CHRISTIAN COALITION

CHRISTIAN COALITION

The Christian Coalition is a nonprofit organization that serves as a powerful lobby for politically conservative causes. Under federal tax law, the organization is permitted to lobby for political issues but cannot endorse political candidates. The Christian Coalition has primarily sought the support of born-again evangelical Christians, but since 1996 it has attempted to build alliances with Roman Catholics, members of the Greek Orthodox Church, and Jews.

The Christian Coalition was founded in 1989 by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson. Robertson, who unsuccessfully sought the 1988 REPUBLICAN PARTY presidential nomination, decided to create an organization of evangelical Christians that would exert influence over the party. The coalition’s central goals have been to gain working control of the Republican Party through grassroots organizing and to elect Christian candidates to office. The coalition soon became a potent political force. By 1997, it claimed control of several Republican state central committees and had elected to public office numerous Christian Coalition members and other candidates it endorsed. Prior to the congressional elections of 2002, the Christian Coalition distributed 70 million voter guides throughout the 50 states, an effort that has been credited with helping the Republican Party gain control of Congress.

The Christian Coalition has focused on family
and moral issues. It strongly opposes legalized
ABORTION, and in 1998 it began an effort to
require all endorsed Republican candidates to
oppose partial-birth abortions. The coalition
has also campaigned against gay rights, and
through its legal arm, the American Center for
Law and Justice, it has filed many church-state
lawsuits.

Robertson, who served as president until
1997, appears on the 700 Club, a television program
that, as of July of 2003, is watched by 1
million viewers each week. Robertson has characterized
politics as a struggle pitting militant
leftists, secular humanists, and atheists against
conservative, evangelical Christians. The success
of the coalition’s grassroots organizing, however,
can be attributed to Ralph Reed, who served as
executive director until 1997. Reed encouraged
coalition members to run for school boards, city
councils, and legislatures without revealing their
affiliation. This strategy also proved effective
within the Republican Party.

The Christian Coalition has over 1,500 chapters in the United States with over one million members. The coalition’s staff is headquartered in Chesapeake,Virginia; it also maintains a legislative office in Washington, D.C. With a budget of more than $27 million, the coalition has the resources to mount nationwide campaigns on public policy issues. The organization also actively lobbies Congress on numerous issues, sponsors grassroots training schools across the United States, and organizes activists around the country who are involved in federal and local politics.

The election of GEORGE W. BUSH as president
in 2000 and the gain of Republican seats in
both the House and Senate in 2002 gave
increased clout to the Christian Coalition’s
already vigorous advocacy. In early 2003, the
Christian Coalition lobbied for the confirmation
of Miguel Estrada, an Hispanic lawyer, to be
a judge on the District of Columbia Circuit
Court of Appeals. According to the coalition, his
confirmation was “being blocked by those who
would subject judicial nominees to a liberal litmus
test.”The organization also supported a ban
on partial-birth abortions and the cloning of
humans. In addition, the Christian Coalition
voiced strong support for President Bush as the
United States was poised on the brink of war
with Iraq.

FURTHER READINGS
American Center for Law and Justice. Available online at
(accessed June 17, 2003).
Christian Coalition. Available online at
(accessed June 17, 2003).