When Democrats lost control of Congress in 1994, the Religious Right claimed a major role in their defeat and House Speaker Newt Gingrich credited the "organized Christian vote" with the Republican victory. Ministers from many political persuasions have long been active in American politics, but in the 1980s and 1990s it has seemed impossible to find any political controversy that did not involve the clergy -- often on both sides of the issue.
In this first major study of clergy and politics in more than twenty years, five social scientists tell how and why the theological orthodoxy and modernism that divides American Protestants into two camps increasingly correlates with today's political climate. Drawing on two decades of extensive survey research conducted with thousands of ministers nationwide, they explore the political attitudes and behavior of the clergy in eight mainline and evangelical Protestant denominations -- including Southern Baptist, Assemblies of God, United Methodist, and Presbyterian.
In addressing the nature and extent of clerical participation, The Bully Pulpit asks the following questions: How do different groups of ministers see their role in politics? What kinds of activities do they approve or disapprove? How active are contemporary Protestant clergy in politics? What factors account for the level and kinds of participation? It also questions whether analyses of clerical activism made in the 1960s and 1970s can be said to apply to Protestants today.
The authors' findings reveal that traditionalists who seek moral reform tend to make pronouncements in religious settings, while modernists interested in social justice are more active in a wide range ofpolitical activities. They also indicate that the "New Breed" liberals are just as active as the Religious Right, citing the long heritage of mainline Protestant politics that continues in the tradition of activist ministers of the 1960s and 1970s. Their book offers an unbiased measure of political activism among both conservative and liberal clergymen at the end of the century and helps us understand the current state of the relationship between church and state in America.
Industry Reviews
"This book should convince even skeptics that religious ideas have practical consequences. The authors reveal the elective affinity between conservative theology and political conservatism on the one hand and liberal theology and political liberalism on the other. But their story is far from simple. Combining vignettes and survey data, they also reveal the subtle interplay of beliefs and social factors. A valuable book."--Leo P. Ribuffo, author of The Old Christian Right"A fine book that provides invaluable help as we struggle to understand the contemporary political role of the Protestant clergy, America's most underappreciated political elite."--Ken Wald, author of Religion and Politics in the United States
"The premier empirical analysts on the role of religion in American politics provide solid factual evidence on the theological orientations, social philosophies, and party alignments of ministers in eight Protestant denominations. Their findings brilliantly illuminate the roots of political behavior in contrasting theological persuasions."--A. James Reichley, author of The Life of the Parties "The authors have produced a work of particular interest to social scientists and politicians that unravels many of the mysteries of clergy participation in civic and social justice issues."--Library Journal"This book is indispensable to anyone who hopes to understand American Protestant politics. Its considerable excellences include a delightful mix of anecdotes and hard data; some subtle distinctions between theology, social theology, and eschatology (all separately measured); a solid grasp of the way that social change influences politics; and a deep understanding of the eight denominations that are being studied."--Political Science Quarterly
"A fine piece of scholarship and well written."--Journal of the American Academy of Religion
