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Encyclopedia > Christian conservative

Christian Right is a term collectively referring to a spectrum of conservative Christian political and social movements and organizations characterized by their strong support of social values they deem traditional in the United States and other western countries. The terms Christian Right and Religious Right are sometimes used interchangeably, although this is problematic (see discussion at Religious Right). A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ. ... Politics is the process and method of decision-making for groups of human beings. ... The term Western world or the West can have multiple meanings depending on its context. ... The term Religious Right, is a broad label applied by both scholars and critics to a number of political and religious movements and groups. ...

Contents


Terminology

Critics on the left try to mobilize their supporters by warning of dangers from the Christian Right, and use phrases such as theocrat, religious extremist, or other terms that are often objected to by leaders of conservative Christian groups. Some Catholic writers characterize these terms as pejorative and representing Christianophobia, while some writers such as American journalist Kevin Phillips, feel the terms accurately describe the movement. The tendency of some critics of the Christian Right to use the terms Christian fundamentalist or evangelical as if all three terms were equivalent is seen as problematic by a wide range of commentators. Theocracy is a form of government in which a religion and the government are allied. ... In comparative religion, fundamentalism refers to anti-modernist movements in various religions. ... Christianophobia, also called christophobia, is a term used by some to describe an irrational fear or hatred of Christians, or Christianity in general. ... Fundamentalist Christianity is a fundamentalist movement, especially within American Protestantism. ...


At the same time, fundamentalists across several religions often share with the Christian Right certain positions on specific issues such as women's and gay rights, separation of religion and government, and opposition to evolving moral standards. So even though many leaders of the Christian Right are outspoken critics of radical Islam, conservative Christians, Muslims, and Jews sometimes cooperate in national and international projects, especially through the United Nations.


The term is complicated by the appropriation of "Christian" by members of the evangelical-doctrine churches for their particular brand of Christianity.


Used in another sense, "Christian Right" may describe a more benign association of individuals from a wide variety of theological beliefs, ranging from moderately traditional movements within Lutheranism and Catholicism to theologically more conservative movements such as Evangelicalism, Pentecostalism and Fundamentalist Christianity. Luthers seal Lutheranism is a Christian tradition committed to the main theological insights of Martin Luther. ... This article considers Catholicism in the broadest ecclesiastical sense. ... The word evangelicalism usually refers to a tendency in diverse branches of Protestantism, typified by an emphasis on evangelism, a personal experience of conversion, biblically-oriented faith, and a belief in the relevance of Christian faith to cultural issues. ... The Pentecostal movement within Protestant Christianity places special emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as shown in the Biblical account of the Day of Pentecost. ... This article concerns the self-labeled Fundamentalist Movement in Protestant Christianity. ...


History

Jerome Himmelstein writes that:

"The term New Religious Right refers to a set of organizations that emerged in the late 1970s, the Moral Majority (later renamed the Liberty Federation), the Religious Roundtable, and the Christian Voice; their leaders, including Robert Grant, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Ed McAteer; and the movement that these leaders and organizations fostered. Though this movement made a broad, religiously based conservative appeal, its deepest roots and most lasting impact were among white evangelicals and fundamentalist Christians (p. 97)."

The beginnings of "The Christian Right" as a nascent political movement began when evangelicals began organizing against a series of Supreme Court decisions, notably Roe v. Wade and also engaged in local battles over pornography, obscenity, taxation of private Christian schools, school prayer, textbook contents (concerning evolution), homosexuality and abortion. The term Moral Majority signifies the concept that there are often informal subgroups within many larger nations which pursues a strict moral agenda, usually based upon a deep belief in a religion, such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism,which is embedded to some extent within the national culture. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Robert Grant was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. ... American religious broadcaster Pat Robertson Marion Gordon Pat Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an influential right wing political activist from the United States. ... Jerry Lamon Falwell (born on August 11, 1933, Lynchburg, Virginia) is a Fundamentalist Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservative activist from the United States. ... The supreme court in some countries, provinces, and states, functions as a court of last resort whose rulings cannot be challenged. ... Holding Texas laws criminalizing abortion violated womens Fourteenth Amendment right to choose whether to continue a pregnancy. ... Pornographic movies Pornography (from Greek πορνη prostitute and γραφία written material) (also informally referred to as porn, or porno) is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but distinct from, erotica, though the two terms are often used interchangeably. ... Pete Rose during his Cincinnati Reds days. ... School prayer in its most common usage, refers to state-sanctioned and/or mandatory prayer of students in schools. ... Two textbooks. ...


