Religious Right and the Republican Party

The term “Religious Right” refers to the spectrum of right wing, mostly Christian voters who have aligned themselves with the Republican Party. Although commonly called the Religious Right, the more accurate term is “Christian Right,” for most of the group is comprised of conservative, evangelical sects.

The group can be traced directly back to the late Jerry Falwell, who started the Moral Majority in 1979. The Moral Majority was an organization made up of Christian political action committees, whose cohesive purpose was to restore America to its “Biblical roots,” a flawed premise that nonetheless has gained considerable ground since the 1980s. The group disbanded in 1989 because of Falwell’s increasing commitments, but the Christian Right has not slowed down; there are currently thousands of political action committees going strong.

Conservative Christian voters historically did not enter the political fray, and rarely endorsed a candidate. In fact, Falwell repeatedly preached that Christians should stay out of the political arena altogether. That, however, changed in 1979 when he was moved by what he saw as the moral decay of America—largely the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality and laws protecting a woman’s right to choose to terminate a pregnancy.

Thus, the relationship between Republicans and the Christian Right was born; Republicans were critical of the constitutional right to privacy, which the Supreme Court said protected a woman’s right to choose. Democrats, on the other hand, were against discrimination based on sexual orientation and favored a constitutional right to privacy.

Since the founding of the Moral Majority 30 years ago, however, promises from Republican candidates to evangelical voters have largely gone unfulfilled. Ronald Reagan was a master at communication and the art of persuasion. Rarely a churchgoer, he wholeheartedly convinced the Christian Right that they shared his values and were a top priority for the duration of his presidency.

And so, for the next two decades, history has repeated itself. Republican candidates utter all the right phrases during campaign season just to get the evangelical vote. They rail against the evils of abortion and homosexuality, promising various constitutional amendments at the state and national level and judges who won’t “legislate from the bench.” Once in office, however, evangelical voters usually get nothing more than lip service from the very people they voted for, who quickly turn to their true values of lower taxes, limited government, and big business.

The cycle continues, of course. Republicans continue to manipulate voters of certain faiths for political gain, an idea that should repulse anyone who truly values religion in America. But election year after election year, Republicans play the Christian Right like marionettes. The evangelical voters are either naïve, or they find what a candidate says extremely more important than what he does once in office.

The solution to the Christian Right’s dissatisfaction might be in the Constitution Party, a third party that is truly “third” when it comes to registered voters, claiming almost 400,000 nationwide.

The Constitution Party seems to share the true values of the Christian Right. Its platform states in part that, “The goal of the Constitution Party is to restore American jurisprudence to its Biblical foundations . . . .” This a truly a radical idea, not because of the Bible’s teachings, but because America is a secular society that has survived over two centuries, in part because we choose to keep religion and government separate.

Even so, such a platform should appeal to conservative Christian voters, most of whom place the utmost importance on where a candidate stands on issues of abortion and homosexuality. Other issues are clearly tertiary. And for the record, The Constitution Party is anti-choice, anti-gun control, anti-tax, anti-free trade, anti-United Nations, anti-gay rights, anti-welfare, and anti-public Education. The party is also for government-led prayer in public schools, although that is probably Christian prayer only.

It might be awhile before evangelical voters wake up and realize that the Republican Party does not share their values. Until that happens, however, the Republican Party will keep up the same rhetoric that has served it so well for the better part of three decades. And the cycle will continue.

Christian Cross

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