Via Good as You we see that Focus on the Family has produced an ad “that is airing through the end of the year on CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox and other stations” in which a character named Fred is “thanked by complete strangers everywhere he goes” and is supposed to “represent the work the constituents [i.e. donors] have done for Focus on the Family.”
Since Good as You has already posted the video of the ad, we won’t bother to capture it and post it here, but its message is that “by supporting Focus on the Family, Fred is helping a lot of families thrive. So follow Fred’s example and go to ThanksFred.com and follow Fred’s example. Imagine how many people you’ll be helping.”
If you go to Focus’s new website, here’s what you see:
If you click on the “Relationship & Marriage” or “Social Issues” links on the left, you get a sense of just what sort of right-wing anti-gay, anti-abortion programs Focus “constituents” are funding with their donations:
And if you take a look at Focus’s “Helping Families Thrive” report [PDF] you get a pretty good sense of how they are using their various outreach programs to promote their right-wing agenda:
Focus on the Family’s mission statement is “to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible by nurturing and defending the God-ordained institution of the family and promoting biblical truths worldwide.”
SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE
The Sanctity of Human Life Outreach is based on the belief that all human life is created in God’s image and is of inestimable worth and significance in all its dimensions. With this in mind, the Sanctity of Human Life division has integrated several initiatives.
OPTION ULTRASOUND PROGRAM
Tens of millions of pre-born babies have been lost to abortion since the Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973. Research has shown that women who have the opportunity to see their babies via an ultrasound image are far less likely to choose abortion than those who have never viewed the new life growing inside their womb.
Since the launch of our Option Ultrasound Program in 2004, Focus on the Family has equipped hundreds of pregnancy medical clinics (PMCs) in 49 states, with plans to place a total of 650 ultrasound services by 2010.
Tens of thousands of babies have been saved through medical PMCs offering a combination of ultrasound and counseling services from the inception of the program through the end of 2008.I.M.P.A.C.T. TRAINING
Focus on the Family is conducting I.M.P.A.C.T. Training, which helps PMCs become Influential, Medical, Professional, Accountable, Culturally relevant and Trustworthy. By providing comprehensive education for leadership teams and board members of medical PMCs in high-abortion areas, these clinics are equipped to improve organizational strength and outcomes in reaching women at risk for abortion.
IMPACTING HIGH-ABORTION COMMUNITIES
Focus on the Family has strategically focused its efforts to impact high-abortion communities through pregnancy medical resource centers as well as other impact partners and organizations. This will increase life decisions within the most abortion-prone areas, such as minority communities.
GLOBAL ABSTINENCE OUTREACH
Focus on the Family’s character-based abstinence curriculum, No Apologies: The Truth About Life, Love and Sex, has reached more than 2 million students around the globe! This video and curriculum program promotes sexual abstinence before marriage and fidelity after marriage as the only true forms of “safe sex.”
LOVE WON OUT
Focus on the Family’s Love Won Out (LWO) ministry exhorts and equips the church to respond in a Christlike way to the issue of homosexuality. To those who struggle with unwanted same-sex attractions, we offer the gospel hope that these desires can be overcome. In short, the LWO team strives to uphold God’s design for sexuality in a way that transforms both individual lives and the wider culture.
To this end, LWO offers five annual one-day conferences in the United States that seek to educate and empower parents, family members, ministry leaders, educators, counselors, policy-makers and other interested individuals. The goal is to reach out lovingly with uncompromised faith—in compassion and grace—to a loved one who deals with homosexuality. In addition, conferences are now being held in international locations in conjunction with Focus on the Family international affiliate offices.
Coupled with the conference schedule, the LWO team also engages in a high number of media and public speaking opportunities throughout the year, each with the goal of spreading the redemptive biblical message of hope to a cynical and permissive culture that readily dismisses the transforming power of Christ.
Of course, Focus doesn’t bother to mention their core mission of “promoting biblical truths worldwide” in their new advertising campaign, instead choosing to downplay their right-wing cultural and political agenda in order to dupe television viewers into believing that a donation to the organization will merely help “families thrive.”
