Top 10 Power Brokers of the Religious Right
An article at AlterNet by Rob Boston of Church and State details what they call the top 10 power brokers (villains?) of the religious right. Let me summarize them here:
1. Christian Broadcasting NetworkI don't think it's any accident that all of these people listed are hate mongerers of the highest order, who directly financially benefit from spreading hate and fear, and even when "women" appears in the title, the chief people are all white men.
Founder, CEO and Director: The Rev. Pat Robertson2004 Revenue: $186,482,060Location: Virginia Beach, Va.Web site: www.cbn.com
Overview: The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) airs Robertson’s “700 Club,” an incendiary daily mix of Pentecostal faith-healing, lifestyle advice and far-right politics. He calls church-state separation a “lie of the left” and thinks Christians like him should lead the world.
2. Focus on the Family
Founder and chairman: Dr. James C. Dobson2005 Revenue: $137,848,520Location: Colorado Springs, Colo.Web site: www.family.org
Overview: Although sometimes mistakenly identified as a minister, James Dobson is a child psychologist who founded Focus on the Family in 1977. Dobson, 70, rose to national prominence after the release of his first book, Dare to Discipline, a controversial volume that lauded corporal punishment for children at a time when many child-rearing experts were recommending against it. He came to the attention of aides to President Ronald Reagan and during the 1980s served on various White House commissions, including a 1985-86 stint on Attorney General Edwin Meese’s Commission on Pornography.
3. Coral Ridge Ministries
Founder and President: The Rev. D. James Kennedy2005 Revenue: $39,253,882Location: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.Web site: www.coralridge.org
Overview: D. James Kennedy, a former dance instructor who was converted to fundamentalist Christianity after hearing a sermon on the radio, founded Coral Ridge Ministries in 1974. Kennedy, pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (PCA), is now seen on about 600 U.S. television stations on Sunday mornings. His “Coral Ridge Hour” mixes fundamentalism with strident attacks on public education, gays, evolution, legal abortion, “secular humanism” and other Religious Right targets.
4. Alliance Defense Fund
President, CEO and General Counsel: Alan Sears2004 Revenue: $17,921,146Location: Scottsdale, Ariz.Web site: www.alliancedefensefund.org
Overview: The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) was founded in 1993 by a coalition of 30 Religious Right leaders, among them James Dobson, D. James Kennedy, Donald Wildmon and the late Marlin Maddoux and Bill Bright. The original idea was to create a funding pool that would subsidize the Religious Right’s courtroom activity, and as its Web site proclaims, “reclaim the legal system for Jesus Christ.” ADF head Alan Sears served under Reagan-era Attorney General Edwin Meese, leading the Meese Commission on Pornography.
5. American Family Association
Founder and Chairman: The Rev. Donald Wildmon2005 Revenue: $17,595,352Location: Tupelo, Miss.Web site: www.afa.net
Overview: Donald Wildmon, a Methodist minister, founded the American Family Association in 1977. Its original name was the National Federation for Decency. His goal, Wildmon boldly stated, was to rid the television airwaves of “anti-family” programming, mainly through boycotts and threats of boycotts of companies that advertised on shows Wildmon dislikes.
The AFA has since branched out, engaging in typical Religious Right activities like attacking gays and bashing evolution. It now includes a lucrative radio empire with 176 affiliates in 34 states, a fundamentalist Christian news service and a legal group called the Center for Law and Policy. In 2000, Wildmon launched a nationwide campaign to urge states to pass laws mandating the display of “In God We Trust” posters in public schools.
6. American Center for Law and Justice
Founder and President: The Rev. Pat RobertsonChief Counsel: Jay Sekulow2005 Revenue: $14,485,514Location: Virginia Beach, Va., and Washington, D.C.Web site: www.aclj.org
Overview: The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) was founded by TV preacher Pat Robertson in 1990, originally as a joint project of Robertson’s Christian Coalition and Regent University. Closely modeled on its nemesis, the American Civil Liberties Union – the organization whose name it mimics – the ACLJ was among the first Religious Right legal groups in the nation. Headed by Jay Sekulow, a Jewish convert to evangelical Christianity, the group seeks to roll back Supreme Court rulings upholding church-state separation, abortion rights and gay rights.
7. Family Research Council
Founder: James C. DobsonPresident and CEO: Tony Perkins2005 Revenue: $9,958,115Location: Washington, D.C.Web site: www.frc.org
Overview: The Family Research Council (FRC) was founded by religious broadcaster James C. Dobson in 1983 to give his views a presence in the nation’s capital. For many years, the group was merely an arm of Focus on the Family. In 1992, Dobson severed the official ties, although he says they remain “spiritually one.”
8. Jerry Falwell Ministries
Founder and Director: The Rev. Jerry Falwell2005 Revenue: $8,950,480
Location: Lynchburg, Va.
Web site: www.falwell.com
Overview: Jerry Falwell is perhaps the best-known Religious Right leader in America today, if only due to his long service to the cause. His Moral Majority is long gone, but Falwell remains on the scene and continues to attack church-state separation through several vehicles.
9. Concerned Women for America
Founders: Tim and Beverly LaHaye2005 Revenue: $8,484,108Location: Washington, D.C.Web site: www.cwfa.org
Overview: Formed in 1979 by Beverly and Tim LaHaye, Concerned Women for America brings “biblical principles into all levels of public policy.” It was originally intended to counter feminism, including opposing ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. When that issue died with the failure of the amendment, CWA focused on opposing communism. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the group has dealt mainly with culture war issues such as abortion, gay rights, sex education and alleged “secular humanism” in public schools, pornography and opposition to church-state separation. The group adds a heavy dose of United Nations-bashing to the list. It claims 500,000 members, although the figure is probably exaggerated.
10. Traditional Values Coalition
Founder and Chairman: The Rev. Louis P. Sheldon2005 Revenue: $6,389,448Location: Anaheim, Calif. and Washington, D.C.Web site: www.traditionalvalues.org
Overview: The Rev. Louis P. Sheldon founded the Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) in 1980 primarily to work on issues in California. The group later branched out, establishing a Washington beachhead. The D.C. office is run by Sheldon’s daughter, Andrea Lafferty. The organization is a 501(c)(4) group, which means donations to it are not tax deductible. However, it maintains a fully tax deductible arm called the TVC Education and Legal Institute. (Sheldon also runs a small political action committee that in 2006 gave all of its money to Republican candidates in California.)
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