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AFA Chairman Goes Against the Flow

By: Pat Centner

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American Family Association’s logo is a simple one. It’s the outline of a fish: icthus, the symbol used by early Christians, and now the rest of the world, to signify allegiance to Christ. The logo fits AFA. And if you use your imagination a little, you can see how an interesting analogy might be drawn between the efforts of this 25-year-old pro-family organization and another fish also known for its endurance.

AFA’s battle to uphold America¹s traditional family values can be likened to the struggle of the Puget Sound Chinook salmon that, upon reaching adulthood, leaves the Sound and swims back upstream to its original spawning grounds. As it valiantly fights the current and leaps the rapids and small waterfalls, the fish is forced back again and again, only to thrust itself into the air once more and push forward, never giving up.  

This analogy can also be applied to the man who founded AFA back in 1977—its chairman, Don Wildmon, of Tupelo, Mississippi. Since he first began what was then called the National Federation for Decency, Wildmon has led AFA’s upstream battle against nearly every major national trend that has had potential for polluting or negating the Christian principles that under gird the foundation of this great nation.

A Methodist minister who was fed up with the illicit sex, violence and profanity he saw on TV, Wildmon’s initial targets were the major TV networks, producers and sponsors. His vision was to make Christians nationwide aware of how pronounced TV’s downward slide into indecency and impurity had become. It was also his goal to motivate citizens to protest to such a degree that their efforts would ultimately result in stopping or, at least, staunching the flow of sewage that was polluting mainstream America.

Mr. Wildmon’s efforts proved successful, and as more and more people joined AFA and became loyal supporters, the organization began to branch out into other areas where there were strongly differing views between those with a liberal mindset and those whose mindset was biblically-based. AFA began to be heavily involved in efforts to abolish abortion and pornography, and to expose the harmful and devastating effects of homosexuality as an “alternate lifestyle.”

As his vision continued to grow, AFA grew also, and Wildmon added additional staff to help him accomplish his goals. The AFA Journal, a 24-page news magazine with 200,000 subscribers, began publication early on, and in 1991, WAFR, American Family Radio’s Christian radio station, became the flagship for the nearly 200 stations that broadcast across America today.

Wildmon’s commitment to stand strong on the side of the Lord, no matter what it might cost him personally, has resulted in his appearance on numerous television shows such as Meet the Press, The Today Show, Nightline, and the MacNeil-Lehrer Report. Just a few of the publications that have featured him are Newsweek, Time, People, the Wall Street Journal, and Christianity Today. He has also received awards and recognitions too numerous to mention.

Despite the affirmation Wildmon has received from the thousands who love and believe in him, and despite the criticism and ridicule he has suffered at the hands of those who hate him, Don Wildmon has remained true to his cause.

And although not every salmon fighting its way upstream is successful, Wildmon is the first to admit that neither is AFA always successful in its efforts. “We try to uphold Godly values in all that we do,” he says, “and whether we’re successful or not, the one thing you can rely on is that we’ll always be faithful.”

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