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe or its toxins...

for human papilloma virus (HPV, a virus

Virus

A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...

that causes cervical cancer

Cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is malignant neoplasm of the cervix uteri or cervical area. One of the most common symptoms is abnormal vaginal bleeding, but in some cases there may be no obvious symptoms until the cancer is in its advanced stages...

), though it opposes an effort to make this mandatory for school attendance. Its position is that it would infringe upon rights of parents to make medical decisions for their children, without a sufficient public health justification, as HPV is not transmitted through casual contact.

It supports a federal conscience clause

Conscience Clause (medical)

Conscience clauses are clauses in laws in some parts of the United States which permit pharmacists, physicians, and other providers of health care not to provide certain medical services for reasons of religion or conscience. Those who choose not to provide services may not be disciplined or...

protecting the right of medical workers to withhold from certain practices, such as abortion or dispensation of contraception

Contraception

Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...

, that it finds morally objectionable. It also support an increase in pro-abstinence

Abstinence

Abstinence is a voluntary restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, or abstention from alcohol or food. The practice can arise from religious prohibitions or practical...

sex education

Sex education

Sex education refers to formal programs of instruction on a wide range of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, contraception, and...

, intelligent design

Intelligent design

Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...

as an alternative to evolution

Evolution

Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...

(and the ID movement's "Teach the Controversy

Teach the Controversy

Teach the Controversy is the name of a Discovery Institute campaign to promote intelligent design, a variant of traditional creationism, while attempting to discredit evolution in United States public high school science courses...

" campaign), tighter regulation of pornography (especially internet pornography

Internet pornography

Internet pornography is pornography that is distributed by means of various sectors of the Internet, primarily via websites, peer-to-peer file sharing, or Usenet newsgroups...

), and "obscene

Obscenity

An obscenity is any statement or act which strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time, is a profanity, or is otherwise taboo, indecent, abhorrent, or disgusting, or is especially inauspicious...

, indecent, or profane programing" on broadcast and cable

Cable television

Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...

television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

. It is actively opposed the introduction of a .xxx

.xxx

.xxx is a sponsored top-level domain intended as a voluntary option for pornographic sites on the Internet. The sponsoring organization is the International Foundation for Online Responsibility . The registry is operated by ICM Registry LLC. The ICANN Board voted to approve the sTLD on March 18,...

domain name

Domain name

A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....

on the grounds that it would legitimize pornography, and lobbied for an increase in indecency fines from the Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

. It also believes that hotel pornography may be prosecuted.

The Family Research Council also supports the preclusion of 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," in addition to lower taxes and simplifying the tax code

Tax code

In the UK, every person paid under the PAYE scheme is allocated a tax code by HM Revenue and Customs. This is usually in the form of a number followed by a letter suffix, though other 'non-standard' codes are also used. This code describes to employers how much tax to deduct from an employee. The...

, increasing the child tax credit

Tax credit

A tax credit is a sum deducted from the total amount a taxpayer owes to the state. A tax credit may be granted for various types of taxes, such as an income tax, property tax, or VAT. It may be granted in recognition of taxes already paid, as a subsidy, or to encourage investment or other behaviors...

, permanently eliminating the marriage penalty

Marriage penalty

The marriage penalty in the United States refers to the higher taxes required from some married couples, where spouses are making approximately the same taxable income, filing one tax return than for the same two people filing two separate tax returns if they were unmarried...

and estate taxes, school prayer

School prayer

School prayer in its common usage refers to state-approved prayer by students in state schools. Depending on the country and the type of school, organized prayer may be required, permitted, or prohibited...

, and the requirement of a one-year waiting period before a married couple with children can legally get a divorce

Divorce

Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...

so that they can receive marital counseling, unless the marriage involves domestic violence

Domestic violence

Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...

.

The Family Research Council opposes legalized abortion, stem-cell research which involves the destruction of human embryos and funding thereof (instead advocating research using adult stem cells), legal recognition of same-sex domestic partnership

Domestic partnership

A domestic partnership is a legal or personal relationship between two individuals who live together and share a common domestic life but are neither joined by marriage nor a civil union...

s in the form of marriage

Same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....

or civil unions, the idea that humans are mainly or completely responsible for global warming

Global warming

, and all forms of gambling

Gambling

Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...

because it believes it negatively affects one's family, personal, and professional life.

Publishing and lobbying activities

In their report Funding the Culture Wars, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy

National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy

The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy , established in 1976 and based in Washington, DC, is a privately-funded non-profit organization that conducts research on and advocates for greater accountability, transparency and a focus on social justice in the philanthropic sector...

lists the Family Research Council as one of the leading organizations funding the activities of the conservative movement

Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

. As a non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

, FRC is completely dependent on donations from supporters.

