Christian Coalition

{{christianity}}
{{cquote|The Christian Coalition (CC) has two central goals: to control the agenda of the Republican party by working from the grassroots up; and to train and elect pro-family, Christian candidates to public office.<ref>[http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/christian-coalition Christian Coalition of America]</ref>}}

The '''Christian Coalition''' is a special interest group founded by [[Pat Robertson]],  From 1988 to the year 2000 it was considered the ''de facto'' leader of the [[Religious Right]] and the Coalition was a significant force in the election victory of [[George W. Bush]].  [[Jerry Falwell]] was  willing to speak for them in 2000.
Their hegemony fell apart due to Pat's eccentricities and political differences.

==Controversial tactics==
They did, however, succeed in refining several tactics which have since been copied by the Religious Right on a larger scale.  These included publishing "nonpartisan" voter's guides to be distributed in churches in violation of those churches' [[tax-exempt]] status; fomenting demagoguery and [[moral panic]]s as a voter organizing/manipulation tool ("the [[Democratic Party|Democrats]] are going to BAN THE [[Bible|BIBLE]]!"); and forming local "[[Astroturf|grassroots]]" networks which took control of the [[Republican Party]] machinery in some states.

==Tax-exempt status==
After its founding the Christian coalition was granted tax-exempt status by the IRS as a 501(c) organization.  However complaints arose that the group engaged in partisan politics, which is not allowed for tax-exempt organizations.  The complaints stemmed from reports that voter guide pamphlets handed out in churches were in fact partisan, as well as a tape released by the [[Americans United for Separation of Church and State]] in which Pat Robertson, speaking to Coalition members, expressed a desire to emulate famous political machines.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/daily/june99/christian11.htm IRS Denies Christian Coalition Tax-Exempt Status, Washington Times 1999]</ref>  The IRS pulled their status, but after a long legal battle their status was restored.

==Decline==
In addition to tax troubles the Christian Coalition accumulated a large amount of debt, and members began to feel that the group was drifting away from its core goals of defending [[marriage]], [[Family values|strengthening the family]], and [[anti-abortion|opposing abortion]]. As an example of their evolving priorities, the organization sent out an email to members in support of [[net neutrality]].  The chapters in [[Ohio]] and [[Alabama]] broke away from the national group.  Of course, the Alabama breakaway stemmed from a dispute over a new state tax plan that the national group favored despite the state group's opposition.  The president of the Christian Coalition of Alabama complained that the movement had strayed from its traditional Christian commitment to low taxes...<ref>[http://articles.latimes.com/print/2006/sep/05/nation/na-coalition5 Christian Coalition Is Splintering, Los Angeles Times 2006]</ref>  The Christian Coalition still exists despite some loss of power, though what will happen when Pat Robertson finally dies, and a new leader emerges, is anyone's guess.

==Christian Broadcasting Network==
The [[Christian Broadcasting Network]] was also started by Pat Robertson and was linked to the Christian Coalition.<ref>[http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/christian-coalition Christian Coalition of America]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Religious right]]
*[[Republican Party]]
*[[TheocracyWatch]]

==External links==
*[http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/christian-coalition Christian Coalition of America]  Right Wing Watch
*[http://dangerousintersection.org/2011/08/07/scary-news-from-the-christian-coalition/ Scary News from the Christian Coalition]  As of 2011 they were still active and supported the [[Tea Party movement|Tea Party]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Political action groups]]
[[Category:Right-wing activists]]
[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]

Categories: Political action groups, Right-wing activists, Christianity, Homophobia