Institute on Religion and Democracy

The Institute on Religion and Democracy is an American right-wing political pressure group.

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The IRD describes itself as "an ecumenical alliance of U.S. Christians working to reform their churches? social witness, in accord with biblical and historic Christian teachings, thereby contributing to the renewal of democratic society at home and abroad."http://www.ird-renew.org/Feedback/FeedbackList.cfm?c=2

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The IRD has ties to the Republican Party and funded by Richard Mellon Scaife.http://www.ird-renew.org/site/apps/s/content.asp?c=fvKVLfMVIsG&b=494491&ct=416525 The IRD's conservative social-policy goals include increasing military spending and foreign interventions, opposing environmental protection efforts, and eliminating social welfare programs. However, the group is perhaps best known for its anti-homosexual advocacy.

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