Focus on the Family

Focus on the Family
Motto Helping Families Thrive
Founded 1977 (1977)
Founder James Dobson
95-3188150 (EIN)
Location
Area served
International
Members
12
Key people
 Jim Daly, President
Revenue
$95,209,896 (2011 FY)[1]
Employees
746
Volunteers
112
Website focusonthefamily.com

Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is an American Christian conservative organization founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado.[2] It is active in promoting an interdenominational effort toward its socially conservative views on public policy. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s.

Focus on the Family's stated mission is "nurturing and defending the God-ordained institution of the family and promoting biblical truths worldwide."[3] It promotes abstinence-only sexual education; creationism;[4][5][6] adoption by married, opposite-sex parents;[7][8][9] school prayer; and traditional gender roles. It opposes abortion; divorce; gambling; LGBT rights, particularly LGBT adoption and same-sex marriage;[10] pornography; pre-marital sex; and substance abuse. Psychologists, psychiatrists, and social scientists have criticized Focus on the Family for trying to misrepresent their research to bolster FOTF's fundamentalist political agenda and ideology.

The core promotional activities of the organization include a daily radio broadcast by its president Jim Daly and his colleagues, providing free resources according to Focus on the Family views, and publishing magazines, videos, and audio recordings. The organization also produces programs for targeted audiences, such as Adventures in Odyssey for children, dramas, and Family Minute.

History and organization

Focus on the Family's former logo.
Focus on the Family's Visitor's Welcome Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

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.[11] This left Dobson as chairman of the board of directors, with chiefly creative and speaking duties. Focus on the Family aims to equip families "through radio broadcasts, websites, simulcasts, conferences, interactive forums, magazines, books, and counseling."

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.[12]

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.[13]

In February 2009, Dobson resigned his chairmanship,[14] He left Focus on the Family in early 2010, and subsequently founded Family Talk as a non-profit organization and launched a new broadcast that began airing nationally on May 3, 2010. He is no longer affiliated with Focus on the Family.

Ministries

Marriage and family

Focus on the Family sees its primary ministry as the strengthening of what it considers traditional marriages and families, based on what it sees as a fundamentalist view of Biblical teachings.[15] The group strongly opposes same-sex marriage.[16] Their website offers online tracts on topics regarding marriage[17] and parenting.[18]

Love Won Out

Main article: Love Won Out

Focus on the Family formed Love Won Out, an ex-gay ministry, in 1998 and sold it to Exodus International in 2009. (Exodus ceased activities in June 2013, issuing a statement which repudiated its aims and apologized for the harm their pursuit has caused to LGBT people.)

Wait No More

Focus on the Family's Wait No More ministry works with adoption agencies, church leaders and ministry partners to recruit families to adopt children from foster care.[19] The program co-sponsors several adoption conferences throughout the country each year. Since November 2008, more than 2,700 families have started the adoption process through Wait No More.[20] In Colorado, the number of children waiting for adoption dropped from about 800 to 350, due in-part to the efforts of Wait No More.[21] Focus on the Family's efforts to encourage adoption among Christian families is part of a larger effort by Evangelicals to, in their perception, live out what they see as the "biblical mandate" to help children.[22] Focus on the Family supports laws to prevent couples from adopting who are cohabiting together outside of marriage as well as homosexual couples.[23]

Option Ultrasound Program

Focus on the Family's Option Ultrasound Program (OUP) provides grants to qualifying crisis pregnancy centers to cover 80 percent of the cost of an ultrasound machine or sonography training. As of October 31, 2014, the program has provided 655 grants to centers in all 50 states and Bucharest, Romania. Focus on the Family began OUP in 2004 with the goal of convincing women not to have abortions. FOTF officials said that ultrasound services help a woman better understand her pregnancy and baby's development, creating an important "bonding opportunity" between "mother and unborn child".[24]

The Option Ultrasound Program reported in 2014 that it has helped prevent more than 270,000 abortions since 2004. A study released in February 2012 shows that ultrasounds do not have a direct impact on an abortion decision.[25] In 2011, FOTF President Jim Daly announced that while FOTF will continue to fight for the overturn of Roe v. Wade, in the meantime he would like to work with pro-choice groups like Planned Parenthood who state they want to make abortion "safe, legal and rare" towards the shared goal of making abortion less common.[26] Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) introduced a sonogram bill in 2011 and – citing Focus on the Family – told Congress that "78 percent of women who see and hear the fetal heartbeat choose life." She was later corrected by Focus on the Family, which released a statement saying they did not release such data.[27]

Radio Theatre

Main article: Adventures in Odyssey
A wall in Whit's End at the visitor's center showing the Adventures in Odyssey voice actors, challenging viewers to match them with the characters.

