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Advocating for the Right: Alliance Defending Freedom and the Rhetoric of Christian Persecution

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Abstract

In this article I trace the legal and cultural advocacy work of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the single largest Christian conservative legal organisation operating in the US today. I begin by locating ADF strategy within the longer history of Christian persecution rhetoric articulated by the Moral Majority during the 1970s and 1980s. I then analyse both legal and cultural outputs of the organisation in two key cases: the so-called bathroom bills limiting transgender access to public facilities in several states, and the service denial of florist Barronelle Stutzman. I argue that by emphasising the perceived vulnerability of white cisgender women and girls in these cases, ADF litigators and cultural producers advance a narrow conception of religious freedom rights located in the specific cultural politics of neoliberal, white evangelicalism. As a result, while these cases have been legislative and policy failures for ADF they nevertheless provide useful insight into the rhetorical project of Christian persecution.

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Notes

  1. Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission 584 U.S. _ (2018).

  2. Supra n 1 at 1721.

  3. As of February 2021, ADF’s YouTube channel has over 24,000 subscribers and over 27 million total views.

  4. Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, 573 U.S. __ (2014).

  5. Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, 558 U.S. 310 (2010).

  6. 42 USC §2000b (1993).

  7. The language of a ‘complex’ can be seen as pathologising. Rather than reproduce this language, I have aimed to focus on the role the rhetoric of persecution plays in ADF advocacy work. While I do not see it as a ‘complex’, in the sense that Castelli uses the term, I do see a persistent pattern of victimisation language that has been deployed by the American Christian Right which equates expanding civil rights for racialised and sexual minorities with an acute sense of loss for some white Christian groups. In focusing on this rhetoric, I do not mean to suggest that this sense of loss, and the specific grievances of religious people in the crosshairs of these cases, are not seriously felt. My goal here is to focus on the specific communicative practices of ADF, rather than engaging in questions of intent or authenticity. Thanks to an anonymous reviewer for suggesting that I clarify this point.

  8. State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, 154 Tenn. 105, 289 S.W. 363 (1925).

  9. Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973).

  10. In 1956 Falwell founded the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, and began broadcasting his sermons as the Old Time Gospel Hour. Today the megachurch—which is led by Falwell’s son Jonathan—has over 24,000 members.

  11. Bob Jones University v. United States, 461 U.S. 574 (1983).

  12. Other conservative legal advocacy organisations, such as the Rutherford Institute, emerged in the early 1980s (see Bennett 2017, 19).

  13. Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, 530 U.S. 640 (2000).

  14. Good News Club v. Milford Central School, 533 U.S. 98 (2001).

  15. See Bennett (2017) for a recent breakdown of Christian conservative legal organizations (CCLOs) and their revenue and number of press releases (Bennett, 2017, 20 & 36). ADF is responsible for wholly 44% of all CCLO press releases (Bennett 2017, 36).

  16. In order to join the ADF network, the attorney must indicate agreement with the Apostle’s Creed, which expresses the Trinitarian statement of faith. ADF employees must also assent to a list of ‘Doctrinal Distinctives,’ which includes an immutable definition of biological sex and a heterosexual definition of marriage.

  17. A full treatment of ADF International is outside the scope of this paper but merits serious attention.

  18. Obergefell v. Hodges 576 U.S. 644 (2015).

  19. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission 558 U.S. 310 (2010).

  20. Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, “Brief of Amicus Curiae Alliance Defense Fund In Support of Appellant” (Benjamin W. Bull listed as Counsel of Record) Submitted to the US Supreme Court 15 Jan. 2009, 3.

  21. Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Kathleen Sebelius, “Petitioners’ Reply Brief on Writ of Certiori to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit” (David A. Cortman listed as counsel of record for Alliance Defending Freedom) Submitted to the US Supreme Court 12 Mar. 2014, 8.

  22. For more on the cultural politics of neoliberalism, see Lisa Duggan’s The Twilight of Equality? Neoliberalism, Cultural Politics, and the Attack on Democracy (2003).

