Witherspoon Institute

The Witherspoon Institute is a conservative think tank in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded on religious principles, the group is opposed to same-sex marriage, embryonic stem cell research, and abortion. ^[1][2][3]

Founded in 2003 by Robert P. George and others,^[3][4][2] the institute is named after John Witherspoon.^[1] It shares many scholars with the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.^[2] Fellows include Jean Bethke Elshtain, Harold James, John Joseph Haldane, W. Bradford Wilcox, and James R. Stoner, Jr.^[5]

The Witherspoon Institute opposes same-sex marriage^[6] and deals with stem cell research, constitutional law, and globalization.^[2] In 2003, it organized a conference on religion in modern societies.^[7] In 2006, Republican Senator Sam Brownback cited a Witherspoon document called Marriage and the Public Good: Ten Principles in a debate over a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage.^[2] It held a conference about pornography at Princeton University in December 2008.^{[citation needed]}

Financially independent from Princeton University, its donors have included the Bradley Foundation, the John M. Olin Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, and the Lee and Ramona Bass Foundation.^[2]

The institute publishes an online journal called Public Discourse: Ethics, Law, and the Common Good.^[8]

In 2012, the Witherspoon Institute drew public attention for having funded a controversial study—called the "New Family Structures Study" (NFSS)—concerning LGBT parenting, conducted by Mark Regnerus, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. The University of Texas conducted an inquiry into the publication and declined to conduct a personal investigation stating that “ordinary errors, good faith differences in interpretations or judgments of data, scholarly or political disagreements, good faith personal or professional opinions, or private moral or ethical behavior or views are not misconduct.”^[9] Documents from the University of Texas at Austin show that Mark Regnerus requested payment authorizations, for assistance in data analysis, to William Bradford Wilcox, associate professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, a member of the James Madison Society at Princeton University, the director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, and fellow (at that time) of the Witherspoon Institute.^[10] William Bradford Wilcox no longer appears on the official website for the Witherspoon Institute. Although the Witherspoon funding was part of the controversy, these documents show direct involvement in the study by the Witherspoon Institute. The methodology of the study has received criticism^[11][12] and defense.^[13][14]

• Marriage and the Public Good: Ten Principles (2004)
• The social costs of pornography: a statement of findings and recommendations (2010)

• Official website

This article about an organization in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e