Illinois Family Institute

Right Wing Round-Up - 2/14/13

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 2/14/2013 6:35 pm

Anti-Gay Activists Warn 'Homosexual References' in School will 'Bring Many of the Kids into the Gay Lifestyle'

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Thursday, 4/26/2012 1:10 pm

Peter LaBarbera of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality hosted Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute and Barbara Anderson of the Parents Action League and the Minnesota Family Council. Higgins railed against the “homosexual agenda” as the “greatest threat to First Amendment speech and religious liberty in America today” and later Anderson, who called anti-bullying efforts “child abuse,” said that Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin school district’s new guidelines regarding sexual orientation will turn kids gay:

Higgins: This is not about sound pedagogy, it will do the exact opposite; it will interfere with intellectual exploration and critical thinking. And I don’t think there is a greatest threat to First Amendment speech and religious liberty in America today than that posed by the homosexual agenda.

LaBarbera: And it just keeps going on and on and they want to go younger and younger.

Higgins: That’s right.

…

Anderson: They want school children to be bombarded with homosexual references in math, geography, science, English, all of this to promote the gay agenda. I think kids are going to get so sick of this, but unfortunately it’s going to brainwash many of the children with this propaganda and will bring many of the kids into the gay lifestyle as they experiment with this and are told that this is normal and a choice that they can make as well.

During the interview, LaBarbera also congratulated Anderson after she informed him that the Parents Action League was designated as an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and LaBarbera repeated his claim that organizations working “to counter the homosexual activist movement” should strive to find a place the SPLC’s hate group list. Anderson, who has warned that “homosexual teachers” are targeting “creative” students and that gay rights advocates will “increase bullying as more kids get into this kind of a lifestyle,” told LaBarbera in 2010 that AFTAH’s hate group designation was a “badge of honor.”

LaBarbera: Barbara, I wouldn’t be surprised if SPLC started labeling Minnesota Family Council or your Parents Action League as a hate group.

Anderson: They already have.

LaBarbera: Oh they did? I’m behind the times. Which one?

Anderson: Parents Action League has been added to their ridiculous catalogue of haters.

LaBarbera: Congratulations, Barb! We decided that if you’re not labeled a hate group by the SPLC you’re not really doing anything to counter the homosexual activist movement.

Linda Harvey Dubs the Anti-Bullying Day of Silence a 'God-Dishonoring Day'

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Wednesday, 3/21/2012 11:05 am

Concerned Women for America’s Chelsen Vicari on Monday hosted a call with Linda Harvey of Mission America and Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute where they discussed their plans for a walkout on the Day of Silence, when students protest anti-LGBT bullying and bias by remaining silent throughout the school day. The walkout endorsers also include the American Family Association, Citizens for Community Values, Faith 2 Action, Liberty Counsel and Save California, all prominent supporters of the Religious Right’s anti-anti-bullying campaign.

We posted highlights from program where Higgins urged teachers to “plan activities that involve student communications so students are not allowed to do this” and Harvey warned that the Day of Silence is using children “as a tool” for an “ungodly agenda.” Harvey dubbed the Day of Silence a “God-dishonoring day” that makes children “bow before manipulative, exploitative and deceptive accusations.”

Higgins: What the Day of Silence does is ask kids to refuse to speak during instructional time in class, that they have no legal right to do and no school has to accommodate that, and so that’s what we’re doing is asking parents to call their school, ask if students are allowed to refuse to speak in instructional time, and if they are, to keep their kids home in protest about the disruption of instructional time for a political purpose.

…

Harvey: You can keep your kids home that day if you suspect or you find out that teachers are going to accommodate this protest silence in order to honor homosexuality, let’s be clear about what this is, this is a God-dishonoring day that honors sin, sinful, immoral behavior that most parents don’t want their children involved in.

…

Higgins: Christian teachers out there and if you’re working in a public school plan activities that involve student communications so students are not allowed to do this.

…

Vicari: So Christian families, it’s imperative really to take a stand against Day of Silence.

Harvey: Yes, because it’s teaching your children to dishonor [sic] what God finds sinful, it’s teaching even conservative parents who maybe are not believers it’s teaching your children to bow before manipulative, exploitative and deceptive accusations. They claim tolerance but they are creating division, hostility and they are undermining high standards for kids.