  23. While ADF, like other CCLOs, uses the inclusive language of ‘religious freedom,’ its advocacy efforts are overwhelmingly deployed in the narrow interests of the Christian faith (Bennett 2017, 50–67). In some cases the organisation has shown support for explicitly Islamophobic policies, as when ADF attorneys filed a brief in support of the Trump administration’s second executive order limiting travel to the US from several Muslim-majority countries, as well as North Korea and Venezuela. In the brief, ADF attorneys argue that Trump’s past anti-Muslim tweets and statements should not be used in determining the constitutionality of the so-called Muslim travel ban. See State of Hawai’i and Ismail Elshikh v. Donald Trump “Brief of Amicus Curiae Alliance Defending Freedom in Support of Appellants and Reversal.” (Theriot, Kevin H., and Jonathan A. Scruggs listed as co-counsel) Submitted to the US Supreme Court 21 Apr. 2017, 9.

  24. Alliance Defending Freedom Student Physical Privacy Policy (2015).

  25. House Bill 2, Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, 2, North Carolina General Assembly, 2016s extra session (2016).

  26. Assembly Bill 375, An Act Relating to Education; Providing Certain Requirements for School Facilities That Are Designated for Use by Persons of One Biological Sex; and Providing Other Matters Properly Related Thereto, Nevada Legislature, 2015 session (2015).

  27. House Bill 2737, An Act Concerning School Districts; Creating the Student Physical Privacy Act, Kansas Committee on Federal and State Affairs, 2016 session, (2016).

  28. HF 41, A Bill for an Act Relating to Education; Establishing the Student Physical Privacy Act; Proposing Coding for New Law in Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 121A, Minnesota Legislature 2017–2018 session (2017).

  29. Herman’s study (2013) found that 70% of transgender or gender non-conforming survey respondents experienced denial of access to public restrooms, verbal harassment and/or physical assault (71). Herman also found that racialised transgender people were more likely to experience physical violence (2013, 73).

  30. Notably, ADF advocacy focuses on the threat anti-discrimination protections pose to cis women and girls. I found no instances in which the organisation raised the issue of transgender men present in male-only facilities.

  31. There is no empirical evidence to substantiate the claim that allowing nondiscriminatory access to public facilities increases the likelihood of safety or privacy violations (see Hasenbush et al. 2019), while anti-transgender ‘bathroom bills’ present a clear privacy violation for transgender people (see Samar 2016).

  32. The economic backlash has been particularly severe: According to PolitiFact, the North Carolina economy lost between $450–630 million due to backlash to HB2 (Doran 2017), while the Associated Press estimated losses of $3.76 billion to the state over 12 years (Dalesio and Drew 2017).

  33. State of Washington v. Arlene's Flowers, Inc., No. 13–2-00,871–5 2015 WL 720,213 (Wash. Super. Ct. Feb. 18, 2015).

  34. State of Washington v. Arlene's Flowers, Inc., 187 Wash.2d 804, 815–16, 830, 389 P.3d 543 (2017).

  35. State of Washington v. Arlene's Flowers, Inc., 441 P.3d 1203, 193 Wash. 2d 469 (2019).

  36. Arlene’s Flowers, Inc. v. State of Washington, “Petition for a Writ of Certiorari” (Kristen K. Waggoner listed as Counsel of Record for Alliance Defending Freedom) Submitted to the US Supreme Court 14 July 2017, 1.

  37. “As a Christian who refers to her shop as ‘God’s business’ and forgoes profit to keep the shop closed on Sundays because it is ‘God’s day,’ App.349a, Barronelle’s faith influences every part of her life, including her work and how she treats others.” (Ibid., 9).

  38. Supra n 36, 4.

  39. Ibid., 6.

  40. Supra n 35, 1213.

  41. Ibid., 1237.

  42. Supra n 36, 11.

  43. The writ points out that Ingersoll and Freed easily found another florist to supply their wedding, and notes that their only claim to financial damages was for the $7.91 they spent on gas driving to another flower shop (Ibid., 11). In reality, Ingersoll and Freed dramatically scaled back their wedding plans as a result of the service denial.

  44. Supra n 1, 2018, 1727, my emphasis.

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  1. School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Hannah Dick

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Dick, H. Advocating for the Right: Alliance Defending Freedom and the Rhetoric of Christian Persecution. Fem Leg Stud 29, 375–397 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10691-021-09468-0

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