Inside The Religious Right

I have decided to repost this article that I wrote almost exactly two years ago. As I had just started blogging when I wrote this, it is tempting to re-write and edit this piece. But I have decided to leave it as is. I'd love comments on this piece.

Faithful Progressive left me a very nice comment last week regarding a post I wrote about his characterization of the "Religious Right". I very much appreciate his desire for good dialogue rather than the typical stupid attacks back and forth that often happen with those of differing viewpoints. Fortunately we have a common bond as brothers in Christ that transcends any political viewpoints.

"Thank you for your thoughtful comments, I have posted them on my site. At some point I hope to answer them. "- FP "I would also appreciate your thoughts on my continuing series on the Christian Right and the Enlightenment--there is no one bogeyman, but there are many Christian extremists on the right."- FP

FP wrote this post encouraging others to have this kind of dialogue. I would like to give some perspective on the "Religious Right" for FP and any of his readers that might care. I have found that few people really understand the "Religious Right" or even try to.

I am sure that I am going to open myself up for some criticism of my past experiences but they are what they are and I want to be as honest as possible. I am probably as qualified as any to give an analysis of the "Religious Right". I grew up in a Christian home in the South (although Atlanta is a tad different than much of the South). So I was immersed in the Christian "subculture" from an early age.

Robertson for President

Sometime in high school I become very interested in politics. This interest led me to start working on political campaigns and even attending schools on how to run campaigns. I ended up working on paid staff for Pat Robertson when he ran for president in 1988. Additionally, I worked for Congressman John Linder and former Congressman Pat Swindall, along with various local candidates.

Now that I have your attention with the mention of Robertson, let me give a perspective on that campaign. That campaign probably did more to bring evangelical Christians into politics than anything else in the past century. There were many discussions at that time as to whether Christians should be involved in politics at all. Most supporters and campaign workers were wonderful people who would be shocked to be called extremists. These people were valuable members of the community who probably volunteered in soup kitchens and homeless shelters far more than the average person.

The Robertson campaign had a huge effect on the Republican party that is still evident today. Prior to 1988, the Republican party was not particularly conservative on social issues. This all changed with the Robertson campaign using a grassroots effort to take over much of the Republican party apparatus at the local level. One of the results of this change isn't so much that the Republican party has become beholden to evangelicals, but that the tent is much wider now that it was pre-1988.

I also became very involved in the pro-life movement at this time. This involvement started by picketing local abortion clinics in Atlanta. Contrary to most impressions of picketing, I rarely if ever saw people yell or harass women going to these abortion clinics. We were usually silent and prayed. Many people that I knew in the pro-life movement felt strongly enough about their beliefs that they often adopted children.

Operation Rescue

Sometime in 1988, these two movements (the Robertson campaigns and the growing pro-life movement) started to attract people with more extreme ideas. I'm sure that some would say that Robertson himself was rather extreme but I will address that later. The biggest outgrowth of extremism was the arrival of Operation Rescue.

For those who don't remember (or are too young to remember), Operation Rescue was a pro-life group that felt that picketing wasn't accomplishing enough. Their goal was to physically block entrance into abortion clinics. Throughout the summer of 1988, Operation Rescue blocked access at many abortion clinics in Atlanta, resulting in the arrest of hundreds. These protests made national news and heightened tensions around an already polarized issue.

I ended up becoming quite involved in Operation Rescue to the point that the primary leaders of the organization lived with my family for most of the summer. I was at most of the protests in Atlanta, though at my parents request, I never actively participated to the point of being arrested. Regardless of your opinion on the issue, you can imagine how exciting all of this was to a teenager.

"Possession of Christian material"

The third event that put me deep into the "Religious Right" was a strange little episode my senior year in high school. To make a long story short, I was involved in a group called Fellowship of Christian Athletes. My brother and one of my best friends were suspended from school and I was threatened with expulsion for "possession of Christian material" at school. I know this sounds ridiculous, but those are the exact words that the assistant principal at my school wrote on the discipline note.

By chance, we happened to go to the same church as renowned Christian attorney, Jay Sekulow. I hate even including Jay in this discussion, because Jay is one of the nicest people I know and the furthest thing from an extremist. At the time Jay was proceeding with a similar case that went before the Supreme Court (the Mergens case) but he was very interested in our case. The resulting media storm was unbelievable (and quite fun to be quite honest). Within a short time of this incident, our story was being told on the 700 Club on a daily basis. Shortly after, our family was flown to California to be on Jay's television program broadcast by TBN.

Christian Coalition

The culmination of this event involved my brother and I being invited to be the keynote speakers at the very first meeting of the Christian Coalition in Washington DC. The list of people in attendance that day would be like the 1990 version of the Time's list of 25 influential evangelicals that just came out. The list included Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Chuck Colson, Ralph Reed, Gary Bauer, D. James Kennedy, Charles Stanley, James Dobson, and I'm sure a few others I forgot.

