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Understanding the

John C. Green

- THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE ~ The Jacob Blaustein Building 165 East 56 S1reet New York NY 10022 The Amencan JeWISh Commlltee protects the nghts and freedoms of the over combats bigotry and anti Semltzsm and promotes human nghts for all works for the secunty of and deepened understandzng between Amencans and IsraelLS advocates publze polzcy posztzons rooted 111 Amencan democratzc values and the perspeCtives of the JeWISh hentage and enhances the creative vualay of the JeWISh people. Foll1!ded 1111906, It LS the pIOneer human relatzons agency 111 the United States Understanding the Christian Rtght

John C. Green CONTENlS

The Chnstlan RIght and the Jews 33

The Impact of the ChnstJan RIght 36

Prospects for the Chnstlan RIght 38

Notes 40

IV Foreword

Views about the Chnstlan RIght -the movement of conservative Chnstlans actIVe m politics-tend to be polanzed m the extreme For some the Chnstlan RIght constitutes a saVing remnant Amenca s best hope for halting the nation s disastrous decline mto moral degeneracy For others the Chnstlan RIght represents Amenca at Its worst-a group of mtolerant bigots stnvmg to Impose their narrow sectanan agenda on the natIOn as a whole

Jews have their own special problems With the Chnstlan RIght Most Amencan Jews strongly oppose the Chnstlan RIght s conservative political program In addition some Jews harbor the suspIcion that elements of the Chnstlan RIght, especially those With a strong evangell cal bent see Jews as candidates for Chnstlan mlsslomzmg efforts Fmally Jews View With alarm occaSIOnal mamfestatlons of outnght anti Semltlsm Wlthm Chnstlan RIght Circles To be sure some Jews have sought to defend the Chnstlan RIght on both political and religIOUS grounds but thiS clearly represents a mmonty trend Wlthm the JeWish commumty

Agamst thiS background of sharply polanzed Views, John C Green s Understandmg the ChrIStian Right stands out for Its cool analytical approach Yleldmg a balanced and objective assessment of the Chnstlan RIght m both religIOUS and political terms Green professor of political sCience and director of the Ray C Bliss Institute of Applied PolitiCS at the Umvemty of Akron, prOVides an dlummatmg account of the hlstoncal background of the Chnstlan Right movement, Its leaders Its mass constituency and Its ongomg mvolvement m the political arena An Important feature of Green s diSCUSSIOn IS a section devoted to the Chnstlan RIght and the Jews Smce Green makes It clear that the Chnstlan RIght Will long remam an Important player on the Amencan

1 Understandmg EvangelIcal

Descnbmg the Chnstlan nght IS complicated by the nature of evangelical Protestantism the largest and most diverse religious III Amenca While the size of this religious tradition gIVes the Chnstlan nght great potential to mfluence politics Its dlVeTSIty mhlblts the realizatIOn of that potential

Evangelicalism IS one of the two major tendencies among Amencan Protestants It IS sometimes called the party of pnvate Protestantism because of Its emphasIs on traditIOnal morality and the salvatIOn of mdlVlduals This emphasIs denves from a highly orthodox View of core Protestant beliefs mcludmg (1) the necessity for each person to accept to obtam eternal life (2) the Imperative to communicate thiS message to all people (I e to evangelize) and (3) acceptance of biblical authonty on these and other matters

The chief nvals of evangelicals are mamline Protestants sometimes called the party of public Protestantism and once the largest religIOUS tradition III Amenca before bemg surpassed by evangehcals Mamline Protestants tend to have less orthodox beliefs stress the Improvement of community life rather than mdlVldual salvatIOn and emphaSize over traditIOnal morality

The difference between mamline and evangelical Protestants roughly corresponds With the dlstmctlOn SOCIOlogists draw between churches and sects "Churches are religIOUS mstltutlons that attempt to accommodate themselves to the world and are therefore more tolerant of vanatlOns m religIOUS belief and practice In contrast sects are religiOUS groups that seek to separate themselves from the world m order to mamtam punty of belief and practice Over time churches

8 UNDERSTANDING EVANGEUCAL PROTESTANTISM tend to spawn sectanan movements as those dissatIsfIed With worldhness break away But then sects tend to adapt to the world aroundI them becommg more churchlike This cycle IS VIVIdly Illustrated by the Protestant which began With sectanan movements agamst the Roman - Eventually these sectsI became churches m theu own nght only to spark new sectanan movements from Wlthm The church sect cycle has been partlcularlyipromment m the Umted States and accounts for the great diverSity of denommatlOns I and religIOus movements among evangelicals 10 I

