Christian right
The Christian right, also known as the Reli-
gious Right and the Evangelical Bloc, is a
term used predominantly in the United States
and Canada to describe a spectrum of right-
wing Christian political and social move-
ments and organizations characterized by
their strong support of conservative social
and political values. The politically active so-
cial movement of the Christian right includes
individuals from a wide variety of conservat-
ive theological beliefs, ranging from tradi-
tional movements within Pentecostalism, fun-
damentalist Christianity and Mormonism to
the sections of Lutheranism and Catholicism
that are theologically more conservative than
their mainstream denominations.
The Christian right is contrasted with the
Christian left, a spectrum of left-wing Christi-
an political and social movements which
largely embrace polices of social justice.
Terminology
The terms Christian right and Religious right
are often used interchangeably, although the
terms are not synonymous. Religious right
can refer to any religiously motivated conser-
vative movement, whether specific to one re-
ligion or shared across religious lines. For ex-
ample, conservative Christians, Muslim social
conservatives, and Orthodox Jews cooperate
in national and international projects through
the World Congress of Families and United
Nations NGO gatherings.[1] Christian right
on the other hand refers to only the Christian
segment of the Religious right and includes
leaders who are outspoken critics of radical
Islam and other faiths, regardless of their
political leanings.[2]
The term Christian right is used by people
from a wide range of conservative political
and religious viewpoints, for self identifica-
tion and outside commentary. Some 15% of
the electorate in the United States tell poll-
sters they align themselves with the Christi-
an right, which serves as an important voting
bloc within the U.S. Republican Party. In re-
cent years, Christian right groups have ap-
peared in other countries than the United
St