When all is said and done, what was Reagans importance for conservative religion in America?
Reagan played a significant role in bringing conservative Christians into the political realm. Ironically, his not giving them what they wanted — when the presidency turned out not to be the prize that would deliver subsequent prizes, subsidiary prizes, they (with Pat Robertson playing a key role) decided, learned that they had not just to show up to vote; they had to become real, politically savvy activists. The Christian Coalition was much more important than the Moral Majority. The Moral Majority was largely an organization of ministers who said, “You should vote, and you should vote for the Republican Party.” The Christian Coalition said, “You should vote. You should talk to your neighbors about voting. You should go to precinct meetings. We want to get 10 members in every one of 175,000 precincts. We want to take over one of the major parties.” Interestingly, they could have done the same thing to the Democratic Party, but it was an easier task with the Republicans. Now, of cours
