Not by Politics Alone: The Enduring Influence of the Christian Right - Hardcover

Diamond, Sarah

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1572303859 ISBN 13: 9781572303850

Publisher: The Guilford Press, 1998

Synopsis

As surprisingly large numbers of Christian men began arriving in Washington, D.C., for a 1997 Promise Keepers rally, observers were divided over whether to ascribe a covert political agenda to this explicitly religious gathering. Some felt that the opposition to gay rights and abortion on the part of the organization's founder instilled the event with partisan implications; others maintained that politics alone could not explain the popularity of an event whose speakers stressed broader themes of family responsibility and racial reconciliation. In this incisive work, Sara Diamond takes our understanding of the Christian Right beyond what is commonly known about its electoral clout, shedding light on the rarely seen boundaries and intersections where politics and culture converge. While highlighting the movement's alliance with the Republican Party, Diamond examines how conservative evangelical groups have maintained their influence for more than two decades by drawing from a web of grassroots cultural institutions--including publishing houses, law firms, broadcast stations, and church-centered community programs--designed to meet their adherents' personal, as well as ideological, needs.

About this title

About the Author

Sara Diamond, PhD, a leading authority on right-wing movements in the United States, holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of California. She is the author of Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States; Spiritual Warfare: The Politics of the Christian Right; and Facing the Wrath: Confronting the Right in Dangerous Times. She lives in Berkeley, California.

From the Back Cover

Enormously informative....Written with great authority, and a measure of empathy as well....This is a first-rate study of a hugely important contemporary movement. (Frances Fox Piven, coauthor of WHY AMERICANS DON'T VOTE)

Reviews

The Christian Right's growth into a formidable social movement and political power over the last couple of decades has provoked alarm in many quarters. In this sweeping and well-documented survey of the movement, Diamond concludes that its survival is due to the diversity of its many subcultural institutions and to its links with the Republican Party. The author doesn't bother defining "the Christian Right," nor does she offer more than a nutshell history. Her purpose is not primarily to critique, although her own bias emerges from time to time in expressions such as "simple-minded," "fractious," "irrational," and they "fight change and punish those responsible for it." Diamond generally avoids direct condemnation, however; in fact, she is occasionally critical of the criticisms leveled at the Christian Right, moderating the knee-jerk stereotyping that fails to take it seriously. She prefers instead to let the movement's rhetoric speak for itself through myriad groups such as Promise Keepers, the Christian Coalition and Operation Rescue, as well as a seemingly endless list of publications and TV and radio shows. While Diamond doesn't challenge the personal motivations of prominent individuals in the Christian Right, she notes that shrewd business tactics, political hardball, scare tactics and sometimes outright deception seem to have more to do with the movement's staying power than any divine intervention. Like her Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States, this is a balanced, eye-opening and accessible read.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A critical investigation of the persistent presence of the Christian right in contemporary American political and cultural struggles. Here Diamond continues her studies of the American political right begun in Roads to Dominion (1995) and other works, focusing this time on the diffuse yet cohesive assembly of conservative Protestant organizations collectively termed the ``Christian right.'' How is it, she wonders, that the right's influence continues unabated, despite strong challenges to its highly conservative social agenda in the form of a liberal Democratic presidency and the general popular acceptance of issues such as abortion and gay rights? Her answer: The Christian right is many things. Its a political coalition with strong ties to and influence on the Republican Party, but its also a subculture that provides, as she puts it, ``a safe haven when political success is not forthcoming. Through the media, church and community organizations, and other avenues, the right creates a strong ideology. The ideology propagates the notion that this is a persecuted group battling immoral enemiese.g., abortion doctors, gay employeesin an eternal struggle between good and evil. In such a context, momentary political travails are of little consequence. The Christian right also operates at national and local levels, and with multiple strategies. While struggling for control of local schools over issues such as sex education and secular curriculum, the organization has also developed a strong network of home-schooling activists and practitioners. Finally, the right has shown the capacity to evolve. Thats evident in its current emphasis on what it terms ``racial reconciliation,'' the renunciation of a generally racist past and the active recruitment of people of color into its ranks. Thus, as Diamond points out, even those opposed to the Christian right shouldnt simply dismiss it. Scholarship with a point of view; a highly informative case study. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

What explains the persistent influence of the Christian Right, even in periods when its declared goals are not being achieved? Sociologist Diamond--author of several thoughtful (if critical) studies of the movement, including Spiritual Warfare (1989), Roads to Dominion (1995), and Facing the Wrath (1996)--argues that its "tenacity . . . may count as much as the moral appeal of its arguments." In addition to its base in evangelical Christianity (which both dictates elements of its "family values" agenda and allows leaders to consistently portray the movement as an underdog in the political and cultural arenas), today's Christian Right is notable for maintaining a wide range of "mobilizing structures" --among them, religious broadcasting; evangelical fiction, magazines, music, think tanks, law firms, and political activity; and such movements as Promise Keepers--that "give people a sense of personal satisfaction as well as political efficacy." Opposing the Left's tendency to demonize the Christian Right, Diamond insists on taking it seriously, endeavoring to understand the sources of its strong appeal to millions of U.S. citizens. Mary Carroll

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Preface
1. Introduction
2. Staying Tuned
3. Hearts and Minds
4. The Long March
5. All Things to All People
6. Family Matters
7. As If It Were Murder
8. The Antigay Agenda
9. By the Book
10. The End Is Near
11. Coming to Terms
12. Epilogue/Conclusion

Edition details

• Publisher: The Guilford Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1572303859
• ISBN 13: 9781572303850
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 280