I I DenominatIOns and Movements [ r At the nsk of overSimplifIcatIOn three major denommatlOnal groupmgs Wlthm can be Identified and these can be roughly paired With three major movements II By far the largest groupmg are the and theu km which mclude the Southern Baptist ConventIOn the largest Protestant denommatIon m Amenca dozens I of other Baptist bodies and other small churches orgamzed m a similar fasmon such as the Churches of Chnst Another smaller groupmg comeI from the Reformed and confessIOnal such as the PresbytenanI Church m Amenca and the Lutheran Church Mlssoun Synod which represent sectanan breakaways from theu mamline counterparts AI third large I groupmg are churches m the Pentecostal Holiness traditIOns such as the and the vanous Churches of God In additIon many evangelicals belong to mdependent or nondenommatlOnalI churches that are often closely linked With sectanan movements I

I Evangehcals are far better known for their sectanan movements than for their denommatlOns 12 The most famous of these IS an early twentIeth century revolt agamst the accommodatIonI of the major Protestant denommatlOns to the modern world (The name comes from The Fundamentals a senes of pamphlets published from 1910 to 1915 ) Counterparts have smce developed Wlthm most ofI the major religious traditIOns m the world mcludmg CatholiCism Judaism I and Hmdulsm Protestant fundamentalism IS best known for ItS I hyperorthodox beliefs mcludmg (the IS literally true word for word) and eccleSiastIcal (believersI should I

9 UNDERSfANDING THE CHRISTIAN RIGHf tradItIonal moralIty (the nuclear family publIc schools and relIgIous InStItutIOns) Unlike preVIous movements antagonIsm toward nval ethnIc and relIgIous groups was largely absent but lIberals In other churches the news medIa and were subject to VIrulent attacks Such publIcIty was accompanIed by lobbYIng and lItIgatIOn but In contrast to the past the movement emphasIzed electoral polItIcs mobilIZIng millIons of evangelIcal voters behInd favored candIdates

Presldentzal Pollncs

The 1980 presIdentIal electIOn offered the new ChnstIan nght an excellent opportunIty WIth some help from the movement won a solId VICtOry agaInst Incumbent the captured the US Senate for the first tIme sInce 1954 and the party made substantIal gaIns In the House of RepresentatIves Encouraged by thIs success the movement redoubled ItS efforts In succeedIng electIOns In Reagan s 1984 reelectIOn campaIgn a of Chnstlan nght groups and evangelIcal mInIstnes called the Amencan CoalItIon for TradItIOnal Values (ACTV) conducted an extensIve voter regIstratIon dnve

By hlstoncal standards these efforts were qUIte ImpreSSIve but as before Chnstlan nghtIsts mostly encountered dISappOIntment The mobIlIzatIOn of evangelIcal voters was more dIfficult than expected long standIng differences among evangelIcals undermIned these efforts and the outreach to conservatIve maInlIne Protestants CatholIcs and Jews was largely unsuccessful Many candIdates supported by the Chnstlan nght were defeated (espeCIally In 1982 and 1986) and many who won lIke Ronald Reagan and the GOP Senate leaders proved unwIllIng to advance the movement s controversIal agenda

Indeed the new Chnstlan nght generated a storm of cntIcIsm To many people the use of relIgIOUS language In POlItICS appeared unCIvil harsh attacks on lIberals seemed Intolerant and assaults on govern mental programs smacked of mean spmtedness Arguments over the meanIng of separatIOn of church and state raIsed concern that the movement opposed relIgIOUS pluralIsm And the baggage of the past haunted the Chnstlan nght s dIscourse References to a Chnstlan

16 1HE RISE OF 1HE NEW" CHRISTIAN RIGHf natIon brought back negatIve lIDages from the antIevolutIon campaIgns of the 1920s whIle references to the secret power of secular humarusts were remIlliscent of the antIcommurust conSplTaCIeS of the 1950s

The new' ChnstIan nght peaked WIth s bId for the RepublIcan presIdentIal nommatIon m 1988 which starkly revealed the movement s strengths and weaknesses In terms of strengths, Robertson mobIlIZed hIS followers among chansmatIcs and Pentecostals to raIse $19 mIllIon and field an mVlslble army' of some 150 000 actIViSts HIS polItIcal background (hIS father was a U S senator) and medIa skIlls (he was a televangelIst) were put to good use m early caucuses mcludmg a second place fIrush m Iowa But Robertson s polItIcal Views and personal hIstOry were electoral lIabIlitIes he lacked support from other Chnstian nghtists (for example Falwell backed Bush) and he was hurt by scandals among other televangelIsts And the mVisible army was SImply no match for George Bush s professional orgaruzatlon m the pnmanes 17

