Focus on the Family and Proposition 8

by Michael Jones · 2009-02-11 11:47:00 UTC
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Focus on the FamilyIt would take a certain sense of classlessness for an organization to give more than $700,000 in cash away shortly before laying off 20 percent of its workforce.  Yet, that's what Focus on the Family did in 2008, peddling a staggering amount of money to ProtectMarriage.com to pass Proposition 8 in California -- and then two weeks later, eliminating 202 staff positions.

This fantastic article at the Colorado Independent spells it all out, concluding that Focus on the Family gave more to pass Proposition 8 than initially reported.  According to the Independent, Focus gave nearly as much money to protectmarriage.com to pass Prop 8 as the Knights of Columbus, which were protectmarriage.com's largest benefactor clocking in at $1.275 million.

What are the numbers for Focus' contributions?  Focus on the Family gave $727,250 in cash and services to the Prop 8 campaign, according to records released by the California secretary of state, including a $100,000 check in late October.  Couple that money with the whopping $450,000 donation that Focus on the Family Board Member Elsa Prince gave to protectmarriage.com, and you're looking at an organization that supported Proposition 8 to the tune of over $1 million...and then proceeded to fire one-fifth of its staff.  Talk about robbing Peter to pay for bigotry and hate.

There's religious hypocrisy, and then there's Focus on the Family.  How shameful is it that an organization that beats its chest to proclaim its Christianity, sacrifices its own employees for political score?  Donors of Focus on the Family should really question the priorities of an organization that would siphon over $1 million to a cause, while letting 202 families bear the brunt of their expenses.

One other interesting note about Focus on the Family Board Member Elsa Prince.  Anyone know who she is?  She's a billionaire from Michigan whose son, Erik Prince, happens to be the CEO of Blackwater.  Yeah, the private military company that's being sued in U.S. court for hiring Streiod-infused employees that sprayed innocent Iraqi civilians with bullets, murdering more than a dozen people.  Maybe the Princes should go back and read that commandment about not killing other people???

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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