Not only did I speak to this group, but I got to sit down and chat with each of them over lunch. Pretty amazing for a high school senior. Over the years I kept in touch with some of these people, including Gary Bauer who gave me financial support for a missions trip.

Off to college

Shortly after these events, I graduated from high school and headed off for college. I had decided years before that I was going to study political science, go to law school, become an attorney, and then become a Congressman. Things started off well. I was even elected president of College Republicans my freshman year. But then a funny thing happened.

I started listening to God. I started realizing that laws do not change people's hearts. Probably the biggest realization I had involved the issue of abortion. I started understanding that even if the pro-life movement got their wish of making abortion illegal, abortions would still happen. I realized that the only way that there would be less abortions would be for people's hearts and minds to change. I realized that politics could not heal this world of evil. As a result, I swore off politics completely.

Mea Culpa

Even though I have not been actively involved in politics for almost 15 years, I have given a lot of thought as to how Christians should or should not involve themselves in politics. Looking back, I am quite embarrassed about many of the groups I was involved in.

I would never in a million years endorse the actions of an extremist group like Operation Rescue again. I think that it could easily be argued that Operation Rescue and some of its affiliated groups are domestic terrorists. Fortunately, most of the pro-life movement has rejected Operation Rescue.

I also have very little in common politically with someone like Pat Robertson. Many of the "leaders" of the "Religious Right" do indeed hold rather extreme views. I put leaders in quotes because I really question how many evangelical Christians view these people in the same light as they once did. Many Christians I know wince at the mention of Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson. When I hear someone like Jerry Falwell say that Tinky Winky is gay, I am concerned that instead of being "fools for Christ", sometimes we are simply fools.

I personally feel that this is a theological problem caused by years of preaching moralism as opposed to the Gospel. My life is a perfect example. I used to think that I had to do the right things (don't drink, don't smoke, don't have premarital sex, go to church every Sunday, etc) in order to have God's approval. I have realized over time that this view is the antithesis of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that nothing I ever do will cause God to love me any more than He already does.

Current Landscape

My church is probably a good example of how there isn't a "Religious Right" monolith. My church would certainly be considered theologically conservative. We believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God and that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. However, our pastor often talks about our church being "purple". There are certainly plenty of members who tend to vote Republican. Yet there are also many Democrats, including someone who works for the state Democratic party.

As far as I can remember, our pastor has rarely mentioned abortion, never talks about homosexuality, and refrains from talking politics from the pulpit. Many people in our church volunteer weekly at area soup kitchens and some members have moved into the inner city to help low-income families. We have also had Sunday School lessons on the environment and how Christians have a responsibility to be good stewards of the earth.

My church is not an exception either. I also think that the "Religious Right" as some know it is on the decline for a number of reasons. I think that much of the movement has been led by Baby Boomers and older that have a nostalgia for a golden age that wasn't.

As a new generation of evangelicals moves into positions of influence, this vision is slowly fading away. Most evangelicals I know under 40 (and some over) recognize that America is not God's favored nation and that government is not the way to bring about God's Kingdom on earth. People often point to the theonomy movement as proof that evangelicals want to impose Christianity upon all of America. However, most evangelicals have pretty major differences with the theology of theonomists such as R.J. Rushdoony, Gary North, or Greg Bahnson and view them as very much on the fringe. I would argue that the theonomist have little if any influence upon politics in America or evangelicals as a whole.

Personally, I have some pretty major differences from what would be viewed as the Religious Right political agenda:

• I am opposed to prayer in schools. I can also guarantee that if there were prayers in school, it wouldn't be a prayer I would agree with.
• I am somewhere between ambivalent and opposed to the Federal Marriage Amendment
• I am opposed to efforts to ban smoking.
• I am very interested in protecting the welfare of animals.
• I am opposed to bans on shipping alcohol across state lines.

Conclusion

I'm certainly not the only Christian with conservative political leanings who differs from the "Religious Right" platform. Most of my Christian friends feel similarly on these issues. When I was younger I would have argued vehemently that various conservative ideals were TRUE. Now I believe them to be true. Catch the difference. I would die for the fact that Jesus truly died and was resurrected. However, I am open to the possibility that I am wrong about political issues.

I'm sure that many will be disappointed that I didn't share more "dirt" or make this account "sexier". Even though I believe many of the leaders of the "Religious Right" to be wrong about many political issues, I will not impugn their characters or doubt their motives. I have certainly been wrong about many things in my life and I'm sure I will continue to be so. I am starting to embrace this lessening of certainty by looking to God. I'm hoping that this post will do a bit to dispel some of the common misconceptions of the "Religious Right". I'm tired of reading such misinformed crazy talk about the "Religious Right".