The ChrIstian RIght Matures

By 1989, the new' Chnstlan nght was m declIne symbolIzed by the disbandmg of the Moral MaJonty But unlIke the 1930s or 1960s a second wave of movement actIVism was already under way Indeed even before Robertson launched hIS presIdentIal campaIgn many Chnstlan nghtlsts had concluded that a change of strategy was m order Two pomts of View emerged The majonty pOSItIon was pragmatIc advocatmg greater mvolvement m conventIonal polItIcs Only a small mmonty of punsts advocated a campaIgn of protest remIDIscent of the 1930s and 1970s but on a larger scale 18

The pragmatIsts argued that the Chnstian nght needed to build strong grassroots orgaruzations to mobilIze voters more effectIvely, and emphaSIzed that lobbymg and lItIgatIon should be tied to mfluence at the ballot box They also wanted to move the movement s agenda away from a narrow focus on moral to a broader concern for And they developed a new emphaSIS defendmg the nghts of relIgIOUS tradItIOnalIsts m an mcreasmgly secular SOCIety Such

17 UNDERSTANDING TIlE CHRISTIAN RIGHf as 5 percent were dedicated actiVists the core would have numbered some 200000 nationWide Available poll eVidence and case studies suggest that thIS IS a mlDImal estimate and the actual number of actiVists could easily be tWIce as large

What are these actlV1sts like? Tables 1 and 2 proVide some general statistics about them and compare them to theIr counterparts ID the Republican party These data come from the ReligiOUS ActiVist Survey conducted ID 1990 and a similar survey of Republican party actiVists ID the 1988 election 22 These patterns have probably changed little sIDce the surveys were taken With one exceptIOn the IDflux of Chnstlan nght supporters IDtO the GOP over the last eight years has probably made the party somewhat more like the movement

Table 1 CbnstJan RIght and Republican Party ActIVIsts Religious Charactenstlcs (in percents)

Ch 1St Republ can nglll party aClMSlS actMsts

DENOMINATIONAL GROUP Ev g I cals Baptlst 25 8 R f nn/confessl n J 8 5 Pentecostal!Holmcss 27 1 No d omlD 1100 1 33 3 Olh P ot slants 5 55 Calbohcs 2 10 Other non Protestants 18

MOVEMENT AFFlUATION FundamentalIst 27 10 Neoevangehcal 28 6 Sp Irn d 32 4 N 14 80

RELIGIOUS COMMIlMENT Attend church weekly or more 94 37 R hSio broadcasting very mpo ta t 82 5

Source Surveyor Rehgtous Act VlSts 1990-91 Lyman A Kellstedt. James L Guth CoIWI E. Sm dt d J h C G ee pnnapal n t gatoes S rvey f R P hI ca Party Donors 1988 James L Guth and John C Green pnncpallD estlgators See text dotes f r more detaals

24 TIlE CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN RIGHT

ReligIOus CharactenstlCs Table 1 looks at the actIVIsts rehgIOus charactenstIcs begmmng With denommatIOnal affiliatIon Nondenomi natIOnal churches are the smgle largest group, accountmg for one thIrd of the total followed by BaptIst and Pentecostal Holmess denomma nons at about one quarter each In contrast the Reformed confessIOnal and other Protestants (mostly m the mamlme) are much less Important whIle Cathohcs and other non Protestants are rare These actIVISts overwhelmmgly IdentIfy With sectanan movements the SpInt filled (Pentecostals and chansmatIcs) make up about one thIrd modestly ahead of fundamentahsts and neoevangehcals at a httle more than one quarter each

Table 2 Chnstlan RIght and Republican Party ActiVIsts DemographIc and Political Charactenstlcs (m percents)

Christl.. Repubbcan nght party actMsts adMSts

DEMOGRAPIDCS Male 38 82 50 years or older 38 77 College degree 53 70 $50000 or more 32 84 Res1de ID South 29 33

POLITICAL VIEWS P 0-1 fe 85 30 AntlWclfare spendlDg 38 53 Rehgton greatly mnucnccs pohtu:s 93 19 Conservabve 97 80 Republican 92 97

NET AFFECT TOWARD INTEREST GROUPS ACLU 98 72 NOW 96 54 AFL-CIO 91 87 Chamber of Commerce 35 +60 Chnsban nght +55 48 RIght to-hfe +89 33

Source Survey of Rellgtous ActlVlSts 1990-91 Lyman A Kellsted~ James L. Guth Corwm E. Smidt and John C Green pnnapal mvestlgators Survey of Republican Party Donors 1988 James L Gutb and John C Green pnnapaI investigators See text and notes for more delalls

