THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 29, 1996 TAG: 9610290329
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 72 lines
Religious Americans concerned about the Christian Coalition's high political profile are mustering their armies in an effort to blunt the coalition's impact, not only in November but also in the years ahead.
They represent a diversity of faiths and approaches - from evangelical Christians and Catholics holding town meetings, and Muslims and black churches organizing voter registration drives, to Jewish groups mailing sample sermons to rabbis, hoping to generate political involvement.
Emulating a tactic of the Christian Coalition, a group called the Interfaith Alliance announced plans Friday to distribute 5 million voter guides in state and local races contested by candidates the religious right favors.
``I thank (Christian Coalition founder) Pat Robertson often in my speeches for waking up the rest of us,'' said Cecile Richards, executive director of the politically more moderate Texas Faith Network, a statewide alliance of ministers and lay people formed in June. ``Because I do believe that they have alarmed people with what they have been doing in the name of Christianity.''
These counterefforts are far less sophisticated and centralized than the Chesapeake-based Christian Coalition, which plans to mobilize 100,000 volunteers to distribute 45 million voter guides before Election Day. And their political agendas are still fuzzy because they are trying to unite people of diverse religious leanings and are self-consciously trying to avoid being typed as the ``religious left.''
Yet they are growing by reaching for the center and talking about restoring ``civility'' to political discourse. They portray themselves as the ethical, nonpartisan alternatives to a Christian Coalition they say has allowed itself to become an arm of the Republican Party.
``Real resistance is building, no question about that,'' said William Martin, professor of religion and public policy at Rice University, and author of ``With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America.'' ``And since a majority of the population does not share the hard-line views of the religious right, there is the potential for countering them quite effectively.
``But the majority of the population is not as worked up against the religious right as the religious right is worked up for its issues. If you believe that God is on your side and Satan is on the other, that gives you much greater motivation than simply if you don't agree with the other folks on most of the issues.''
The Christian Coalition has built its political clout by forging a mobilization machine that serves the Republican Party the way organized labor has long served the Democrats. Ralph Reed, executive director of the Christian Coalition, said he doubts the religious opposition will be effective if it insists on avoiding party politics and refusing to take stands on hot-button issues, such as abortion.
``In almost every instance in the past, religious social movements have achieved their greatest social success by first penetrating political parties, and, in particular, the platforms of the political parties,'' Reed said, citing the temperance and civil rights movements.
The religiously based group that has been most confrontational with the Christian Coalition is the Interfaith Alliance, which claims 40,000 members in 109 chapters in 36 states. Its chapters are concentrated in the South and West, where the coalition is most active.
When formed in 1994 in reaction to the Republican takeover of Congress, the group initially received $25,000 from the Democratic Party. It says it no longer gets any political party money. In fact, several members of the alliance's new advisory board are prominent Republican moderates unnerved by the religious right's power in their party.
With the distribution of 5 million voter guides, the alliance is seeking not just to counteract the coalition but to promote an alternative agenda, said Jill Hanauer, executive director.
``The right thinks that `family values' is making sure that homosexuals aren't teaching their children,'' she said. ``We think that ``family values' are things such as Medicaid and Medicare funding, clean water for our kids to drink, and making sure students can get college loans.'' by CNB