As a modern political force, the Christian Right began in 1974 when Dr. Robert Grant founded American Christian Cause to advocate Christian moral teachings in Southern California. Concerned that Christians overwhelmingly voted in favor of President Jimmy Carter in 1976, Grant founded Christian Voice to mobilize Christian voters in favor of candidates who share their values. Grant involved national conservative leaders including Gary Jarmin, Howard Phillips, Terry Dolan, and Richard Viguerie in his movement and made national headlines when Christian Voice-backed candidates including Ronald Reagan, Steve Symms, Dan Quayle, and John East defeated entrenched incumbents in the 1978 and 1980 elections.. After Grant ousted Phillips, Dolan, and Viguerie several years later, the trio went on to recruit Jerry Falwell to build a new Christian Right organization, the Moral Majority. Grant's movement was said to have played a significant role in the election of President Ronald Reagan in 1980 and dozens of immitators were founded including Concerned Women for America, American Coalition for Traditional Values, and the Christian Coalition. Dr. Robert Grant is often called the father of the modern Christian right in America. ... For the submarine, see USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Howard Phillips (born February 6, 1941) is an American right-wing political figure who was born in Boston, Massachusetts. ... Richard Viguerie has been called the founding funder of modern conservative strategy, having pioneered important tactics in computerized direct mail strategy in the 1970s and 1980s. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... Steven Douglas Symms (born April 23, 1938) is an American politician from the state of Idaho, who currently works for Parry, Romani & DeConcini, a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. Symms was born in Nampa, Idaho and attended public schools; he graduated from the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho... James Danforth Quayle (born February 4, 1947) was the 44th Vice President of the United States under George H. W. Bush (1989-1993). ... John East (died 1856), was a 19th century Anglican clergyman and writer. ... Jerry Lamon Falwell (born on August 11, 1933, Lynchburg, Virginia) is a Fundamentalist Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservative activist from the United States. ... The term Moral Majority signifies the concept that there are often informal subgroups within many larger nations which pursues a strict moral agenda, usually based upon a deep belief in a religion, such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism,which is embedded to some extent within the national culture. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... Concerned Women for America is a conservative Christian group that is active in politics in the United States. ... This article is about the organization presently operating in the United States. ...


Issues

Positions labeled "Christian Right", but sometimes held by only a minority of those commonly considered "Christian Right" include:

  • The Pro-Life movement, which advocates stronger regulation or prohibition of abortion.
  • Opposition to euthanasia.
  • Opposition to same-sex marriage laws by groups such as the Focus on the Family and Traditional Values Coalition. [1]. Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell brought controversy when they attributed the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to God's wrath against "abortionists, pagans, feminists, gays and lesbians". [2] Other opinion leaders of the Christian Right contested the remarks as extreme and insensitive; Robertson and Falwell later revised their statements.
  • Regulation and restriction of certain applications of biotechnology: in particular both theraputic and reproductive human cloning and stem cell research that involves the destruction of human embryos. See bioethics.
  • Support for the presence of Christianity in the public sphere, such as with organized prayer in school, and varying degrees of opposition to the separation of church and state doctrine.
  • Reducing restrictions on government funding for religious charities and schools. However, some politically conservative churches refuse government funding because of their restrictions regarding acceptance of homosexuality and other issues; others endorse President Bush "faith base initiatives" and accept funds.
  • Promotion of conservative Christian moral values, including an emphasis on the value of the nuclear family in raising children, and opposition to extramarital sex.
  • Regulation and restriction of the publication and public exhibition of explicitly sexual content and pornography.
  • Opposition to sex education classes in public schools. A spectrum of views exist, from advocation of no sex education in public schools to advocation of abstinence only to strong advocation of abstinence in concert with other sex-related information.
  • Support for homeschooling, and private schooling, generally as an alternative to secular education rather than for Libertarian reasons. This manifests itself as support for school vouchers.
  • Promotion of the teaching of creationism and intelligent design in public schools as alternatives to the theory of evolution.
  • Opposition to "judicial activism" by liberal federal judges regarding religious issues and abortion.
  • Support for the war in Iraq. Some leading evangelicals[3] and Christian conservative politicians[4] have made statements about a religious conflict between Christianity and Islam in the context of the War on Terrorism, prompting many critics and some supporters to refer to the war as a Tenth Crusade. Defenders explain some such criticism as a misinterpretation of the term "crusade", which can be used to mean "a grand concerted effort toward some purportedly worthy cause" without any intentional overtones of holy war, although this explanation does not apply to the more detailed characterizations of the war on terror as a holy war.
  • Strong support for President George W. Bush and a belief that he was chosen by God, with a mandate to lead America. However, in the early part of his second term some have withdrawn their support for the President over concerns of the growth of the federal government and proposed amnesty for illegal aliens.

