The most amusing moment came when Robertson commented that California was now a "majority minority" state thanks to the growing Hispanic population. Then he stammered, "And uh, I think that's great. They're nice people." The response may have been somewhat bumbling, but it shows how far fundamentalist Christians have come from their Ku Klux Klan-sympathetic, anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic days.

Though I may have had my disagreements with Pat Robertson's viewpoint, I found his media empire and influence impressive. He commands a loyal following among Americans who believe their voices have been lost in an increasingly secular and liberal world.

"Scary and intolerant," "homophobes," "anti-woman," "a group bent on making America into a fundamentalist Christian theocracy." Those are some of the epithets that have been hurled at the Religious Right ever since they were credited with Ronald Reagan's victory in 1980. Some liberals have started to believe that Christianity is equivalent to the Religious Right, a view I must admit I once held. I asked my friend, Maria Sung, a student at Harvard Divinity School and a self-described "evangelical Christian," how she viewed the Religious Right as a fellow Christian. She told me, "I've always considered the Religious Right to be a very powerful political movement made up of mostly white and wealthy people and I was neither of those. The greatest Christian commandment is to love in the name of Jesus Christ and I don't think they do a very good job of expressing that love."

Interestingly enough, two leaders in the Religious Right movement of the 1980s tend to agree with Maria's assessment. In their memoir, Blinded by Might, two of Jerry Falwell's right-hand men, Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson, admitted to the failings of the Religious Right after two decades of feverish political activity. "Is the first image that comes to mind when the world looks at "modern" Christians is that they care most for the outcast?" said Thomas. "No," was Thomas' answer. Instead, the Religious Right attempted to impose morals from above by changing laws instead of souls, making them vulnerable to accusations of being judgmental instead of loving. He believes that's why the Religious Right failed to achieve its goals - abortion is still legal, homosexuality has gained in acceptance, and pornography is even more accessible by the Internet.

Thomas believes that personal actions by Christians, rather than voting drives and political petitions, are what will transform the American culture. He writes, " The message of Christian leaders must be clear: It is not enough to support a welfare reform bill; they must also mentor the children of poverty who live without fathers and without hope. It is not enough to fight the gay rights lobby; they must comfort AIDS patients preparing for a lonely and painful death. It is not enough to support a constitutional amendment against abortion; they must provide a young woman in trouble with a home and a sympathetic ear. What we must not do is demonize those with whom we disagree."

My friend Maria also said, "I'm very disturbed by the fact that a lot of Christian values like compassion for the needy and racial justice are misrepresented by the Christian Right and Republicans." Thomas also believes that at times, the Moral Majority's focus on hot-button cultural issues like abortion and gays meant they ignored issues like poverty and racism. "Fundamentalist preachers concentrated largely on the "sins" most of their members had a pretty easy time avoiding - liquor, movies, dancing, promiscuity. They mostly avoided the positive tough stuff - the business about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and visiting those in prison, along with matters of justice."

In spite of the trashing the Religious Right receives in the media and among liberals, I think they should be applauded for representing the best in American democracy. Since 1980, groups like the Moral Majority, which disbanded in 1989, the Christian Broadcasting Network and the Christian Coalition have led between 4 and 5 million previously unregistered Christians to get involved with the political process and become a force to be reckoned with. Most of them are well-meaning middle class families who simply want to restore some decency in the culture. As I watch MTV's sex-drenched Spring Break, listen to Howard Stern on the radio, and get repeated pornographic advertisements in my email, I can't help but be sympathetic. Though their agenda to me seems overly obsessed with the control and regulation of sexual issues, they expose the continuing uneasiness we Americans have as a country in mixing politics and religion.

Irene

Please email me at:irene@ustrek.org