The Alliance Defending Freedom ( ADF , formerly Alliance Defense Fund ) is an American conservative Christian nonprofit organization with the objectives of advocacy, training and funding on issues "religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and marriage and family." ADF is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona and runs the Academic Freedom Center. It also has four branch offices located in Folsom, California, Washington, D.C., Lawrenceville, Georgia and New York. This organization is considered a group of hatred by the Center for Southern Poverty Law. Due to its budget, caseload, and network of allied lawyers, the ADF is also seen as the most organized and influential Christian interest group in the country.
Video Alliance Defending Freedom
Histori
In the early 1990s, people of various denominations began to notice what they saw as progressive values ​​replacing traditional Judeo-Christian values ​​in American society and threats to religious freedom. They view the American Civil Liberties Union as a major factor contributing to the erosion of values. In response ADF was founded in 1993 by Bill Bright (founder, Campus Crusade for Christ), Larry Burkett (founder, Crown Financial Ministries), James Dobson (founder, Focus on Family), D. James Kennedy (founder, Coral Ridge Ministries) ), Marlin Maddoux (president, International Christian Media), and William Pew.
The first President of ADF is Alan Sears who also serves as CEO and Chief Counsel. Sears is executive director of staff of the Attorney General's Commission for Pornography, known as the Meese Commission.
In 1995, the ADF took the first case, Rosenberger v. University of Virginia. The landmark case is described by law professor Marci Hamilton as a "road sign" in connection with a judicial review of the Establishment Clause. First Amendment. Rosenberger was involved in a Christian newspaper at the University of Virginia that was refused student funding. The ADF provided funds and the case was tried by the Supreme Court, resulting in a victory for the ADF.
In 2000 Blackstone Legal Fellowship was established with 24 participants. The intensive nine-week internship program trains law students from a traditionalist perspective.
The Christmas Project was launched in 2003. This annual initiative featured hundreds of lawyers on teams across the country to refuse censorship of Christmas celebrations. In its press release, ADF chose American Civil Liberties Union as the main target of the campaign. In 2004 the participation has reached more than 700 lawyers and 3,600 school districts have been contacted and informed that the celebration of Christmas is constitutional.
In 2005, the first Truth Day was held with over 1,100 students at 350 participating schools. The annual event is instituted in response to what the ADF considers a homosexual agenda.
ADF launched the Academic Freedom Center (CAF) in 2006. CAF advocates students in the areas of freedom of speech and freedom of religion. David French is the first director of CAF.
2008 marks the launch of Pulpit Freedom Sunday which has been called "perhaps the most aggressive ADF business." National events encourage pastors to include political support in their preaching, which is contrary to the rules of the Internal Revenue Service.
On July 9, 2012, the Alliance Defense Fund changed its name to Alliance Defending Freedom. The name change is a strategic initiative designed to reflect a shift in organizational focus from funding lawyers allied to case litigation.
In 2014, the ADF has an annual budget of $ 40 million and more than 40 staff attorneys, and has "emerged as the largest legal force of religious rights, with hundreds of pro bono cases across the country." Surprises hit God i Not Dead is released. The film's producer Russell Rolfe stated that the inspiration for the film came from Alan Sears who shared the story of the First Amendment case in which the faith of a college student was challenged. More than 1,800 ministers enrolled in the annual Pulpit Freedom Day.
Also in 2014 the ADF achieves the most important legal victory in the case of challenging the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. , the Court ruled that the birth control mandate in an employee funded health plan is unconstitutional. This case sets a precedent for evaluating legal questions related to religious freedom.
In 2016 Tony Abbott, former Australian prime minister and current Member of Parliament, gave a speech at the ADF on traditional marriage. Abbott is an overt opponent of the legalization of same-sex marriage in Australia during the national debate.
In January 2017, Michael Farris became the new CEO of the ADF. Farris lobbied Congress to pass the Religious Religious Freedom Act of 1993, and was the founder of Patrick Henry College.
The Center for Southern Poverty Law in 2017 has labeled the LGBT hate groups organization and described it as "very anti-gay". The SPLC describes the group's mission as "making life as difficult as possible for LGBT communities in the US and internationally"; groups and representatives have been repeatedly involved in slander and scare tactics against the LGBT community and people in the United States, NBC said.
