| Focus on the Family | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | FOTF |
| Motto | Helping Families Thrive |
| Formation | 1977 |
| Headquarters | Colorado Springs, Colorado |
| Location | Worldwide |
| Founder | James Dobson |
| President | Jim Daly |
| Website | FocusOnTheFamily.com |
Focus on the Family (FOTF, or FotF) 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. A component of the American Christian right, it is active in promoting interdenominational work toward its views on social conservative public policy. Focus on the Family is also currently the primary sponsor for Phil Vischer's JellyTelly.
Focus on the Family's stated mission is "nurturing and defending the God-ordained institution of the family and promoting biblical truths worldwide."[1] Some of the core promotional activities of the organization include a daily radio broadcast by Dobson and his colleagues, providing free resources and family counseling according to Focus on the Family views, and publishing a variety of magazines, videos, and audio recordings. The organization also produces specialized programs for targeted audiences, such as Adventures in Odyssey for children, dramas, and Family Minute with James Dobson. Both Focus on the Family and Adventures in Odyssey are broadcast on Trans World Radio in the UK.
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From 1977 to 2003, James Dobson served as the sole leader of the organization. In 2003, Donald P. Hodel became president and chief executive officer, tasked with the day-to-day operations.[2] This left Dobson as chairman of the Board of Directors, with chiefly creative and speaking duties. On Feb 27th, 2009 it was announced that James Dobson was resigning as Chairman of Focus on the Family,[3] and by early 2010 he was no longer the public face of Focus on the Family, and was no longer hosting the daily radio program.
In March 2005, Hodel retired and Jim Daly, formerly the Vice President in charge of Focus on the Family's International Division, assumed the role of president and chief executive officer.[4]
In November 2008, the organization announced that it was eliminating 202 jobs, representing 18 percent of its workforce. The organization also cut its budget from $160 million in fiscal 2008 to $138 million for fiscal 2009.[5]
On February 27, 2009, Dobson officially announced he was stepping down as chairman of the Board of Directors, but would continue to serve as host of the Focus on the Family broadcasts and write a monthly column.[6]
The primary ministry of Focus on the Family is to strengthen what it considers to be traditional marriages and families.[7] The underlying philosophy is an evangelical view of Biblical teachings on marriage and family. This is also seen in the published works of Dr. James Dobson, who has written a number of books on subjects ranging from raising children to taking steps to prevent divorce by helping couples with conflict management. One key theme of this ministry is helping couples understand the negative consequences of divorce on their children. The organization maintains a toll-free telephone counseling service available to anyone in a family crisis.
Focus on The Family Radio Theatre is a series of audio dramas adapting classic literature, mystery mini-series and biographical productions, extending its reach to the mainstream as well as the Christian audience. The endeavor began through the efforts of former Adventures in Odyssey producers Dave Arnold and Paul McCusker, along with casting director Philip Glassborow based in England.
Radio Theatre began in 1996 with a 90-minute radio drama based on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, which was produced and aired as a broadcast special. The drama continued with historical biographies of Squanto ("The Legend of Squanto"), Jesus ("The Luke Reports") and Dietrich Bonhoeffer ("Bonhoeffer: The Cost of Freedom"). In 2003, Focus on the Family Radio Theater released an audio dramatization of C. S. Lewis' epic novel series The Chronicles of Narnia, with David Suchet providing the voice of Aslan, and over 100 English actors rounding out the cast. Lewis' stepson, Douglas Gresham, serves as host—sharing his personal stories at the beginning of each audio drama.
Radio Theatre also released an original miniseries, the Father Gilbert Mysteries, which tells of the spiritual mysteries encountered by Louis Gilbert, a cop-turned-Anglican-priest, who lives in Stonebridge, Sussex, and ministers to the people of the town from St. Mark's Church. Nine episodes have been produced in four volumes available on cassette and CD.
FOTF also produces a children's radio drama entitled Adventures in Odyssey. It began in 1987 as Family Portraits, starring an elderly Christian gentleman named John Avery Whittaker (aka "Whit"), who runs an ice cream shop/"discovery emporium" called Whit's End; and he imparts Christian wisdom to the children of the town of Odyssey. It was renamed "Odyssey USA" in November 1987 and took on its present name, Adventures in Odyssey, in April 1988.[8]
FOTF also produced a radio miniseries based on their videos, The Last Chance Detectives.
