Freedom Writer - November 1995 BEST OF THE FREEDOM WRITER Christian Coalition enters New Y

Freedom Writer - November 1995

BEST OF THE FREEDOM WRITER
Christian Coalition enters New York City

By Joe Conason

Pat Robertson's political disciples are challenging 
the secular culture they want to destroy on its home 
ground. The Christian Coalition is organizing an active 
chapter in New York City, with the help of a high-ranking 
aide to City Council president Andrew Stein.

Venturing forth from a more hospitable environment 
upstate where the Coalition has already founded 16 
county chapters, its organizers held well-attended 
meetings in the city this spring at the Living Word 
Christian Center, an evangelical church and bookstore 
in lower Manhattan. While the New York City chapter 
is still tiny by any standard, the Coalition's presence 
shows how determined Robertson is to create a truly 
comprehensive national political structure. And the 
participation by Antonio Rivera, the Stein aide and 
evangelical Christian who is also — at least nominally 
— a Democrat, shows how pragmatic, even opportunistic, 
the Coalition Republican leaders can be in building 
an urban base.

The launch of the New York City chapter was handled 
with great care by the Coalition, which is based near 
Robertson's home in Chesapeake, Virginia. Addressing 
the city meetings were not only Jeff Baran and its 
mid-Atlantic regional chief Clay Mankamyer, but national 
field director Guy Rodgers, who oversaw a two-day leadership 
school for the new chapter's hard-core in April.

The message of Rodgers' opening speech was clear: Christians 
have not only the right to rule America, but a religious 
obligation to seek political power. Rodgers exhorted 
his listeners, most of whom were white and seemed to 
have had little previous experience in politics, on 
the "Biblical basis for political involvement." Seeming 
to grasp almost instinctively what might provoke the 
strongest reaction from a New York City audience, Rodgers 
focused on "militant homosexuals."

"They don't just want us to tolerate them," said Rodgers, 
a sharply dressed, thirtyish former high-school teacher. 
"They want to force us to accept their philosophy of 
life."

Should Christian Coalition be victorious one day, he 
explained, a rather different, far less tolerant ethos 
will prevail. Rodgers harked back a hundred years ago, 
or more, when New York City was the scene of big revival 
tent meetings, and in many states "those seeking public 
office had to be Christians who professed their belief 
in God." That was when the worst problems faced by 
the Christian community were "gambling, drunkenness, 
and public swearing."

"Oh, for the good old days!" he exclaimed, as his listeners 
laughed.

Rodgers warned that Christian New Yorkers turned political 
activists could expect to be reviled by the media. 
"They call us fundamentalist right-wing bigots," he 
said with a grin. "You can read about us in The New 
York Times." But, he asked rhetorically, "Is there 
something wrong with Christians ruling? Who is best 
qualified to exercise authority in civil government? 
Unbelievers?" The answer to those who might ask whether 
Christian Coalition is trying to install a theocracy 
is simple: "No. I'm not trying to establish anything. 
Jesus Christ already did that. I'm just living it out." 
Such a retort to critics, advised Rodgers, "will just 
blow 'em away."

Still, there were practicalities to be considered. 
Wickedness, Rodgers pointed out, "is always on the 
march," and nowhere more so than in the election precincts 
of New York. The second, all-day training session was 
devoted to teaching the Christian activists the intricacies 
of urban politicking — and to training them to accept 
the dictates of the Coalition's Virginia headquarters. 
Christian Coalition is not a democratically governed 
group, but a top-down, military-style organization. 
And nowhere was this clearer than when the new recruits 
were told — not asked — who their chapter would be 
supporting for the U.S. Senate next fall.

On the lower rungs of politics, the initial aims of 
the New York City chapter are modest. Terry Twerell, 
the pastor of the Living Word Center, and the Coalition's 
chief sponsor in the city, explained that for now it 
will focus on a few Manhattan neighborhoods. "Our first 
target is the City Council," he said, where a school 
voucher bill is currently pending. "With this bill, 
you could receive public support to send your children 
to a Christian school," he added.

That is where Rivera, the aide to Andrew Stein, came 
in. He was introduced warmly by Rev. Twerell, who noted 
that "Tony has opened City Hall to us, and every other 
Tuesday we hold a prayer meeting down there." Rivera's 
official title is deputy ombudsman of the city of New 
York, and he quickly added that "the Lord gave me that 
position." In fact, Rivera is a local Democratic hack 
from East Harlem who was given his job by other local 
pols after long years of service. But he has found 
a new vocation in right-wing politics since he "accepted 
the Lord" in 1985. Evangelical Christianity is a growing 
phenomenon in urban Hispanic communities, and one which 
may be increasingly tapped by Robertson and other conservatives 
for political as well as religious purposes.

Realizing that most New Yorkers are liberal and moderate 
Democrats, Rivera endorsed the Christian Coalition's 
method of concealing its real ideology behind a bland 
facade. "The majority of our leaders are pro-abortion," 
he said, explaining how Christians could involve themselves 
in local affairs. "So you don't go in there and say, 
'I'm an advocate against abortion.' No, you say, 'I'm 
interested in housing, or development, or sanitation.' 
And you keep your personal views to yourself until 
the Christian community is ready to rise up, and then, 
wow! They're gonna be devastated!"

Rivera then gave out his office phone number, promising 
to help any Christian Coalition candidates for local 
office maneuver through New York's Byzantine electoral 
process. Running its members for local GOP positions 
in Democratic strongholds like Manhattan is an important 
part of the Coalition's long-term national strategy 
for taking over the Republican Party, and an experienced 
pol like Rivera could be quite valuable in that effort.

In the meantime, however, state director Jeff Baran 
laid down the immediate marching orders as soon as 
Rivera concluded his talk. According to Baran, aside 
from supporting Bush and Quayle in November, the Coalition's 
national office is "very interested" in backing Senator 
Alfonse D'Amato, a scandal-scarred Republican whose 
poll ratings have plummeted. "We're gonna direct our 
people to support D'Amato," he said bluntly, and the 
national office will be sending money to New York chapters 
for voter guides to be distributed in churches that 
will compare the senator favorably to his Democratic 
challenger.

"Since we're doing the voter guides, we can manipulate," 
said Baran, who caught himself with a chortle. "We 
can instruct people how to vote. As a tax-exempt group, 
Christian Coalition can't endorse candidates, although 
we can tell our people to work for the guy. These voter 
guides are totally non-biased," added Baran, laughing.

D'Amato and Bush will presumably benefit from the non-partisan 
voter registration and canvassing efforts which the 
Coalition is currently undertaking across the state.

_First_published_in_the_May/June_1992_Freedom_Writer_

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