Even as old as *I* am, I wasn't aware that there was a Christian Right that existed before the emergence of the New Christian Right. The following essay [lengthy] follows the history of the Christian political movement in the U.S., beginning with the establishment of the Christian Right in the 1920's, and ending with the appointment of Ralph Reed as the new leader in 1996.

Political Mobilization of the New Christian Right

I'm interested in feedback on how we define ourselves on a continuum from left to right. The extreme left has typically been associated with communism, moving along to socialism, and the extreme right has typically been associated with nazism. Where do the terms liberal and conservative fall on this continuum, and why/how do we use these terms?

When did biblical interpretation become associated with the right? When did guns become associated with the right? Why is it that liberals are assailed as "anything goes", while 50 and 60 year old men on the far right seem to be the only ones that think a 12-year old girl should be their bride?

If you have time to read the full essay, I'd be curious to hear your opinions on how the New Christian Right might change focus under the direction of Ralph Reed.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), June 28, 2000

Answers

Think of extreme right-wing and you think of Nazism. Think of Nazism and you think of Hitler. And yet Hitler was a socialist. But he also hated communists. Sometimes I think all this left-wing/right-wing stuff makes little sense. (Or perhaps only Hitler made no sense?)

Anyway, enough rambling...

-- Richard Dymond (richard@dymond.org), June 28, 2000.

I agree with you, Richard. We've somehow defined labels with no history behind their definition. That's how I came to be so confused on this one.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), June 28, 2000.

Right/Left, Socialism/Communism. (To use an Al-dism: ==2 dogs fighting over the same bone=(You and Me)

Al, I think I,m gettin the hang of it=er,uh

-- KoFE (your@town.USA), June 28, 2000.

I dont think its quite that simple. Some people may be conservative in an economic sense but liberal in a social sense. I put myself into that category. I dont mind too much what individuals do as long as I dont have to pay for it out of my tax dollars. Its not quite that simplistic but Im sure you get the idea.

The one thing that Ive noticed is both sides seem to really be into control. They want to tell people what to do and what to think. The more toward the extremes you get the more the people in the movements want to control what people can do, what they can think, etc.

-- The Engineer (spcengineer@yahoo.com), June 28, 2000.

Sorry, I simply don't have time to read long articles, but the questions are interesting.

After reading The Engineer's post, I can simply say ditto. I'm very conservative fiscally, and I think that every able bodied human being should make his own way in the world. But once you have paid your way, it suits me fine if you worship your modem as your god, eat junk food, are an avid fan of wrestling, and go sky-diving on weekends.j Just don't try to push your religion, dietary habits and choice of entertainment and sports on me.

The religious right gives me a pain where I sit because they want to control morals, what we do and what we think.

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), June 28, 2000.

I think it is an over-simplification (a convenient one, I agree) to categorize political philosophies as arranged along a one-dimensional spectrum. Even 2 or 3 dimensions is too few. Politics and its connection to religion and philosophy exist in N-space.

In this regard it's well to remember that Conservatism may be considered on the Right but it is NOT Fascist (got it,Andy Ray boy?) any more than than Liberalism is Communist, as many politically murdered Liberals can attest.

It's also worth remembering that Christianity is not only of the Right. Who remembers the 60's---the Fathers Berrigan, Father Groppi, Bishop Pike, Rev Martin Luther King and many more. Then there is so-called "Liberation Theology". (Or maybe that died in the 80s, fashions change so quickly). Who were the Abolutionists? Christian extremists ready to kill and to be killed for the end of slavery. Finally, who are the latter-day Prohibitionists? Mostly they reside on the Left nowadays--ie, the tobacco prohibitionists, the fat-food Prohibitionists, the PC types in general.

If you've been around long enough, it all gets rather tiring. At least it does to me. Gilda, you still seem to have the fire in your belly. Good for you!

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), June 28, 2000.

Anita...

.....Communism, socialism and nazism belong on the left of any true scale; to the right you would find anarchy. Limited representative republics, such as America would be, realistically, just inside the right.

.....The reason that the terminilogy confuses is due to the fact that the terms themselves have been co-opted by the leftists that we refer to as TPTB... as long as they can keep the populace confused and off balance, their job of controlling, (as they see it), becomes much simpler.

-- Patrick (pmchenry@gradall.com), June 28, 2000.

For a better way to describe political positions than "left vs. right", see The World's Smallest Political Quiz. I wonder if anyone can guess where I fall on that two-dimensional spectrum?

-- Steve Heller (steve@steveheller.com), June 28, 2000.

Thanks for all the comments.

Steve: That sure WAS the quickest little quiz of all time. I'm not at all convinced it gives a good picture, as many of the things mentioned right here by some others aren't addressed. [This is my justification for scoring Left Liberal. I agree with Gilda that any able-bodied person should work, but I ALSO think there should be a minimum wage. The way *I* see it, folks will hire people at $2.00/hour if they could [and they DO with people not licensed to work.]

For those that will never see the Left Liberal description, here it is:

Prefer self-government in personal matters and central decision- making on economics. They want government to serve the disadvantaged in the name of fairness. Leftists tolerate social diversity, but work for economic quality. [Did I really say all that?]

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), June 28, 2000.

Why do I see those unclosed tags AFTER I hit submit?

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), June 28, 2000.

offoffoff

-- tagmaster (n@n.n), June 28, 2000.

I'm a stinkin' left-liberal because I believe in the minimum wage law! Stinkin' quiz! Bingo & AL Gore settin' in a tree...

Excuse me while I go run my head over with my car.

-- Bingo1 (howe9@shentel.net), June 28, 2000.

I like it, a lot of independent thoughts well expressed here. I especially found Lars's post making some excellent points.

Christian "right", conservatives, liberals, the left, all these labels rarely fit us, we have a lot of different opinions, and I much prefer to leave the politics out of Christianity.

I read through the first couple of essays Anita, but they are exteremely simplistic in their "summaries." I would suggest a new source.

-- FactFinder (FactFinder@bzn.com), June 28, 2000.