…

Harvey: Your child will remember this, you know the biggest lesson—of course the school is going to learn something as lots of kids are missing that day—but the biggest lesson is your child will learn that you don’t go along with this nonsense, you don’t let people lie to you and use you as a tool for their ungodly agenda.

The Convoluted Logic of The DADT Dead-Enders

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 9/22/2011 11:18 am

You have to give credit to Laurie Higgins and the Illinois Family Institute for coming up with a truly unique rationale for opposing the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, arguing that the fact that gays enlisted and served in the military prior to the repeal proves that they cannot be trusted to obey orders ... because they engaged in "deliberate deception" by joining the military in the first place:

Supporters of the repeal make the case that since what distinguishes soldiers is their unquestioning commitment to obey orders, this radical change in military policy will have no effect on troop morale or military readiness. Ironically, they simultaneously offer demagogic accounts of homosexual soldiers who have concealed their homosexuality, which constitutes deliberate deception on the parts of soldiers who should never have enlisted in the military. Their primary act of enlisting constituted a violation of Article 125 of the Military Code of Justice and U.S. Code - Section 654 that strictly prohibits those who engage in homosexual acts or those who state that they are homosexual from serving in the military.

Despite what supporters of the repeal claim, military prohibitions against homosexuals serving in the military no more encourage deceit, than do laws prohibiting stealing encourage deceit. To claim that laws that prohibit certain behaviors encourage deceit is another way of saying people are always going to break laws. In this twisted logic, all laws encourage deceit because those who don't want to abide by them willfully engage in deceit in order to do what they want without incurring the consequences.

LaBarbera: Mehlman Proves Gays Must Be Kept Out of GOP

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 8/26/2010 5:31 pm

Speaking of Religious Rigth activists being upset about the fact that Ken Mehlman has come out, you knew it was just a matter of time before Peter LaBarbera weighed in, which he is doing by blasting RNC Chair Michael Steele for saying he is happy for Mehlman and saying that this is proof of why gays must be kept out of the Republican Party:

Why couldn’t Mr. Steele just have kept quiet about this tragic revelation by which another sexually confused man seeks to rationalize his misbehavior (sin) by declaring homosexuality part of his inherent being? Nope, instead, like a three-year-old boy approaching a puddle, Steele just had to step in it. Pro-family writer Laurie Higgins of Illinois Family Institute observed:

So, Steele is “happy” that Mehlman is homosexual and/or happy that he is public about it? Why would he be happy for a friend embracing immoral and dangerous practices or for a friend being public about his embrace of immorality? And why does he respect him for his “difficult” decision to announce his immorality publicly? What fecklessness or cowardice Steele’s comment demonstrates. And this from the leader of the Republican Party…

...

So, we learn that Mehlman used his tremendous influence within the Republican Party to undermine the GOP’s clear platform language in support of preserving traditional marriage. All the while rank-and-file Republican Joes and Janes were assuming that the RNC leader was standing up for marriage between a man and a woman. Mr. Mehlman just proved why homosexual activism should be kept out of the Republican Party: it undermines core conservative values supported overwhelmingly by the GOP grassroots.

Right Wing Leftovers

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 6/16/2010 5:32 pm
  • The Illinois Family Institute "needs to raise $80,000 to survive the summer."

  • Rep. Michele Bachmann received the 2010 Conservative Leadership Award from the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute.

  • An interesting look at the ties between Jay Sekulow, Deacon Keith Fournier, Rob and Paul Schenck, and the American Center for Law and Justice.

  • Maggie Gallagher is not happy with the way the Prop 8 trial appears to be going.

  • Janne Myrdal, State Director for CWA of North Dakota, is honored to be "one of those prayer warriors who provide [Sarah Palin's] prayer shield."

  • Ralph Reed's Faith and Freedom Coalition is busy training "Tea Partiers, home schoolers and other conservatives to give them the tools they need to turn out the identify, educate and turn out conservative voters in their area."

  • Sadly, Pat Robertson is refusing to make a comment on the large statue of Jesus that was struck by lightening and destroyed. 

Right Wing Leftovers

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 4/28/2010 5:42 pm
  • Last week, I joked that the fact that the Denver Broncos drafted Tim Tebow was good for Focus on the Family.  Turns out, it's not quite a joke.