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 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. It was aired on over 1300 outlets, 325 of which were general market stations. It has since become a perennial on some of those stations.

The drama continued with historical biographies of Squanto ("The Legend of Squanto"), Jesus ("The Luke Reports") and Dietrich Bonhoeffer ("Bonhoeffer: The Cost of Freedom"). Over several years beginning in 1998 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. A full box set of all 7 plays in one volume was released in the mid-2000s.

The Visitor's Center contains an indoor children's play area that includes a Whit's End ice cream shop.

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 John Avery Whittaker (aka "Whit"). It was renamed "Odyssey USA" in November 1987 and took on its present name, Adventures in Odyssey, in April 1988.[28]

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.[29]

Boundless.org

Boundless.org is Focus on the Family's website for young adults[30] featuring articles, a blog, a podcast, and a conference. The website covers topics such as singleness, dating, relationships, popular culture, career and sex.[31] Boundless.org recommends online dating as a means for Christian singles to find potential spouses.[32]

Day of Dialogue

Main article: Day of Dialogue

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 and anti-homophobic 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.[33]

National Day of Prayer

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 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."[34] Shirley Dobson, wife of James Dobson, has been chairwoman of the NDP Task Force since 1991.[35]

Other ministries

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.

Political positions and activities

Focus on the Family's 501(c)(3) status prevents them from advocating any individual political candidate.[36] Focus on the Family's magazine Citizen is exclusively devoted to cultural and public policy issues. FOTF also has an affiliated group, CitizenLink, though the two groups are legally separate. As a 501(c)(4) social welfare group, CitizenLink has fewer political lobbying restrictions. FOTF's revenue in 2012 was USD $90.5 million, and that of CitizenLink was USD $8 million.[37][38]

Focus on the Family supports teaching of what it considers to be traditional "family values". It supports student-led and initiated prayer and supports the practice of corporal punishment.[39] It strongly opposes LGBT rights, abortion, pornography, gambling, and pre-marital and extramarital sexual activity.[40] 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 (CPCs; also known as pregnancy resource centers) in obtaining ultrasound machines. 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.[41][42] The organization has been staunchly opposed to public funding for elective abortions.

FOTF's bookstore at their headquarters contains a variety of material on Christian living, Bibles, etc.

Focus on the Family broadcasts an eponymous national talk radio program. The program has a range of themes, such as fundamentalist 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.

Focus on the Family has been a prominent supporter of the pseudoscience[43][44] of intelligent design, publishing pro-intelligent design articles in its Citizen magazine and selling intelligent design videos on its website.[45][46] 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.[47] 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. Focus on the Family's Family.org is a significant online resource for intelligent design articles.[48][49]

2008 Presidential campaign

In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Focus on the Family 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.[50] 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."[51] 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.[52]

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.[53]

Opposition to same-sex marriage

Focus on the Family works to preserve its interpretation of biblical ideals of marriage and parenthood, taking a strong stance against LGBT rights, including same-sex marriage. 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.[54]

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 argues 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 views allowing same-sex marriage as "…a stepping-stone on the road to eliminating all societal restrictions on marriage and sexuality."[54]

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".[54]

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".[54]

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.[54]

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.[55]

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.[56]

Civil rights advocacy groups identify Focus on the Family as a major opponent of gay rights. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights and hate group monitoring organization,[57] described Focus on the Family as one of a "dozen major groups [which] help drive the religious right's anti-gay crusade".[58]

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,[59] 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.