It is difficult to pinpoint the issue of race among the Christian Right. There are a sizeable amount of non-white members of this faction. However, they tend to have universal opposition to Affirmative Action, in belief that it is reverse discrimination. Many have also voiced opposition to government-funded Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Most of the Christian Right have also been staunch opponents of illegal immigration. In the past, southern U.S. Christian Right groups generally advocated and practiced racial segregation, but this is not openly advocated today by most of the Christian Right movement. Additionally, many midwestern Holiness and Pentecostal churches were founded by abolitionists and largely opposed segregation. Groups such as the Promise Keepers, which are allied with the Christian Right, encourage participation by men of all races in their activities, and have encouraged discussions of race and racism. Pro-Life advocates make a silent complaint in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. Pro-life is a political movement that started when abortion began being decriminalized in the West. ... A euthanasia machine. ... Same-sex marriage is marriage between two people who are of the same characteristic sex. ... Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF), founded in 1977, is an evangelical Christian 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in the United States. ... The Traditional Values Coalition is a Christian Right organization that claims to represent 43,000 conservative Christian churches throughout the United States of America. ... American religious broadcaster Pat Robertson Marion Gordon Pat Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an influential right wing political activist from the United States. ... Jerry Lamon Falwell (born on August 11, 1933, Lynchburg, Virginia) is a Fundamentalist Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservative activist from the United States. ... September 11 is the 254th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (255th in leap years). ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... The term terrorism is largely synonymous with political violence or the threat of violence, and refers to a strategy of using coordinated attacks that typically fall within the time, manner of conduct, and place commonly understood as unconventional warfare. ... An abortion is the termination of the gestation of an embryo or fetus resulting in or from its death. ... Paganism (from Latin paganus) and Heathenry are catch-all terms which have come to connote a broad set of spiritual/religious beliefs and practices of a natural religion, as opposed to the Abrahamic religions. ... Feminism is a diverse, competing, and often opposing collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies, largely motivated by or concerning the experiences of women, especially in terms of their social, political, and economic inequalities. ... Opinion leadership is a concept that arose out of the theory of two-step flow of communication propounded by Paul Lazarsfeld and Elihu Katz. ... A simplified model of influenza virus surface glycoprotein hemagglutinin, onstructed using 3D molecular graphics software Biotechnology is a technology based on biology, especially when used in agriculture, food science, and medicine. ... Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of an existing, or previously existing human or growing cloned tissue from that individual. ... Mouse embryonic stem cells. ... Bioethics is the ethics of biological science and medicine. ... The separation of church and state is a political doctrine which states that the institutions of the state or national government should be kept separate from those of religious institutions. ... A nuclear family (sometimes known in the British sociological term, cornflake family) is a household consisting of two married, heterosexual parents and their legal children (siblings), as distinct from the extended family. ... Pornographic movies Pornography (from Greek πορνη prostitute and γραφία written material) (also informally referred to as porn, or porno) is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but distinct from, erotica, though the two terms are often used interchangeably. ... Sex education is a broad term used to describe education about human sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, and other aspects of human sexual behavior. ... Sex education is a broad term used to describe education about human sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, and other aspects of human sexual behavior. ... This article is about biological sexes — male, female, etc. ... Thomas Edison attended compulsory school for only three months, after which he was taught at home by his mother and a tutor. ... See also Libertarianism and Libertarian Party Libertarian,is a term for person who has made a conscious and principled commitment, evidenced by a statement or Pledge, to forswear violating others rights and usually living in voluntary communities: thus in law no longer subject to government supervision. ... An education voucher, commonly called a school voucher, is a certificate by which parents are given the ability to pay for the education of their children at a school of their choice, rather than the public school to which they were assigned. ... The Creation of Light by Gustave Doré. In Abrahamic religions, creationism or creation theology is the origin belief that humans, life, the Earth, and the universe were created by a supreme being or deitys supernatural intervention. ... Intelligent design (ID) is the concept that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection. ... A speculative phylogenetic tree of all living things, based on rRNA gene data, showing the separation of the three domains, bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes. ... This article needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... Combatants Coalition Forces (United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Poland) Iraq Commanders Tommy Franks Saddam Hussein Strength 263,000 375,000 The 2003 Invasion of Iraq began on March 20 and consisted mainly of United States and United Kingdom forces. ... The War on Terrorism or War on Terror (in U.S. foreign policy circles, Global War on Terrorism or GWOT; recently also Long War) is a campaign by the United States government and some of its allies with the stated goal of ending international terrorism by stopping terrorist groups and... Tenth Crusade is a term sometimes used by those opposed to the US-led occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq that followed the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States of America. ... Holy war may refer to: A war led by or authorized by God, see religious war. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States and former governor of Texas. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in American history. ... It has been suggested that illegal alien be merged into this article or section. ... The Pentecostal movement within Protestant Christianity places special emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. ... Promise Keepers is an international Christian organization based in Denver, Colorado USA that describes itself as dedicated to introducing men to Jesus as their Savior and Lord, then helping them to grow in their personal Christian faith. ... The term race distinguishes a population of humans from other populations. ... It has been suggested that Racism in Mass Media be merged into this article or section. ...


