The Religious Right
The Religious Right
Who are they and what are they doing to America?
In the past three decades, there has been a major shift in the Republican Party. While the Republicans have represented the economic conservative side for some time, they only recently became the party of socially conservative policies. This is in large part due to their absorption of the Religious Right Party. The Religious Right, a faction of the conservative movement, is a group of individuals who feel that government and religion should be one. Mostly Christian, the Religious Right base their political policies solely on religious beliefs. They believe the United States was founded as a Christian nation, and that the Bible should be the true law of the land. They are very outspoken against abortion, gay rights, the teaching of sexual education (besides teaching abstinence), and even want the Bible taught in classrooms. They control the majority of voters who regularly attend church, and they are growing bigger each year.
The Religious Right, otherwise known as the Christian Right in the United States, is a separate faction of the Right Wing side of politics. They are both economically and socially conservative. Their politics are directly influenced by their core religious beliefs. In the United States, they are made up overwhelmingly by Christians and its denominations: Baptists, Catholics, Mormons, Episcopalian, etc. They strongly believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Bible, and that these teachings should be taught in public schools as well. This includes the teaching of creationism and intelligent design. The Religious Right are also against the banning of prayer in school. They argue against the “separation of church and state,” claiming that while the Constitution does say, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” (Bill of Rights, 1st Amendment), it also says, “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (Bill of Rights, 1st Amendment).
Who are they and what are they doing to America?
In the past three decades, there has been a major shift in the Republican Party. While the Republicans have represented the economic conservative side for some time, they only recently became the party of socially conservative policies. This is in large part due to their absorption of the Religious Right Party. The Religious Right, a faction of the conservative movement, is a group of individuals who feel that government and religion should be one. Mostly Christian, the Religious Right base their political policies solely on religious beliefs. They believe the United States was founded as a Christian nation, and that the Bible should be the true law of the land. They are very outspoken against abortion, gay rights, the teaching of sexual education (besides teaching abstinence), and even want the Bible taught in classrooms. They control the majority of voters who regularly attend church, and they are growing bigger each year.
The Religious Right, otherwise known as the Christian Right in the United States, is a separate faction of the Right Wing side of politics. They are both economically and socially conservative. Their politics are directly influenced by their core religious beliefs. In the United States, they are made up overwhelmingly by Christians and its denominations: Baptists, Catholics, Mormons, Episcopalian, etc. They strongly believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Bible, and that these teachings should be taught in public schools as well. This includes the teaching of creationism and intelligent design. The Religious Right are also against the banning of prayer in school. They argue against the “separation of church and state,” claiming that while the Constitution does say, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” (Bill of Rights, 1st Amendment), it also says, “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (Bill of Rights, 1st Amendment).
Bibliography: http://www.cc.org/2010_legislative_agenda (August 5, 2010) “Christian Right.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_right (August 8, 2010) “New Right.” Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Right (August 5, 2010) “Religious Right Research.” Americans United http://www.au.org/resources/religious-right-research/ (August 5, 2010) “The Christian Right.” National Humanities Center. http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/twenty/tkeyinfo/chr_rght.htm (August 6, 2010) “The Constitution of the United States of America.” U.S http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html (August 5, 2010) “The Rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party.” Theocracy Watch “Voting and Registration.” U.S. Census. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/socdemo/voting/index.html (August 5, 2010)