Misrepresentation of research

Social scientists have criticized Focus on the Family for misrepresenting their research in order to bolster its own perspective.[60] Researcher Judith Stacey whose work Focus on the Family used to claim that gays and lesbians do not make good parents, said that the claim was "a direct misrepresentation of the research."[61] 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."[62] FOTF claimed that 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.[61]

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."[63][64][65] 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.[66]

After Elizabeth Saewyc's research on teen suicide was used by Focus on the Family to promote the pseudoscience of conversion therapy she 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.[67] Other scientists who have criticized Focus on the Family for misrepresenting their findings include Robert Spitzer,[68] Gary Remafedi[66] and Angela Phillips.[68]

Football advertisements

In 2010, Focus on the Family bought ad time during Super Bowl XLIV to air a commercial featuring Heisman Trophy winning Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow and his mother, Pam. Prior to becoming pregnant with Tim, Pam had contracted amoebic dysentery and fell into a coma. She discovered she was pregnant while recovering. Because of the medications used to treat her, the fetus experienced a severe placental abruption.[69] Doctors expected a stillbirth and recommended an abortion. The Tebows decided against it, citing their strong faith.[69] In the ad, Pam described Tim as a "miracle baby" who "almost didn't make it into this world", and further elaborated that "with all our family's been through, we have to be tough" (after which Pam was promptly tackled by Tim). The ad itself made no reference to abortion or Christianity, and directed viewers to the organization's website.[70][71]

Women's rights groups asked CBS not to air the then-unseen ad, arguing that it was divisive. Planned Parenthood released a video response of its own featuring fellow NFL player Sean James.[72][73] The claim that Tebow's family chose not to perform an abortion was also widely criticized; critics felt that the claim was implausible because it would be unlikely for doctors to recommend the procedure because abortion is illegal in the Philippines.[71][74] CBS's decision to run the ad was also criticized for deviating from its past policy to reject advocacy-type ads during the Super Bowl, including ads by 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). However, CBS stated that "we have for some time moderated our approach to advocacy submissions after it became apparent that our stance did not reflect public sentiment or industry norms on the issue."[75]

Focus on the Family produced another commercial which ran during the second quarter of the January 14, 2012 Denver Broncos-New England Patriots AFC Divisional Playoff broadcast on CBS,[76] featuring children reciting the Bible verse John 3:16.[77] The game, given the months of preceding hype and media exposure for Tim Tebow (who now played for the Broncos), was seen by more than 30 million viewers, making it the most-watched AFC Divisional Playoff in more than a decade.[78] The ad did not generate nearly the amount of controversy that surrounded the Super Bowl commercial. It did get some national media attention, though, with Jim Daly telling USA Today its purpose was to "help everyone understand some numbers are more important than the ones on the scoreboard."[79]

Recognitions and awards

In 2008, Dobson's "Focus on the Family" program was nominated for induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame.[80] 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.[81] 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.[82][83] 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.[84] Truth Wins Out, a gay rights group, protested the ceremony with over 300 protesters.[85]

International associates and regional offices

New Zealand

Focus on the Family New Zealand logo

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.[86]

Other countries

Controversy

The Singapore branch of FotF came under criticism in October 2014 over allegations of sexism and promoting gender stereotypes during their workshops on managing relationships for junior college students. The workshop received a complaint from both a Hwa Chong Junior College student, as well as negative feedback from the college management as being 'ineffective' and will stop by the end of the year.[88]

Headquarters

The Administration Building is one of four on the headquarters campus

The Focus on the Family headquarters is a four building, 47-acre (19 ha)[89] complex located off of Interstate 25 in northern Colorado Springs, Colorado, with its own ZIP code (80995).[90][91] The buildings consist of the Administration building, International building, Welcome Center and Operations building (currently unused), and totals 526,070 square feet.[92]

Focus on the Family moved to its current headquarters from Pomona, California, in 1993, with 1200 employees. In 2002, the number of employees peaked at 1,400. By September 2011, after a number of years of layoffs, they had 650 employees remaining.[93] Christopher Ott of Salon said in 1998 that the FOTF 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."[90]

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 FOTF 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.[90]