  • In related news, Jim Daly reasserts that the primary difference between himself and James Dobson is a matter of tone.

  • In related news to that, the Illinois Family Institute goes after Focus for this very reason.

  • And in final related news, James Dobson's new radio program is scheduled to start next week.

  • Gary Bauer announces that he's launching a $2 million campaign targeting 22 House and Senate Democratic-held seats.

  • In her new book, Laura Bush says she asked George not to make a gay marriage a significant issue in the 2004 election.

  • AIM gives us the real story of the Oklahoma City bombing: it was really the work of Middle Eastern terrorists.

  • Jill Stanek takes her "aborted babies = vaccine = autism" nonsense to the pages of WorldNetDaily.

  • Finally, the quote of the day from Elijah Friedeman on the AFA blog: "I want to preface this blog by saying that I believe radical Islam is evil. Quite frankly I believe that any form of Islam is wrong. And I don't want to just pick on Islam. Believers of any other religion besides Christianity are living in sin; they are evil."

Right Wing Leftovers

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 2/16/2010 6:31 pm
  • FRC goes after Dick Cheney for supporting the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

  • Contrary to earlier reports, the Illinois Family Institute is not back on the SPLC's list of anti-gay hate groups.

  • The next Tea Party convention will be held in Las Vegas in July.

  • Focus on the Family claims that its Super Bowl commercial caused 5 million people to "reconsider their views on abortion."

  • HuckPAC announces a new director ("Hogan Gidley, former executive director of the South Carolina Republican Party and communications director for former U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole's re-election campaign") to replace Mike Huckabee's daughter Sarah, who left to run Rep. John Boozman's Arkansas Senate campaign.

  • Finally, Quote of the Day from the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer: "Bottom line: let's not get stuck on stupid. No more Muslims in the military."

Right Wing Round-Up

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Monday, 2/8/2010 6:34 pm

Illinois Family Institute Tries to Rewrite History

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 1/21/2010 11:00 am

Last August, we wrote a post about a piece penned by Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute entitled "Christians Should Fight Homosexuality Like It Did Nazism" in which Higgins argued exactly what the title stated: 

We reassure ourselves that if we had lived during the age of slavery or in Germany during the rise of Nazism or during the post-Civil War era when virulent racism still poisoned American life, we would never have stood idly by and done nothing, but I'm not so sure. Look at the church's actions today when homosexuality and gender confusion are affirmed to and in our nation's children through our public schools using our hard-earned money. Where is the church? Where is the outrage? Where are the church leaders who rejoice in being persecuted?

I've asked this question before and I will ask it again: How depraved does the behavior have to be and how young the victims before the church, starting with those who have freely chosen to assume the mantle of pastor or priest, will both feel and express outrage at the indecent, cruel, and evil practice of using public money to affirm body and soul-destroying ideas to children?

Will the contemporary American church rise to this occasion to defend children and biblical truth, or will we become like the acquiescent church that failed to help William Wilberforce battle slavery, or the atrophied "moderate white church" that failed to help Martin Luther King Jr. battle racism, or the apostate Protestant church in Nazi Germany that failed to help Martin Niemoller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer battle Nazism?

Now, Higgins has contacted us saying she never wrote a piece with such a title and demanding that we correct our "error":

You have stated that I wrote an article entitled "Christians Should Fight Homosexuality Like It Did Nazism." I have never written any article with that title. The title is now and always has been "Anger and the Church." Please correct your error.

Of course, when I wrote the initial post, I put the title of Higgins' piece in quotes because that was its title, and the URL we provided in the post proves it:

http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/opinion-church-should-fight-homosexuality-like-it-did-nazism-r-1248637577

That link now redirects to the same piece, though it now carries the new title "Anger and the Church." 

If that has "always been" its title, then maybe Higgins can explain to us how the original URL we used ended up with "church-should-fight-homosexuality-like-it-did-nazism" in it. 

UPDATE: Higgins wants it made clear that her article was originally entitled "Anger and the Church," and that it was Opposing Views which picked up and retitled it without her permission until she contacted them and asked them to use the original title.

President Algonquin J. Calhoun?

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 10/7/2009 5:02 pm

Did anyone on Mike Huckabee's webteam bother to actually read this article which they are promoting on Huckabee's website?

