Christian Right as Civil Right: Covenant Marriage and a Kinder, Gentler, Moral Conservatism
The Christian Right has often been less effective in promoting legislative initiatives than one might expect for such a large and well organized interest group. Their primary political problem seems to have arisen from the types of initiatives that they have generally chosen. Specifically, their dir...
| Authors: | ; ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Springer
2002
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| In: |
Review of religious research
Year: 2002, Volume: 44, Issue: 2, Pages: 173-183 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The Christian Right has often been less effective in promoting legislative initiatives than one might expect for such a large and well organized interest group. Their primary political problem seems to have arisen from the types of initiatives that they have generally chosen. Specifically, their direct efforts to regulate and punish conduct that they morally disapprove have often provoked suspicion and resistance from others. In recognition of this political problem, some Christian Right activists have recently innovated new types of initiatives that allow and promote their preferred moral choices, without restricting or demeaning those of others. Based upon extensive interviews with political and religious elites involved with the 1997 Covenant Marriage Law of Louisiana and related initiatives elsewhere, we analyze the nature of this new strategy and its political effectiveness. We trace the evolution of the concept of choice of marriage regimes through unsuccessful proposals in several states, and show how the Louisiana initiative succeeded by effectively softening the usual opposition. Finally, we consider the potential for future use of this strategy for other issues. |
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| ISSN: | 2211-4866 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Review of religious research
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/3512515 |