Freedom Writer - April 1996

ACTIVIST GUIDE
Communication techniques

Communication skills are crucial to the successful 
activist. Language communicates a message. A clear 
message highlights the real issues. Focusing on the 
real issues with the right message to the right target 
affects the desired change.

Recently, the Human Rights Campaign commissioned  Washington, 
DC-based Lake Research to find out what language and 
issues stirred voters. Since the Oklahoma City bombing, 
activist groups face a unique challenge in defining 
the "religious right." Voters still do not like the 
"radical right," but have come to have a very specific 
but narrow definition of who they are. The conclusions 
of this research are:

The best way to describe the right is as "religious 
political extremists." This term is strongly negative 
for every group of voters, including most religious 
voters. Some voters thought the term "religious right" 
meant "the right to choose or follow your own religion."

The best message is that they are extremists who would 
go too far and would use politics to impose their views 
on others. Voters believe that religious people can 
and should be involved in politics, but they dislike 
the idea of politics being used to try to dictate or 
impose one set of values on everyone. Voters dislike 
as well that the "religious right" uses and politicizes 
the public schools as the battleground to impose its 
views, and that it often divides and polarizes our 
communities.

The best vehicles to illustrate this are choice, sex 
education in the schools, and book banning in schools 
and public libraries — gay rights works as well. Also, 
Americans strongly believe in the separation between 
church and state, freedom of choice, and they resent 
attempts to dictate one set of views.

The best strategy should include a values-oriented, 
faith-based response. It is critical that we confront 
religious political extremists on a religious and values-based 
terrain, and our response to religious political extremists 
must include a faith-based response. Reaffirming values 
is important at a time when America worries about declining 
morals and family values.

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Freedom Writer / ifas@berkshire.net

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