U.S. foreign policy and Christian Zionism

Many in the Christian Right refer to apocalyptic and other Biblical prophecy in their support of Israel, and support of Israel is often seen as a matter of biblical doctrine. Israel figures prominently in the school of interpretation of Biblical prophecy called premillennial dispensationalism, which with regard to its political implications contributes significantly to the movement sometimes called Christian Zionism. Apocalypticism is a worldview based on the idea that important matters are hidden from view and they will soon be revealed in a major confrontation of earth-shaking magnitude that will change the course of history. ... Jesus was actually a Sears employee before he got fired and was hired at Wang computers where he was assistant manager for saling Wangs and Wang accesories now but his most famous work is for probly writing the bible and starting up his own company that we now know as... Prophecy, in a broad sense, is the prediction of future events. ... Jesus was actually a Sears employee before he got fired and was hired at Wang computers where he was assistant manager for saling Wangs and Wang accesories now but his most famous work is for probly writing the bible and starting up his own company that we now know as... Doctrine, from Latin doctrina, (compare doctor), means a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system. ... This article specifically relates to Premillennialism in Christian eschatology, for political millenarianism and other uses of the word see Millenarianism Premillennialism in Christian eschatology is the interpretation of chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation in the Bible which sees Christs second coming as occurring before or pre- his... Dispensationalism is a conceptual overview and interpretive framework for understanding the overall flow of the Bible. ... Christian Zionism is the belief among some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, is in accordance with Biblical prophecy, and is a necessary prerequisite for the return of Jesus to reign on Earth. ...


According to Ribuffo, the Old Christian Right was generally isolationist, while Diamond notes the Christian Right since the 1950s has tended to support U.S. military intervention and covert action (see references below). After the September 11, 2001 attacks, many leaders in the Christian Right joined with neoconservatives in strongly supporting the War on Terror in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. Expressing profound sympathy for Israel, some have gone so far as to advocate the "transfer" of the Palestinian population from the West Bank to another Arab nation (Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt or Saudi Arabia) as the only viable long-term solution to the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East. The Reverend Franklin Graham, in particular, has been noted for his strident views, drawing secular criticism for his harsh remarks directed at Islam and for his traveling to Baghdad to conduct an open-air Good Friday service primarily for persecuted Assyrian Christians and Chaldean Christians on April 18, 2003, nine days after the city had fallen to American troops. Citing these and other statements and actions, some critics have taken to characterizing the post-9/11 foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration and its most visible supporters as the Tenth Crusade. Isolationism is a diplomatic policy whereby a nation seeks to avoid alliances with other nations. ... A huge plume of smoke and fire can be seen emerging from the North Tower. ... Neoconservatism is a somewhat controversial term referring to the political goals and ideology of the new conservatives (ultraconservative) in the United States. ... The war on terrorism or war on terror (abbreviated in U.S. policy circles as GWOT for Global War on Terror) is an effort by the governments of the United States and its principal allies to destroy groups deemed to be terrorist (primarily radical Islamist organizations such as al-Qaeda... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ) are a large and heterogeneous ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa, originating in the Arabian Peninsula of southwest Asia. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Image:FranklinGraham. ... Islam (Arabic: ; ( (help· info)), submission (to the will of God) is a monotheistic faith and the worlds second-largest religion. ... Location of Baghdad within Iraq Baghdad (Arabic: ) (Bexda in Kurdish) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... Good Friday is a holy day celebrated by Christians on the Friday before Easter or Pascha. ... April 18 is the 108th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (109th in leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A huge plume of smoke and fire can be seen emerging from the North Tower. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States and former governor of Texas. ... Tenth Crusade is a term sometimes used by those opposed to the US-led occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq that followed the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States of America. ...