Tom Roeser has an excellent observer in the Chicago Daily Observer about Governor Huckabee. The article, titled "Thought While Shaving: It Just May Be Huckabee's Time" focuses on the Governor's appearance before the Illinois Family Institute. Mr. Roeser says "I must say that the performance delivered by Mike Huckabee at the Illinois Family Institute was unrivaled." Mr. Roeser goes on to say "In summary, I think it's becoming Mike Huckabee's time."

Roeser does indeed say that it might be Huckabee's time ... and does so while comparing President Obama to a character from Amos 'n Andy:

In 2008 it seemed to many that Obama was the embodiment of sweet reason on race: a highly cultured Sidney Poitier type who starred in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"-the 1967 soft-liberal rendition that showed us a black physician who was every bit as sophisticated as the upper-class family played by Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. But to many Obama has emerged as a dangerously unskilled president... maimed by his soft-hidden but nevertheless demonstrable black radicalism... to show himself as an immature, consummate narcissist really uneducated-and for all his suavity--a boob. He's wearing very thin.

He's even wearing thin with the Left: Howard Fineman of Newsweek and George Herbert of The New York Times editorial page... not to mention Frank Rich of the NYT. In short he's beginning to be lampooned on Saturday Night Live as an unskilled orator who substitutes speech-ifying for strategy. With his speeches, he is coming very close to the caricature of Algonquin J. Calhoun, the fast-talking lawyer on radio and TV's old Amos `n Andy... someone who can stretch definitions beyond the breaking point. Lawyer Calhoun was an egotist too... remember, people who are old enough?... who believed he could spin words faster than listeners could compute.

For those who are not "old enough" to remember, here's a refresher:

Johnny Lee is best known as the shyster lawyer Algonquin J. Calhoun in the Amos 'N' Andy TV Series. In some of the 1948-49 radio episodes where the Calhoun character is introduced, he is referred to as "Five Percent Calhoun" because his fee was 5% of whatever he got for his clients. Calhoun was often enlisted by The Kingfish to get him out of legal trouble or to help Kingfish rip Andy off with one of his investment schemes ... This portrayal of a "coon lawyer" was perhaps one of the most offensive to middle class African Americans. The NAACP complained bitterly about the portrayal of "Negro lawyers ... as slippery cowards, ignorant of their profession and without ethics."

Right Wing Leftovers

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 9/16/2009 5:35 pm
  • Will this become the new Religious Right cause célèbre?  We'll have to wait and see.

  • The full text of the frantic Operation Rescue fund-raising letter warning that they are about to go out of business.

  • Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee wants to know when "will media expose duplicitous tone of the president?"

  • Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute warns that bullying and harassment prevention programs are "one of the central ways to get pro-homosexual information and resources into public schools."

  • Pastor Phil Magnan of Biblical Family Advocates: "I have come to realize that the reason why the homosexual and the abortion movements remain strong; is that the church of Jesus Christ has lost most of its true saltiness, its desire to suffer loss for Christ and its reverence for the Word. We have lost that weeping, passionate cry of the soul to abide in Christ daily and reach out to those headed for hell. We have instead embraced a weak, lazy view of our faith and our Lord."

Huckabee Hearts the Illinois Family Institute

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 8/25/2009 10:14 am

Until just last month, the Illinois Family Institute had been listed as an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.  Just days after the organization was removed from the SPLC list, IFI's Laurie Higgins penned a piece entitled "Church Should Fight Homosexuality Like It Did Nazism" (see this updated post for Higgins' explanation about why she was not responsible for this title and insisted that it be changed): 

We reassure ourselves that if we had lived during the age of slavery or in Germany during the rise of Nazism or during the post-Civil War era when virulent racism still poisoned American life, we would never have stood idly by and done nothing, but I'm not so sure. Look at the church's actions today when homosexuality and gender confusion are affirmed to and in our nation's children through our public schools using our hard-earned money. Where is the church? Where is the outrage? Where are the church leaders who rejoice in being persecuted?

I've asked this question before and I will ask it again: How depraved does the behavior have to be and how young the victims before the church, starting with those who have freely chosen to assume the mantle of pastor or priest, will both feel and express outrage at the indecent, cruel, and evil practice of using public money to affirm body and soul-destroying ideas to children?

