The Witherspoon Institute is a social

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

founded in 2003 by

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

professor Robert P. George, Luis Tellez, and others involved with the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. Named after

John Witherspoon John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794) was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister, educator, farmer, slaveholder, and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense real ...

, one of the signers of the

United States Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America in the original printing, is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the Second Continen ...

, the institute's fellows include Harold James, John Joseph Haldane, and James R. Stoner Jr.

History

The Witherspoon Institute opposes

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

and

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

and deals with

embryonic stem cell research Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, an early-stage pre- implantation embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist ...

, and

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

. In 2003, it organized a conference on religion in modern societies. In 2006, Republican Senator

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011 and as the List of governors of Kansas, 46th governor of K ...

cited the Witherspoon document ''Marriage and the Public Good: Ten Principles'' in a debate over a constitutional amendment against

. It held a conference about pornography named ''The Social Costs of Pornography'' at Princeton University in December 2008. Financially independent from

, its donors have included the

Bradley Foundation The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, commonly known as the Bradley Foundation, is an American charitable foundation based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that has been one of the most influential funders of the conservative movement. The foundation ...

, the John M. Olin Foundation, the

John Templeton Foundation The John Templeton Foundation (Templeton Foundation) is a Philanthropy, philanthropic organization founded by John Templeton in 1987. Templeton became wealthy as a Contrarian investing, contrarian investor, and wanted to support progress in relig ...

, and the Lee and Ramona Bass Foundation. The institute publishes the online journal ''Public Discourse: Ethics, Law, and the Common Good''. It also provides educational opportunities to high school students, undergraduate students, graduate students, and young faculty members. Most of these seminars focus on

natural law Natural law (, ) is a Philosophy, philosophical and legal theory that posits the existence of a set of inherent laws derived from nature and universal moral principles, which are discoverable through reason. In ethics, natural law theory asserts ...

philosophy and its applications in contemporary fields such as

political theory Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and legitimacy of political institutions, such as states. This field investigates different forms of government, ranging from d ...

bioethics Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, me ...

, and

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

New Family Structures Study

In July 2012, the Witherspoon Institute drew public attention for having funded the controversial New Family Structures Study (NFSS), a study of

LGBT parenting Same-sex parenting is parenting of children by same-sex couples generally consisting of gay, lesbian, or bisexual people who are often in civil partnerships, domestic partnerships, civil unions, or same-sex marriages. Opponents of same-sex ...

conducted by Mark Regnerus, an associate professor of sociology at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

. The study was criticized by major professional scientific institutions and associations, as well as other sociologists at the University of Texas. The University of Texas conducted an inquiry into the publication and declined to conduct a formal investigation in keeping with its policy 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." But the university's sociology department said the Regnerus study was "fundamentally flawed on conceptual and methodological grounds and that findings from Dr. Regnerus' work have been cited inappropriately in efforts to diminish the civil rights and legitimacy of LBGTQ partners and their families."

Alana Newman

Witherspoon's ''Public Discourse'' hired Alana Newman, a writer, musician, and activist known for her advocacy on egg and sperm donation and surrogacy issues, to write articles critical of reproductive technology, including a controversial 2012 article that compared gay parents to sexual predators.

Chen Guangcheng

On October 2, 2013, the Witherspoon Institute announced the appointment of Chinese lawyer and human rights activist

Chen Guangcheng Chen Guangcheng (born November 12, 1971) is a Chinese civil rights activist who has worked on human rights issues in rural areas of the People's Republic of China. Blind from an early age and self-taught in the law, Chen is frequently describ ...

as a Distinguished Senior Fellow in Human Rights, as well as Visiting Fellow of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at the Catholic University of America, and Senior Distinguished Advisor to the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice. In an interview, Witherspoon Institute President Luis Tellez told Reuters: "We're not asking him to do anything specific... The main point is he's a truth teller, he tries to tell the truth as he sees it." Tellez said he expected Chen to continue his advocacy for

human rights in China Human rights in the People's Republic of China are poor, as per reviews by international bodies, such as human rights treaty bodies and the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), th ...

in his appointment, which was set to last for three years. On October 16, 2013, Chen made his first public appearance as a fellow of Witherspoon. He delivered a public lecture at Princeton University titled "China and the World in the 21st Century: The Next Human Rights Revolution", co-sponsored by the Witherspoon Institute and the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.

References

External links

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The Public Discourse: the journal of the Witherspoon Institute
{{Authority control Conservative organizations in the United States Political and economic think tanks in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Princeton, New Jersey 501(c)(3) organizations 2003 establishments in New Jersey Think tanks established in 2003 John M. Olin Foundation