Crisis of Faith. (cover story)

RELIGIOUS fundamentalism; CONSERVATISM & religion; POLITICAL doctrines; RIGHT-wing extremism; CHRISTIAN conservatism; RELIGIOUS right

Offers a look at the ways in which religious fundamentalism is splitting the Republican Party in the United States. Statement that Christian conservatives deploy the government against all sorts of perceived wrongs, including sexual trafficking, AIDS in Africa, gay unions poor parenting, teenage sex, euthanasia and others; Lack of a moral voice among liberals; Description of a faction within the Republican party that depends upon the government's laws to affirm virtue and reject vice; Influence of Judeo-Christian teachings on this faction's understanding of virtue; Increase of government size and spending under Republican President George W. Bush; Description of a faction of conservatives that promotes moral and cultural pluralism as well as government restraint; Importance of divided government to these conservatives; Inability of fundamentalists to compromise on issues such as the right to die, same-sex marriage, or stem cell research.