Dominionism

Main article: Dominionism

Some critics of the Christian Right including Sara Diamond and Frederick Clarkson claim that the Christian Right's political agendas are a form of Dominionism influenced by Dominion Theology and Christian Reconstructionism; the latter two are related philosophies that regard the Bible as the only strictly true reference for civics, government, scientific theory or any scholarly pursuit. Many in the Christian Right oppose this point of view, and no major Christian Right leader has gone on record as advocating Reconstructionism. Dominionism is a term used to describe a trend in Protestant Christian evangelicalism and fundamentalism, primarily though not exclusively in the United States, that seeks to establish specific political policies based on religious beliefs. ... Dominionism is a term used to describe a trend in Protestant Christian evangelicalism and fundamentalism, primarily though not exclusively in the United States, that seeks to establish specific political policies based on religious beliefs. ... See Dominion (disambiguation) for other meanings of the word Dominion. ... Christian Reconstructionism is a highly controversial religious and theological movement within Protestant Christianity. ... The Bible (From Greek βιβλια—biblia, meaning books, which in turn is derived from βυβλος—byblos meaning papyrus, from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported papyrus) is the sacred scripture of Christianity. ...


According to sociologist and professor of religion William Martin[5], author of With God on Our Side, however:

"It is difficult to assess the influence of Reconstructionist thought with any accuracy. Because it is so genuinely radical, most leaders of the Religious Right are careful to distance themselves from it. At the same time, it clearly holds some appeal for many of them. One undoubtedly spoke for others when he confessed, 'Though we hide their books under the bed, we read them just the same.' In addition, several key leaders have acknowledged an intellectual debt to the theonomists. Jerry Falwell and D. James Kennedy have endorsed Reconstructionist books. Rushdoony has appeared on Kennedy's television program and the 700 Club several times. Pat Robertson makes frequent use of 'dominion' language; his book, The Secret Kingdom, has often been cited for its theonomy elements; and pluralists were made uncomfortable when, during his presidential campaign, he said he 'would only bring Christians and Jews into the government,' as well as when he later wrote, 'There will never be world peace until God's house and God's people are given their rightful place of leadership at the top of the world.' And Jay Grimstead, who leads the Coalition on Revival, which brings Reconstructionists together with more mainstream evangelicals, has said, 'I don't call myself [a Reconstructionist],' but 'A lot of us are coming to realize that the Bible is God's standard of morality . . . in all points of history . . . and for all societies, Christian and non-Christian alike. . . . It so happens that Rushdoony, Bahnsen, and North understood that sooner.' He added, 'There are a lot of us floating around in Christian leadership James Kennedy is one of them-who don't go all the way with the theonomy thing, but who want to rebuild America based on the Bible.'" (Martin 1996:354)

Political groups and individuals that worry about how dominionism influences the Christian Right include People for the American Way, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Interfaith Alliance, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Joan Bokaer[6] and Katherine Yurica [7]. People for the American Way (PFAW) is a prominent liberal advocacy organization in the United States, founded by television producer Norman Lear in 1980. ... Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Americans United or AU for short) is an advocacy group in the United States which promotes the separation of church and state, a legal doctrine derived from the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. ... The Freedom From Religion Foundation is an American Freethought organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. ...


Sara Diamond warns, however, that while dominionism has influenced the Christian Right, liberals too often use hyperbolic language to describe the activities and goals of the Christian Right.[8]


Pro-Republican political activism

National organizations (including the Christian Coalition and Christian Voice) and local churches have engaged in voter registration drives and get-out-the-vote efforts, targeting people likely to vote for Republican candidates and using materials that portray Republicans more favorably than Democrats. [9] This article is about the organization presently operating in the United States. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Get out the vote, sometimes GOTV, is a term used to describe two categories of political activity, both aimed at increasing the number of votes cast in one or more elections. ... The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the United States, the other one being the Republican Party. ...