25 UNDERSTANDING TIlE CHRISTIAN RIGHf posItIve Views of the movement WhICh translates mto about one sIXth of the electorate Second an analysIs of recent votmg behaVior of evangehcals YIelds sImilar results For example 70 percent of evangehcals voted for George Bush m 1988 and 56 percent backed him m 1992 m a three way race In the 1994 electIOns two thrrds voted for a Repubhcan congressIOnal candidate Taken as a percentage of the populatIOn these figures are between one sIXth and one fifth of the electorate This votmg bloc has become qUite Important to the GOP accountmg for about 30 percent of the Repubhcan vote m 1994

In sum evangehcal voters are fairly dIverse m rehgIOus terms WIth Baptists the largest group and relatIVely few Identlfymg WIth sectarIan movements Although they show higher levels of rehglous commitment their demographics largely resemble those of the rest of the pubhc They are more conservative and Repubhcan than the general pubhc particularly on sOCIal Issues, and a mmorIty have coalesced mto a rehable conservatIVe votmg bloc

32 The Chnsban RIght and the Jews

The ChnstIan nght has an ambivalent attitude toward the JeWish commumty To begm With neither the movement nor Its mass constItu ency has completely shed the anti SemltIsm associated With ChnstIan orthodoxy and With the antecedents of the movement Good examples mcIude the 1980 pronouncement by BaIley SmIth a movement sympathIZer and president of the Southern Baptist Convention that God almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew, and a wntten comment by Tim LaHaye, leader of ACTV m 1984, that by reJectmg Jesus Jews had brought God s curse on themselves and Palestme Recently cntlcs have Identified passages m Pat Robertson s books that rely heavIly on well known anti SemitIc hterature 27

Beyond such overt hostlhty the ChnstIan nght and Its followers have religIOus and political disagreements With the JeWish commumty Evangelicals are dedicated to evangelIZmg, and have from tIme to time targeted Jews for conversion Perhaps the best example was Key 73 a program to call the contment to Chnst m 1973, which mcIuded plans to produce Hebrew Chnstlans These efforts blend easIly mto certam political Issues such as and public support for religIous schools both key Issues for the ChnstIan nght And It IS a short step to a broader range of SOCial Issues where the of the movement conflicts With the hberahsm of most Jews Such tensIOns are heightened by hostIle remarks from movement leaders such as Robertson s complamt that cosmopohtan, hberal secular Jews are mvolved m an ongomg attempt to undermme the pubhc strength of Chnstlamty In return some JeWish cntIcs have portrayed the Chnstlan nght as part of an assault on tolerance and plurahsm 28

33 UNDERSTANDING TIlE CHRISTIAN RIGlIT

However the Chnstlan nght has positive Views toward Jews as well and some movement leaders have attempted to cultIVate better relations With Jews Talk of a "Chnstlan nation has been replaced With referenc es to the Judeo Chnstlan tradition and the Chnstlan CoalItion has Included conservatlve Jews In Its conferences and publIcatIOns In fact Its first lobbYist Marshall Wittman was JeWish The VISion of the broader "relIgious nght always Involved recnlltlng traditionalIst Jews as part of the antiCipated moral maJonty And although such efforts have met With lIttle success movement leaders and actlVlsts have made common cause With conservative Jews on SOCIal Issues Some JeWish conservatives have publIcly defended the Chnstlan nght agaInst Its JeWish cntlcs on these grounds 29

In addition evangelIcal Interpretations of the Bible assign an Important role to Israel and Jews especially With regard to the of Chnst These belIefs lead the ChrIstian rIght strongly to support the State of Israel and to exert pressure on Anlencan foreign polIcy In a pro Israel dIrectIOn Robertson and other movement leaders have been qUite vocal on thiS score WhIle many Jews have felt uncomfortable about the source of thiS support (after all evangelIcals belIeve the world Will be destroyed In a battle at located In present day

Table 5 AttItudes Toward Jews and Israel Cbrlstlan RIght ActiVIsts and Evangelical Voters (In percents)

Very Very Net close Close Neutral Far far affect

CHRISTIAN RIGHTS ACllVISTS Jew sh groups 10 58 468 140 323 395 Slate of Israel 317 347 192 52 94 +518

EVANGEUCAL VOlERS JewISh groups 27 174 515 204 80 83 State of Israel 186 230 266 191 127 +98

• For comparable net affect sco es for other groups see T bl 2 d 4

Source Survey of Rei gtous ActiViSts 1990-91 and Nat 0 J SUIV Y of ReligIOn and PolItics 1992 Lyman A Kellstedt James L Guth CoIWlD E. Sm dt and John C Gee p apal est gaton See text and notes for d ta Is

34 1HE CHRISTIAN RIGHf AND 1HE JEWS

Israel) others have welcomed the backIng for Israel overlookIng other polItical dIfferences WIth the movement 30

