American Values Network: Difference between revisions

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| image = [[File:American Values Network Logo.gif|238px]]

| homepage = {{urlURL|http://americanvaluesnetwork.org/}}

The '''American Values Network''' ('''AVN''') is a [[progressive Christianity|progressive]] [[Christianity|Christian]] lobbying organization in the [[United States]], based in [[Washington, D.C.]] AVN was founded in 2010.

AVN’s missionAVN is “toa enroll,politically engage,active andorganization enablethat faithfulworks Americanswith andother othersreligious of goodwillorganizations to standpromote upfaith-based, speakcompassionate out,policies andon activelynuclear participatenon-proliferation, inthe buildingArms upTrade theTreaty, Americanclimate familychange, andgovernment communitybudgets, valuesand thatuniversal havehealth alwayscare. beenAVN atsays theit corepromotes ofChristian ourvalues successfuland effortscounters tohypocrisy createon athe ‘more[[Christian perfect unionright]].’"<ref name="americanvaluesnetwork">{{cite web|title=What We Believe |url=http://americanvaluesnetwork.org/about/ |work=The American Values Network |accessdate=6 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602033857/http://americanvaluesnetwork.org/about/ |archivedate=2 June 2013 }}</ref>

The President of AVN is [[Burns Strider]], with [[Eric Sapp]] as the Executive Director and Rachel Johnson as Programs Director. AVN also sponsors a National Advisory Committee, whose members include Reverend [[Leah Daughtry]], [[Donald Fowler|Don Fowler]], Brenda Gullett, [[Kathleen Kennedy Townsend]], and Gloria Williamson. It is affiliated with the [[American Values Network Educational Foundation]] and the [[Mississippi Values Network]].<ref name="americanvaluesnetwork_a">{{cite web|title=About Us |url=http://americanvaluesnetwork.org/about-us/ |work=American Values Network |accessdate=6 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529163115/http://americanvaluesnetwork.org/about-us/ |archivedate=29 May 2013 }}</ref>

According to Strider, AVN was formed to "build a national organization committed to grass-roots building, networking, communicating, and activating a mainstream and authentic voice that would organize and speak out for progressive policy and issues from a faith and values perspective." AVN works alongside similar progressive faith groups such as Sojourners, Faith and Public Life, and [[Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good]].<ref name="usnews">{{cite web|last=Gilgoff|first=Dan|title=Exclusive: Former Hillary Clinton Aide Launches New Progressive Faith Group|url=httphttps://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/god-and-country/2009/04/22/exclusive-former-hillary-clinton-aide-launches-new-progressive-faith-group|publisher=U.S. News and& World Report|accessdate=6 June 2013}}</ref>

Organized as a [[501(c)(4)]], AVN can participate in issue-based organizing, advertising, and lobbying and raises its funds through non-tax deductible donations.<ref name="soultalkradio">{{cite web|title=Eric Sapp on his work with the American Values Network |url=http://www.soultalkradio.com/2011/07/11/eric-sapp-on-his-work-with-the-american-values-network/ |publisher=Soul Talk Radio |accessdate=6 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130608025021/http://www.soultalkradio.com/2011/07/11/eric-sapp-on-his-work-with-the-american-values-network/ |archivedate=8 June 2013 }}</ref>

AVN has criticized the American government for spending $700 billion on what they call "a nuclear weapons system designed for [[Cold War]] threats." Emphasizing the lack of a direct threat from [[Russia]] and the potentially wasted funds from the nuclear arms program, they have called on the government to either cut "[[pork barrel]] nuclear projects" or re-direct funds from some weapons, such as ballistic nuclear submarines, in order to support American troops with more effective technology.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

In 2010, AVN worked diligently to support the [[New START]] treaty, a bilateral treaty which reduced the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers in the United States and Russia by half. AVN's "Daisy Ad" <ref>{{cite web |title=Daisy Ad|publisher=YouTube|url=httphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as1cTOx8Hrk|accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref> highlights the risk of nuclear weapons. It was quite successful and accumulated tens of thousands of views on YouTube and garnered press coverage in [[NPR]], ''[[Politico]]'', ''[[Huffington Post]]'', and ''[[The New York Times]]''.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

