The Christian Century

In an essay in the New York Times, written prior to the presidential election and its tension-filled aftermath, author Alan Ehrenhalt argues that the dominant fact of our political life during the late 1960s to the early 1990s, or what he calls the Republican era, was a cultural backlash “against rising rates of crime, illegitimate birth and drug addiction, and a defense of relig

Republicans are far more likely to doubt the theory of evolution than Democrats, according to a new Gallup Poll.

Differences on abortion rights, stem cell research and even the veracity of evolution became evident this month among the Republican presidential candidates in their first major debate.

The number of Americans—particularly white evangelical Protestants —who view the Republican Party as friendly to religion has fallen from 55 percent last year to 47 percent, according to a poll released last month. And less than half of the population (44 percent) holds a favorable view of Christian conservatives.

The Republican courting of black clergy, evident during the 2004 presidential campaign, has picked up the pace again, to the dismay of some Democrats.

The Vatican and the United States were close allies during the 1980s phase of the cold war. Republican President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II seemed to campaign shoulder to shoulder to oppose Soviet communism, especially in the pontiff’s homeland of Poland, and to combat abortion.