The Conservative Movement: Suggested Organizations and Websites
By Nathan Tabor (12/07/06)
Decided that you want to become more active in the conservative movement?
Well, here are some suggested web sites you may find helpful:
1. aBetterEarth.Org
aBetterEarth.org is a special project of the Institute for Humane Studies, a non-profit educational organization. Affiliated with George Mason University, IHS educates and supports college students and recent graduates interested in the classical liberal tradition of individual liberty, voluntarism, and peace.
The project is funded by individuals and foundations who share a positive vision of the world. While many evironmental groups advocate solutions that may have unintended -- or intended -- consequences, aBetterEarth.Org believes in three overriding concepts: local control and property rights; actions have unintended and harmful consequences; and the fact that the earth is a dynamic place.
The IHS staff members believe that "people often behave as good stewards of the environment when they control the resources at hand." They also believe "government policy, because it is so far reaching, can have some of most dramatic unintended consequences, leaving the biggest footprint on the environment."
2. Accuracy in Academia
Accuracy in Academia, a nonprofit research group based in Washington, D. C., wants schools to return to their traditional mission-the quest for truth. To promote this goal, AIA documents and publicizes political bias in education in Campus Report, its monthly newsletter.
CR articles focus on: the use of classroom and/or university resources to indoctrinate students; discrimination against students, faculty or administrators based on political or academic beliefs; and campus violations of free speech.
Accuracy in Academia posts more frequent updates on all of these stories and issues on its companion web site.
Celebrated author and columnist Thomas Sowell said, "If sanity ever returns to the academic world, part of the credit will go to a small newspaper called Campus Report, which has exposed innumerable incidents of brainwashing replacing education on college campuses, storm trooper tactics being accepted and rewarded by 'responsible' college administrators, and academic and behavioral double standards being applied to the group to which one belongs, rather than one's own behavior or performance."
3. Accuracy in Media
The granddaddy of media watchdogs, Accuracy in Media is credited with exposing American news media bias to the world.. It's also one of the most widely quoted organizations in the country.
Accuracy In Media is a non-profit, grassroots citizens watchdog of the news media that critiques botched and bungled news stories and sets the record straight on important issues that have received slanted coverage.
AIM's website offers visitors an abundance of resources including up-to-the-minute press releases regarding incidents of media bias, inaccuracy or a journalist's hidden agenda. There are also columns written by AIM staff and guest columnists, special reports and briefings. Internet visitors can also signup for e-mail alerts and reports from AIM.
4. Acton Institute
The Board of Director and staff at the Acton Institute believe that their primary mission is to promote a free and virtuous society characterized by individual liberty and sustained by religious principles.It views justice as a duty of all to give the one his due but, more importantly, as an individual obligation to serve the common good and not just his own needs and wants.
Acton organizes seminars aimed at educating religious leaders of all denominations, business executives, entrepreneurs, university professors, and academic researchers in economics principles, and in the connection that can exist between virtue and economic thinking.
The institute's website contains editorials, research studies, public policy statements and information on their seminars and conferences. Their conferences are held primarily in the United States, but they also conduct some conferences in Europe and Latin America.
Acton also publishes a journal called Religion & Liberty that engages the intellectual reader on issues in the areas of religion, politics, economics, literature, and culture. They also publish the Journal of Morality and Markets, that is an academic journal dedicated to examining ideas in the unique interdisciplinary niche that brings together economics, theology, and philosophy.
5. AgapePress
AgapePress gives readers the real lowdown on political and cultural issue of concern to Christians with stories you won't read in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, or your local newspapers. The news content available from AgapePress focuses on issues that have moral, social, and political implications, and is written from a Christian worldview -- something you won't find in the secular news media.
Besides up-to-the-minute coverage of breaking news stories, AgapePress has a team of respected columnists that includes Jane Jimenez, Dr. Matt Friedman, Joe Murray, and Brad Locke as well as guest commentary by some of the nation's top conservative commentators.
"They attempt to shine the light of the gospel on such highly volatile topics as pornography, the homosexual agenda, education, the pro-life debate, and the influence of the entertainment industry, to name just a few," said Rev. Mark H. Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League of North Carolina, Inc.
For the best news and commentary from a Christian perspective, visit: http://www.agapepress.org
6. The Alliance Defense Fund
The Alliance Defense Fund is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation. The ADF was founded in 1994 by 35 ministries for a unique purpose: to aggressively defend religious liberty by empowering Christian allies, recognizing that together, they can accomplish far more than any single ministry can alone.
One of the ADF's guiding principles is that they are committed to anticipating and meeting the legal needs of those dedicated to preserving religious liberty. In civil litigation cases, the ADF provides some of the nation's top trial lawyers and First Amendment experts to work pro bono on cases that have an impact of Christians' liberties.
The ADF believes it is a servant organization that provides the resources that will keep the door open for the spread of the Gospel through the legal defense and advocacy of religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and traditional family values.
7. The American Conservative Union
Founded in 1964, the American Conservative Union is the nation's oldest and largest grassroots conservative lobbying organization. ACU's purpose is to communicate and advance the goals and principles of conservatism through one multi-issue, umbrella organization.
Besides their monitoring of US Senators and House members, the ACU's most significant efforts include fighting to keep OSHA off the backs of small businesses; opposing the Panama Canal giveaway; challenging the SALT treaties; supporting aid to freedom fighters in communist countries; promoting the confirmation of conservative justices to the Supreme Court; advocating near-term deployment of strategic defenses; and battling against higher taxes and wasteful government spending.
In 1994, when then-First Lady Hillary Clinton attempted to shove Socialize Medicine down the throats of Americans, through its Citizens against Rationing Health coalition, sponsorship of national town meetings, and Health Care Truth Tour, ACU spearheaded the conservative response to the Clintons' health-care proposals, which eventually stopped "Hillary Care" in its tracks.
They have arguably one of the best conservative websites on the internet. Visitors may check on their senator's or House representative's record, read the latest commentary by noted columnists, read their award-winning publication Conservative Battleline, or discover how to become an active part the conservative movement.
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