Howard Fieldstead Ahmanson, Jr (born 1950) is an American millionaire philanthropist for the causes of Christian fundamentalism.

Biography

Ahmanson is the son of the American financier Howard Ahmanson, Sr (1906 — 1968) and his wife. His parents divorced when he was 10, and his mother died shortly afterwards. Despite the trappings of wealth, he was a lonely child "I resented my family background, [my father] could never be a role model, whether by habits or his lifestyle, it was never anything I wanted." Howard Ahmanson, Sr died when his son was 18, and Ahmanson Jr inherited a vast fortune.

He moved to Kansas and then went to Occidental College, where he obtained a degree in economics. He then toured Europe, but returned because of arthritis. He earned a master's degree in linguistics at the University of Texas at Arlington.

He then became a Calvinist, and later became interested in Christian Reconstructionism.

He married his wife Roberta Green Ahmanson in 1986. He is somewhat reclusive and suffers from Tourette's syndrome; his wife usually makes announcements for him.

Philanthrophy

Ahmanson founded the Fieldstead Institute . He is a major funder of the Discovery Institute, whose Center for Science and Culture opposes the theory of evolution and manages a public relations campaign promoting "intelligent design". He funded the magazine Chalcedon Report , which carried an article calling for homosexuals to be stoned. He funds the Claremont Institute, a think-tank which promoted a video in which Charlton Heston praises "the God-fearing Caucasian middle class". Although donating to the United States Republican Party, some of his donations have been returned because of his views.

External links

• Avenging angel of the religious right, Salon Magazine.
• Christian Reconstructionism