The Christian Right has also worked to promote expressly partisan Republican campaigning. For example, during the 2004 campaign, Christian Voice waged a $2.9 million Christian Voter Drive [10]. Their 6,199 Church captains collectively registered 355,562 new voters and turned out an estimated 1.2 to 1.5 million voters. [11]. The Traditional Values Coalition website highlighted a voter registration drive by the Republican National Committee, with a link to the RNC website, and added, "The Democratic National Committee is also engaged in an aggressive campaign to register homosexual, bisexual, and transgendered individuals to defeat President [George W.] Bush in the November election." [12] Individual ministers also made political comments from the pulpit. The pastor of the East Waynesville Baptist Church in Waynesville, North Carolina "told the congregation that anyone who planned to vote for Democratic Sen. John Kerry [the Democratic presidential candidate in 2004] should either leave the church or repent". [13] The church later expelled nine members who had voted for Kerry and refused to repent. [14] Presidential election results map. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Traditional Values Coalition is a Christian Right organization that claims to represent 43,000 conservative Christian churches throughout the United States of America. ... Bush/Cheney, 2004 Campaign Manager Ken Mehlman is the current Chairman of the RNC. The Republican National Committee (RNC) provides national leadership for the United States Republican Party. ... Former Vermont Governor Dr. Howard Dean is the current Chairman of the DNC. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal campaign and fund-raising organization affiliated with the United States Democratic Party. ... Bisexuality in human sexual behavior refers to the aesthetic, romantic, and/or sexual desire for people of either gender and/or for people of either sexes. ... Transgender is generally used as an overarching term for a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies along the gender continuum that are opposite to or in divergence from the gender role (woman or man) commonly, but not always, assigned for life at birth. ... The presidential seal was used by president Hayes in 1880 and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States and former governor of Texas. ... Waynesville is an incorporated town located in Haywood County, North Carolina, about 30 miles or 50km southwest of Asheville in the Great Smoky Mountains. ... Seal of the Senate The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts. ... Repentance is the feeling and act in which one recognizes and tries to right a wrong, or gain forgiveness from someone that they wronged. ...


Contrasting Viewpoints

The Christian Right, while being a fairly large movement, does not represent all evangelicals. Some who are theologically conservative are politically liberal, such as Tony Campolo and Stanley Hauerwas. The Christian Left includes some theological conservatives. Many evangelicals in both the United States and abroad are more or less politically neutral. Dr. Anthony Tony Campolo (born 1935) is a well-known American pastor, author, public speaker, and modern-day crusader who challenges Christians by illustrating how their faith can offer solutions in a world of complexity. ... Dr. Stanley Hauerwas Stanley Hauerwas (July 24, 1940- ) is a United Methodist theologian and ethicist who is currently the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School in Durham, NC. In his career, he has attempted to emphasize the importance of virtue and character within the Church. ... The Christian Left encompasses those who hold a strong Christian belief and share left-wing or socialist ideals. ...


Notable persons and organizations said to be members of the Christian Right

Fred Phelps, (founder of godhatesfags.com) has never had a significant following. Other figures, such as the controversial Robert Grant, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, built coalitions but made overzealous statements that then lost their broader bases of support. Fred Phelps, c. ... WBC member Jael Phelps (right) and an unidentified WBC child protesting in Tulsa, Oklahoma Westboro Baptist Church is an organization based in Topeka, Kansas, headed by minister Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. ... Dr. Robert Grant is often called the father of the modern Christian right in America. ... Jerry Lamon Falwell (born on August 11, 1933, Lynchburg, Virginia) is a Fundamentalist Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservative activist from the United States. ... American religious broadcaster Pat Robertson Marion Gordon Pat Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an influential right wing political activist from the United States. ...


Australia

Hon Tony Abbott Anthony John Tony Abbott (born 4 November 1957), Australian politician, is the Minister for Health and Ageing and Leader of the House in the Australian federal government. ... Hon Kevin Andrews Kevin James Andrews (born 9 November 1955), is an Australian politician. ... Andrew Evans Andrew Evans (born June 1935), is an Australia politician and Assemblies of God pastor. ... Frederick John Nile (born 15 September 1934), Australian politician and clergyman, is a member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales, Australia. ... Brian Harradine (born January 9, Australian politician, has been an independent member of the Australian Senate since 1975, representing the state of Tasmania. ...