AVN is a strong supporter of the [[Arms Trade Treaty]], the [[multilateralism|multilateral]] treaty negotiated under the auspices of the [[United Nations]] in 2012 that aims to regulate the international trade in conventional weapons. AVN created seven [[YouTube]] videos for Senators [[Jerry Moran]]<ref name="youtube">{{cite web|title=Kids to Sen. Moran: Please Choose Us, Not Dictators|url=httphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04nzNI7sqLw|work=American Values Network|accessdate=6 June 2013}}</ref> (R-KS), [[Lamar Alexander]] (R-TN), [[Thad Cochran]] (R-MS), [[Michael Enzi]] (R-WY), [[James Inhofe]] (R-OK), [[Jeff Sessions]] (R-AL), and [[Max Baucus]] (D-MT), senators who have made statements against signing the Treaty in the past. The viral campaign has proved popular, with over 500,000 views in two days and widespread media coverage.

American Values Network has been a vocal supporter forsupported legislation dealing withon [[climate change]] and other environmental issues. In almost all of AVN's climate work, they have rallied members of the Christian and military communities to advocate for cleaner, smarter, and healthier environmental policy. In 2009, the organization to support the [[American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009]] which passed through the House but was defeated in the Senate. In this campaign, AVN sent emails to more than 650,00 people in Colorado, Arizona, and Arizona in which members of the military emphasized the need for comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation as a matter of national security.<ref>{{cite news|last=Cillizza|first=Chris|title=The Fix|url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/morning-fix/081809-morning-fix-rust-belt-r.html|accessdate=24 June 2013|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=18 August 2009}}</ref>

In 2010, AVN released a series of ads on American cable news networks [[CNN]], [[Fox News]], and [[MSNBC]] that targeted [[Lindsey Graham|Senator Lindsey Graham]]’s change in position on environmental legislative reform.<ref>{{cite web|last=AmericanValuesNet|title=Back Then|url=httphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mxrjpPhb3NU|publisher=YouTube|accessdate=24 June 2013}}</ref> Leading up to 2010, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham supported climate legislation but then flip-flopped on the issue. AVN's ads called out Senator Graham and highlighted the hypocrisy.

In the last several years AVN has led a sustained effort to advocate for and support climate legislation and other environmental protection measures. Most recently2013, AVN began an initiative called the Good Steward Campaign,<ref>{{cite web|title=Good Stewrad Campaign|url=http://goodstewardcampaign.org|accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref> which is a faith-based environmental organization focused primarily on college campus outreach. In the fall of 2013, The Good Steward Campaign organized on 30 college campuses in an attempt to get Christian students to think about and address climate change from a faith perspective. They also support [[fossil fuel divestment]] campaigns.

AVN has run a handful campaigns with the goal of either correcting conservative misinformation or exposing conservative hypocrisy. These include their "Tea Party Jesus"<ref name="Tea Party Jesus">{{cite web|title=Tea Party Jesus|url=http://teapartyjesus.org/|work=American Values Network|accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref> and "Christians Must Choose: Ayn Rand or Jesus.".<ref name="Christians Must Choose: Ayn Rand or Jesus">{{cite web|title=Christians Must Choose: Ayn Rand or Jesus|url=httphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6LSpFgxL94|work=American Values Network|accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref> In both campaigns AVN developed videos explaining disparity between what conservative Christians say they believe and the actions of people or groups that they politically support.

In 2009, the American Values Network worked with [[Sojourners]] to create a compelling ad about the danger and suffering that people without health insurance face each time they become sick or hurt. The ad was written about in ''[[Christianity Today]]''<ref>{{cite web|title=Health Care Cacophany|last=Christianity Today|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/octoberweb-only/143-51.0.html|publisher=Christianity Today|accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref> as well as [[Huffington Post]]<ref>{{cite web|last=Huffington Post|title=American Values Network Makes Religious Case For Health Care Reform (VIDEO)|website=[[HuffPost]] |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/15/american-values-network-m_n_322486.html|accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref>