c. 1996 Religion News Service

(RNS)-Just in time for the upcoming election season, a number of new books by conservative religious leaders-and some of their critics-raise intriguing questions about the power of the Religious Right and the popular appeal of its agenda.”Active Faith”by Christian Coalition Executive Director Ralph Reed is the most eagerly awaited book because of the Coalition’s high-profile role in national politics. Reed’s book, which will be published later this month (May 27), already is making news.

Reed suggests the Religious Right risks irrelevance and obscurity if it seeks to change hearts through coercion. The Right, he says in an excerpt published in the May 13 issue of Newsweek, must”shun harsh language on critical issues-chiefly abortion, Clinton-bashing, and homosexuality-and learn to speak of our opponents with charity”if it is to achieve a”changed society and a thoroughly Judeo-Christian culture.” Reed isn’t the only one writing about the power of the Religious Right these days. Advocates ranging from conservative Marvin Olasky to liberal evangelical Jim Wallis have also weighed in with books.

Here is a capsule look at some of the most prominent books of the season on the Religious Right:

“Active Faith”(Free Press) by Ralph Reed

Hired by Pat Robertson in 1989 to convert Christians who supported Robertson’s failed 1988 presidential bid into an army of grassroots activists, Reed, executive director of the Christian Coalition, spelled out his vision for America in”Politically Incorrect”(Word), published before the 1994 elections.

In”Active Faith,”Reed explains how the broad-based movement he describes as”conservative, traditional, religious and pro-family”is”no longer on the outside throwing rocks.” Speaking about his book in the May/June issue of the Christian Coalition’s”Christian American”magazine, Reed said Republican victories in 1994, the Christian Coalition’s introduction of its”Contract with the American Family”in May 1995, and his own efforts to build bridges with Catholics and racial minorities have paid off.”The Republican landslide brought us to the same place the feminist movement and labor movement have had for years-full partners in a governing coalition,”he says.

In a Newsweek excerpt of the book, Reed said,”If religious conservatives are wise, they will resist the temptation to replace the social engineering of the left with the social engineering of the right by forcing compliance with the moral principles that motivate us so deeply.” “The Most Dangerous Man In America? Pat Robertson and the Rise of the Christian Coalition”(Prometheus) by Rob Boston

Rob Boston is no impartial observer. He writes for Church & State, a publication of the liberal Washington-based advocacy group Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and he’s one of the Christian Coalition’s most ardent critics.

Boston describes Reed as”the smiling, nicely groomed young man who stands before the cameras.”He portrays Coalition founder Robertson as a deceptive, theologically off-the-wall and financially unethical figure who”seeks to make the United States a fundamentalist Christian version of Iran with himself installed as chief ayatollah.” Boston’s book is no calm, objective report. But his exploration of Robertson and Reed-particularly his analysis of the two men’s seemingly contradictory statements about church-state separation-is an eye-opener.

“Renewing American Compassion”(Free Press) by Marvin Olasky

House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., is a big fan of welfare reform guru Olasky, and he has written the foreword to this non-wonkish welfare-reform manifesto.

Olasky, professor at the University of Texas at Austin and editor of World magazine, a conservative Christian newsweekly, is one of the leading lights of conservative welfare reform. He says tinkering with the present welfare system won’t do. Olasky advocates phasing out federal programs and replacing them with private and religious charities that promote human transformation through personal involvement.

“Who Speaks for God? The New Spiritual Politics Beyond the Religious Right”(Delacorte Press) by Jim Wallis

Wallis, editor of Sojourners magazine and a leader of the Washington, D.C.-based Sojourners community, which advocates social justice, argues that Americans have been presented with a false choice between the Religious Right and”the hollow secularism”of the left. A leader of the”Cry for Renewal”movement, Wallis calls for a new politics of compassion, community and civility.

Wallis offers a simple test for evaluating the sincerity of proposals on welfare or other matters from Christian political groups:”Who speaks for God? When the voice of God is invoked in behalf of those who have no voice, it is time to listen. But when the name of God is used to benefit the interests of those who are speaking, it is time to be very careful.” “Our Character, Our Future”(Zondervan) by Alan Keyes

A former diplomat, Keyes is a quixotic candidate for the GOP presidential nomination. He is a conservative African-American and a passionate, articulate voice for moral renewal in American society and politics. This book is a collection of speeches and newspaper columns. A staunch opponent of abortion, Keyes also attacks welfare, Afrocentrism, black liberals, gang summits and creeping secularism.

“Our Hopes, Our Dreams: A Vision for America”(Focus on the Family) by Gary Bauer

Bauer worked in the Reagan administration before signing on as president of the Washington-based Family Research Council. The conservative advocacy group was once a wing of James Dobson’s Focus on the Family ministry and is now an independent organization.

Full of condemnation for the news media and other”cultural elites,”Bauer advocates a get-tough approach to crime and punishment, a less-is-more approach to taxation and government, a back-to-the-basics-and-Bible approach to education, and a no-compromise approach to abortion.

Bauer’s proposal for restoring patriotism isn’t exactly forward-looking:”Plan a `Canteen Night’ at your church, synagogue, or neighborhood center. Get tapes of the wartime hits of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, the Andrews Sisters, and the Mills Brothers. Rent some classic videos, like Frank Capra’s `Why We Fight’ and the English favorite `Mrs. Miniver.’ Ask a veteran to describe his or her experiences during the war. Finish the evening by joining in the singing of Irving Berlin’s `God Bless America.'”

Conservative Jews also have joined the chorus of Religious Right voices.”While I don’t share the theology of a Ralph Reed … I identify completely with (his) morality,”writes Don Feder, a columnist for the Boston Herald, in his new book,”Who’s Afraid of the Religious Right?”(Regnery).”How could it be otherwise? Our values derive from the same source.” Besides Feder, other politically and socially conservative Jewish authors producing books include:”Think a Second Time”(Regan-HarperCollins) by Dennis Prager

This is a collection of essays on social and political issues by a Los Angeles-based television and radio personality who specializes in moral themes.”Hollywood vs. Religion”(HarperCollins) by Michael Medved

Medved, the New York Post movie critic, is a favorite with the family values set. This 1992 book was released in video form in 1995 by Focus on the Family.

LJB END RABEY