In October, IFI is holding its "Family, Faith and Freedom Banquet" and guess who has been tapped as the keynote speaker:

Family, Faith and Freedom Banquet

Crowne Plaza O'Hare
5440 N. River Road
Rosemont, Illinois

Tuesday, October 6 at 6:30 p.m.

Dinner tickets are $100 each.
Tickets for dinner and a private reception with Gov. Mike Huckabee are $250.

Jeremy has the audio of the announcement in which Huckabee urges activists to attend because "I've got a lot to tell you about what I see happening as I travel across this nation and how, together, we can bring back the values that we all share: family, faith, and freedom. More importantly, by attending this banquet, you'll be helping the Illinois Family Institute continue to stand strong in promoting pro-family values across this great state. More than ever, we need to support organizations like IFI who boldly stand for the sanctity of life, religious freedom, and natural marriage."

This event comes just days after Huckabee is scheduled to appear at the How To Take Back America Conference, which features another SPLC hate group, MassResistance, and raises anew the question of just how radical an organization has to be before Huckabee will refuse to be seen with them.  At this point, there is seemingly no limit.

Right Wing Round-Up

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 7/28/2009 5:48 pm
  • Alan Colmes: Look at all these horrible lefties with dark skin and strange names who “must be stopped."

  • Did Egypt move recently? 

  • You know what the GOP's problem is?  According to Sen. George Voinovich, it's all these Southerners who "get on TV and go 'errrr, errrrr.'"

  • Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) joined radical conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on his radio talk show for an interview where he stated that Obama's health plan will "absolutely kill senior citizens."

  • Good As You says that perhaps the Southern Poverty Law Center was a little too quick to remove the Illinois Family Institute from its list of anti-gay hate groups.

  • Amie Newman: The Dutch "abortion boat" run by the organization Women on Waves (WoW) has announced it will anchor, possibly permanently.

  • Salon: The Birthers in Congress.

  • Media Matters: Fear Of A Black President.

  • Finally, Glenn Beck says Barack Obama is a racist: "This president has exposed himself as a guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people, or the white culture, I don't know what it is."

Right Wing Hate Crimes Lies Now Available in Convenient Video Form

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 7/15/2009 12:14 pm

With hate crimes legislation moving towards a vote in the US Senate, I was thinking of pulling together a blog post cataloging all of the various lies the Religious Right has been spreading about what passage of such legislation would do. 

But it turns out that I don't have to, because the Family Research Council has more or less already done it for me by producing this video featuring Reps. Mike Pence, Sen. Jim DeMint, Bishop Harry Jackson, and David Barton of Wallbuilders that pretty much covers them all. 

Pay special attention to lies spewed by Barton and DeMint, who don't seem to understand the difference between hate crimes legislation and legislation pertaining to things like marriage equality or employment discrimination:

It seems as if the Religious Right is going all out to spread as many lies as it can in trying to ramp up opposing to this legislation as the deadline nears, with Focus on the Family warning that "gay activists have and will continue to use these kinds of laws to silence Christians who speak publicly about God's design for human sexuality – and make them pay if they stand up for their beliefs" and is therefore "encouraging Christians everywhere to stop and pray that the Lord would intervene."

And Good as You catches the Illinois Family Institute making even more absurd claims [PDF]

Miss California, Carrie Prejean, could have been charged with a “hate crime” for her views on same-sex marriage if S. 909 was already law. What could constitute a “hate crime” under this bill is a homosexual man or woman claiming they were discriminated against and hurt by what was said.

Right Wing Round-Up

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 5/12/2009 5:35 pm
  • Good As You smartly notes that at least some marriage equality opponents are now "coming out and admitting the truth: That rallies designed to keep gay folks from legally marrying are NOT 'protect marriage' rallies -- they are ANTI GAY RALLIES!"

  • A new Media Matters analysis finds that in the week following Justice David Souter's retirement announcement, significantly more Republican members of Congress, especially on Fox News, participated in daytime cable news discussions about or touching on the Supreme Court than did Democratic members of Congress and Obama administration officials.

  • Also via Media Matters, we have to wonder just what the deal is with Bill O'Reilly's obsession with "interspecies marriages."

  • Rob Boston tells Bill Donohue to calm down because "Angles and Demons" is only a movie.

  • Eric Boehlert chronicles how, since switching parties, Arlen Specter has been getting a taste of the GOP Noise Machine.

