Christian right

Christian Right is a term collectively referring to a spectrum of conservative Christian political and social movements and organizations characterized by their strong support of traditional social values in the United States and other western countries. The terms Christian Right and Religious right are sometimes used interchangeably, although this is problematic (see discussion at Religious right).

Issues

Positions labeled "Christian Right", but sometimes held by only a minority of those commonly considered "Christian Right" include:

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• The Pro-Life movement, which advocates stronger regulation or prohibition of abortion, in the belief that abortion constitutes murder;
• Opposition to euthanasia, in the belief that it is murder;
• Opposition to same-sex marriage and hate crime laws by groups such as the Focus on the Family and Traditional Values Coalition in the belief that homosexual behavior is a violation of Christian doctrine and should be criminalized http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/A0025309.cfm. Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell brought controversy when they attributed the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to God's wrath against "abortionists, pagans, feminists, gays and lesbians". http://www.statenews.com/op_article.phtml?pk=18196 (These remarks were quickly contested by other members of the Christian Right, and both had to backpedal on the assertions.)
• Regulation and restriction of some applications of biotechnology, particularly human cloning and stem cell research with human embryos, in the belief that it is immoral. See bioethics.
• Support for the presence of religion in the public sphere, such as with voluntary prayer in school, and varying degrees of opposition to the separation of church and state principle, in the belief that the Establishment Clause was intended only to prevent the establishment of an official state religion, and not to prevent religious discourse in the public sphere;
• Reducing restrictions on government funding for religious charities and schools, in the belief that funding secular charities to the exclusion of religious charities constitutes discrimination. Many politically conservative churches refuse government funding because it comes with too many strings which interfere with the practice of their faith.
• Promotion of conservative Christian moral values, including an emphasis on the value of the nuclear family in raising children, and opposition to extramarital sex, in the belief that such values are beneficial both for the individual and society generally;
• Regulation and restriction of the publication and public exhibition of explicitly sexual content and pornography, in the belief that it degrades women and encourages immorality;
• Opposition to sex education classes in public schools in the belief that sex education should be conducted at home in accord with the family's value system, and public school courses that fail to advocate abstinence inadvertantly encourage sexual activity in teenagers. A spectrum of views exist, from advocation of no sex education in public schools to advocation of abstinence only to strong advocation of abstinence in concert with other sex-related information.
• Support for homeschooling, and private schooling, generally as an alternative to secular education rather than for Libertarian reasons, in the belief that religious education is important for children, or in the belief that some public schools fail to sufficiently educate children in other subjects. This manifests itself as support for school vouchers.
• Promotion of the teaching of creationism and intelligent design in public schools as alternatives to the theory of evolution, in the belief that teaching evolution to the exclusion of creation unconstitutionally inhibits religion.
• Opposition to judicial activism by federal judges in the belief that straying from the constitution has resulted in the imposition of atheistic values on society without the people's consent, as well as interference with traditional family values and the free exercise of their religion;
• Support for the invasion of Iraq and other Muslim countries. Some leading evangelicalshttp://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=14780 and Christian conservative politicianshttp://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010916-2.html have made statements about a religious conflict between Christianity and Islam in the context of the War on Terrorism, prompting many critics and some supporters to refer to the war as a Tenth Crusade. Defenders explain some such criticism as a misinterpretation of the term "crusade", which can be used to mean "a grand concerted effort toward some purportedly worthy cause" without any intentional overtones of holy war, although this explanation does not apply to the more detailed characterizations of the war on terror as a holy war.
• Strong support for President George W. Bush and a belief that he was chosen by God, with a mandate to lead America.

Historically, some conservative Christians were influential in the abolitionism movement to end slavery, the advocation of civil rights, and prohibition, though at the time period they were classified as liberal. A notable example is Julia Ward Howe, author of The Battle Hymn of the Republic, who didn't believe in Hell.

Related Topics:
Abolitionism - Civil rights - Prohibition

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The issue of race is complicated. In the past, southern U.S. Christian Right groups generally advocated and practiced racial segregation, but this is not advocated today by the Christian Right. Most Christian denominations and churches in the U.S. continue to be largely segregated by race, however this reflects larger cultural trends and not advocacy by the Christian Right.

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Groups such as the Promise Keepers, which are allied with the Christian Right, encourage participation by men of all races in their activities, and have encouraged discussions of race and racism.

Related Topics:
Promise Keepers - Race - Racism

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