FRC publishes frequent e-mail updates, usually in the form of short articles, which 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.

Family Research Council is a member of ProtectMarriage.com

ProtectMarriage.com

ProtectMarriage.com is a coalition of conservative and religious American political activist groups aligned against same-sex marriage. The coalition's stated goal is to "defend and restore the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman." Beginning in 2001 as Proposition 22 Legal Defense...

, a coalition formed to sponsor California Proposition 8

California Proposition 8 (2008)

Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...

to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples only, which passed in 2008 (but was struck down as unconstitutional by a federal court in California

Perry v. Schwarzenegger

Perry v. Schwarzenegger is a federal lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California challenging the federal constitutionality of Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot initiative that amended the California Constitution to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples,...

, with the ruling stayed as the case is appealed).

Justice Sunday

Justice Sunday is a series of religious conferences organized by the FRC and Focus on the Family

Focus on the Family

. According to FRC, the purpose of the events was to "request an end to filibusters of judicial nominees that were based, at least in part, on the nominees' religious views or imputed inability to decide cases on the basis of the law regardless of their beliefs."

Values Voter Summit

Every fall, FRC Action (the political action group affiliated with FRC) holds an annual summit

Summit (meeting)

A summit meeting is a meeting of heads of state or government, usually with considerable media exposure, tight security and a prearranged agenda.Notable summit meetings include those of Franklin D...

composed for conservative Christian activists and evangelical voters in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

In the past, the summit has been a place for social conservatives across the nation to hear Republican presidential hopefuls' platforms, and via a straw poll since 2007 also a means of providing an early prediction of which candidate will win the endorsement of Christian conservatives.

Statements on homosexuality

The Family Research Council's Senior Researcher for Policy Studies Peter Sprigg

Peter Sprigg

Peter S. Sprigg is Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C..-Biography:Peter Sprigg earned a bachelor of arts degree summa cum laude from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey with a double major in political science and economics...

was criticized when he, in his official capacity as a fellow of the FRC, stated that gay behavior should be outlawed and that "criminal sanctions against homosexual behavior" should be enforced. More recently, Sprigg has publicly suggested that repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Don't ask, don't tell

"Don't ask, don't tell" was the official United States policy on homosexuals serving in the military from December 21, 1993 to September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while...

policy would encourage molestation of heterosexual service members. When asked about Sprigg's comments regarding the criminalization of same-sex behavior, FRC President Tony Perkins said that criminalizing homosexuality is not a goal of the Family Research Council, but did not denounce Sprigg's statements. Perkins repeated the FRC’s association of gay men with pedophilia, saying that "If you look at the American College of Pediatricians

American College of Pediatricians

The American College of Pediatricians is a socially conservative association of pediatricians and other healthcare professionals specializing in the care of infants, children and adolescents in the United States...

, they say the research is overwhelming that homosexuality poses a danger to children." The opinions expressed by Perkins are contradicted by mainstream social science perspectives on same-sex parenting and the likelihood of child molestation by homosexuals, and some scientists whose work is cited by the American College of Pediatricians have accused the ACP of distorting and misrepresenting their work.

Listing as a hate group by SPLC

In the Winter 2010 issue of its magazine, Intelligence Report, the Southern Poverty Law Center

Southern Poverty Law Center

The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...

designated the FRC as a hate group

Hate group

A hate group is an organized group or movement that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or other designated sector of society...

, saying that the organization "pushed false accusations linking gay men to pedophilia." FRC President Tony Perkins dismissed the hate group designation as a political attack on the FRC by a "liberal organization" and as part of "the left's smear campaign of conservatives." On December 15, 2010 the FRC ran an open letter advertisement in two Washington, D. C. newspapers disputing the SPLC's action. A section of the letter supporting the FRC and certain other organizations designated as hate groups by the SPLC had signers which included twenty members of the House of Representatives (including then soon-to-be Speaker John Boehner

John Boehner

John Andrew Boehner is the 61st and current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party, he is the U.S. Representative from , serving since 1991...

), three U.S. Senators, four state Governors, and one state Attorney General.

Similar and related organizations

American Family Association
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...
Family Research Institute
Family Research Institute
The Family Research Institute , originally known as the Institute for the Scientific Investigation of Sexuality , is an American non-profit organization based in Colorado Springs, Colorado which states that it has "...one overriding mission: to generate empirical research on issues that threaten...
Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family is an American evangelical Christian tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s...

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.