  • Finally, I have to say that I am rather surprised that the Illinois Family Institute actually issued a correction after Box Turtle Bulletin pointed out that they were wrong about the APA's definition of "sexual orientation."

Right Wing Round Up

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Friday, 3/6/2009 7:14 pm

Today's best reporting on the Right from around the web:

  • Box Turtle Bulletin reports that Nazi Revisionist Scott Lively has talked Ugandan anti-gay activist Stephen Langa and a Ugandan parliamentarian into proposing a law forcing people convicted of homosexuality into ex-gay therapy.

  • Via Tips-Q we see that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown described the passing of Proposition 8 in California as “unacceptable.' Also via Tips-Q we learned that Lou Sheldon has a Prop. 8-related blog post up on The Hill's Congress blog. Why is The Hill providing a platform for Sheldon?

  • Sen. Tom Coburn says he'll go to prison before he is forced to perform abortions. Unfortunately for him, Wonk Room points out that "refusing to provide abortions won’t land him in jail or bring him the publicity that often comes with incarceration."

  • Good as You highlights the fact that Matt Barber and Concerned Women for America continue to defend Utah Sen. Chris Buttars.

  • Pam notes that Peter LaBarbera is scheduled to return to his old stomping grounds at the Illinois Family Institute and the flier announcing it says "for security reasons, please do not bring any bags or purses."

  • How is the GOP's Hispanic outreach going? According to Mother Jones, not so well.

  • Steve Benen notes that the judiciary is getting tired of The Birthers' antics with today another judge throwing out their lawsuit and mocking "the plaintiffs for being so foolish and wasting the judiciary's time."

  • David Neiwert has a great post on Glenn Beck desperately trying to get Sam Webb of the Communist Party USA to declare that Barack Obama is a Communist ally ... and failing miserably.

  • Finally, this video is hilarious:

IFI to Ensure Public Schools Adhere to “Biblical Truth”

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Monday, 9/8/2008 3:14 pm

The Illinois Family Institute, former stomping grounds of militant homophobe Peter LaBarbera before he launched his own Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, has unveiled its new Division of School Advocacy program designed to ensure that public schools do not teach anything about homosexuality, religion, socialism, abortion, or any “immoral, unhealthy, and dangerous ideologies” that might conflict with what the IFI considers “biblical truth”: 

The Illinois Family Institute helps to fight against pervasive secular humanism that exists in our public schools. Through the newly developed Division of School Advocacy, parents will be able to find answers and resources to help identify areas where the school curriculum strays from Biblical Truth and to recognize the influence from outside organizations such as Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which pressures administrators and educators to present this organization's views and agendas.

The purpose of the Illinois Family Institute's (IFI) new Division of School Advocacy (DSA) is to protect children from immoral, unhealthy, and dangerous ideologies and agendas in public schools. In the service of that critical goal, the DSA is committed to assisting Illinois residents to address issues related to the breakdown of Judeo-Christian family values and community standards in public education.

In addition to assisting each citizen who contacts IFI regarding school issues, Illinois Family Institute's Division of School Advocacy will continue to work tirelessly toward affecting morally sound legislation in Illinois public schools.

The DSA will provide constituents with the training, resources, and counsel needed for positive changes in public schools. Through this training, resources, and counsel, taxpayers will become better equipped to address administrators, faculty members, and school board members in appropriate and effective ways. The Division of School Advocacy will address such public school problem topics as Human Sexuality, Religion/Atheism, Race/"Social Justice", Marxism/Socialism/Income Redistribution, Gender/Feminism, Environmentalism, Abortion, Fetal Stem Cell Research, Population Control, and Miscellaneous Political Topics.

