RELIGIOUS RIGHT

The Rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party in the State of Georgia

The Rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party, in the State of Georgia

Introduction

Religion in America continues to be one of the great predictors of political identity. Gallup is out with new survey results today showing just how true this political reality continues to be today.

Nearly half, 49%, of Americans who consider themselves “very religious” are Republicans or lean to the GOP, compared to 30% of those who consider themselves “nonreligious.” Among those who consider themselves “moderately religious,” 38% identify with the Republican party. Fifty-two percent of nonreligious Americans are Democrats or lean Democratic, as do 44% of the moderately religious.

Gallup reports that 40% of Americans are very religious, 31% are nonreligious, and 28% are moderately religious. Religiosity is determined by how important a respondent says religion is in daily life and how frequently he/she attends services.

The Republican bent of religious voters is especially pronounced among whites, but it's also a factor among Hispanics and Asians. African Americans, as is well-known, are an exception (very religious black Americans are more likely to lean Democratic than the nonreligious). Among whites, 62% of the very religious identify with the GOP compared with just 33% of the nonreligious.

The relationship between faith and politics is much deeper and richer than people's and parties' views of hot-button issues such as abortion and marriage. It's also determined by the manner in which public figures on the left and the right talk about faith, treat issues important to religious Americans, and prioritize the role of faith in public life.

Discussion

That of Georgia is not an isolated case: After confirmation of the Bush White House of the religious right organizations are now back on the offensive and initiatives to exclude evolution from the school curriculum have been undertaken - at the political level or appeals to the courts - Texas, Ohio, Missouri, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Mississippi (Rudin 2006). At the beginning of the twenty-first century, religion is a central component of the permanent American political debate. When did this influence? Broadly speaking, the religious discourse (both symbolic and rhetorical) is inseparably associated with American patriotism from the very origins of the nation (Porter Prince 201). This phenomenon has been described by Robert Bellah Rousseau with the term civil religion (civil religion), or the glue of religious ideas common to all the traditional American denominations (from Catholics to Protestants, Jews to Mormons), which is the basis of American nation and is celebrated daily in the political rhetoric.

The Second World War changed this state of things, as a result of profound social changes, which on one side changed for the worse the social status of the largely white middle class, introduced the other - with the civil rights movement - new questions about the political scene (Meyers 2006). This reorientation of American culture and the mentality was consolidated, between the '60s and '70s, first with the protest against the Vietnam War, and then with ...