As Focus on the Family steps more forcefully into the political sphere, groups that have long sought to counter the influence of Christian social conservatives sense that momentum might be shifting their way.
But political scientists caution that while secular and religious liberals may be more driven to offer an alternative voice in the current climate, a more likely scenario is that activists on both sides get energized.
“I don’t know if there is a major groundswell in changes of opinion,” said Jim Guth, a political science professor at Furman University in Greenville, S.C. “These are issues that have been with us for a while. But who gets mobilized and who doesn’t on particular issues, and what kinds of marginal groups get drawn in, often determines what happens.”
Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family and its allies have seized the spotlight since “moral values” were hailed as an Election Day difference-maker.
Focus on the Family and its influential founder, child psychologist James Dobson, have exchanged barbs with Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., and staked out strong positions on Terri Schiavo’s end-of-life care and the fate of judicial filibusters.
Dobson is in Washington, D.C., for today’s National Day of Prayer. His wife, Shirley, heads up the National Day of Prayer Task Force, which organizes and promotes local and state observances with an evangelical Christian perspective.
Citing public opinion on Schiavo and the filibuster, secular critics and liberal Christian groups say a backlash is underway. A Gallup poll released this week found 43 percent of Americans agreed with the statement “The religious right holds too much influence over Congress,” a 4 percentage-point increase over last month.
“If one thing makes people uncomfortable, it’s the manipulation of religious faith for political gain,” said Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way, a liberal group founded in the early 1980s to counter the influence of Moral Majority. “What James Dobson has been doing is tantamount to religious McCarthyism.”
Carrie Gordon Earll, a senior policy analyst for Focus on the Family, countered that such attempts to demonize Dobson are rooted in jealousy of the ministry’s success and are aimed at silencing religious voices in the public square.
“If anything, what this whole topic points to is for people to understand our constitutional rights to be involved as citizens,” Earll said. “It’s being painted as the ‘p’ word – political – something people should not be involved in.”
John Green, a University of Akron political scientist who specializes in religion and politics, said Focus’ activities are winning points with its core supporters, which is far more important strategically than shaping mass public opinion.
“In a closely divided electorate, intense minorities on one side or another really matter,” he said.
Green said political influence is cyclical, so hope exists for liberal believers pining for a comeback. In the ’60s and ’70s, liberal Christians were active on civil rights, women’s rights and the Vietnam War, he said.
In the past 25 years, the reverse has taken place. Even so, liberal Christians “have a long way to go,” Green said.
Though it’s hard to measure such things, there is evidence that the increased profile of social conservative groups has reinvigorated their opponents.
Jim Wallis, a liberal evangelical, is winning converts at book signings and on TV with his message that the left needs to reclaim the banner of faith, especially in fighting poverty.
The Rev. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance, believes Focus on the Family’s higher political profile also may cause disenchantment among some of its supporters.
“When Dr. Dobson transferred his authority as a facilitator of healthy families to being a prognosticator about partisan politics, he brought along with him many people whose trust had been won in one realm that is now being played upon in another realm,” Gaddy said.
Earll says the ministry’s supporters are behind its recent efforts. She said Focus on the Family does not choose its battles according to polls, but rather based on “what’s best for people and what’s consistent with the social science data we have.”
“We are led and motivated by what we believe is absolute truth, which are biblical principles,” Earll said.
A common thread exists in many of Focus on the Family’s recent causes: the belief that judges have been taking the country in the wrong direction for three decades. The ministry points to court rulings for legalized abortion and gay marriage and against school prayer.
Most recently, Focus on the Family has taken up the cause of judicial filibusters, arguing Senate Democrats have abused the tactic to block conservative Bush nominees.
In the end, an energized religious and secular left might win new support if it frames the court debate as an attack on the independence of the judicial system, said professor Guth.
“That reframes the issue from unpopular court-making decisions to more fundamental questions about how the constitutional system works,” he said.
Staff writer Eric Gorski can be reached at 303-820-1698 or egorski@denverpost.com.
