Socially conservative political ideology rooted in Christianity
This article is about right-wing movements influenced by Christianity. For religious right-wing movements unrelated to Christianity, see Religious right.
Not to be confused with Conservative Christianity, a grouping of overlapping and denominationally diverse theological movements within Christianity that seeks to retain the orthodox and long-standing traditions and beliefs of Christianity.
The Christian right, otherwise referred to as the religious right, are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies.[3] Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with their interpretation of the teachings of Christianity.[7]
In the United States, the Christian right is an informal coalition which was formed around a core of conservative Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics.[11] The Christian right draws additional support from politically conservative mainline Protestants, Orthodox Jews, and Mormons.[13] The movement has its roots in American politics going back as far as the 1940s; and became dominant within American conservatism since the 1970s. Christian right gained powerful influence within the Republican party during the presidency of Ronald Reagan in the United States.[18] Its influence draws from grassroots activism as well as from focus on social issues and the ability to motivate the electorate around those issues.[19]
^ abDeckman, Melissa Marie (2004). School Board Battles: The Christian Right in Local Politics. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. p. 48. ISBN9781589010017. Retrieved April 10, 2014. More than half of all Christian right candidates attend evangelical Protestant churches, which are more theologically liberal. A relatively large number of Christian Right candidates (24 percent) are Catholics; however, when asked to describe themselves as either "progressive/liberal" or "traditional/conservative" Catholics, 88 percent of these Christian right candidates place themselves in the traditional category.
^Schweber, Howard (February 24, 2012). "The Catholicization of the American Right". The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 24, 2012. In the past two decades, the American religious Right has become increasingly Catholic. I mean that both literally and metaphorically. Literally, Catholic writers have emerged as intellectual leaders of the religious right in universities, the punditocracy, the press, and the courts, promoting an agenda that at its most theoretical involves a reclamation of the natural law tradition of Thomas Aquinas and at its most practical involves appeals to the kind of common-sense, 'everybody knows,' or 'it just is' arguments that have characterized opposition to same-sex marriage ... Meanwhile, in the realm of actual politics, Catholic politicians have emerged as leading figures in the religious conservative movement.
^Bowers, Paige (February 22, 2009). "Will the Recession Doom the Last Sunday Blue Laws?". Time. Retrieved October 6, 2020. Those states — Georgia, Connecticut, Texas, Alabama and Minnesota — enjoy overwhelming voter support for an extra day of sales, but face opposition from members of the Christian right, who say that selling on Sunday undermines safety and tears apart families.
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