I welcome any and all comments and dialog.

The original comments for this post can be found here.

I wrote the following to answer some of the questions that people have had about this article.

Answering the questions: "Inside the Religious Right"

Little did I know when I wrote this article that people would still be reading and commenting about it a month later. Considering the provocative issues that I discussed, I gave little thought to the reaction that others would have to this article. My main concern was being as open and honest as possible. With one minor exception, I haven't been attacked for what I said in this article.

However, this article did raise some questions that I have decided to address. I would often prefer my articles to speak for themselves, but at the same time I don't want to be perceived as avoiding tough questions. My readers are honest and open and expect the same from me.

I also want to make sure that I have been fair to those that I mention in my writing. Some have objected to my mention of individuals in the same article as extremists. I didn't think that I had to say that Rep. John Linder or former Rep. Pat Swindall are in no way extremists in either action or words. Now I have.

Question: Isn't it a little much to use the word "terrorism" in conjunction with Operation Rescue?

Answer: This question has been asked of me in comments, in emails, and even in phone conversations with people who read the article. I agree that one should be very careful in the words they use, particularly ones so fraught with emotion. I'd like to give some additional details as to why I used the term "terrorism".

Let me first say that the vast majority of people involved in Operation Rescue were very peaceful, law-abiding citizens who would most likely feel guilty about receiving a parking ticket. The same could be said about most of the leaders. This may seem a strange statement to make of people involved in protests of this nature. However, during the Operation Rescue protests, the people I observed sat quietly, prayed, and were very respectful of the police officers who came to arrest them. I will not take the time to go into full detail as to why I think many of the efforts of Operation Rescue were misguided and even counter-productive; many others have written about this much better than I could.

While most people involved in Operation Rescue were peaceful, there were some who were not, most notably Jim Kopp, who also went by the moniker Atomic Dog. I met and got to know Jim very well during the summer of 1988 in Atlanta. Jim was a quiet guy and seemed rather mischievous. He would occasionally joke with me about blowing up abortion clinics. I didn't think much of it as I thought he was trying to impress me. (though I'm not sure why anyone would be impressed by such statements).

Unfortunately, Jim was not all talk. In 1998, Jim shot and killed Dr. Barnett Slepian in Buffalo, New York. Subsequently, Jim was on the run from authorities for a number of years. During this time, Jim was on the FBI's most wanted list. Jim was finally caught in France and extradited to the United States, where he confessed to the killing of Dr. Slepian in 2003.

Shelley Shannon was another involved in Operation Rescue who resorted to violence. Shannon set fire to multiple abortion clinics in 1992 and in 1993 she shot Dr. George Tiller in Kansas.

If killing people and burning buildings to further a political agenda doesn't qualify as domestic terrorism, I'm not sure what does.

One domestic terrorist group that was born out of the 1988 protests in Atlanta was the Army of God. A rather ironic name considering the evil intentions of this group. Certainly one can argue that the forming of the Army of God was an unintentional consequence of the protests in 1988. Nevertheless, the idea that Christians can and should break the law to stop abortion gained prominence because of the actions of Operation Rescue.

While Operation Rescue leaders such as Randall Terry and Joseph Foreman spoke out against violence, much of the rhetoric at Operation Rescue meetings attracted people with extreme beliefs. While I would never charge the leaders of Operation Rescue that I have met with being terrorists, I do believe that their rhetoric gave some justification to the more extreme measures taken by Jim Kopp and Shelley Shannon, among others.

Pastor Jeff Myers gives a very good summary of his concerns with groups like Operation Rescue in this paper that I recommend for those interested.

Question: Why do you seem to turn your back on politics in your statement, ‘I realized that politics could not heal this world of evil. As a result, I swore off politics completely’?

Answer: I suppose I wasn't clear in this statement. This statement describes where I was at that particular time in college. In a lot of ways, I have come full circle in my views as to how Christians should be involved in politics. By saying full circle, I mean that my views as a Christian should most certainly inform my voting and political involvement. But I don't think that the issues are so black and white as I once thought. Maybe a better way of putting it is that I am less confident that I can know the truth as I once thought.

I am a little put off when I hear some say that Christians shouldn't let their beliefs enter into their politics. This is complete nonsense and impossible. My entire worldview is informed by being a Christian. I can't think about anything (politics, art, literature, etc.) without viewing it through the lens of my relationship with Jesus Christ.

At the same time, I have become less and less willing to say what is the "Christian" position on various political issues, with a few exceptions. I think that Christians can confidently speak out against things such as slavery, apartheid, and poverty. However, there may be a variety of ways to approach these issues with varying pros and cons.

Once again, I very much appreciate the comments of my readers.