The Council for National Policy

A number of the conservative foundations were religious and could potentially influence hundreds of thousands of voters or more. For example, the Council for National Policy was created by Christian conservatives in 1981 and financed by T. Cullen Davis, Nelson Bunker Hunt, and others. Its first president was the very influential Rev. Dr. Tim LaHaye, who later wrote the “Left Behind” books about end times , which begin with momentous events in the Middle East. It is not clear how much influence the run-away best sellers had upon the administration of George W. Bush, but the Bush White House carefully consulted it on many matters, particularly foreign policy, and sent top-level speakers to it. The CNP temporarily had its tax exemption lifted in the 1990s because it is a secret organization and its activities could be seen as being politically partisan. Its companion organization is Concerned Women for America, led by Rev. La Beverley, a Religious Right leader.

A similar operation was the Institute on Religion and Democracy, founded in 1981, is an important organization in this Neo Conservative effort to combat U.S. Christian assistance for social justice programs in Latin America. Its goal was to prevent to prevent mainline Protestant churches from funding leftist movements south of the border. It strongly supported counterinsurgency and opposed President Jimmy Carter's efforts to promote human rights in the region. The IRD tried to project a moderate image and distance itself from the New Right. Nevertheless, some of its board members like Paul Sabury had New Right connections-- in his case, Freedom House. The Adolph Coors Trust and Richard Mellon Scaife fund it. According to Reverend Dr. Andrew Weaver, a research psychologist, IRD is behind “a systematic effort to undermine mainline churches that still have democratic, transparent processes.” By weakening the commitment of these churches on peace and justice issues, the IRD will eventually weaken the National Council of Churches as a religious conscience voice. IRD and similar groups have backed efforts to promote conservative take-overs in denominations by embroiling them in debates over wedge issues.



Sherman has written African American Baseball: A brief History, which can be acquired from LuLu Publishing on line.http://www.lulu.com/browse/search.php?search_forum