The surveys dIscussed above proVIde eVIdence of thIS ambIValence (Table 5) WhIle nearly one half of the Chnstlan nght actIVIsts are neutral toward the JeWIsh communIty a net pluralIty of 39 percent feel dIstant (comparable to the Chamber of Commerce m Table 2) In contrast a net maJonty of 52 percent feel close to the State of Israel (comparable to the Chnstlan nght m Table 2) SImIlar figures hold for the mass publIc 52 percent are neutral toward the JeWIsh communIty and a net of 8 percent feel dIstant, whIle a net 10 percent are supportIve of Israel Interestmgly actiVIsts and voters who report feelIng close to the Chnstlan nght are also modestly closer to the Jews and Israel

35 The Impact of the Chnstlan RIght

Overall the Chnstlan nght has exerCIsed polItical mfluence m lIne WIth the scope of Its efforts and the sIZe of ItS mass constItuency 31 The movement has made slgmficant gams Wlthm the RepublIcan party One survey found that about one quarter of the delegates and alternates to the 1992 RepublIcan National ConventIon Identified themselves WIth the movement (9 percent consIdered themselves members and another 16 percent supporters) An assessment of GOP state partIes m 1994 found that the Chnstlan nght and allIed socIal Issue conservatIVes played a dOlmnant role m eIghteen state GOP orgamzatlons and had substantial mfluence m thirteen more Less systematic eVIdence suggests that the movement may be equally potent m hundreds of local RepublIcan commIttees

These mroads mto the polItIcal process have been translated mto electoral gams as well In 1994 the Chnstlan nght endorsed candIdates m 120 congressIOnal races representmg over one quarter of all campaIgns and one thIrd of the contested races The success rate for movement backed candIdates was about 55 percent The Impact of the movement can be seen best m the forty five closest contests where the ChrIStIan nght was most heaVIly engaged In these electIOns the movement backed candIdate prevaIled two fIfths of the time or m thIrty races In most of these cases the Chnstlan nght was part of the broad that carned the GOP to VICtOry m 1994 These thIrty WInners were cruCIal to the RepublIcans gammg control of the House of Representatives the sIze of the GOP maJonty there IS only thIrteen

The Chnstlan nght probably had a SImIlar Impact on the twenty U S Senate races and fifteen gubernatonal campaIgns and may have been

36 THE IMPACf OF THE CHRISTIAN RIGHf even more mfluentlalm hundreds of state legIslatIve and local government electIons as well as electIons for nonpartIsan offices, such as school boards School boards are a specIal target of movement pragmatIsts, smce these posItIons offer mfluente over educatIOn and also develop a cadre of potentIal candIdates forI hIgher office m the future

\

37 Prospects for the Chnstlan RIght

What WIll be the likely Impact of the ChnstIan nght on public policy? Like other movements the Chnstlan nght IS often accused of extrem Ism and the vanous meanmgs of the term can help suggest an answer

One meanmg of IS an unWlllmgness to abide by the rules of legitimate politics such as democratic procedures and mdlVldual nghts Some opponents fear that If successful the Chnstlan nght Will threaten Amencan democracy There IS little eVidence of such a threat at this time While there are mdeed some movement punsts who questIOn the baSIC rules of Amencan politics they make up only a small fractIOn of the actiVist core Of course such mdlVlduals can be quite fnghtemng and even destructive but they exert little politlcalmfluence The bulk of Chnstlan nghtlsts are strongly committed to conventIOnal politics In fact It IS the very mamstream character of the movement s actiVities that gIVes It a realistic opportumty to affect public policy

Another meamng of the term extremism refers to the mtenslty of political preferences Some opponents fear that the movement s mtense opmlOns threaten to disrupt the democratic process This kmd of extremism mdeed does charactenze many m the Chnstlan nght and IS cause for concern Movement actiViSts have engaged m unCIVil behaVior and many of their attitudes undermme negotiation compromise and coalition bulldmg But the Chnstlan nght has mostly harmed Itself by this kmd of behaVior and ItS recent pragmatism IS aimed at mltlgatmg this problem Nonetheless the movement can still be a disruptive force m politiCS

Fmally extremism can refer to public pohcy positions that are uncommon unusual or unpopular Many opponents fear that the

38 PROSPEcrs FOR TIlE CHRISTIAN RIGlIT

\ Chnstlan nght threatens to change policy m undeSirable ways The movement does frequently qualify as extreme on thIs score and It IS m fact a credIble threat to certam eXlstmg poliCIes To pIck Just one example access to could be severely restncted If the Chnstlan nght were to prevail However It must be remembered that a woman s nght to choose was created m recent tImes by legItimate political means and thus It can be changed by legItImate politIcal means as well In the end what IS most to be feared about the Chnstlan nght IS that It may achIeve some of Its goals through conventIOnal politICS The chIef obstacle to such an eventuality IS an effectIve opposItIon bUIlt on an accurate understandmg of the movement

