The Denver Post reports that Focus on the Family is changing the name of its c4 lobbying arm from Focus on the Family Action to “CitizenLink”:
Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family Action, the lobbying organization created in 2004 by Focus on the Family ministry founder James Dobson, today changed its name and logo to CitizenLink.
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From the beginning, some confusion about the exact identities and missions of the two similarly named organizations has existed in the general public and media, said Tom Minnery, Focus vice president of public policy.
“We want to create some clarity about the two organizations. It’s better branding,” Focus President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Daly said … “We’re not saying (Focus on the Family) is stepping out of the public policy realm,” Daly said. “From my perspective, it means Focus on the Family can focus on the family, and CitizenLink can do its job of engaging the citizenry.”
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The change in name is not an attempt, Daly said, to distance Focus on the Family from the lobbying group’s fierce opposition to abortion rights, same-sex marriages and embryonic stem cell research.
I don’t buy this explanation for a minute as it seems like more evidence that Focus on the Family has become hyper-cautious and schizophrenic ever since Jim Daly took over as he tries to incorporate his talk of love, compassion and civility with the organization’s hard-line, ultra-right wing social and political agenda.
Daly seems to think that he can maintain the organization’s militant opposition to gays while insisting that they do so out of love, as if that makes a bit of difference or changes the bottom line.
This name change seems like a similar attempt to allow the organization to continue to press its right-wing political agenda without dirtying the name of Focus on the Family.