References

  1. ↑ "FY 2011 IRS Form 990 Federal Tax Return" (PDF). GuideStar. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Key Christian Conservative Admits Medical Marijuana Has Benefits". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
  3. ↑ "Focus on the Family's Foundational Values". Focus on the Family. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  4. ↑ Padian, Kevin (January–April 2006). "The Dover Victory". Reports of the National Center for Science Education (Berkeley, CA: National Center for Science Education) 26 (1–2): 49–50. ISSN 2158-818X. Retrieved 2014-05-06.
  5. ↑ Alters, Brian (January–April 2006). "'Ties' to Canada". Reports of the National Center for Science Education (Berkeley, CA: National Center for Science Education) 26 (1–2): 51–52. ISSN 2158-818X. Retrieved 2014-05-06.
  6. ↑ Wallace, Tim (2007) [Originally published 2005]. "Five Major Evolutionist Misconceptions about Evolution". The True.Origin Archive. Hergiswil, Switzerland: Tim Wallace. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
  7. ↑ Focus on the Family Issue Analysts. "Our Position (Adoption)". Focus on the Family. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
  8. ↑ Culver, Virginia (February 5, 2002). "Adoption plan stirs controversy Gays applaud doctors' stance; Focus on Family denounces it". The Denver Post.
  9. ↑ Draper, Electa. "Adoption initiative halves numbers of kids needing families". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
  10. ↑ SPLC on anti-gay groups
  11. ↑ "James Dobson no longer a manager, just an orator". Reading Eagle. May 17, 2003. p. A9.
  12. ↑ "Hodel retiring as president of Focus, succeeded by James Daly". Baptist Press (Southern Baptist Convention). February 25, 2005.
  13. ↑ Bill Reed. "Focus on the Family eliminating 202 jobs". Colorado Springs Gazette.
  14. ↑ Dobson steps down as FOF chairman. Washingtontimes.com (February 27, 2009). Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  15. ↑ "About Us". Focus on the Family. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
  16. ↑ Nieves, Evelyn (August 17, 2003). "Family Values Groups Gear Up for Battle Over Gay Marriage". Washington Post. Focus on the Family, which Dobson...began 25 years ago to strengthen and promote the traditional family unit using conservative Christian interpretations of scripture.
  17. ↑ "Marriage & Relationships". Focus on the Family. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
  18. ↑ "Parenting". Focus on the Family. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
  19. ↑ 17-year-old beats the odds and finds a home | year, amanda, last . Colorado Springs Gazette (November 9, 2011). Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  20. ↑ http://icareaboutorphans.org/whatwedo/waitnomore/
  21. ↑ Focus on Family gives foster kids a day at ballpark. Colorado Springs Gazette (May 15, 2010). Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  22. ↑ Riley, Naomi S.. (September 24, 2010) "Adoption Season for Evangelicals: A Biblical Mandate to Help Chilrdren, Especially Those in Foster Care". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  23. ↑ FotF on Adoption
  24. ↑ "Focus: Donations of ultrasound equipment stopped 100,000 abortions since 2004". The Denver Post. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  25. ↑ "Ongoing study shows ultrasounds do not have direct impact on abortion decision". The American Independent. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
  26. ↑ Focus on the Family welcomes unlikely ally | koaa.com | Colorado Springs | Pueblo |. koaa.com. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  27. ↑ Michele Bachmann's misstatements may be catching up to her . Los Angeles Times(October 23, 2011). Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  28. ↑ "Adventures in Odyssey online". Retrieved 2007-10-11.
  29. ↑ Official audio drama website. Screwtape.com. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  30. ↑ http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/07/is-god-going-to-hook-me-up-online-assessing-christian-mingle-and-soul-mates/
  31. ↑ Restless, Reformed, and Single. Christianity Today (July 31, 2009). Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  32. ↑ [(3)http://www.boundless.org/podcast-section/2011/behind-the-scenes-of-online-dating-episode-189]