Canada

Craig B. Chandler (born 1970) is a Canadian political, business and religious activist. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... Hon. ... Tristan Alexander Emmanuel is a high-profile and controversial Presbyterian minister based in Canada. ... Cheryl Gallant, MP Cheryl Gallant, MP (born May 23, 1960 in Sarnia, Ontario) is a Conservative Canadian politician. ... Russ Hiebert (born February 8, 1969) is the Canadian Member of Parliament for South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale. ... David Mainse Rev. ... Patrick Wayne Pat OBrien, MP , MEd , BA (born January 13, 1948) is a member of the Canadian House of Commons. ... Darrel Reid Darrel Reid (born June 3, 1957, in Grande Prairie, Alberta; PhD Queens 1994) is a Canadian politician. ... Heather Stilwell is a school trustee in Surrey BC. She is a fundamentalist Christian and is well known for her conservative anti-gay opinions. ... David Sweet is a Canadian Member of Parliament and former CEO of the Promise Keepers (Canada). ... Maurice Vellacott (born September 29, 1955) is a Canadian politician. ... Mark Warawa (born May 7, 1950) is a Canadian politician. ... Elsie Eleanore Wayne (née Fairweather) (born April 20, 1932 in Shediac, New Brunswick) is a Canadian politician. ... Randy White (born September 3, 1948 in Halifax, Nova Scotia) is an accountant and former Canadian politician. ...

New Zealand

People

Graham Capill (born 1959) is a former New Zealand Christian leader and politician. ... Ewan McQueen is the leader of Christian Heritage New Zealand, a religious political party in New Zealand. ... Bishop Brian Tamaki Bishop Brian Tamaki is the controversial leader of the Destiny Church, a charismatic Christian movement which has become well known in New Zealand. ... His Eminence Thomas Stafford Cardinal Williams ONZ (born 20 March 1930 in Wellington) is a Cardinal and the Emeritus (retired) Archbishop of Wellington, New Zealand. ...

Organisations

This article is about a church denomination in New Zealand. ... Maxim Institute is a conservative Christian research and public policy think tank based in Auckland, New Zealand. ... Until about 1960, the people now referred to as the Exclusive Brethren, EB, or sometimes the Closed Brethren, comprised a quiet, conservative, fundamentalist, Christian group who desired to remain spiritually separate from the world surrounding them, and also from the divisions and confusion they perceived in Christendom. ...

USA

People

Jack Thomas Chick (born April 13, 1924) of Chick Publications is a comic book artist and publisher. ... Howard Fieldstead Ahmanson, Jr (born 1950) is an American millionaire philanthropist who funds the causes of Christian fundamentalism. ... Gary L. Bauer (born May 4, 1946 in Covington, Kentucky) is an American civil servant and conservative politician notable for his ties to several fundamentalist and evangelical Christian groups and campaigns. ... Booking photos of Charles Colson, 1974. ... Prison Fellowship International (PFI) is an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) comprised of national Prison Fellowship (PF) organisations from 112 countries. ... James Dobson, Ph. ... Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF), founded in 1977, is an evangelical Christian 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in the United States. ... Dr. Evans serves as Senior Pastor to the over 6,000 member Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Church in Dallas, Texas, which was founded over 25 years ago. ... Promise Keepers is an international Christian organization based in Denver, Colorado USA that describes itself as dedicated to introducing men to Jesus as their Savior and Lord, then helping them to grow in their personal Christian faith. ... Jerry Lamon Falwell (born on August 11, 1933, Lynchburg, Virginia) is a Fundamentalist Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservative activist from the United States. ... Image:FranklinGraham. ... The Rev. ... Dr. Robert Grant is often called the father of the modern Christian right in America. ... D. James Kennedy, Ph. ... Timothy F. LaHaye (b. ... Beverly LaHaye is a conservative Christian activist and author. ... Concerned Women for America is a conservative Christian group that is active in politics in the United States. ... Alan Keyes is a former American diplomat and was a Republican presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000. ... Media Photo of R. Albert Mohler, Jr. ... The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is located in Louisville, Kentucky and is the flagship seminary of the SBC, Southern Baptist Convention. ... Roy Stuart Moore (born February 11, 1947) is an American jurist often referred to as the Ten Commandments judge. ... Gary North For the bisexual rights activist, see Gary North (journalist and activist) Gary North is a writer and publisher from the Christian Reconstruction movement. ... American religious broadcaster Pat Robertson Marion Gordon Pat Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an influential right wing political activist from the United States. ... Ralph E. Reed, Jr. ... Rousas John Rushdoony (1916–2001) was the seminal leader of the Christian Reconstructionist theology in the United States. ... Richard John Santorum (born May 10, 1958), commonly known as Rick Santorum, is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. ... Francis Schaeffer Francis A Schaeffer (1912–1984), an American Christian theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor, is most famous for his writings and his establishment of the lAbri community in Switzerland. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Randall Terry Randall Terry (born 1959) is an American political and conservative religious activist and musician. ... Jerry Vines, born in 1937, is an American preacher and pastor of the nations third largest Southern Baptist church, the First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida. ... The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a United States-based cooperative ministry agency serving Baptist churches around the world. ... Donald Wildmon, born 18 January 1938 in Dumas, Mississippi, is the founder and head of the Evangelical Christian organization, the American Family Association. ... Archbishop Raymond Burke Most Reverend Raymond Leo Burke (b. ...