In 2009, FOTF's Radio Theatre produced an audio drama of C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters, starring Andy Serkis (who played Gollum from the Lord of the Rings movies) as the voice of Screwtape. The audio drama was also accompanied by the release of www.screwtape.com, the only site authorized by the C.S. Lewis estate to represent The Screwtape Letters.[9]
The National Day of Prayer Task Force is an American evangelical conservative Christian non-profit organization which organizes, coordinates, and presides over Evangelical Christian religious observances each year on the National Day of Prayer. The main office of the NDP Task Force is located at the headquarters of Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The website of the NDP Task Force states that "its business affairs are separate" from those of Focus on the Family, but also that "between 1990 and 1993, Focus on the Family did provide grants in support of the NDP Task Force" and that "Focus on the Family is compensated for services rendered."[10] Shirley Dobson, wife of James Dobson, has been chairwoman of the NDP Task Force since 1991.[11]
The Day of Dialogue is a student-led event which takes place April 16. Founders describe the goal of the event, created in opposition to the anti-bullying Day of Silence, as "encouraging honest and respectful conversation among students about God's design for sexuality." It was previously known as the Day of Truth and was founded by the Alliance Defense Fund in 2005.[12]
Focus on the Family has a number of additional ministries. Many are aimed at specific demographics including teenage boys and girls, children, college students, families, young adults, parents, while others are aimed at specific concerns, such as sexual problems, entertainment, and politics. Many have their own regular publications. The ministry for college students and young adults is known as Boundless Webzine.
As a 501(c)(3) corporation, Focus on the Family is not permitted to advocate any individual political candidate.[13] In its radio broadcast, it often discusses political issues and current events, usually through a Christian conservative point of view. Dobson is among the Christian conservative leaders who met with and advised former President George W. Bush. Focus on the Family's magazine Citizen is exclusively devoted to politics. The FOTF also has an affiliated group, Focus on the Family Action (a.k.a. Focus Action), though the two groups are legally separate. As a 501(c)(4) social welfare group, Focus Action has fewer political lobbying restrictions. FoTF's revenue in 2005 was USD $142M, and that of FoTF Action was $14.7M.[14][15]
The group supports the teaching of what it considers to be traditional family values. It advocates school sponsored prayer and supports corporal punishment.[16] It strongly opposes LGBT rights, abortion, pornography, legalized gambling,[17] and pre-marital and extramarital sexual activity. Focus on the Family also embraces and reflects the wider political agenda of its audience, for instance promoting a religiously-centered conception of American identity and the support of Israel.
Focus on the Family maintains a strong pro-life stand against abortion, and provides grant funding and medical training to assist crisis pregnancy centers (also known as pregnancy resource centers) in obtaining ultrasound machines. The organization has been staunchly opposed to public funding for elective abortions. According to the organization, this funding, which has allowed CPCs to provide pregnant women with live sonogram images of the developing fetus, has led directly to the birth of over 1500 babies who would have otherwise been aborted.[18][19]
Focus on the Family broadcasts a national talk radio program of the same name hosted by Dobson or his aides. The program has a range of themes, such as Christian-oriented assistance for victims of rape or child abuse; parenting difficulties; child adoption; husband/wife roles; family history and traditions; struggles with gambling, pornography, alcohol, and drugs; and many other themes. When programs deal with civic issues, listeners often respond to these programs by contacting political leaders.