  33. ↑ Focus to sponsor anti-gay observance for students. Colorado Springs Gazette, November 11, 2010. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  34. ↑ National Day of Prayer Task Force website – FAQs. Nationaldayofprayer.org. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  35. ↑ National Day of Prayer Task Force website – Shirley Dobson bio. Nationaldayofprayer.org. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  36. ↑ "Election Year Activities and the Prohibition on Political Campaign Intervention for Section 501(c)(3) Organizations". Internal Revenue Service. February 2006. Retrieved 2011-02-05. Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. ... Political campaign intervention includes any and all activities that favor or oppose one or more candidates for public office. The prohibition [includes and] extends beyond candidate endorsements.
  37. ↑ Focus on the Family Form 990 tax filing. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  38. ↑ CitizenLink Form 990 tax filing. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  39. ↑ Focus on the Family Defends Parents' Right to Discipline Archived May 1, 2004, at the Wayback Machine.
  40. ↑ "Social Issues". Focus on the Family. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
  41. ↑ Sanctity of Human Life. Heartlink.org. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  42. ↑ The New York Times > National > Church Groups Turn to Sonogram to Turn Women From Abortions
  43. ↑ Boudry, M.; Blancke, S.; Braeckman, J. (2010). "Irreducible Incoherence and Intelligent Design: A Look into the Conceptual Toolbox of a Pseudoscience". The Quarterly Review of Biology 85 (4): 473–82. doi:10.1086/656904. PMID 21243965. available from Irreducible incoherence and intelligent design: a look into the conceptual toolbox of a pseudoscience, Universiteit Gent, pdf
  44. ↑ Pigliucci 2010
  45. ↑ Inferior Design Chris Mooney. The American Prospect Online, September 2005
  46. ↑ Expert Witness Report Barbara Forrest. Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District. (PDF file)
  47. ↑ Unlocking the Mystery of Life Stephen C. Meyer and W. Peter Allen. Center for Science and Culture July 15, 2004
  48. ↑ Feature Articles Focus on Social Issues – Origins. CitizenLink, Focus on the Family
  49. ↑ Recommended Reading List Focus on Social Issues – Origins. CitizenLink, Focus on the Family
  50. ↑ "CNN.com Video". CNN. Archived from the original on April 30, 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  51. ↑ Archived October 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  52. ↑ Gorski, Eric; Zoll, Rachel (October 28, 2008). "Christian right's mailings depict disastrous future under Obama". USA Today. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  53. ↑ Chambliss got help from Focus on the Family, as well as Musgrave. Coloradoindependent.com (December 3, 2008). Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  54. 1 2 3 4 5 James Dobson (September 2003). "Marriage on the Ropes". Newsletter Archive. Focus on the Family Southern Africa.
  55. ↑ KirkPatrick, David D. (October 16, 2004). "THE 2004 CAMPAIGN: SAME-SEX MARRIAGE; Rally Against Gay Marriage Draws Thousands to Capital". New York Times. p. 12. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  56. ↑ Rutledge, Kathleen K. (January 2005). "Dobson on the Gay Marriage Battle". Christianity Today 49 (1): 60. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  57. ↑ "Southern Poverty Law Center: LGBT Rights".
  58. ↑ "A Dozen Major Groups Help Drive the Religious Right's Anti-Gay Crusade".. Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  59. ↑ Hubbell, John M. (April 28, 2005). "Coalition seeks male-female marriage definition / New ballot push for constitutional amendment". San Francisco Chronicle. p. B.3.
  60. ↑ Steinbeck, Robert (July 20, 2011). "U.S. Senator Catches Anti-Gay Testifier Misrepresenting Study". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved November 12, 2013. t was the latest in a relentless campaign of misrepresentations, half-truths and outright lies in recent years that have defined anti-gay Christian right organizations intent on opposing equal rights and common dignity for LGBT people.
  61. 1 2 Paulson, Steven K. (August 17, 2006). "Gay Rights Group: Dobson Manipulated Data". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-05-21. A Focus on the Family official denied the allegation... Focus on the Family spokesman Glenn Stanton cited other research including an article co-authored by Mary Parke, a policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy, that shows that children need a mother and a father, regardless of the parents' sexual orientation. "We haven't said anything about sexual orientation," he said.
