Not by Politics Alone: The Enduring Influence of the Christian Right

As surprisingly large numbers of Christian men began arriving in Washington, D.C., for a 1997 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 the Christian Right beyond what is commonly known about its electoral clout, shedding light on the rarely seen boundaries and intersections where politics and culture converge. While highlighting the movement's alliance with the Republican Party, Diamond examines how conservative evangelical groups have maintained their influence for more than two decades by drawing from a web of grassroots cultural institutions--including publishing houses, law firms, broadcast stations, and church-centered community programs--designed to meet their adherents' personal, as well as ideological, needs.