Focus on the Family has been a prominent supporter of intelligent design, publishing pro-intelligent design articles in its Citizen magazine and selling intelligent design videos on its website.[20][21] Focus on the Family co-published the intelligent design videotape Unlocking the Mystery of Life with the Discovery Institute, hub of the intelligent design movement.[22] Focus on the Family employee Mark Hartwig is also a fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture, a connection which has helped to publicize intelligent design extensively; James Dobson often featured intelligent design proponents on his Focus on the Family radio program. Focus on the Family's Family.org is a significant online resource for intelligent design articles.[23][24]
In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, it shifted from support of Mike Huckabee to not supporting any candidate, to finally accepting the Republican ticket once Sarah Palin was added to the ticket. Prior to the election, a television and letter campaign was launched predicting terrorist attacks in four U.S. cities and equating the U.S. with Nazi Germany. This publicity was condemned by the Anti Defamation League.[25] Within a month before the general election, Focus on the Family began distributing a 16 page letter titled Letter from 2012 in Obama's America, which describes an imagined American future in which "many of our freedoms have been taken away by a liberal Supreme Court of the United States and a majority of Democrats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate."[26] According to USA Today, the letter "is part of an escalation in rhetoric from Christian right activists" trying to paint Democratic Party presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama in a negative light.[27]
Focus on the Family Action supported Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) in his successful December 2, 2008, runoff election win. The organization, according to the Colorado Independent, donated $35,310 in radio ads to the Chambliss runoff campaign effort. As the Independent reports, the Focus-sponsored ads were aired in about a dozen Georgia markets. The commercials were produced in the weeks after Focus laid off 202 employees — some 20 percent of its workforce — because of the national economic crisis.[28]
Focus on the Family works to preserve its interpretation of the biblical ideals of marriage and parenthood, and therefore the organization takes a strong stance against LGBT rights and same-sex marriage. Founder James Dobson expressed great concern for the institution of marriage in a 2003 letter to the Christian community. In reference to the same-sex marriage movement, Dobson says that the institution of marriage “…is about to descend into a state of turmoil unlike any other in human history.” Focus on the Family believes that marriage should be defined as only being between a man and a woman. Dobson supported the failed Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman, preventing courts and state legislatures from challenging this definition.[29]
In the same letter Dobson says that traditional marriage is the cornerstone of society, and he states that the goal of the gay and lesbian movement is not to redefine marriage but to destroy the institution itself. “Most gays and lesbians do not want to marry each other…the intention here is to destroy marriage altogether.” Dobson makes the argument that without the institution of marriage everyone would enjoy the benefits of marriage without limiting the number of partners or their gender. Focus on the Family sees allowing same-sex marriage as “…a stepping-stone on the road to eliminating all societal restrictions on marriage and sexuality.”[29]
Focus on the Family asserts that the Bible lays out the correct plan for marriage and family. Dobson says that "God created Eve to complement Adam physically, spiritually, and emotionally". Dobson also uses the biblical figure Paul to affirm his views on marriage. He states that Paul maintained that men and women mutually complete each other, and to exchange a "natural relationship for an unnatural one is sinful".[29]
In reference to same-sex marriage and same-sex couples with children, Dobson states, “Same-sex relationships undermine the future generation’s understanding of the fundamental principles of marriage, parenthood, and gender.” He also stated that the alleged destruction of what it considers to be the traditional family by permitting same-sex marriage will lead to "unstable homes for children".[29]
Focus on the Family became more active in the same-sex marriage opposition movement after the Supreme Court of Canada declared that restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples is a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 2003.[29]
Dobson spoke at the 2004 rally against gay marriage called Mayday for Marriage. It was here for the first time that he endorsed a presidential candidate, George W. Bush. Here he denounced the Supreme Court rulings in favor of gay rights, and he urged rally participants to get out and vote so that the battle against gay rights could be won in the Senate.[30]
In an interview with Christianity Today magazine, Dobson also explained that he was not in favor of civil unions. He stated that civil unions are just same-sex marriage under a different name. The main priority of the opposing same-sex marriage movement is to define marriage on the federal level as between a man and a woman and combat the passage of civil unions later.[31]
The group's message has been controversial. In particular, groups who support gay rights, including some educational, medical, and mental health organizations, have criticized the organization for its stance on homosexuality and related legislation and for its Love Won Out ministry, an ex-gay movement in cooperation with Exodus International and NARTH.[32] Gay rights advocacy groups identify Focus on the Family as a major opponent of gay rights. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a pro-gay[33] American civil rights organization described Focus on the Family as one of a "dozen major groups [which] help drive the religious right's anti-gay crusade".[34]
The American Psychological Association and the Royal College of Psychiatrists expressed concerns that the positions espoused by Focus on the Family are not supported by the science and create an environment in which prejudice and discrimination can flourish.[35][36]
Focus on the Family is a member of ProtectMarriage.com, a coalition formed to sponsor California Proposition 8, a ballot initiative to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples, which passed in 2008[37], but was subsequently struck down as being unconstitutional by a federal court in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, with the ruling currently stayed by the 9th Circuit Court.
