Focus on the Fundies

Saturday's New York Times had an article (Free registration required) on the religious-right group Focus on the Family. This group has been one of the most influential conservative voices for the last twenty years. Its voice has a huge reach, through daily radio programs that blanket the U.S. and Canada, plus videos, cassette tapes, magazines, websites and newsletters. Their email alert system alone has the capacity to get tens of thousands of conservatives calling and emailing their elected representatives on any "pro family" issue. Because they aren't a church or owned by a church, they are independent of any particular organization or religious agenda. Yet they've consistently reflected the most conservative mainstream religious-right positions. (They're mainstream, not radical -- they aren't some crackpot white supremacist cult from Idaho. They have mainstream positions that can be, and are, supported by mainstream politicians like the Bush family.)

My biggest exposure to FOTF has been through the radio. Because I like to keep track of what the enemy is up to, and for entertainment purposes, I've been listening to these jerkoffs for years as I drive around in my car. They are impressively subtle -- they don't rant and rave. Everything they say sounds reasonable. Many of the guests on their radio show are respectable people with advanced degrees. Many of the issues they talk about are linked to some legislation currently moving through Congress or a state legislature, providing their listeners some action to take when the show ends: call your congressman and tell him to vote for HR such-and-such. It's a frighteningly efficient influence machine.

The group is led by a calm, grandfatherly man named James Dobson, always identified as "Child Psychologist and Author." Dobson holds unshakable religious-right views on abortion, creationism, the role of women in society, capitalism, how much government should influence daily life, and free speech. And he has the ability to back up his positions, either by himself or by inviting some pedigreed guest.

But civic issues are not the only ones that FOTF tries to influence, as evidenced by the name of the group. Many of their topics have to do with intimate personal and family issues like raising children, how to improve your "Christian marriage," and depression. Of course, whenever possible, they make connections to civic issues. So if they're talking about how to get Daddy off his internet pornography addiction, you can bet they'll also discuss filtering technology, whether or not you can see porn in libraries, and those damnable liberal librarians who want to allow it. Their agenda, and their ability to push it, is complete.

The article says their funding has flattened off, which is well and good. I'd love to see them shrivel, just as the Moral Majority did. But as long as Dobson is still living, I wouldn't bet on it.

Here are some links to more information on FOTF:

• Queer Resources Directory (QRD) page on the Religious Right
• Know the Opposition, a page on the Feminist Majority's website
• California Abortion Rights Action League page on the Christian Right
• This article from 1994 by Glen Eyrie is a valuable look at FOTF at the height of its influence
• Religious Right Alert, a website of the Interfaith Alliance of California