39 Notes

1 For an excellent mtroductlon to the Chnstlan nght covenng these pomts and others see Clyde Wilcox, The DIlemma of the ChnstuJn RJght (Boulder Colo Westview Press, 1996) Also see John C Green James L Guth Lyman A Kellstedt and Corwm E Slllidt eds ReligIOn and the .\" DISpatches from the Front (Lanham Md Rowman & Littlefield, 1996) 2 This sectIOn draws heaVily on John C Green The Chnstlan Right m the 1994 Elections An Ovemew m Mark J Rozell and Clyde Wilcox, eds God at the Grassroots (Lanham Md Rowman & Littlefield 1995) 3 For a good summary of SOCial movement literature see Robert Salisbury Political Movements m Amencan Politics An Essay on Concept and AnalYSIS National Journal of PolitICal Sclence 1 (1989) 1530 and Luther Gerlach and Hmes People Power and Change Movements of SOCial Transformation (Indianapolis Ind Bobbs Memll 1970) For an application of thIs literature to the Chnstlan nght see Steve Bruce The RJse and Fall of the New Chnstlan RJght (Oxford Clarendon Press, 1988) 4 This argument IS presented more fully In John C Green James L Guth and KeVIn Hill FaIth and Election The Chnstlan RIght m CongresSIOnal Campaigns 1978 1988 Journal of POlitICS 55 (1993) 8091 5 On the demand for the movement see Seymour M Llpset and Earl Rabb The POlitiCS of Unreason 2nd ed (New York Harper & Row 1978) see also Clyde Wilcox, God s Wamors ( Md Johns HopkIns Press 1992) Robert Wuthnow The Restructunng of Amencan ReligIOn (Pnnceton Pnnceton University Press, 1988) and James DaVison Hunter Culture Wars (New York BaSIC Books 1991) 6 On the supply for the movement see Mayer N Zald and John D McCarthy ReligiOUS Groups as CruCibles of SOCial Movements, In Mayer N Zald and John D McCarthy SOCial Movements In an OrganIZational Society (New BrunSWIck N J Transaction Books, 1987) and Robert C Liebman MobilIZIng the Moral MaJonty In Robert C Liebman and Robert Wuthnow The New Chnstlan RJght (New York A1dme 1983) 7 On political opportUnity structures see Douglas McAdam Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency (Chicago University of Chicago Press, 1982) Also see James L Guth The New Chnstlan Right In Liebman and Wuthnow New Chnstuln RJght and DaVid C Leege Coalitions Cues, Strategic Politics and the

40 NOTES

Staymg Power of the ReligIOUS RIght PS 25 (1992) 198 204 8 The clasSIc work on pragmatIsts and punsts among political actiVIsts IS James Q Wilson The Amateur Democrat (Clucago Umverslty of Clucago Press, 1962) For a look at Chnstlan nght leaderslup see Jamce Peck The Gods of (Cresskill N J Hampton Press, 1993) Also see Clyde Wilcox, Premlllenmallsts at the MIllenmum Some Reflections on the Chnstlan RIght In the Twenty first Century SocIOlogy of ReligIOn 55 (1994) 243261 9 ThIs threefold dIVISIon was InspIred by Kenneth D Wald and CorwIn E SmIdt Measurement StrategIes In the Study of RehglOn and Pohtlcs In DaVId C Leege and Lyman A KeUstedt eds RedlScovenng the ReligIOUS Factor m Amencan POlitICS (Annonk NY M E Sharpe 1993) 10 On the pnvate and public partIes In Protestantism see MartIn Marty The RJghteous Empire (New York DIal Press 1970) Also see George M Marsden Evangelicalism and Modem Amenca (Grand RapIds M1ch Eerdmans 1984) On the church sect cycle see Roger FInke and Rodney Stark, The Churchmg of Amenca 19761990 (New BrunSWIck N J Rutgers Umverslty Press, 1993) 11 See Donald W Dayton and Robert K Johnston eds The Vanety of Amencan Evangelicalism (KnOXVIlle Tenn Umverslty of Tennessee Press, 1991) James DaVIson Hunter Amencan EvangelicalISm (New BrunSWIck N J Rutgers Umverslty Press, 1983) Also see Lyman A KeUstedt and John C Green KnoWIng God s Many People DenOmInatIOnal Preference and Pohtlcal BehaVIor In Leege and Kellstedt Redlscovenng the ReligiOUS Factor 12 On evangehcal rehgIous movements see Dayton and Johnson Vanehes of Amencan Evangelicalism Marsden EvangelICalism and Modem Amenca and Erhng Jorstad Popular Religion m Amenca (Westport Conn Greenwood Press, 1993) 13 See Lyman A Kellstedt John C Green James L Guth and CorWIn E SmIdt It s the Culture StupId I 1992 and Our Pohtlcal Future FIrst Thmgs Apnl 1994 For an excellent reVIew of ethnorehglOus pohtlcs see Mark A Noll ed RelIgions and Amencan Politics (New York Oxford Umverslty Press, 1990) For a good summary of rehglOn and pohtlcs from the 1920s to the present see George M Marsden Religion and Amencan Culture (New York Harcourt Brace JovanoVIch 1990) 14 On thIS penod, see Norman FurnISS The Fundamentalist Controversy 1918 1931 (Hamden Conn Archon Books 1963) and Leo Rlbuffo The Old Chnshan RJght (philadelphIa Temple Umverslty Press, 1983) 15 On thIS penod, see ErlIng Jorstad The Pollhcs of Doomsday (NashVIlle AbIngdon Press 1970) and Sara DIamond, Roads to DommlOn (New York Guilford Press, 1995) 16 Good books on the new Chnstlan nght Include Bruce RJse and Fall of the New Chnshan RJght ErlIng Jorstad, Holdmg Fast/Pressmg On (New York Praeger 1990) and RIchard John Neuhaus and MIchael Cromartie eds PIety and Poilllcs ( DC EthICS and Public Policy Center 1987) 17 On the Robertson campaIgn see Allen D Hertzke Echoes of DIScontent (WashIngton DC CQ Press 1993)

