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Family Research Council
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The Family Research Council (FRC) was founded in 1981 by Focus on the Family chairman Dr. James Dobson. It is a homophobic right-wing fundamentalist Christian advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. It is considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.[1]
Foundation[edit]
The initial concept of the FRC originated during the 1980 White House Conference on Families, which was actually a series of seven conferences held around the country. Originally, the Conference was intended to examine the strengths and weaknesses of all family units, but during the committee formation process, conservatives were able to block the nominations of most moderates from the Conference.[2] As a result, the Conference focused on the strengths of "traditional" family units (married husband and wife with kids) and the weaknesses of "non-traditional" family units (single parents, unmarried parents, gay parents, and so on).
Dobson was one of the committee members, and organized the FRC shortly after the election of Ronald Reagan. In 1983, he incorporated the FRC as a non-profit corporation along with notable chickenhawk Gary Bauer, and psychiatrists Dr. George Rekers of the University of South Carolina and Dr. Armand Nicholi, Jr. of Harvard University. Bauer secured early funding from Edgar Prince, father of Blackwater founder Erik Prince.
Things FRC have proven they hate, even though they try to say they're not a hate group[edit]
- Abortion, birth control, and population control. They love crisis pregnancy centers, though.
- Homosexuality in general, and gay marriage and parenthood in particular.
- Anthropogenic global warming — Why this is a pro- or anti-family cause is anybody's guess.[3]
- Gambling.
- The Occupy Wall Street protestors (even though Jesus flat out said in the Book of Mark that Christians have to give up their possessions, to help the poor).
- Islam, since it's a "fanatical religion" and because President Obama (A) hosted White House functions that actually invited Muslims and (B) doesn't automatically condemn them as Satanic Alien Communist Invaders From An Hitherto Unknown Dimension.[4]
Shooting[edit]
In August 2012, a gunman opened fire on the headquarters, injuring one guard.[5] Never missing a chance to engage in some convenient demagoguery in the wake of an averted tragedy, Tony Perkins blamed the Southern Poverty Law Center for creating the hostile atmosphere for such an incident, despite the fact that the SPLC documented several public statements that caused it to designate the FRC as a hate group and not because they "disagree with them on public policy" as Perkins claimed.[6][7] On the other hand, according to Perkins, maybe it's all just Obama's fault. Rick Santorum assisted with the wholesale blaming of convenient scapegoats on this occasion and even threw in a genuinely idiotic non-sequitur an observation concerning Chick-fil-A for good measure.[8] Considering how Perkins and the FRC strongly supported Uganda's genuinely homicidal law criminalizing homosexuality,[9] though, the phrase "selective outrage" just might not be harsh enough.[10]
Other inane bullshit[edit]
Keeping in line with his prior reputation as a truly deluded goofball, Gary Bauer decided to make use of the shooting of Pakistani women's rights activist Malala Yousafzai by Taliban thugs to blame the parties he thought were responsible — namely, Sandra Fluke and the "American left". There's probably no microscope powerful enough to find a shred of logic in that argument, of course, but when has that ever stopped Bauer before?[11]
In June 2013, Bauer asserted that the Supreme Court's decision against the Defense of Marriage Act would lead to anti-gay "activists" going to jail for merely expressing their opinion publicly, which would seem to set a new personal record by Bauer for pulling a nonsensical conclusion out of the thin air it was apparently based on.[12]
And then there's Josh Duggar, former member of 19 Kids and Counting and former executive director of the FRC,[13][14] who was convicted of possession of child pornography in 2021.[15]
Support for Wesley Goodman[edit]
In 2017, it was revealed that Perkins knew that a candidate he was supporting for the Ohio legislature, Wesley Goodman, had fondled a male 18-year-old college student in his sleep.[16] Perkins indicated privately that he would address this issue, but instead attempted to cover it up.[16]
See also[edit]
- American Decency Association
- American Family Association
- Focus on the Family
- Family Research Institute
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ SPLC Responds to Attack by Family Research Council
- ↑ Brozan, Nadine. "White House Conference on the Family: A Schism Develops; The 'Moderate' Grouping 'Advocacy' Is Disavowed," New York Times, 7 January 1980. (The Conference convened in June, 1980.)
- ↑ Most likely because it plays into the global warming as eugenics meme, as in this FRC mailing reprinted by The American Prospect.
- ↑ FRC Calls Islam a 'Fanatical Religion,' Attacks White House Event with Muslims Right Wing Watch
- ↑ Jason Ryan and Russell Goodman, Family Research Council Shooting: Injured Guard Tackles Gunman. ABC News, 15 August 2012.
- ↑ Family Research Council. SPLC website
- ↑ Setting the Record Straight on the FRC's 'Hate Group' Designation, Right Wing Watch
- ↑ Tony Perkins says there is a 'Clear Link' between the FRC Shooting and Obama Administration Policies, Right Wing Watch
- ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
- ↑ FRC Defended Ugandan ‘Kill the Gays’ Bill, Dispatches from the Culture Wars
- ↑ Gary Bauer Attacks Sandra Fluke over Shooting of Pakistani Education Activist, Right Wing Watch
- ↑ Bauer: Anti-Gay Activists May Be Thrown in Jail Following DOMA Ruling, Right Wing Watch
- ↑ The Web Has Known About Josh Duggar for Years. When Did TLC Find Out? by Allie Jones (05/22/15 12:21PM) Gawker (archived from 6 Aug 2020 14:48:24 UTC).
- ↑ Flashback: Duggars Call LGBT People A Threat To Child Safety; Duggar Resigns From FRC by Brian Tashman (May 21, 2015 6:20 pm) Right Wing Watch
- ↑ Reality TV’s Josh Duggar convicted of child porn possession. Associated Press, 9 December 2021.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 How a conservative group dealt with a fondling charge against a rising GOP star by Kimberly Kindy & Elise Viebeck (November 17, 2017) The Washington Post.