Christian Coalition

From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium

All unapproved Citizendium articles may contain errors of fact, bias, grammar etc. An article is unapproved unless it is marked as approved with a dedicated green template at the top of the page, as in the Biology article. Approved articles are intended to have next to no errors. The Citizendium Foundation, the Tides Center, and the participants in the Citizendium project make no representations about the reliability of Citizendium articles or, generally, their suitability for any purpose. This article is currently being developed as part of an Eduzendium student project in the framework of a course entitled U.S. Political Parties and Interest Groups at Illinois State University. The course homepage can be found at CZ:POL 214: US Political Parties and Interest Groups. For the course duration, the article is closed to outside editing. Of course you can always leave comments on the discussion page. The anticipated date of course completion is December 15, 2009. One month after that date, this notice shall be removed. Besides, many other Citizendium articles welcome your collaboration! Note to course participants: Copying over content from Wikipedia will not be allowed during this course.

Christian Coalition of America
Founded	1989, by Rev. Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson

The Christian Coalition is an American Political Interest Group that focuses on promoting and strengthening the Christian and family based values within American Legislation. The organization was founded after its founder Rev. Pat Robertson's failed Republican Presidential nomination during the 1988 elections.^[1] Originally named the Christian Coalition, Inc. it changed its name to Christian Coalition of America after a legal battle with the IRS. As a "Grass Roots" organization it has distributed information to citizens and lobbied for issues that concern Christians. It had tremendous success from its founding to the late 1990's. It is considered an organization that reflects the views of the Christian Right. ^[2]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Founding 1.2 Ralph E. Reed as Executive Director (1989-1997) 1.3 The Decline of the Christian Coalition (1997-) 2 Current objectives and activities 2.1 Their Mission 2.2 2009 Christian Coalition Legislative Agenda for the 111th congress 3 Organizational structure 4 Public perception and controversies 5 References

History

Founding

The Founding of the Christian Coalition can be traced back to the 1988 republican presidential nomination primaries. During the primaries Rev. Pat Robertson had failed to gain the nomination by the republican party. After his defeat Robertson still had a large following of Christians and funds from his campaign. Robertson created the Christian Coalition, Inc a conservative christian organization with an ambitous agenda. The organization was to bring issues concerning "people of faith"^[3] to legislators. Pat Robertson would become its first president and he selected Ralph Reed to be its executive director. ^[4]

Ralph E. Reed as Executive Director (1989-1997)

Under the leadership of Ralph Reed the Christian Coalition was able to reach the height of its power. His charisma and persuasion attracted membership from the Christian right, thus increasing membership. The Coalition exerted its influence over southern politics and local politics, where there was a large concentration of its membership. The Christian Coalition was able to influence both legislation and the election of candidates with similar Christian ideals. The Christian Coalition claimed to have helped the republicans gain a majority on both the house and the senate for the 104th United States Congress.

In 1996 the coalition was began its decline and would eventually lose much of the influence and membership it had gained since its founding. The Chief Financial Officer Judy Leibert accused Reed of allowing his friend and golfing buddy access to the direct mailing list. This resulted in Leibert receiving a severance package to drop the charges, it included $80,000 yearly salary, and $25,000 to cover the legal expenses. This also resulted in the resignation of Reed in April of 1997.The coalition was also accused of violating campaign finance laws for the congressional and presidential elections, this resulted in their loss of their tax except status.

The Decline of the Christian Coalition (1997-)

Current objectives and activities

Their Mission

1. Represent the pro-family point of view before local councils, school boards, state legislatures and^[5]
2. Speak out in the public arena and in the media^[6]
3. Train leaders for effective social and political action ^[7]
4. Inform pro-family voters about timely issues and legislation ^[8]
5. Protest anti-Christian bigotry and defend the rights of people of faith ^[9]

2009 Christian Coalition Legislative Agenda for the 111th congress

1.Preventing Passage of the "Freedom of Choice Act" ^[10]
_{The "Freedom of Choice Act" affects federal laws that concerning abortion. This act will loosen abortion laws an issue that a family valued based organization such as the Christian Coalition would strongly oppose.}

2.Oppose Liberal Judicial Nominees^[11]
_{The Coalition strongly believes that the Constitution is to be interpreted as the Founding Fathers intended it to be. Introduction of Liberal judges will leave their ideological footprint on the constitution.}

3.Protect the Defense of Marriage Act^[12]
_{This act prevents same sex couples to be recognized at a federal level as married. The elimination of this act will also force states to recognize same sex marriage performed in states in which it is already legal. The Christian Coalition strongly believes in traditional Marriage between a Male and Female.}

4.Oppose any Re-introduction of the "Fairness Doctrine" ^[13]
_{The "Fairness Doctrine" will force all Television and Radio stations to have equal liberal and conservative programming. This can have a profound effect on radio and Television stations that consider themselves conservative. This Doctrine can ultimately make conservatives lose an outlet in the media.}

