2002 Ad

Christian Century, Nov 20, 2002

Candidates backed by the Religious Right scored substantially in the November elections--mostly because of voters' allegiance to President Bush, exit polls found. But the results nevertheless are "likely to translate into increased political power for the fundamentalist Christian movement," according to a report by Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The report, which focused especially on closely contested races, said there is "no evidence the Religious Right was the key factor in deciding any of those races" on November 5. But Americans United executive director Barry W. Lynn contended that "the movement will have a new set of powerful allies who will be pressured to do the Religious Right's bidding" because of campaign efforts by more than a dozen conservative activist groups.

The liberal People for the American Way, another watchdog organization in Washington, termed the elections "a devastating disappointment" with the Republicans recapturing control of the Senate and strengthening their majority in Congress.

According to a People For statement, the Bush administration and GOP leaders will pursue aggressively "an agenda that includes packing the federal judiciary with far-right judges, passing massive tax cuts that will defund current social problems and make future investments impossible."

The White House has been openly disappointed with the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has rejected or stalled many Bush nominations for federal judgeships. Only 11 of 32 nominees have been approved. But with a shift of party control in the Senate, "it will be harder to prevent the next Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas from being seated on the U.S. Supreme Court," People For maintained. The organization's president, Ralph Neas, declared that America now faces "the gravest threat to fundamental liberties in decades."

Although Americans United winds up supporting mostly Democrats (and the Christian right mostly Republicans), the AU office recently urged that the Internal Revenue Service investigate two large churches that reportedly backed particular Democratic candidates from their pulpits. The IRS has "zero tolerance" on electioneering churches, Lynn warned in a news release.

In letters November 4 to the IRS, Lynn's group cited reports on services held the Sunday before Election Day. In Texas, Pastor Joe Samuel Ratliff of the Brentwood Baptist Church in Houston openly endorsed the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate who also appealed for votes at the same service, according to the Dallas Morning News. The Washington Post reported that in Maryland John A. Cherry, pastor of the large From the Heart Church Ministries congregation near Washington, urged congregants to vote for gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a Democrat.

Among groups providing summaries of IRS guidelines is the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, whose Web site is www.pewforum.org.