On the strength of their considerable successes in the 1992 elections, the Christian Coalition has stepped up its effort to train a new generation of "Christian'' political leaders. The group's principal vehicle in this effort is a series of "Leadership Schools,'' scheduled in more than seven cities over the next few months.
The most recent session was in Manassas, Virginia, within a stone's throw of the site of the Battle of Bull Run. The 50 or so participants were instructed on a variety of matters, including the nuts and bolts of political campaign organization, how to get around tax laws barring the use of church monies for political purposes, and the proper roles of government and church as seen through the Christian Coalition's eyes.
The session was led by Christian Coalition Mid-Atlantic Regional Director, Clay Mankamyer, who began the session with an exercise reminiscent of the children's game of "Simon Says.'' "Put your arm out to your side,'' he said, while following his own direction. The group complied. "Now place your hand on your chin,'' he directed, while placing his hand on his cheek. As participants reached for their cheeks, he shrieked in apparent joy . "That's not your chin. You did what I did, not what I said.'' The apparent object lesson: people follow without thinking.
Mankamyer then proceeded to lay out the Christian Coalition's bona fides. The group itself claims to be attracting 25,000 new members each month, while supporting some 850 local chapters around the nation. The Leadership Schools, he explained, are expected to graduate some 5,000 activists this year.
With the facts and figures out of the way, Mankamyer moved on to an elaborate discussion of how to enlist churches into the business of campaigning. The issue is a particularly touchy one for the Coalition because it involves using church money for partisan campaigning, a practice frowned on by the Internal Revenue Service. Although Mankamyer made no mention of it, the Christian Coalition is now operating under the shadow of an IRS investigation into just this issue, because tax laws prohibit the use of tax-deductible contributions for campaigning. Mankamyer's instructions, however, encouraged participants to see to it that churches provide selective information to church members. Under the scheme, pastors might deliver a sermon on the strengths of a favorite candidate or on the activities of a particular political action committee. Moreover, he said, the Christian Coalition should be used as a middle man between churches and campaigns. Under the plan, churches might, for example, provide volunteer labor to the Christian Coalition which would, in turn, work to elect a candidate.
As an example of the effectiveness of such approaches, Mankamyer cited the case of a Ken Stolle--a 1991 candidate for the Virginia legislature. The Coalition, Mankamyer claimed, arranged for churches in Stolle's district to conduct phone banks to identify likely voters and then get them out to the polls.
Mankamyer also cited his group's efforts in the recent New York City school board races. Speaking before the May 4 elections, Mankamyer said, "We've got candidates in almost every district. And we're going to load those boards up.'' His remarks stood in sharp contrast to claims by New York City Christian Coalition leaders, who had steadfastly denied fielding slates of candidates.
Still, for Mankamyer, disclosing just who those candidates are is another matter altogether. In fact, stealth campaign tactics were a major theme of the session. Bob Marshall, a member of the Virginia state assembly, defended the approach: "You're not mo rally obliged to say all things to all people....You don't have to answer every question, and if you do, you're going to get yourself in trouble.'' That advice has been heeded across the country over the past two years--and not just in New York--as candidates running with the support of the Christian Coalition have sought and won election to a variety of offices without ever owning up to their true agendas.
But for all the defenses of the Coalition's various methods of circumventing democratic principles, the bulk of the discussion was devoted to good old fashioned political organizing--voter registration, voter identification, and get-out-the-vote efforts in particular. As Mankamyer put it in a particularly ugly moment, "Christians can outvote the homosexuals, but the homosexuals vote. [You think] we can't outmaneuver these people? They haven't even gotten the boy/girl thing right. I mean, come on.''
Perhaps the most telling discussion of the session, however, dealt with Mankamyer's views on separation of church and state. While scrupulously avoiding the word "theocracy,'' he insisted that the government should be subservient to the church. Calling secular government a mistake, he explained that authority was intended to begin with God, be passed through Christ, ministered in churches and implemented "through the man, into the family....This is supposed to be the civic governmental structure.'' One long-term goal of the Christian Coalition, therefore, is to turn governmental bodies into "areas of ministry. ''
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