THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 3, 1996 TAG: 9606030049
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ESTHER DISKIN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 122 lines
Consider the reception for a new book, ``Active Faith,'' by Christian Coalition Executive Director Ralph E. Reed Jr.:
A two-page exclusive excerpt of the 311-page book was published by Newsweek magazine. The book, now in stores, has intensified debate in conservative circles about abortion and homosexuality.
Reed embarks on a cross-country book tour today, with stops in a dozen major cities from New York to Los Angeles. He's lined up for all the major network news shows. ``Everyone wants Ralph,'' said a spokesman for the publisher.
Reed has a different standard for measuring his clout, however: ``How conservative the rhetoric of your foes is.''
These days, he is gleeful that President Clinton has promised to sign the Defense of Marriage Act, which would restrict the recognition of same-sex marriages, even though doing it may alienate homosexuals - traditionally strong Clinton supporters.
Clinton is also speaking out against sex and violence in television shows and movies, another major concern of religious conservatives.
With Clinton - religious conservatives' biggest target - talking like this, Reed said, he can't be too worried about setbacks in the agenda for his grassroots group. ``When that stuff is going on, we are going to win, no matter what,'' he said.
Reed's latest book comes at a time when the Chesapeake-based coalition, which claims a million dues-paying members with an additional 700,000 supporters on its mailing list, has solidified its power in Republican politics.
Christian conservatives are a dominant force in many state Republican parties, including Virginia. They are expected to be a major voice shaping the Republican Party platform - particularly the pro-life plank - at the GOP national convention in August. Many groups broadcast the views of these Christian conservative activists, but none can compete with the coalition's grassroots mobilizing through phone banks and voter guides handed out in churches.
While the title of Reed's book makes it sound like a call to the pews, the subject of ``Active Faith'' is the church of American politics.
The first three chapters are a streamlined history of religious social movements in America, from the Great Awakening in the early 1700s to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The latter chapters cover Pat Robertson's decision to start the coalition in 1989 after his failed presidential bid, the coalition's current role in politics and a vision for future action.
Reed, who has a doctorate in American history from Emory University, uses that training to advance a particular reading of historical events. He said the book demonstrates that, viewed against the backdrop of the nation's political history, the coalition and its agenda aren't extremist, as critics often claim.
``We appear to be a far more mainstream phenomenon if viewed against the backdrop of history,'' he said Wednesday in a brief interview after a speech at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research group in Washington.
But Reed also is trying to reach an audience of Christian activists, who spend hours cajoling neighbors to come to meetings and hauling bundles of voter guides to their local churches. The book, he hopes, will give them a better sense of their historic mission.
``If you're at the grassroots, fighting the good fight, it's hard to see the forest for the trees,'' Reed said. ``History is on our side . . . we will become a prominent and permanent fixture on the American landscape.''
The book shows folks at the grassroots how their legwork translates into skyrocketing clout for their leader. It bursts with word-by-word accounts of meetings and phone calls between Reed and Republican legislators and candidates, all seeking his advice. Phil Gramm even offered Reed a position as political director of his campaign, which Reed says he ``politely declined.''
Although Reed devotes page after page of ``Active Faith'' to historical analysis, the book's immediate impact has come from the last chapter - portions of which were published in the May 13 edition of Newsweek - as a result of his advice on handling the issues of abortion and homosexuality.
In that chapter, he proposes an alternative to the anti-abortion plank of the Republican party platform, ``in the interest of making it clear that our objective should be upholding principle rather than language.''
One of the chief differences between the plank and Reed's alternative is language specifically calling for a constitutional amendment. The current plank opens with a call to protect the ``unborn child'' through support of a ``Human Life Amendment.'' Reed's alternative does not mention the amendment by name, but it broadens the plank's scope beyond abortion: ``We will seek by all legal and constitutional means to protect the right to life for the elderly, the infirm, the unborn and the disabled.''
Since his alternative was published in Newsweek, Reed has repeatedly defended himself against criticism from anti-abortion activists that his willingness to discuss changes in the plank leaves it open to attack from Republicans who want to jettison the anti-abortion language.
Reed said his support for the current plank has not wavered. ``I would oppose any effort to drop the constitutional amendment from the party platform,'' he said. He predicted that the anti-abortion plank won't be changed at the convention, except for the possible inclusion of language to condemn Clinton for opposing the partial-birth abortion ban.
In his book's last chapter, Reed also called on religious conservatives to moderate their political speech about homosexuals. He specifically criticized Jerry Falwell's Liberty Alliance for a 1995 fund-raising letter that referred to ``the radical homosexual onslaught.'' Reed's comments prompted an angry response from Falwell and some other conservatives.
However, Reed does not mention Pat Robertson, the coalition's founder, who frequently discusses the sinfulness of homosexuality on his weekday news and spiritual show, ``The 700 Club.'' In 1995, Robertson criticized homosexuals in a letter to gay activist Mel White: ``The Bible indicates in the book of Romans that `God gave them up.' It is the last stage in the decline of a population.''
In the interview, Reed said that his urging of moderation refers only to speech in a political context, and was not intended as a call for ministers to change their preaching. He said Robertson is speaking as a minister on ``The 700 Club,'' not as a political player.
``It's not fair to say that (Robertson) has been harsh or condemnatory'' about homosexuals, Reed said, noting that Robertson shows his compassion for many homosexuals who call the show seeking to change their behavior. ``I don't think Pat Robertson or anyone else who is a religious broadcaster should be asked to go on television and circumscribe their moral beliefs.''
Reed said he consulted Robertson throughout the writing and editing of his book. Robertson approved it before publication, he said. ``I don't know whether he had to or not, but I wanted him to.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Ralph Reed
Color book jacket
KEYWORDS: PROFILE INTERVIEW CHRISTIAN COALITION RALPH REED by CNB