Focus on the Family has been accused, on several occasions, of misrepresenting research.[38] Judith Stacey, one researcher whose work FotF used to claim that gays and lesbians did not make good parents, said that the claim was "a direct misrepresentation of the research."[39] She elaborated, "Whenever you hear Focus on the Family, legislators or lawyers say, 'Studies prove that children do better in families with a mother and a father,' they are referring to studies which compare two-parent heterosexual households to single-parent households. The studies they are talking about do not cite research on families headed by gay and lesbian couples."[40] James Dobson cited the research of Kyle Pruett and Carol Gilligan in a Time Magazine guest article in the service of a claim that two women cannot raise a child; upon finding out that her work had been used in this way, Gilligan wrote a letter to Dobson asking him to apologize and to cease and desist from citing her work, describing herself as "mortified to learn that you had distorted my work...Not only did you take my research out of context, you did so without my knowledge to support discriminatory goals that I do not agree with...there is nothing in my research that would lead you to draw the stated conclusions you did in the Time article."[41] Pruett wrote a similar letter, in which he said that Dobson "cherry-picked a phrase to shore up highly (in my view) discriminatory purposes. This practice is condemned in real science, common though it may be in pseudo-science circles. There is nothing in my longitudinal research or any of my writings to support such conclusions," and asked that FotF not cite him again without permission.[42] After her research on teen suicide was used by Focus on the Family to promote "conversion therapy," Elizabeth Saewyc said that "the research has been hijacked for somebody's political purposes or ideological purposes and that's worrisome," and that research in fact linked the suicide rate among LGBT teens to harassment, discrimination, and closeting.[43] Other scientists who have criticized Focus on the Family's misrepresentation of their findings include Robert Spitzer,[44] Gary Remafedi[42] and Angela Phillips.[44]
FOTF said Stacey's allegation was without merit and that their position is that the best interests of children are served when there is a father and a mother. "We haven't said anything about sexual orientation" said Glenn Stanton.[39]
In February 2010, Focus on the Family purchased a 30-second commercial spot during CBS's telecast of Super Bowl XLIV, featuring 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and his mother, Pam. Pam said that she was advised by doctors to have an abortion as she was exposed to amoebiasis, but she carried the pregnancy to term. The then-unseen ad had drawn criticism from some abortion rights groups such as Planned Parenthood, who asked CBS to cancel the ad because they argued that it was divisive.[45][46] CBS's decision to run the ad was also criticized because in the past CBS and other networks had declined to run advocacy type ads during the Super Bowl, including ads by left leaning or perceived left leaning groups such as PETA, MoveOn.org and the United Church of Christ (which wanted to run an ad that was pro-same sex marriage).[47] The ad, which made no reference to abortion or Christianity and referred to Tim as a "miracle baby" who "almost didn't make it into this world",[48] aired as scheduled on CBS.
In 2008, Dobson's "Focus on the Family" program was nominated for induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame.[49] Nominations were made by the 157 members of the Hall of Fame and voting on inductees was handed over to the public using online voting.[50] The nomination drew the ire of gay rights activists, who launched efforts to have the program removed from the nominee list and to vote for other nominees to prevent "Focus on the Family" from winning.[51][52] However, on July 18, 2008, it was announced that the program had won and would be inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in a ceremony on November 8, 2008.[53] Truth Wins Out, a gay rights group, protested the ceremony with over 300 protesters.[54]
Focus on the Family New Zealand is an organisation promoting a conservative Christian ideology. It has a similar agenda to the Focus on the Family organisation in the United States. Focus on the Family supported a Citizens Initiated Referendum on the repeal of section 59 of the Crimes Act 1961.[55]
The Focus on the Family headquarters is in a four building complex on a 47-acre (19 ha) plot of land,[57] located off of Interstate 25 in northern Colorado Springs, Colorado.[58][59]
As of 1998 the entire Focus on the Family headquarters property had over 77 acres (31 ha) of land. 1,300 employees work in the complex,[58] which has its own ZIP code (80995).[58][60] Christopher Ott of Salon said in 1998 that the Focus campus has "handsome new brick buildings, professional landscaping and even its own traffic signs" and that "The buildings and grounds are well-maintained and comfortable. If there is any ostentatious or corrupt influence here, it is nowhere in sight."[58]
The headquarters includes the Focus on the Family Welcome Center. While visiting the Focus on the Family complex, a couple had asked the staff if handling the sightseers in the main building was a distraction. The staff told the couple that it was a distraction; afterwards the couple donated $4 million to have a welcome center built. A visiting family donated 7 miles (11 km) of wood trim from the family's Pennsylvania lumber business so Focus on the Family could build its administration building. As of 1998, James Dobson, in his welcome center film, compares his decision to build the headquarters in Colorado Springs to the founding of the temple in Jerusalem.[58]
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Focus_on_the_Family Focus on the Family] at Wikimedia Commons
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