CHAPTER 1

IN THE BEGINNING

My mission was to infiltrate the Christian Coalition, to get an inside view of what they are doing, and the methods they are using to accomplish their ambitious goals.  This might seem a rather strange attitude, since under normal circumstances most people could simply join the Coalition and, as a member, become fully aware of their activities. This is true, but within the group there are levels of secrecy designed to maintain confidentiality, and my assignment was to work my way through those levels in order to learn as much as possible and bring that knowledge back for the general public's information.

It must be understood that within the Coalition there exists a powerful 'them and us' mind-set.  The leaders of the group believe that they are chosen by God to do his work, and that all who are not with them are against them.  They further believe that they have a mandate from God to take positions of power by any means necessary.  Their strategy is based on covert action at almost every level, and there is therefore a high degree of suspicion and paranoia among them.

I wanted to find every organization that had any kind of connection to the Religious Right in general and the Christian Coalition in particular.  I contacted the offices of Dr. James D. Kennedy for information regarding his "Reclaiming America" conference, the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), and others who gradually steered me in the direction I was trying to go.

Along with my new identity, I had set up an address in California, since this seemed to be where most of the major Right Wing activity was taking place. Every Coalition representative I spoke with said that, "if we can get it through in California, we can get it through the entire nation."  I called Marge Schrader, head of the National Office of the Christian Coalition in Virginia Beach, told her of my interest in the organization, and asked if she could give me the names of any contacts in my area. She was very friendly, and suggested I call Will Harris, the Field Director for Northern California, based in Sacramento, and Joan Foresman, who headed the Napa chapter.

Will Harris and his wife, Greta, were active in their Presbyterian Church at the time, and he explained to me how the Coalition works.   If the pastor has agreed to allow the Coalition to bring their political program into his church, he will then stand aside and encourage some of the more outspoken members of his flock to take the next step.  These members then approach other parishioners, and gradually sway them with their concerns about the need to be informed in order to vote in a Christian way. Once there is sufficient support, the Coalition's Liaison will Provide voter guides and other material for distribution to the entire congregation.  At no time has the pastor been directly involved in this process, so there is no impression whatsoever that the church is acting improperly.

Will Harris gave me more specific details,

"We may be able to get only, say, twenty four people in an area to be openly active, but think, those twenty four can influence eight hundred people in the congregation.  In New York, we worked with the Catholic churches and managed to put five pro-family (this is a code-word for Robertson supporters) candidates on the school board.  This represented quite a defeat to the Liberals, and in New York!"

Harris seemed particularly pleased with this accomplishment. He also emphasized the need for duplicity.

"The pastor and his church staff appear to stand clear ... only preaching the message of salvation.  He is not seen preaching politics.  This is a scheme that is working well."

This is a perfect example of the stealth campaign being waged right now, all over America.  The Religious Right doesn't really need a large army of people to accomplish its goals.  It is so well organized that it can do it with only a few motivated people in each area.  But the Coalition's influence is everywhere, seeping into the system, and bit by bit it is saturating the very fabric of our freedom.

"Working with churches gives us a huge advantage since we, as churches, gather every week in a non-political setting."

D.J.Gribbin, National Field Director of the Christian Coalition at a 'training school', January 13, 1994.

My next contact was with Doug Swardstrom, who is responsible for the Coalition's data base of members and voters in every area of the country. He told me there were two membership levels: the first one cost $100 a year, and the second was a sustaining' membership for $300 a year.  Both of these are actually the same, but the second one is simply for people who can afford more, and therefore consider themselves upgraded to a higher category.

When I said to Doug,

"Something must be done ... and I guess if the churches don't do it, it will not be done,"

he responded with a statement that was a perfect example of the Coalition's attitude. He said,

"The church has become the most powerful political force in America today ... we just need to become better mobilized and coordinated, that is what we are now doing.  We really appreciate your help."

If people like Doug have their way, the separation of church and state will soon be a thing of the past, and we will have stepped back two hundred years in time.

In January 1994 I attended the Reclaiming America Conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  This event was led by Dr. James D. Kennedy, who is an active participant and strong supporter of the Christian Coalition.  Many well-known personalities in the Christian movement took turns speaking to the spellbound crowd.  These were the same people I would see time and again at all the Religious Right conventions I attended, hammering home their message to the faithful.

The speaker who intrigued me most was Dr. Robert Simons, the head of Citizens for Excellence in Education (SEE). Dr. Simons subscribes to the belief that self esteem is a tool of the devil, a point of view that is truly extraordinary in one who is involved with education. His goal is to extend the grip of Pat Robertson's theocracy all the way into the classrooms of every school in the country. He said, "There are 2,240 school boards that have been taken over by the Christian Right. This means we own that school when our people are on the board. We can hire and fire the principals, the superintendents, and so on." 6,500 people have been elected to school boards thanks to the efforts of Dr. Simons and the SEE. 885 churches are enrolled in his program. Citizens for Excellence in Education has 28 State Directors and 25 1,000 members. Dr. Simons told me that if he can raise three and a half million dollars, he can take over every school district in America within three years, and he maintains an army of 150 special workers standing by, ready to achieve this goal.

Before moving on to my reports of training sessions and other meetings, I'd like to introduce some of the other people in the Christian Coalition.

Sara Hardman is a member of Jack Hayford's Church On The Way, as are several others within the organization. Sara was raised a Catholic, was divorced, got into New Age mysticism, then found the light. She is a powerful, extremely influential individual who knows all the key people in the Christian Right.

Pastor Scott Bauer is an associate pastor with Jack Hayford's Church On The Way, who is so convinced by the Christian Coalition's rhetoric that he actually uses Scripture to prove that the Bible has nothing to say about ministers, priests, evangelists or teachers getting involved in politics.

Guy Rogers was Pat Robertson's campaign manager during the 1988 presidential bid. In 1996 he started out as Pat Buchanan's manager, left him to work with Phil Gramm, and when Gramm pulled out of the race, Rogers formed his own firm in Virginia Beach, and still works behind the scenes for Pat Robertson. His business card states that he "Specializes in Legislative & Campaign Consulting, Event Management and Coalition Development."

Joe Farrar, the former editor of the Sacramento Union (no longer in business), now has his own alternative newspapers. He attends Coalition training sessions to instruct members on how Christians can use the media to spread their message.

Kevin Teasel, the one who introduced Proposition 174, the school voucher idea. He claims that the defeat of that bill was actually a victory, since thirty five states now have a school voucher initiative in the works.

Lorelei Kinder handles Crisis Exercises, and trains members to deal with pastors who do not want to bring politics into their church.

These, then, are some of the players in this shadow-game of Christian hardball politics. Now let's take a look at some of the things they do, and how they do them.

GO TO CHAPTER TWO

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