Abstract

Successful social movements gain an inside voice and reshape the larger system from within. Knowing the extent to which the Christian Right has gained a voice within the Republican Party is vital to understanding the current state of party politics and civil religion in America. This study considers sociohistorical developments in the Christian Right and analyzes the placement of the goals contained within the Christian Coalition's Contract with the American Family in Republican platforms. The goals, which sought the legislation of morality, were in alignment with and an outworking of the larger social and ideological context of the Christian Right and its legitimating myth. Each of the goals of the CAF was placed within the 2000 Republican platform to varying degrees, from increased emphasis on what was already present to shifted focus or new inclusion of previously absent propositions. The incorporation of Coalition goals indicated assimilation of Christian Right ideology within the GOP, precipitated the Coalition's demise as a dissenting social movement organization, and widened the religion gap in American politics. The election of George W. Bush and dominionist interpretation of following events illustrate an increased Christian Right influence from within the Republican Party, which shifted further right in conjunction with the Christian Coalition's decline.

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