| Alliance Defense Fund | |
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| Abbreviation | ADF |
| Motto | Defending Our First Liberty |
| Formation | 1994 |
| Type | Non-profit |
| Purpose/focus | Christian advocacy |
| Headquarters | Scottsdale, Arizona |
| President/CEO | Alan Sears |
| Website | www.AllianceDefenseFund.org |
The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is a conservative Christian nonprofit organization with the stated goal of "defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation."[1] ADF was founded in 1994 by the late Bill Bright (founder, Campus Crusade for Christ), the late Larry Burkett (founder, Crown Financial Ministries), James Dobson (founder, Focus on the Family), the late D. James Kennedy (founder, Coral Ridge Ministries), the late Marlin Maddoux (president, International Christian Media), and Donald Wildmon (founder, American Family Association), along with the leadership of over thirty other conservative Christian organizations.[2]
ADF supports the inclusion of invocations at public meetings and the use of religious displays (such as crosses and other religious monuments) on public lands and in public buildings.[3] The ADF opposes abortion, and believes that healthcare workers have a right to decline participation in the performance of abortions and other practices an individual health worker finds morally objectionable. ADF opposes same-sex marriage, as well as adoption by same-sex couples based on their belief that children are best raised by a married mother and father. ADF believe parents should be able to opt their children out of sex education in schools that run counter to a family's religious beliefs.[3]
ADF states that it has "had various roles of significance" in thirty-three wins before the United States Supreme Court, including such cases as Rosenberger v. University of Virginia, Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York, and Boy Scouts of America v. Dale.[4] ADF is representing a litigant in Perry v. Schwarzenegger.
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Contents
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Organization
ADF's President, CEO, and General Counsel is Alan Sears. Sears was previously a Justice Department official under the administration of President Ronald Reagan, and has co-authored two books with Craig Osten: The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today, and The ACLU vs. America: Exposing the Agenda to Redefine Moral Values.
The ADF is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. It has six branch offices, located in Sacramento, California; Lawrenceville, Georgia; Shreveport, Louisiana; Memphis, Tennessee; Washington, DC, and Olathe, Kansas. In addition, the ADF Center for Academic Freedom is located in Nashville, Tennessee.[5]
Major donors for the organization include the Covenant Foundation, the Bolthouse Foundation[6] and the Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation, whose vice president is Erik Prince.[7]
Programs and initiatives
ADF’s National Litigation Academy[8] and Blackstone Legal Fellowship[9] are aimed at training lawyers to pursue cases from a socially conservative perspective based on Christian ideals.
The National Litigation Academy brings together law school professionals, litigators, and constitutional lawyers for courses of study. Volunteer and allied attorneys are offered training in areas of law that relate to religious freedom, same-sex marriage, and pro-life issues. The training is provided at no charge, but each attorney pledges to spend 450 hours of pro bono time furthering ADF's mission by representing Christian organizations and individuals.[10][11] ADF states that more than 1,200 attorneys have attended the National Litigation Academy with pro-bono service totaling more than $82 million to date.[11]
The Blackstone Legal Fellowship is a nine-week summer internship program designed for Christian law students.[12] Interns work closely with legal professionals and advocate a Conservative Christian worldview. According to ADF, the goal of the Blackstone Legal Fellowship is "to train a new generation of lawyers who will rise to positions of influence and leadership as legal scholars, litigators, judges, and perhaps even Supreme Court justices, and who will work to ensure that justice is carried out in America's courtrooms."[13] More specifically, ADF states that the Blackstone Legal Fellowship purposes to "[e]quip Christian law students to engage the legal culture with biblical and natural law principles," to "[g]ive law students confidence that the foundation of law on which our country was established is rationally superior to any competing legal philosophy," and to "[p]rofoundly influence Christian law students to take their training and knowledge into positions of influence where they can bring about needed change in America’s legal system."[13]
The Center for Academic Freedom was established in 2006 and works to protect the right of students and teachers to freely express their religious beliefs.[1]
Day of Truth
The Alliance Defense Fund states that it established the Day of Truth[14] "to counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda and express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective."[15] The Day of Truth is held annually following the Day of Silence, which is organized by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).
