ABSTRACT
In the Bush administration, the most important-and certainly most visiblespecial interest group that has contributed to the political gridlock of our democracy is the religious right, or more correctly, the Christian right. These evangelicals-political, if not religious-have set the agenda for politics in America by directing attention to so-called wedge issues like abortion, gay marriage, and stem cell research while obfuscating topics like the civilian death toll in Iraq, the devastation of New Orleans, the lack of adequate health care, the widening gap between rich and poor, and our disintegrating environment. They do it with a smile on their face and a mandate by God, a point of view against which it is diffi cult to debate.