Syndicate content

Illinois Family Institute Posts Archive

Right Wing Round-Up - 2/14/13
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Thursday 02/14/2013, 6:35pm
PFAW: PFAW Applauds Senate Judiciary Committee Approval of 13 Nominees, Including D.C. Circuit Court Nominee Caitlin Halligan. David Corn@ Mother Jones: FreedomWorks Made Video of Fake Giant Panda Having Sex With Fake Hillary Clinton. Billy Corriher @ Think Progress: Meet The Shady Secret Money Group Helping The NRA Buy Up Judges And Attorneys General. Hemant Mehta @ Friendly Atheist: Illinois Family Institute Warns Us About What Will Happen if the State Legalizes Gay Marriage. Steve Benen @ The Maddow Blog: NRA's Wayne LaPierre: Be afraid, be very afraid. David... MORE >
Anti-Gay Activists Warn 'Homosexual References' in School will 'Bring Many of the Kids into the Gay Lifestyle'
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Thursday 04/26/2012, 1:10pm
Peter LaBarbera of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality hosted Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute and Barbara Anderson of the Parents Action League and the Minnesota Family Council. Higgins railed against the “homosexual agenda” as the “greatest threat to First Amendment speech and religious liberty in America today” and later Anderson, who called anti-bullying efforts “child abuse,” said that Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin school district’s new guidelines regarding sexual orientation will turn kids gay: Higgins: This is not about... MORE >
Linda Harvey Dubs the Anti-Bullying Day of Silence a 'God-Dishonoring Day'
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Wednesday 03/21/2012, 11:05am
Concerned Women for America’s Chelsen Vicari on Monday hosted a call with Linda Harvey of Mission America and Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute where they discussed their plans for a walkout on the Day of Silence, when students protest anti-LGBT bullying and bias by remaining silent throughout the school day. The walkout endorsers also include the American Family Association, Citizens for Community Values, Faith 2 Action, Liberty Counsel and Save California, all prominent supporters of the Religious Right’s anti-anti-bullying campaign. We posted highlights from... MORE >
The Convoluted Logic of The DADT Dead-Enders
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Thursday 09/22/2011, 11:18am
You have to give credit to Laurie Higgins and the Illinois Family Institute for coming up with a truly unique rationale for opposing the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, arguing that the fact that gays enlisted and served in the military prior to the repeal proves that they cannot be trusted to obey orders ... because they engaged in "deliberate deception" by joining the military in the first place: Supporters of the repeal make the case that since what distinguishes soldiers is their unquestioning commitment to obey orders, this radical change in military policy will have no... MORE >
LaBarbera: Mehlman Proves Gays Must Be Kept Out of GOP
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Thursday 08/26/2010, 5:31pm
Speaking of Religious Rigth activists being upset about the fact that Ken Mehlman has come out, you knew it was just a matter of time before Peter LaBarbera weighed in, which he is doing by blasting RNC Chair Michael Steele for saying he is happy for Mehlman and saying that this is proof of why gays must be kept out of the Republican Party: Why couldn’t Mr. Steele just have kept quiet about this tragic revelation by which another sexually confused man seeks to rationalize his misbehavior (sin) by declaring homosexuality part of his inherent being? Nope, instead, like a three-year-... MORE >
Right Wing Leftovers
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Wednesday 06/16/2010, 5:32pm
The Illinois Family Institute "needs to raise $80,000 to survive the summer." Rep. Michele Bachmann received the 2010 Conservative Leadership Award from the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute. An interesting look at the ties between Jay Sekulow, Deacon Keith Fournier, Rob and Paul Schenck, and the American Center for Law and Justice. Maggie Gallagher is not happy with the way the Prop 8 trial appears to be going. Janne Myrdal, State Director for CWA of North Dakota, is honored to be "one of those prayer warriors who provide [Sarah Palin's] prayer shield... MORE >
Right Wing Leftovers
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Wednesday 04/28/2010, 5:42pm
Last week, I joked that the fact that the Denver Broncos drafted Tim Tebow was good for Focus on the Family.  Turns out, it's not quite a joke. In related news, Jim Daly reasserts that the primary difference between himself and James Dobson is a matter of tone. In related news to that, the Illinois Family Institute goes after Focus for this very reason. And in final related news, James Dobson's new radio program is scheduled to start next week. Gary Bauer announces that he's launching a $2 million campaign targeting 22 House and Senate Democratic-held seats... MORE >
Right Wing Leftovers
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Tuesday 02/16/2010, 6:31pm
FRC goes after Dick Cheney for supporting the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Contrary to earlier reports, the Illinois Family Institute is not back on the SPLC's list of anti-gay hate groups. The next Tea Party convention will be held in Las Vegas in July. Focus on the Family claims that its Super Bowl commercial caused 5 million people to "reconsider their views on abortion." HuckPAC announces a new director ("Hogan Gidley, former executive director of the South Carolina Republican Party and communications director for former U.S. Senator... MORE >