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Northern Arizona Congress In Support Of Families 2000 (NACISOF
2000) was a regional event held at the Yavapai College
Performance Hall, Yavapai College campus, in Prescott, Arizona
on September 9, 2000. An affiliate of the World Congress
of Families and co-sponsored by The Howard Center for Family,
Religion, and Society, the event drew endorsements from ten
Arizona State Senators and ten members of the Arizona State
House of Representatives. Other endorsing organizations were
Right to Life and Birthline--two pro-life organizations, the
local stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
and the parishioners of Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Two
state legislators, as well as a candidate for the House of
Representatives, were in attendance. Individuals from every
faith, every ethnic group, and every walk of life who believe
in the natural family and who are concerned about its
perpetuation and protection were invited to attend.
The conference was a grassroots, homegrown effort to
protect, promote and preserve the natural family. It was a
direct outgrowth of the World Congress of Families II held in
Geneva, Switzerland last year and featured speakers from that
congress as well as other authorities in their fields. Dr.
Allan Carlson and Dr. Richard Wilkins, secretariats of the
World Congress of Families II, were two of the speakers who
addressed the 150 attendees of the congress. Their subjects
were, respectively, "The Family In Peril" and
"Becoming A Governmental 'Guru' ". Other speakers
and their subjects included Dr. Kathleen Bahr, Brigham Young
University -- "Fortifying Families Through Family
Work"; Dr. James Harper, Brigham Young University --
"Intergenerational Binding"; Dr. Ted Baehr,
MOVIEGUIDE -- "The Media: Marvel and Menace"; Father
Peter West, Priests For Life -- "The Sanctity of
Life"; Mary Mostert, Original Sources
--"Strengthening the Family"; and Bill Saunders,
J.D., Family Research Council --"Our Children: Our
Future".
Opening and closing ceremonies featured entertainment by
the Stapley Family Singers, an Arizona family of seven
children ranging in age from nine months to seven years, a
skit demonstrating that families are the foundation of society
by local high school youth and quotes on the importance of
families by renown individuals. A closing reading compared
George Washington's battle with the British in 1776 to today's
ongoing fight for the family. Using a quote from General
Washington, himself that states, "My brave fellows...your
country is at stake, your wives, your houses, and all that you
hold dear...The present is emphatically the crisis which is to
decide our destiny", a final challenge was issued to the
attendees with these words --"Today, we the supporters
and the believers of the natural family find ourselves engaged
in a war of similar proportions...We fight for our homes, our
families, our liberty and all that we hold dear. So, who will
raise their voice for the family? Who will join us in this
cause? Who will defend the rights of our liberty? Come and
show a valiant heart!"
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