The Struggle For God The Power Of Conservative Christains In American Politics

Ever since the settlement of the New World, religion has played a central role inshaping the character of the United States. Due to their religious experience in the OldWorld, European settlers were very sensitive to the relationship between religion andpolitics. Consequently, even though the Establishment Clause was written into theFirst Amendment to the US Constitution, debates and controversies over it have neverceased in the United States. Some people argue that such a separation is absolute,others believe that there is no way to keep them completely apart.In comparison with the huge amount of scholarship on religion and politics in theUnited States, Chinese scholars, until recently, have not paid sufficient attention to thecomplex yet subtle relationship of the two. Moreover, those who have done somestudy on it mostly tend to explain it by examining the influence of religion on theformulation of American foreign policy. Only a few Chinese scholars have tried todiscuss the issue in American domestic context, and most of them are done in ageneral fashion, rather than in a manner of detailed study.The present thesis is an attempt to examine and analyze the important role religionplays in shaping and influencing American politics. Specifically speaking, it is goingto discuss the way Christian conservatives, particularly evangelicals, have tried tofashion and direct the public debate over abortion issue. In other words, by examiningevangelicals’ arguments and political activities in defense of their anti-abortionposition, the thesis tries to make a case that religion can and does have an importantimpact on the way politics operates in the United States.To this end, the thesis is divided into five parts, beginning with Introduction andending with Conclusion. In between, there are three chapters as the body of the thesis.Chapter One provides a brief account of historical background about church and statein America, discussing their ideas, experiences, and the meaning of the FirstAmendment. Following that, Chapter Two proceeds to examine the way religiousorganizations function as interest groups in American political process. It singles out several often used tactics by religious groups, such as direct action, lobbying, andpolitical campaign, to illustrate how religious organizations make themselves felt andheard in American politics. In Chapter Three, the thesis discusses in detail the actualpolitical behavior of Christian conservatives over the issue of abortion. To make thecase clear, two cases are used, one involving Protestants’ evangelicals, and the otherconservative Catholics.On the basis of the discussion and analysis of the relationship between religionand politics, particularly the examination of Christian conservatives’ politicalarguments and activity in reaction to abortion issue, the thesis points out that religion,when organized as a group, can and does influence politics like any other interestgroup in the United States. In this sense, the thesis concludes, religion and politics areinseparable, though, as two institutions, church and state are separate from each otherby the First Amendment to the US Constitution.