FUNDAMENTALISM AND POLITICAL ACTIVISM: A STUDY OF THE NEW CHRISTIAN RIGH

Alexis de Tocqueville once stated, "Religion in America takes no direct part in the government of society, but it must be regarded as the first of their political "institutions.".;Religion and politics have long had a relationship in this nation, and in the past decade that relationship has often been considered within the context of the dramatic rise of the New Christian Right. Derived from earlier religious movements within American fundamentalism, this group lays claim to the allegiance of an estimated fifty million Americans. Committed, vocal, and having communications resources and media techniques that reflect the state of the art in contemporary technology, the New Christian Right is a phenomenon that increasingly draws the attention of sociologists, religious scholars, and political scientists.;This dissertation looks at the growing political influence of the New Christian Right. It traces the history of fundamentalism in America, and focuses on the political activities of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Tim LaHaye, as illustrative of the growing political activism of leaders of the New Christian Right.;Survey research data in this dissertation reveal the following findings about the growth of the New Christian Right: (1) that the political agenda largely parallels that of secular conservatives, however, members of the New Christian Right appear to have more concerns about "lifestyle" issues than secular conservatives; (2) that fundamentalist Christians comprise a subculture that shares a theology with other evangelical Christians but are not synonymous with evangelical Christians; (3) that fundamentalist Christians have developed effective political means to disseminate their ideas, especially through the widespread use of contemporary media; (4) that the political activism displayed by the New Christian Right is not adequately explained by religious ideology.