5.Oppose Expansion of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research^[14]
_{The Christian Coalition believes that Human Embryonic Stem Cell research is immoral, and that sufficient advancements in its research have already been made. The coalition strongly believes that continuing research or much worse expanding research is immoral and unnecessary.}

6.Energy Independence and Reform^[15]
_{Due to the rise in prices in energy, an issue that has severally affected the economy, the coalition calls for energy independence. By encouraging new technologies that can be produced nationally will eliminate the dependence on foreign energy. The coalition believes that like any good investment portfolio the country has to invest in several different forms of energy production.}

7.Defend the 2001 Tax Cuts^[16]
_{The Christian Coalition supported the 2001 Tax Cuts introduced by President Bush. The Tax Cuts will expire in 2010 unless they are renewed. The coalition strongly believes that during these hard economic times these cuts are necessary to help the economy.}

8.Oppose Nationalization of Health Care^[17]
_{The coalition believes that the nationalizing health care will only create another bureaucracy within the nation.}

9.Protecting Religious Programming^[18]
_{The Christian Coalition would like to make politicians aware of religious program during a time when broadcasting standards are being revised. This is an effort to prevent the loss of Christian programs and channels.}

10.Prevent Discrimination on the Internet by Passing "Net Neutrality" ^[19]
_{With the saturation of internet the industry that provides these services will soon divide services by "fast track" and "slow track". Internet web pages that will not be able to pay a fee will be considered "slow track" pages. In a rapid transforming technological world this would put certain pages in a competitive disadvantage.}

11.Ending religious discrimination against Christians in the military^[20]
_{The Christian Coalition will help protect the rights of Christians within the military and prevent discrimination.}

The Christian Coalition currently has a campaign for each of its objectives. As an organization it makes petitions, facilitates communication with representatives, disseminates information by petitions or emails, and lobbies in an effort to further its goals.

Organizational structure

The Christian Coalition is a grassroots organization with local chapter across the U.S. These local chapters influence local legislation, and because it is grouping of like minded people it helps influence national issues as well. The coalition has a pastor’s council in which spiritual leaders can band together and defend their religious views. This allows for the coalition to have influence on those who seek guidance from these religious leaders. The Coalition also has Church liaisons that pass out nonpartisan information, registers people to vote, and disseminates public information at local churches. Today the Christian Coalition's national president is Roberta Combs

Public perception and controversies

The public perception of the Christian Coalition is that the interest group is representative of the Christian right. At times it has been even accused of being intolerant to homosexuals because of their stance against gay marriage. The organization is viewed as a conservative group that interest lies with conservatives particularly those of the Christian right.

The coalition had a long fought battle with the IRS concerning it being granted a 501(c)(4) or tax exempt status. This ended in 2005 with the organization being granted the status. In 1996 the Federal Elections commissions accused the coalition of violating campaign finance laws during the 1992, 1994, 1996 congressional elections and the 1992 presidential elections. As a result the coalition lost its tax exempt status. The coalition had a long fought battle with the IRS concerning it being granted a 501(c)(4) or tax exempt status. This ended in 2005 with the organization being granted the status on a settlement agreement.

References

1. ↑ http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=BhPAWSDLoNEC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Christian+Coalition+&ots=Uhhzne_zAa&sig=98lqgt9OMKqvWYJOMa6-j-Wbx3k#v=onepage&q=&f=false
2. ↑ http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Qj6gm1oBmNMC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=Christian+Coalition+of+america&ots=jlBH_LKjWd&sig=3O0qC2RyMOtWEQ-IPxH9SV6YGGo#v=onepage&q=Christian%20Coalition%20of%20america&f=false
3. ↑ http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.ilstu.edu/ehost/pdf?vid=3&hid=7&sid=72173277-a586-4a8c-b101-c4606ba0866e%40sessionmgr11
4. ↑ John Q. Sample, Why and How Interest Group X Was Founded. City: Publisher, 2015.
5. ↑ http://www.cc.org/about_us
6. ↑ http://www.cc.org/about_us
7. ↑ http://www.cc.org/about_us
8. ↑ http://www.cc.org/about_us
9. ↑ http://www.cc.org/about_us
10. ↑ http://www.cc.org/2009_legislative_agenda
11. ↑ http://www.cc.org/2009_legislative_agenda
12. ↑ http://www.cc.org/2009_legislative_agenda
13. ↑ http://www.cc.org/2009_legislative_agenda
14. ↑ http://www.cc.org/2009_legislative_agenda
15. ↑ http://www.cc.org/2009_legislative_agenda
16. ↑ http://www.cc.org/2009_legislative_agenda
17. ↑ http://www.cc.org/2009_legislative_agenda
18. ↑ http://www.cc.org/2009_legislative_agenda
19. ↑ http://www.cc.org/2009_legislative_agenda
20. ↑ http://www.cc.org/2009_legislative_agenda