Donald Wildmon
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Donald E. Wildmon, born 18 January 1938 in Dumas, Mississippi, is the founder and head of the American Family Association.
He graduated from Millsaps College, Jackson, Mississippi, 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 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. He gained his Master of Divinity (MDiv.) from Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, in 1965.
The National Federation for Decency was founded in 1977, which was renamed the American Family Association in 1987. The AFA claims a membership of more than 3,000,000 with over 500 local branches. It is not known how many of these members are active participants.
Throughout the late 1970s, Wildmon actively protested against many popular television shows that he felt promoted immoral lifestyles. He spoke against such hits as Three's Company, Charlie's Angels, M*A*S*H, and Dallas. He once called Flamingo Road the worst show on television and Morgan Fairchild the worst actress ever. In a television interview, Fairchild responded by saying that he's entitled to his own opinion and is obviously not a very "wild man."
In 1991 he began broadcasting the American Family Radio network (AFR, then WAFR) from Tupelo, Mississippi and now broadcasts to over 20 states.
In 1991, the British film Damned in the USA, directed by Paul Yule was produced, chronicling primarily the battle between Wildmon and artists Andres Serrano and Robert Mapplethorpe. This movie is perhaps notable for a reworking by Lou Reed of his song Walk on the Wild Side entitled "Walk on the Wildmon". This film became a controversy in the USA after a distributor got the rights to show this film in the United States. Donald Wildmon claimed he had a contract with the producers saying this film was not to be shown in the USA and he filed a lawsuit against the producers. A federal judge hearing the case threw out the lawsuit saying that Rev. Wildmon had a contract to be interviewed. However, there was nothing saying he had any say of distribution of the film in the USA.
Among other individual things against which he has campaigned are Disneyland for admitting gay couples, the film The Last Temptation of Christ, Madonna's Like a Prayer, Robert Clark Young's novel One of the Guys, and Blockbuster Video for stocking NC-17 rated movies, despite the fact that they are rented only to adults over the age of 17. Wildmon has been accused of advocating censorship, his accusers pointing to his efforts to prevent even consenting adults from accessing entertainment of which he disapproves.
Wildmon has been accused of anti-Semitism for his views on the the so-called "theocidal curse", and the role of Jewish people in the media. In 2005 Wildmon threatened that if the Anti-Defamation League criticizes the Religious right, "we just won't support Israel anymore" [1] He has also claimed that "Jews favor homosexual rights more than other Americans [2]".
Wildmon can be heard on his daily radio program, AFA Report, which airs weekdays at 12:30 p.m. central time on American Family Radio.
His son Timothy is also active in the AFA and ran a Dominionist news organization called Agape Press, which went offline in early 2007.
