Freedom Writer

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Road to Victory

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Left to right: Christian Coalition executive director Ralph Reed, 
former U.S. vice-president Dan Quayle, political strategist Paul Weyrich, 
and David Barton of Wallbuilders.

By Skipp Porteous

On September 16th and 17th, 1994, the Christian Coalition held its 
fourth annual Road to Victory conference and strategy briefing in 
Washington, DC. Over 3,000 delegates from around the nation attended 
lectures and workshops on political activism at the Washington Hilton.
	
A parade of speakers entertained and inspired the audience every morning. 
Afternoon breakout sessions dealt with the nuts and bolts of politicking.
	
Pat Robertson was scheduled to deliver the opening remarks on Friday 
morning, but instead Ralph Reed promptly introduced the first keynote 
speaker, the Rev. D. James Kennedy. During Kennedy's sermon, a Christian 
Coalition spokesperson circulated among the press explaining Robertson's 
absence.
	
He said that a mid-flight explosion aboard Robertson's jet knocked 
out the hydraulic system and rendered the plane inoperable. The pilot 
returned the plane to the airport and the plane's controls failed 
immediately after landing. After Kennedy's speech, Reed publicly announced 
the steering problems, but didn't mention the alleged explosion.
	
D. James Kennedy preached about "real Christians" versus Christians 
"in name only." If real Christians become active, he said, they can 
return the nation to where it was 35 years ago. Thirty-five years 
ago, he claimed, we didn't have homosexuality, sex education, pornography, 
adultery, or condoms. What we did have, though, Kennedy noted, was 
prayer in school.
	
In an obvious attempt to deflect recent criticisms of anti-Semitism 
within the ranks of the Religious Right, the rest of the morning featured 
a lineup of conservative Jewish leaders. They included movie critic 
Michael Medved, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, and Boston Herald columnist Don 
Feder. 
	
Speaker after speaker echoed the theme of anti-Christian bigotry, 
angrily denouncing any and all who oppose the Christian Right's political 
agenda. Along the same line, most of the speakers attempted to paint 
the members of the Religious Right as mainstream Americans. "When 
the average American looks in the mirror," asserted Don Feder, "he 
is looking at the Religious Right."
	
"Giving Christians a voice in their government again" is the motto 
of the Christian Coalition. Claiming membership in excess of one million 
members, the Christian Coalition hardly represents America's 150 million 
Christians. "We don't want to dominate," said Ralph Reed, executive 
director of the Christian Coalition. "We simply want to participate."

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Copyright 1995 IFASThe Freedom Writer / ifas@crocker.com

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