ADF claims that students who have attempted to speak against same-sex relationships and behavior have been censored or, in some cases, punished for their actions under campus hate-speech rules, such as Chase Harper, a high school student whose activism sparked 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 on the back read, "Homosexuality is Shameful" and "Romans 1:27." The Alliance Defense Fund filed an unsuccessful federal lawsuit against school officials on behalf of Harper, claiming his religious freedoms were violated. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court.[16][17][18]
The Day of Truth was first organized in 2005. According to ADF, over 1,100 students in 350 schools participated in the first Day of Truth.[19]
ADF has announced that beginning in 2009, it is passing on its leadership role in the Day of Truth to an ex-gay organization, Exodus International,[20] who has prepared the resources for the event.[21] On October 6, Exodus International stated they will no longer be supporting or leading the Day of Truth.[22]
On November 11, 2010, Focus on the Family announced it had acquired the Day of Truth event and was renaming it to the Day of Dialogue. The goal would remain unchanged.[23]
Notable cases
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The Alliance Defense Fund, working with other socially conservative organizations and Christian groups, as well as allied litigators, litigates cases involving religious freedom, abortion issues, and same-sex marriage.[24]
- Rosenberger v. University of Virginia (1995). ADF provided funding to defend a student newspaper which was denied university funding due to its religious nature. The case was litigated all the way to the Supreme Court.[25]
- Good News Club v. Milford Central School (2001). The ADF assisted in this case in which the Supreme Court ruled that religious clubs must be afforded equal access to school facilities.[26]
- Williams v. Vidmar (2004). In November 2004, the ADF filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Cupertino, California elementary school teacher against his school principal and school board members.[27] Williams has been described as "the seminal equal access case."[28]
- Perry v. Schwarzenegger. ADF is representing the proponents of the initiative, ProtectMarriage.com, in the Federal lawsuit which challenges the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8, which limited marriage in California to one man and one woman.[29] Their participation has generated some criticism. The religious rights law firm Liberty Counsel, which has litigated opposition to same-sex marriage in California since 2004, criticized Alliance Defense Fund's handling of the case. "ADF presented only two witnesses at trial, following the 15 witnesses presented by those who challenged Proposition 8. Even Judge Walker commented that he was concerned by the lack of evidence presented by ADF on behalf of Prop 8."[30]
See also
- Focus on the Family
- Boy Scouts of America v. Dale
- Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York
- Center For Individual Rights
- Christian Legal Society
- American Civil Liberties Union
References
- ^ Defending our First Liberty, Pg. 3, Retrieved June 2, 2007, Alliance Defense Fund
- ^ History, Alliance Defense Fund
- ^ a b Gizzi, John. "Alliance Defense Fund Promotes Religious Freedom." Human Events 65.28 (2009): 21. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Nov. 2011.
- ^ Supreme Court Victories, Alliance Defense Fund
- ^ ADF Center for Academic Freedom - Faith has a Voice
- ^ The Bolthouse Foundation
- ^ Posner, Sarah. "The Legal Muscle Leading the Fight to End the Separation of Church and State" April 1, 2007, Washington Spectator Online
- ^ National Litigation Academy, Alliance Defense Fund
- ^ Blackstone Legal Fellowship, Alliance Defense Fund
- ^ National Litigation Academy - Multiplying the Power of Alliance through Training
- ^ a b National Litigation Academy - Alliance Defense Fund - Defending Our First Liberty
- ^ https://blackstone.alliancedefensefund.org/
- ^ a b http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/whatwedo/training/Blackstone.aspx
- ^ Day of Truth Participant Manual Web site
- ^ http://www.dayoftruth.org/about/default.aspx
- ^ http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?ID=20459
- ^ ADF attorneys seek justice for high school student silenced on Day of Truth, Alliance Defense Fund
- ^ http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/tag/t-shirt-wars
- ^ Day of Truth participation statistics, Day of Truth website
- ^ Hostile Questions : Day of Truth
- ^ Homosexuality FAQ Sheet, Day of Truth website
- ^ : Day of Truth Support Pulled
- ^ http://www.kentucky.com/2010/11/11/1521039/focus-on-the-family-group-to-sponsor.html
- ^ Issues, Alliance Defense Fund
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=mEQNZVTwFV8C&lpg=PA431&dq=alliance%20defense%20fund%20rosenberger&pg=PA431#v=onepage&q=alliance%20defense%20fund%20rosenberger&f=false
- ^ http://www.law.com/jsp/nylj/PubArticleNY.jsp?id=1202427943170&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1
- ^ http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/03/21/050321fa_fact_boyer
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=OMkpxcvrvRQC&pg=PA210&dq=widmar+v.+vincent+brief&hl=en&ei=KWzbTf3SHYeWsgO8tujBDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CEsQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=widmar%20v.%20vincent%20brief&f=false
- ^ Farrell, Michael B. "Will California gay-marriage trial go to Supreme Court?." Christian Science Monitor 26 Jan. 2010: N.PAG. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Dec. 2011.
- ^ "California Judge Strikes Down Prop 8 Marriage Amendment". Liberty Counsel. 2010-08-04. http://lc.org/index.cfm?PID=14100&PRID=960. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
Further reading
- Sears, Alan; Craig Osten (2005). The ACLU vs. America: Exposing the Agenda to Redefine Moral Values. B&H Books. ISBN 978-0-8054-4045-4.
- Sears, Alan; Craig Osten (2003). The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today. B&H Books. ISBN 978-0-8054-2698-4.
External links
- Alliance Defense Fund, official website
- Day of Truth
- ADF a Force Behind Conservative Court Victories
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