I’d thought, inititally, of creating an annotated catalog of “Christian Right” related web sites, but as several other sites do a splendid job of the same, it seemed pointless to reinvent the wheel. They include the following:
Political Research Associates is “an independent, nonprofit research center that exposes and challenges the Right and larger oppressive movements, institutions, and forces. PRA produces accurate applied research and useful analytic tools to inform and support progressive activism that promotes equality and justice.” A virtual encylopedia of right-wing organizations, religious and otherwise. These folks do their homework—this is a serious approach by serious people who do the legwork and provide the raw data instead the usual hoopla. Public Research Associates is devoted to “studying the full spectrum of the US Political Right – from ultraconservatives in the electoral arena to paramilitary organizations to supremacist groups,” and the whole menagerie is nicely anatomized herein. Includes a superb list of right-wing and conservative groups. Subcategories include precisely annotated directories of “Groups undermining pluralist and modern education,” and articles including some essential resources on fundamentalism, millenarianism, and Christian Reconstructionism. And don’t miss the excellent online PP presentation, “The Right 101.”
Americans United for Separation of Church and State: The well-known and highly-effective lobbying and legal association is concerned with Religious Right Research; “Faith-Based” Initiatives; Religion in Public Life; Church Electioneering; Free Exercise of Religion; Religion in Public Schools; Religious School Funding/Vouchers; Marriage and Family Life; Religious Symbols on Public Property; and Judicial Nominations. Serves as umbrella for numerous religious and secular organizations that promote separation of church and state and offers a useful list of the same, along with a directory of AUfSoSAC chapters nationwide, as well as identifying current judicial activity in each area. Church & State Magazine available online as well.
Freedom From Religion Foundation (Madison, WI) is devoted to “promoting the constitutional principle of separation of state and church and to educating the public on matters relating to nontheism.” The organization files lawsuits, publishes Freethought Today, sponsors high school and college level essay contests on freethinking, and has established a “freethought book collection” at the University of Wisconsin Memorial Library as well as a 2,000-volume office collection.
The Radical Religious Right is is a bare-bones down-home collection of annotated links, and not a bad place to start any research on the subject.
The web site of the Center for Millenial Studies at Boston University does not appear to have been updated in some years, but includes papers on various subjects, including Islamic apocalypticism and an excellent set of links to churches, sects, institutions and organizations with an apocalyptic bent.
People for the American Way: the longstanding lobbying group’s Web site combination of rich content with sophisticated production values results in an essential source of up-to-date materials on the organization’s key areas of interest—Civic Participation, Independent Judiciary, Civil Rights, Religious Freedom, and Public Education; sidebars on the home page comprise “Recent News,” “Right Wing Watch,” “In the States” (individual states have their own pages—an excellent resource for following church-state issues in one’s own region), “On Capital Hill,” and “In the Courts.” Well-funded and heavily staffed. Boasts a remarkable collection of reports and a proud twenty-year history of grassroots activism.
Bruce Wilson and Frederick Clarkson host Talk2Action, an erudite, well-documented romp through the fields of, if not the Lord, then those who would seve as his surrogates. Bruce’s own description of the site is at once informative and inspiring in its own right; read it, then use the drop-down menu at upper-left to find a treasure-trove of great material on Dominionists, Rapturists, Premillenialist Tribulationists, Christian Reconstructionists, Christian Zionists, and good old fashioned money-grubbing televangelists to boot. I can personally vouch for the fact that these are good people. Use them.