In July 2017, US Attorney Jeff Sessions attended the ADF Summit on Freedom of Religion. Praising the group, Sessions says "Even though your client varies from ministers to nuns to geologists, we all benefit from your good work." The LGBTQ group criticized the Session for its participation in the event. Dominic Holden writes in Buzzfeed News that the growing influence of the ADF in the Federal government can be attributed to Session support.
Maps Alliance Defending Freedom
Position
ADF supports the inclusion of prayers at public meetings and the use of religious fairs (such as crosses and other religious monuments) on public lands and in public buildings. The ADF opposes abortion, and believes that healthcare workers have a right to deny participation in the implementation of abortion and other practices that an individual health worker finds morally unacceptable. ADF opposes same-sex marriage and civil unions, and adoption by same-sex couples based on their belief that children are best brought up by married fathers and mothers. ADF believes parents should be able to choose their children out of sex education in schools that conflict with family religious beliefs.
International branch, ADF International, believes that European countries are permitted to prohibit gender changes in government-issued identification documents unless the person has been sterilized.
Finance
The ADF is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt organization. It has a budget of $ 9 million in 1999. ADF reported total revenues of $ 61.9 million for the year ended June 30, 2015, and net assets of $ 39.9 million.
Donors include the Covenant Foundation, the Bolthouse Foundation, Edgar Foundation and Elsa Prince, the Richard Foundation and Helen DeVos, the Bradley Foundation, The MJ Murdock Charitable Trust, one of the largest charities in the Pacific Northwest, donating nearly $ 1 million to ADF from 2007 to 2016.
Blackstone Legal Fellowship
Blackstone Legal Fellowship is a highly competitive intensive summer training program, nine weeks intensive. Leading faculty have included U. S. Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Founded in 2000 for the purpose of preparing Christian law students for professional legal careers. The first class consists of 24 apprentices. From the beginning, Blackstone has trained over 1,900 Christian law students. In an interview, ADF co-founder Alan Sears said in 2000 Blackstone was created in response to his observations, "There must be better ways for law students in America and for younger lawyers than we have today." The program consists of internships, called Fellows, from a wide selection of law schools as well as elite institutions such as Harvard and Yale. The program is named for Sir William Blackstone, a renowned British law scholar and lawyer who writes about the supremacy of God's law that has a profound impact on the Founding Fathers in the United States.
In 2012, Sears was asked about the great achievements of the ADF. He said "among the things I'm most grateful for are the Blackstone Legal Fellowship graduates."
In 2017, presidential candidate Donald Trump to the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Amy Coney Barrett, was denounced by Senator Al Franken for teaching constitutional law at Blackstone. In the Senate committee he called the ADF a "hate group." Barrett replied that the label of the hate group was "controversial." Barrett confirmed to the court by the full Senate.
Truth Day
The Freedom Defending Alliance states that he established the Day of Truth "to counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda and express opposing points of view from a Christian perspective." Truth Day is held every year after the Silent Day, organized by Gay Education Network, Lesbian, and Straight.
The ADF claims that students who have attempted to speak out against same-sex relationships and behaviors have been censored or, in some cases, punished for their actions under campus hate rules, such as Chase Harper, a high school student whose activation triggered the first Day of Truth. Harper was suspended for wearing a T-shirt that read "Be Ashamed" and "Our School Embraced What God Has Condemned," and in the back read, "Homosexuality is Shameful" and "Romans 1:27." The ADF filed a failed federal lawsuit against a school official on behalf of Harper, claiming freedom of violation was violated. The case was filed with the Supreme Court.
Truth Day was first held in 2005. According to the ADF, more than 1,100 students in 350 schools participated in the first Truth Day.
The ADF announced that starting in 2009, has inherited its leadership role on Truth Day to the former gay organization, Exodus International, which has prepared resources for the event. On 6 October, Exodus International stated that they would no longer support or lead the Day of Truth.
On November 11, 2010, the evangelical Christian organization Focusing on Family announced it had secured a Truth Day event and renamed it to Dialogue Day.
