Christian Action, Research and Education

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Christian Action, Research and Education
Predecessor Nationwide Festival of Light
TypeChristian lobby group
Headquarters53 Romney Street
Westminster
London SW1P 3RF
United Kingdom
Executive Chairman
Lyndon Bowring [1]
Chief Executive
Ross Hendry
Website www.care.org.uk

Christian Action, Research and Education (CARE) is a social policy charity based in the United Kingdom, with offices in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Contents

Founding and programmes

CARE began in 1971 as the Nationwide Festival of Light, but was renamed in 1983 to reflect a substantial shift in emphasis. Over the following decades it established the following departments, in the belief that Christians should show active care as well as campaigning for moral standards in society: [2]

Charity registration

Christian Action Research and Education (CARE) Trust (registered charity number 288485, registered 12 January 1984) ceased to exist on 30 September 2008. CARE (Christian Action Research and Education) (registered charity number 1066963, registered 18 December 1997) is still operational. [7]

Leadership

Ross Hendry has been CEO of CARE since 2021 when he took over from co-founder of the organisation Lyndon Bowring who moved into the role of Chairman. [8]

Finance

CARE's annual income to March 2021 was over £2 million, mostly from voluntary donations. [7]

Causes

CARE has been described as "an evangelical charity that promotes traditional family values". [9] The organisation has actively campaigned against LGBT rights, abortion, stem cell research and assisted dying bills.

Campaigns on sexual ethics

Labour Party insiders credited CARE with significant influence in support of Section 28 regarding education and homosexuality. [10]

CARE is listed in the UK Parliament's register of all-party groups as the secretariat of the All-party parliamentary group (APPG) on Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade, a pressure group to encourage 'government action to tackle individuals who create demand for sexual services'. [11]

In 2015, CARE backed a private member's bill to prohibit the advertising of prostitution, [12] the Advertising of Prostitution (Prohibition) Bill 2015–16, which was introduced by Lord McColl of Dulwich in the House of Lords. [13]

Other campaigns

CARE's 2010 report on taxation claimed that the tax burden had moved from single people with no dependants into families with two adults but only a single earner in them. [14]

Criticisms

CARE's work has been described as "propaganda" in the House of Lords. [10]

In 2000, MP Ben Bradshaw accused CARE of being "a bunch of homophobic bigots". [15] [16] CARE has also been criticised for its opposition to abortion and gay rights. [17]

In 2009, CARE had a stall at an event run by Anglican Mainstream called 'Sex in the City'. [18] The organisers claimed the event was "about the plethora of sexual issues confronting us in today's society, including mentoring the sexually broken, the sexualisation of culture, pornography, the Bible and sex, and marriage, the family and sex". Speakers included founder of National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), Joseph Nicolosi, and co-founder of Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality, Arthur Goldberg, both of whom have been described as advocates of harmful conversion therapies. [19] [20] CARE subsequently stated that it opposes abusive conversion therapy practices, while wanting to make sure that prospective laws do not impede religious liberty. [21]

CARE's funding of political research assistants by a "right-wing Christian" lobby group has attracted controversy, although CARE has stated that its graduates are not permitted to lobby on behalf of CARE, and that it is a purely educational programme. [22] In 2022, an investigation by openDemocracy revealed that 20 British MPs had taken staff members from CARE since 2012. [23]

CARE has funded the network of CareConfidential crisis pregnancy centres in the UK, some of which came under criticism in a 2014 investigation by The Daily Telegraph when counsellors were filmed undercover claiming abortions would increase chances of breast cancer and could predispose women to becoming child sexual abusers. [24]

Related Research Articles

Within Christianity, there are a variety of views on sexual orientation and homosexuality. The view that various Bible passages speak of homosexuality as immoral or sinful emerged through its interpretation and has since become entrenched in many Christian denominations through church doctrine and the wording of various translations of the Bible.

The Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity (ATCSI), which until 2014 was known as the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), also known as the NARTH Institute, is a US organization that promotes conversion therapy, a pseudoscientific practice used in attempts to change the sexual orientation of people with same-sex attraction. NARTH was founded in 1992 by Joseph Nicolosi, Benjamin Kaufman, and Charles Socarides. Its headquarters were in Encino, California, at its Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic. NARTH has not been recognized by any major United States–based professional association.