41 UNDERSTANDING TIlE CHRISTIAN RIGHT

18 On the maturalton of the Chnsltan nght see Matthew C Moen The Transformatwn of the Chnstllm Ibght (Tuscaloosa Ala Umverslty of Alabama Press, 1992) Also see Mark J Rozell and Clyde Wtlcox A Second Commg? The New Chnstlan Ibght m the Old Dommwn (BaltlDlore Md Johns Hopkins Umverslty Press, 1996) and Sara Diamond, SpmlUal Warfare (Boston South End Press, 1989) 19 Two good sources on movement pragmaltsm are edited by Michael Cromarlte No Longer &lIes (Washington DC Ethics and Pubbc Pohey Center 1993) and DIsCiples and Democracy (Grand Rapids Mlch Eerdmans 1994) Less has been wntten on movement punsts but on Operation Rescue Itself, see Garry Wtlls Evangels of Abortion New York ReView of Books June 15 1989 An excellent and highly readable account of the place of the Chnsltan nght m contemporary pohtlcs IS Dan Balz and Ronald Brownstem Storming the Gates Protest Politics and the RepublICan ReVIVal (Boston Little Brown 1996) 20 The profiles m this seclton are based on these groups own hterature plus mteTVlews and research by the author Excellent sources of mformallon are books by Erbng Jorstad and Sarah Diamond Cited above and pubbcaltons of the Anlt Defamalton League and the Inslttute for First Amendment Studies Also see CoTWIn Slllldt Lyman A Kellstedt John C Green and James L Guth The Charactenstlcs of Rehgtous Group AcllVists An Interest Group AnalYSIS, m William Stevenson ed Chnstlan Political AcllVISm at the Crossroads (Lanham Md U mverslty Press of Amenca 1994) 21 On the Chnsltan nght actiVist core, see James L Guth John C Green Lyman A Kellstedt and CoTWIn E Smidt Onward Chnsltan Soldiers Rehgtous Interest Group ActMsts m Allan Cigler and Burdett LoOllllS eds Interest Group Politics 4th ed (Washmgton DC CQ Press, 1994) James L Guth and John C Green The Morahzmg Mmonty Chnsltan Right Support among Pobltcal Contnbutors Quarterly 68 (1987) 598 610 John C Green and James L Guth "The Chnsltan Right m the Repubbcan Party The Case of Pat Robertson s Supporters Journal of Politics 50 (1988) 150 165 and Wilcox God s Wamors 22 The mformatlon on Chnstlan nght actiVists m Tables 1 and 2 comes from the Survey of Rehgtous ActiVists conducted by Lyman A Kellstedt James L Guth CoTWIn Smidt and John C Green (5000 cases) for detatls see Guth et al Onward Chnsllan Soldiers These data are repnnted here With permission by the pnnclpal mvestlgators The sample mcluded respondents from Focus on the Famtly Concerned Women for Amenca and Amencans for the Repubhc a precursor of the Chnstlan Coalltlon The mformatlon on Repubhcan actiVists comes from a mall survey of GOP campatgn contnbutors conducted m connection With the 1988 election (3200 cases) for detatls see John C Green and James L Guth Apostles and Apostates? Rellgton and Pohtlcs among Pohtlcal ActiVists m James L Guth and John C Green eds The Bible and the Ballot (Boulder Colo WestView Press, 1992) 23 See John C Green James L Guth Lyman A Kellstedt and COTWIn E Smidt UnCIVIl Challenges? Support for CiVil Llberltes among Rellgtous ActiVists Journal of Polillcal SCience 22 (1994) For tolerance m the mass pubhc measured ID thiS fashIOn see John L Sullivan James Pierson and George E Marcus Polilical

