Using the rhetoric of the First Amendment, a string of US Supreme Court cases has allowed members of some religious groups to limit the freedoms of other Americans.
A scholar of religion and politics explains how Robertson led the way in blending religion with political commentary and paved the way for a wider influence of Christian media on American culture.
Pat Robertson, founder of the global Christian Broadcasting Network, blended religion into American politics and played an important role in the Republican Party.
It was in the 1990s that the idea of Christian environmental stewardship disappeared from the rhetoric of the religious right, paving the way for the anti-environmental position it holds today.
Richard Flory, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The appeal of Jerry Falwell Jr., who resigned as president of Liberty University following a sex scandal, came from his family legacy. His late father, Jerry Falwell Sr., wielded enormous influence.
A historian explains the impact of culture and American Hollywood heroes such as John Wayne who have helped fashion the ideal of a masculine Christianity.
Conservative Christian women have played key roles in the anti-abortion movement for decades, but their contributions are often overlooked in language that focuses on men.
The National Council of Churches, which represents 38 Christian denominations, has long been the voice of progressive religion. But over the years, its influence has waned.
A Trump prophecy movement believes that his election was part of God’s plan. This round up from our archives explains a fast- growing Christian movement and some others from the past.
The Christian right’s response to pornography in recent history is complicated. The moral conviction against porn remains strong, but there is also sympathy for its consumers.
Trump embraced evangelicals in his first year as president. Here, scholars provide historical context to how the religious right has shaped American politics over the past decades.
Richard Flory, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Falwell Sr. was a pastor who founded the Moral Majority, a conservative Christian political lobbying group. He changed the way American Christians think about their faith and politics.
Christian sexuality websites present evangelicalism as a sex-positive religious tradition. At the same time, they also reinforce conservative ideas about same-sex marriages.
Richard Flory, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Younger evangelicals have a very different view of their faith.Their perspective on issues such as immigration and economic inequality differs widely from that of the religious right.