Organizations & submovements

This article is about the organization presently operating in the United States. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Christian Zionism is the belief among some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, is in accordance with Biblical prophecy, and is a necessary prerequisite for the return of Jesus to reign on Earth. ... The Traditional Values Coalition is a Christian Right organization that claims to represent 43,000 conservative Christian churches throughout the United States of America. ... The intelligent design movement is a campaign based in the United States that calls for broad social, academic and political changes derived from the notion of intelligent design, a form of neo-creationism. ... Concerned Women for America is a conservative Christian group that is active in politics in the United States. ... Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF), founded in 1977, is an evangelical Christian 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in the United States. ... Catholic Answers, based in El Cajon, California, is one of the largest lay-run apostolates of Roman Catholic apologetics and evangelization in the United States. ...

See also


Contrast: Christian left The term Religious Right, is a broad label applied by both scholars and critics to a number of political and religious movements and groups. ... Family values is a political buzzword first used in the United States in 1966 to describe a set of moral guidelines for defining the proper structure and role of a family and its members, supported by appeals to tradition. ... Judeo-Christian (or Judaeo-Christian) is a term used to describe the body of concepts and values which are thought to be held in common by Judaism and Christianity, and typically considered (along with classical Greco-Roman civilization) a fundamental basis for Western legal codes and moral values. ... The word evangelicalism usually refers to a tendency in diverse branches of Protestantism, typified by an emphasis on evangelism, a personal experience of conversion, biblically-oriented faith, and a belief in the relevance of Christian faith to cultural issues. ... Evangelical left is a term used to describe those who are part of the Christian evangelical movement but who generally function on the left wing of that movement, either politically or theologically, or both. ... In comparative religion, fundamentalism has come to refer to several different understandings of religious thought and practice, including literal interpretation of sacred texts such as the Bible or the Quran and sometimes also anti-modernist movements in various religions. ... Dominionism is a term used to describe a trend in Protestant Christian evangelicalism and fundamentalism, primarily though not exclusively in the United States, that seeks to establish specific political policies based on religious beliefs. ... See Dominion (disambiguation) for other meanings of the word Dominion. ... The Family First Party is a political party in Australia. ... The Christian Left encompasses those who hold a strong Christian belief and share left-wing or socialist ideals. ...


External links (Critical)

External links (Supportive)

References

  • Diamond, Sara. 1995. Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States. New York: Guilford. ISBN 0898628644.
  • Green, John C., James L. Guth and Kevin Hill. 1993. “Faith and Election: The Christian Right in Congressional Campaigns 1978–1988.” The Journal of Politics 55(1), (February): 80–91.
  • Himmelstein, Jerome L. 1990. To The Right: The Transformation of American Conservatism. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Juergensmeyer, Mark. 1993. The New Cold War? Religious Nationalism Confronts the Secular State. University of California. ISBN 0520086511.
  • Martin, William. 1996. With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America, New York: Broadway Books. ISBN 0-553-06794-4.
  • Ribuffo, Leo P. 1983. The Old Christian Right: The Protestant Far Right from the Great Depression to the Cold War. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 0877225982.
See: Christian politics (index) for articles related to this subject.

  Results from FactBites:
 
Conservative Christianity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (529 words)
Conservative Christianity is a sub-division of the Christian community that adhere to what many consider to be conservative religious values of the Christian faith.
One example of conservative Roman Catholicism is Opus Dei, the name is (Latin for "Work of God"), it is comprised of a prelate, secular priests, and lay people, whose aim is "to contribute to the evangelizing mission of the Church" by spreading the message that everyone is called to become a saint and an apostle.
It "encourages Christians of all social classes to live consistently with their faith in the middle of the ordinary circumstances of their lives." [6]
  More results at FactBites »


 
 

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