On election night, that meant sending congratulatory texts to his friend Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Yet Farris, who during the election was running a Christian college and a homeschooling defense group in Virginia, had significant ties to the Trump team. He accused Trump of “arrogance,” saying he was unreliable in the fight to stymie transgender rights and defend religious expression. Before taking the reins at ADF, he was an outspoken critic of Trump during the 2016 election. Lee, like other congressional Republicans, has a close relationship with ADF and he has sponsored bills that ADF supports - such as one that would protect people with a religious objection to same-sex marriage.īut the relationship between Farris and the White House is far more complicated. “ADF’s influence has been building, and I think Mike Farris has helped them move forward.” Mike Lee of Utah said of Farris in an interview with BuzzFeed News. “They’ve chalked up a whole lot of victories in free speech and academic freedom under his leadership,” Republican Sen. “The question is, how do you get recognized without screaming?” “I think the biggest misconception about ADF is that we don’t exist,” Farris said, cutting into his chicken. So, as Farris started his new job, he wondered how the group could stand out. But through this, ADF itself has held a low profile, even being an occasional outsider in the evangelical political movement. Millions of Americans have heard of ADF’s biggest case: a dispute over a wedding cake that will go before the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Taking reins of the 24-year-old group, which now has a staff of 250 and a $59 million budget, is the opportunity of his lifetime, said Farris, a constitutional lawyer with a hairdo befitting a 1970s newscaster.ĪDF has spent years cultivating high-profile religious freedom bills in statehouses while slogging through courts, particularly defending Christian shopkeepers who refused service for same-sex weddings. It was a hot February afternoon, and Farris, wearing a slightly-too-large gray suit, had been named CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom four weeks earlier. “Father, thank you so much for this beautiful day and providing for our needs,” he said above the chicken-and-steak lunch special. Pronunciation guide: Chafuen (CHAFF’-wen)Īlliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.The same hour Jeff Sessions was sworn in as the nation’s 84th US attorney general in Washington, DC, Mike Farris was at a strip mall in Scottsdale, Arizona, bowing his head over a sizzling platter of fajitas.Sine Kerr, and other supporters in the Arizona Legislature for enacting these critical protections and keeping kids first.” Under SB 1399, Arizona’s faith-based adoption and foster care providers can continue to serve the state’s most vulnerable children in a manner consistent with the faith that inspires their service and unafraid of government discrimination. It would also leave the overburdened foster care system without the vital services they provide. Leaving faith-based providers exposed to unjust government punishment because of their religious identity would lead to fewer opportunities for children to find such families. When faith-based foster care service providers are empowered to operate according to their beliefs, more providers can recruit and serve more foster families to provide more loving homes to children in Arizona’s foster care system. “Every child deserves the chance to be cared for by a loving family. Doug Ducey’s signing Wednesday of SB 1399, a bill ensuring that Arizona’s foster care service providers are able to continue serving Arizona’s foster children and foster parents according to their beliefs without fear of unjust government punishment: The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Greg Chafuen regarding Arizona Gov.
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