Not By Politics Alone

As surprisingly large numbers of Christian men began arriving in Washington, D.C., for a Promise Keepers rally, observers were divided over whether to ascribe a covert political agenda to this explicitly religious gathering. Some felt that the opposition to gay rights and abortion on the part of the organization's founder instilled the event with partisan implications; others maintained that politics alone could not explain the popularity of an event whose speakers stressed broader themes of family responsibility and racial reconciliation. In this incisive work, Sara Diamond takes our understanding of this event -- and the Christian Right as a whole -- beyond what is commonly known about the movement's electoral clout, shedding light on the rarely seen boundaries and intersections where politics and culture converge.Examining how conservative evangelical groups have maintained their influence in the United States for more than two decades, Diamond shows that these groups have drawn much of their strength from a broad and loosely affiliated web of cultural institutions designed to meet their adherents' personal, as well as ideological, needs. The book offers an illuminating perspective on the nationwide proliferation of evangelical talk radio programs, publishing companies, bookstores, law firms, and music studios. Readers also gain a rare behind-the-scenes look at the formation, organizing strategies, and sometimes-heated internal debates of influential national organizations such as Operation Rescue, Focus on the Family, and the Christian Coalition.Diamond devotes careful attention to the movement's complex alliance with the Republican Party. She demonstrates that the primarygoal of the Christian Right has been to reshape moral priorities through both cultural and legislative means. Tracing the movement's attempts to blend morality and politics, chapters explore how Christian Right campaigns have used the popular rubric of "family values" to infuse evangelical beliefs into local and national discussions around such disparate issues as gender roles, childrearing, gay rights, abortion, public education, and arts funding.Extensively researched, this book provides a compelling road map to the cultural life of the Christian Right. It will prove timely and thought-provoking for anyone interested in contemporary cultural, political, and religious movements.