Pulpit Freedom Sunday
Pulpit Freedom Sunday is an ADF initiative designed to challenge the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits non-profit organizations including churches, from supporting political candidates. According to the New York Times , ADF campaigns have become "perhaps the most aggressive effort." In 2008 the program was launched with 35 participating churches - including several large churches. In the pastor's actions civil disobedience includes support for political candidates in their sermons that deviate from the rules of the Internal Revenue Service and in the hope of sparking a court challenge on the grounds of the First Amendment. The inauguration of 2008 includes Minnesota Reverend Gus Booth who encouraged his congregation to elect Senator McCain and has banned them from choosing Senator Obama because he supports US law on abortion rights.
With the participation of 2014 in this event has grown to more than 1,800 pastors. It brought total participation since 2008 to more than 3,800 pastors. At the same time, the IRS indicated that it would increase enforcement of the ban on candidate support in churches.
In 2017, the Free Speech Justice Act was introduced at the United States House of Representatives. The law proposes to allow political speech in churches. The ADF supports the ratification of the bill.
Famous cases
The ADF has been involved in several cases of the United States Supreme Court, including Rosenberger v. University of Virginia , Good News Club v. Milford Central School and Greek city v. Galloway . Rosenberger is the first landmark case of the ADF, described by law professor Marci Hamilton as a "road sign" in connection with a judicial review of the First Amendment Clause Clause. Good News Club and Greek cities established important precedents related to Free Speech and First Amendment's Clause of Establishment. But the most important legal victory involves a 2014 case that challenges the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. , the Court ruled that the birth control mandate in an employee-funded health plan when the company is "tightly held" is unconstitutional. This case sets a precedent for evaluating legal questions related to religious freedom. By 2017, the ADF has played a role in five victories in the Supreme Court.
People
The following is a list of people who are currently or have been affiliated with the ADF.
- Amy Coney Barrett, teaching constitutional law at Blackstone. Currently a judge in the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- J. Budziszewski, professor, member of the Blackstone Advisory Board
- Chapman B. Cox, former General Counsel for the US Department of Defense, chairman of the current ADF emeritus
- Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony and a member of the ADF Board
- Michael Farris, current ADF president and CEO
- David A. French, journalist at National Review , former Senior Advisor at ADF
- Robert P. George, legal scholar, member of the Blackstone Advisory Board
- Mary Ann Glendon, former US Ambassador to the Holy See, current member of the Blackstone Advisory Board
- Stephanie Gray, a Canadian pro-life activist, faculty member at Blackstone
- Mike Johnson, a former ADF lawyer, is currently a member of the US House of Representatives (Louisiana)
- Michael J. Juneau, nominee for United States District Court for Louisiana Western District
- Charles LiMandri, a lawyer associated with Mount Soledad's lawsuit, the longest court battle in the history of the First Amendment
- Edwin Meese, former US Attorney General, is currently a member of the Blackstone Advisory Board
- Charles W. Pickering, former judge at the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, a member of the current ADF Board
- Charles E. Rice, a former law degree and member of the Blackstone Advisory Board
- Andrew Sandlin, Christian minister and theologian, faculty member at Blackstone
- Alan Seabaugh, Louisiana legislator and ADF allied lawyer
- Alan Sears, lawyer, and founder and first president and CEO of ADF
- Doug Wardlow, a former Minnesota lawmaker, is currently a lawyer at the ADF
See also
Legal group
- American Center for Justice and Justice
- Center for Individual Rights
- Christian Law Institute
- Liberty Advisers
Related Act
- First Amendment Defense Act
- Wedding Protection Amendment
- Freedom Freedom Restoration Act
References
Further reading
- Bennett, Daniel (2017). Defending the Faith: Political Christian Conservative Law Movement . University Press of Kansas. ISBN: 978-0700624607.
- Budziszewski, J. (2006). Natural Law For Lawyers . ACW Press and The Blackstone Legal Fellowship. ISBN: 978-1932124798.
- Sears, Alan; Craig Osten (2005). ACLU vs. America: Exposing Agenda to Redefine Moral Values ​​. B & amp; H Books. ISBN: 978-0-8054-4045-4.
- Sears, Alan; Craig Osten (2003). The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Main Threats to Religious Freedom Today . B & amp; H Books. ISBN: 978-0-8054-2698-4. Ã,
External links
- Alliance Defense Fund, official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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