Christian right
The Christian Right, or more generally the religious right, is a broad label applied to a number of political and/or religious movements with particularly conservative or right wing views. While such elements are found in many nations, the term is most commonly applied to groups within the United States.
Christian Right groups, as the name implies, consist primarily of Christians, many of them fundamentalists; some have been known to claim that their political positions are, or ought to be, the views of all Christians. In reality, American Christians hold a wide variety of political views.
Many elements of the Christian Right sympathize with, support, and sometimes influence the United States Republican Party. For example, such support is thought to have provided considerable backing for the campaign of U.S. President George W. Bush.
Issues with which the Christian Right is (or is thought to be) primarily concerned with include:
- Banning or heavily restricting abortion.
- Opposition to the gay rights movement and the upholding of what they consider to be "traditional family values".
- Opposition to the practice of gay or straight "sodomy" (usually meaning anal sex or oral sex outside of marriage though sometimes within too).
- Support for the presence of Christianity in the public sphere, such as with prayer in school.
- Ending government funding restrictions against religious charities and schools, and similar matters.
- Opposition to U.S. court decisions widening the separation of church and state beyond historical tradition.
- Banning of books, music, television programs, films, etc. that they view as indecent especially pornography.
In the past they also supported prohibition, abolitionism and civil rights.
Prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Christian Right considered foreign affairs an exercise in respecting national sovereignty, encouraging the peaceful spread of democracy and freedom of religion, and support of Israel as a matter of biblical doctrine. Since then many of its most prominent spokespersons have joined with neoconservatives in strongly supporting the War on Terror in both Afghanistan and 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 Palestinian 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 travelling to Baghdad to conduct an open-air Good Friday service primarily for and 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.
Several leading figures of the Christian Right refer to Biblical prophecy in their support of Israel. The school of interpretation of Biblical prophecy in which Israel figures most prominently is called dispensationalism.
Use As Propaganda
Use of the term "religious right" is thought by some to be an example of stereotyping by an allegedly liberal media (contrast this with the lack of the use of such terms as "Atheist Left" or "Jewish Left" by the same.) Others point out that the term Christian Left is also used, but not in a pejorative sense.
Notable members of the Christian Right
It should be noted that extremists such as Fred Phelps have never had a significant of a following and others, such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, who once had large followings, have since lost their previously broad base of support.
See Also