42 NOTES

Tolerance and Amencan Democracy (Clncago University of Chicago Press 1982) 24 On evangelical voters see Col'Wlll B Smidt Bvangellcal Votmg Patterns 19761988 m Cromartie No Longer E>ales John C Green James L Guth Lyman A Kellstedt and Col'Wlll B SlDldt "Murphy Brown Revtslted The Social Issues m the 1992 Blectlon » m Cromartie DIsciples and Democracy and Wtlcox, God s Wamors 25 The mformatlon m Tables 3 and 4 comes from the National Survey of ReligIOn and Politics conducted by the University of Akron Survey Research Center m the sprmg of 1992 and directed by Lyman A Kellstedt, Col'Wlll Smidt James L Guth and John C Green (4001 cases) for detatls, see Lyman A Kellstedt John C Green James L Guth and Col'Wlll B SlDldt, Religious Voting Blocs m the 1992 Blectlon The Year of the Bvangellcal? SOCIOlogy of Rehgwn 55 (1994) 307326 These data are reprmted With the peTlDlSSIOn of the prmclpal mvestlgators 26 See John C Green James L Guth Lyman A Kellstedt and CoTWIn B SlDldt, Bvangellcal Realignment The Political Power of the Chnstlan Right Chnstlan Century July 5 1995 James L Guth John C Green Lyman A Kellstedt and CoTWIn B SlDldt God s Own Party Bvangellcals and Republicans m the 92 Blectlon, Chnstlan Century Feb 12 1993 and Lyman A Kellstedt John C Green James L Guth and Col'Wlll B SlDldt "Has Godot Fmally Arnved? Religion and Realignment m 1994 » PublIC Perspective 6 (1996) 27 On the connection between anti SelDltlSm and Chnstlan orthodoxy see Tom W Smith Anti SenutlSm In Contemporary Amenca (New York Amencan JeWish Committee 1994) on the early Chnstlan nght see NaolDl Cohen Natural Adversanes or PosslhleAlIlCs? Amencan Jews and the New Chnstlan Rlghl (New York Amencan JeWish ComlDlttee 1993) for cntlClsm of Robertson s wntmgs, see Michael Lmd, Rev Robertson s Grand International Consptracy Theory» New Yolk ReView of Books Feb 2 1995 and "On Pat Robertson HIS Defenders, New Yolk ReView of Books Apr 20 1995 28 A good example of these tensions IS the 1995 publication of the Anti League The Rehgwus Rlght 29 A good example IS Toward Tradition winch ran an advertisement m cntlClZlng the Anti Defamatlon League s cntlClsm of the Chnstlan nght Also see Midge Decter The ADL and the ReligiOUS Right Commentary September 1995 30 On evangelical ViewS toward Israel and the Second Commg. see When Time Shall Be No More (London Harvard University Press, 1992) On the Chnstlan nght s support for Israel see Cohen Natural Adversanes or POSSible Allies and , In the Matter of Pat Robertson» Commentary August 1995 31 On the mtluence of the Chnstlan nght m national politiCS see John F Persmos Has the Chnstlan Right Taken Over the Republican Party? Campaigns and Elections September 1994 John C Green and James L Guth Politics m the Promised Land The Chnstlan Right at the Grassroots m Monty L Lynn and DaVid o Moberg. eds Research In the SOCial SCientific Study of Reilgwn (Greenwich Conn JAI Press, 1993) and Green et al Bvangellcal Realignment

43

AJC Pubhcations of Related Interest

Anti SerrutlSm In Contemporary Amenca Tom W SmIth

A JewISh GuuJe to Inte"ehglOus AffaIrS Rabbi A James Rudm

Natural Adversanes or Possible Allies? Amencan Jews and the New Chnstzan Right Naomi W Cohen

Religious Liberty and Church State Separation Why Should We Care? Samuel Rabmove

The Stakes In the Baule for the First Amendment Bill Moyers and Robert S RIfkInd THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE 165 East 56 Street New York NY 10022 2746

Single copy $200 May 1996 Quantrty prices on request