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TOC | Next The Culture Wars Are Not Over:
The Institutionalization of the Christian Right
By Frederick Clarkson
Frederick Clarkson is the author of Eternal Hostility: The Struggle
Between Theocracy and Democracy, (1997) and of the forthcoming Profiles
In Terrorism: Twenty Years of Anti-Abortion Violence, both from Common
Courage Press.
Editor's Note
During the 2000 presidential campaign, the Christian Right's leadership
kept a markedly low profile, leading many observers to conclude that
the movement was weak and that George W. Bush had successfully placed
it under the discipline of the Republican Party. The Christian Right
seemed united in its support for Bush's campaign, yet seemed to demand
no public promise that he would support its policies in return. When
Bush was declared the winner of the election and the vote was analyzed,
researchers could see that the Christian Right vote had been crucial
in electing Bush. When Bush appointed Christian rightist John Ashcroft
and Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, the "father" of welfare
reform, to his Cabinet and established the White House Office of Faith-Based
and Community Initiatives, the quid pro quo was obvious. At that point,
it looked to observers as if the Christian Right were strong and flourishing
within the Bush Administration.
Weak and shaky or clever and victorious-which view was the accurate
one? Frederick Clarkson walks us through the paradoxes that now characterize
the Christian Right, demonstrating that there is truth in each view.
Although before the election the movement faced problems and challenges
that made it vulnerable to serious decline should Al Gore win, in a
George W. Bush administration it enjoys the support it needs to rebuild
and reassert its authority as the moral rudder and strategic ballast
of the GOP. For the Christian Right, its public silence and private
voter mobilization in the 2000 election was a strategic investment
that will pay off with double-digit returns for years to come.
Introduction
Ralph Reed could not have predicted that the seat at the table of American
politics he sought for so many years as Executive Director of the Christian
Coalition would become an endowed chair. In the early 1990's the Christian
Right, epitomized by the Christian Coalition, was ambitious but not quite
fully legitimate. In this sense the nomination and confirmation of former
Senator John Ashcroft as Attorney General, and the Bush administration's
creation of a White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
is a measure of their success.
Several main trends are evident in the current fortunes of the Christian
Right. First, the major institutions of the Christian Right, once bastions
of fire and brimstone rhetoric and a transcendent vision of the once
and future Christian Nation, have become practitioners of political compromise
and coalition building. This is especially true in the case of national
electoral politics. Second, the Christian Right has been largely incorporated
into the Republican Party apparatus. Finally, and perhaps most important,
the Christian Right is now largely institutionalized throughout society.
The movement has come a long way in a short time. This is not to say
that one of the most dynamic social/political movements of the latter
part of the 20th century has necessarily lost its energy and
edginess. Nor is it without fractures and schisms. In many respects it
is still growing and finding new and distinctive forms and expressions.
But the quiet institutionalization of the Christian Right is a far more
dramatic, if less visible trend than any single clash in the culture
war.
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