  62. ↑ "Dobson's FOF Distorts Research, Says NYU Sociology Professor". Church & State. September 2006.
  63. ↑ "James Dobson Slammed for Distorting Facts on Gay Families in Time Magazine". Edge Boston. December 15, 2006.
  64. ↑ Truth Wins Out: James Dobson Slammed By Professor For Distorting Her Research In Time Magazine Article On Mary Cheney’s Pregnancy. "[A] letter to Dobson, obtained exclusively by Truth Wins Out," December 14, 2006.
  65. ↑ O' Leary, Mary E. (February 12, 2007). "Yale expert says group misused his words". New Haven Register. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  66. 1 2 Birkey, Andy. "Minnesota researcher claims Focus on the Family misrepresented his work". The Minnesota Independent. The American Independent News Network. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  67. ↑ Gorham, Beth (June 19, 2006). "B.C. researcher says American group distorting her research on teen suicide". Canada Press.
  68. 1 2 Besen, Wayne (December 28, 2006). "Science Strikes Back". San Francisco Bay Times.
  69. 1 2 Richardson, Suzy A. (October 7, 2007). "Coaching character". The Gainesville Sun. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved November 10, 2007.
  70. ↑ Abcarian, Robin (February 8, 2010). "Tebow ad falls short of the hype". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  71. 1 2 Clark-Flory, Tracy (January 28, 2010). "The truth behind Tebow's tale". Salon.
  72. ↑ Davidson, Amy. "The Tebow Defense". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  73. ↑ McCarthy, Michael (February 4, 2010). "Planned Parenthood responds to Tim Tebow Super Bowl ad". USA Today. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  74. ↑ Snyder, Whitney (March 31, 2010). "Tim Tebow Super Bowl Ad May Be Based on Falsehood, Lawyer Claims". Huffington Post.
  75. ↑ James, Meg (January 27, 2010). "CBS defends decision to run politically sensitive Tim Tebow ad during Super Bowl". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  76. ↑ Electra Draper, "The Denver Post", January 14, 2012, "", January 24, 2012
  77. ↑ Focus on the Family, "John 3:16", January 14, 2012, "", January 24, 2012
  78. ↑ Post Staff Writer, "New York Post", January 17, 2012 "Tebow-Brady tiff sets soft ratings record", January 24, 2012
  79. ↑ Cathy Grossman, "USA Today", "Focus on Family has another Tebow-related commercial", January 24, 2012
  80. ↑ Williams, Devon (May 1, 2008). "Dr. Dobson's Broadcast Nominated to Radio Hall of Fame". Citizenlink.org. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  81. ↑ Barna, Mark (July 21, 2008). "Dobson garners hall of fame honor". The Gazette. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  82. ↑ "Dr. Dobson Blasted by Gay Activist". Citizenlink.org. July 11, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  83. ↑ Besen, Wayne (July 9, 2008). "TWO Launches Drive to Keep James Dobson Out of the Radio Hall of Fame". PR Newswire. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  84. ↑ Cuprisin, Tim (July 20, 2008). "FCC commissioner wants more concessions in satellite merger". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  85. ↑ "Religion News in Brief". Associated Press. July 25, 2008. Archived from the original on October 28, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  86. ↑ Focus on the Family (May 17, 2007). "Lobby group offers help through smacking mess". Scoop. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
  87. ↑ "'Sexist' workshop for students to cease by year-end: MOE". AsiaOne. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  88. ↑ Lee, Pearl. "Hwa Chong: Workshop staff 'ineffective'". My Paper. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
  89. ↑ Martin, Claire. "Fun is the focus Three-story slide gives kids a thrill." Denver Post. April 23, 2000. F-07. Retrieved on September 17, 2010. "Focus on the Family's sprawling headquarters four buildings on 47 acres of land[...]"
  90. 1 2 3 Ott, Christopher. "God's own ZIP Code" Salon, July 9, 1998. Retrieved on September 17, 2010.
  91. ↑ "How do I contact Focus on the Family?." Focus on the Family. Retrieved on September 17, 2010.
  92. ↑ Focus on the Family. "." Retrieved on October 18, 2012. "What is the square footage of your buildings?"
  93. ↑ Draper, Electra. "." Denver Post. September 16, 2011. Retrieved on October 18, 2012. "Focus on the Family announces more layoffs"

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