The ex-gay movement consists of people and organizations that encourage people to refrain from entering or pursuing same-sex relationships, to eliminate homosexual desires and to develop heterosexual desires, or to enter into a heterosexual relationship. Beginning with the founding of Love In Action and Exodus International in the mid-1970s, the movement saw rapid growth in the 1980s and 1990s before declining in the 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Institute</span>

The Christian Institute (CI) is a charity operating in the United Kingdom, promoting a conservative evangelical Christian viewpoint, founded on a belief in Biblical inerrancy. The CI is a registered charity. The group does not report numbers of staff, volunteers or members with only the former director, Colin Hart, listed as a representative. Hart died in March 2024, leaving the directorship vacant. According to the accounts and trustees annual report for the financial year ending 2017, the average head count of employees during the year was 48 (2016:46).

The Evangelical Alliance (EA) is a UK organisation of evangelical individuals, organisations, and churches, which is itself a member of the World Evangelical Alliance. Founded in 1846, the Evangelical Alliance aims to promote evangelical Christian beliefs and advocate for evangelical Christians in politics and society. The Evangelical Alliance is based in London, with offices in Cardiff, Glasgow, Belfast and Stockport.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Nicolosi</span> American clinical psychologist (1947–2017)

Joseph Nicolosi was an American clinical psychologist who advocated and practised "reparative therapy", a form of the pseudoscientific treatment of conversion therapy that he claimed could help people overcome or mitigate their homosexual desires and replace them with heterosexual ones. Nicolosi was a founder and president of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). Medical institutions warn that conversion therapy is ineffective and may be harmful, and that there is no evidence that sexual orientation can be changed by such treatments.

Christian Voice (CV) is a fundamentalist Christian advocacy group based in the United Kingdom. Its stated objective is "to uphold Christianity as the Faith of the United Kingdom, to be a voice for Biblical values in law and public policy, and to defend and support traditional family life." It is independent of religious, denominational, or political parties.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ rights in Australia</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">American College of Pediatricians</span> Conservative advocacy group

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References

  1. ↑ "Annual Report 2010" (PDF). CARE. 23 September 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 May 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  2. ↑ "Our Story". CARE. Archived from the original on 18 December 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  3. ↑ "Care for the Family". Charity Commission. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  4. ↑ Quinn, Ben (28 August 2011). "Christian activists poised to win concessions on abortion after 40 years". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  5. ↑ "Evaluate Informing Choice". Evaluate.org.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "Leadership Programme". CARE. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  7. 1 2 "CARE (Christian Action Research and Education)". Charity Commission. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  8. ↑ "Leadership Team". CARE. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  9. ↑ "In bad taste?". (4 October 1988). The News-Journal. p.2A.
  10. 1 2 Merrick, Jane (30 March 2008). "Right-wing Christian group pays for Commons researchers". Independent. London. Archived from the original on 24 November 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2012. CARE connections (list of MPs)
  11. ↑ "House of Commons - Register Of All-Party Groups as at 28 February 2014: Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  12. ↑ Mildred, James (5 June 2015). "Time to ban prostitution adverts". care.org.uk. Christian Action Research and Education. Retrieved 8 November 2015. Leading Christian charity CARE (Christian Action Research & Education) is backing an historic attempt by a senior Peer to ban prostitution adverts from newspapers and online sites across England and Wales.
  13. ↑ "Advertising of Prostitution (Prohibition) Bill [HL] 2015-16". parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 June 2015. A Bill to prohibit the advertising of prostitution; and for connected purposes.
  14. ↑ Taylor, Jeff (7 March 2011). "Christian charity claims single earner families worst off in UK". Economic Voice. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  15. ↑ Ahmed, Kamal (30 July 2000). "Onward Christian lobbyists". The Observer. London. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  16. ↑ Reid-Smith, Tris (16 March 2012). "UK MP cuts ties to Christian gay 'cure' charity". Gay Star News. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  17. ↑ Smurthwaite, Kate (19 April 2012). "Anti-abortion CARE and campaigns to MPs". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  18. ↑ "'Gay cure' conference to be held in London". PinkNews. Retrieved 30 Jan 2023.
  19. ↑ Booth, Robert; Ball, James (13 April 2012). "'Gay cure' Christian charity funded 20 MPs' interns]". The Guardian.
  20. ↑ Joseph Patrick McCormick. "MP who took interns from 'gay cure' event sponsor, appointed as Welsh Secretary". PinkNews. 14 July 2014, 11:16 PM.
  21. ↑ "Conversion therapy plan delayed". CARE. Retrieved 30 Jan 2023.
  22. ↑ Modell, David (17 May 2008). "Christian fundamentalists fighting spiritual battle in Parliament". Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  23. ↑ "20 MPs took staff provided by anti-abortion charity". openDemocracy.
  24. ↑ "Abortion scandal: women told terminations increase chance of child abuse". Daily Telegraph. London. 10 February 2014. Archived from the original on 10 February 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
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