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The group’s annual revenue has shrunk to one- twentieth of what it was a decade ago – from a peak of $26 million in 1996 to $1.3 million in 2004 – and it has left a trail of unpaid bills from Texas to Virginia. Among the creditors who have sued the coalition for nonpayment are landlords, direct-mail companies, lawyers and at least one former employee seeking back pay.
It has even come to this: The company that moved the group out of its Washington headquarters in 2002 went to small-claims court Friday in Henrico County trying to collect $1,890 that remains unpaid on its three-year-old bill.
It is the latest in at least a dozen judicial collection actions brought against the coalition since 2001. The amounts sought by creditors total hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The reasons for the group’s decline are legion, say supporters, critics and experts who have followed its trajectory. Among them are the loss of key leaders, including Robertson, who resigned as president in 2001; alleged mismanagement by his successors; the cyclical nature of politics; and bitter infighting within the organization and with other political players on the religious right.
“Their future is really bleak,” said Mark J. Rozell, a professor of public policy at George Mason University who has followed the Christian conservative movement for years. “The Christian Coalition is a shell of its former self.”
Coalition officials insist everything’s fine.
NEW YORK After news broke that local law enforcement officials were investigating complaints that Louis Beres, longtime chairman of the Christian Coalition of Oregon, had molested three female family members when they were pre-teens, The Oregonian in Portland went out and interviewed Beres' family members.
Two told reporters that Beres, indeed, had molested them. All three said they have been interviewed for several hours by detectives.
"I was molested," said one of the women, now in her early 50s. "I was victimized, and I've suffered all my life for it. I'm still afraid to be in the same room with [Beres]."
The coalition led by Beres, 70, champions socially conservative candidates and causes. Its Web site describes the group as "Oregon's leading grassroots organization defending our Godly heritage." The group opposes abortion, gay rights, and stem cell research. It is affiliated with the national Christian Coalition, which was founded in 1989 by television evangelist Pat Robertson.
The group confirmed Beres is under investigation for alleged molestation. According to The Oregonian, Beres blamed "personal and political enemies" for the reports and said, "I never molested anybody."
Beres is also former chairman of the Multnomah County Republican Party.
Originally posted by Thomas Crowne
The Republican party is imploding because it did not come through with its promises to its base, which consisted of people like me - the Christian Conservative. The Republican Party has proven itself to be just like the Democratic Party, nothing more than a tool of The Man, used to control us.
RANT: "And everyone can start enjoying real politics about real issues again..."
whaaa: "My question like marg6043, is where did all the money they used to have, go?"
Thomas Crowne: "The Republican party is imploding because it did not come through with its promises to its base, which consisted of people like me - the Christian Conservative."
"You make it sound as if those of us who make an effort to use Christian morals and believe, rightfully so as history proves it to be true, that Christian ethics are the national moral compass, do not fit the category of 'Freedom-loving Americans.'"
"As a matter of fact, groups like the Christian Coalition did not even exist back when the country was as close to the way as it should be as it ever has been. There was not reason for such an organization to exist...
"The Republicans are imploding the way the Democrats did. If there will ever be a time for the nation to take the opportunity to gain control of the country, this is it."
marg6043: "The true is that is not way to fix this nation because their leaders or anybody that will become a potential leader will be consumed with greed and power.
The world can not live without religion because without religion it will not be control over the masses."
sminkeypinkey: "There is something deeply creepy IMO about watching those so obviously desiring influence and political power doing their 'public Holy Christian, therefore.....' act on TV amd in the media."
Skadi_the_Evil_Elf: "...the Christian Coalition is about the most Unamerican, anti-Freedom loving bunch of hypocrites."
I find rabid, foaming at the mouth bible thumping Christians a bigger threat to freedom and democracy than Muslim terrorists.
Christian morality is an artifical lie...
Morals that Christians seem to believe exclusively theirs are found in just about any sane person
Originally posted by RANT
As the Republican Party implodes, so goes it's base.
Originally posted by Bob LaoTse
The fundamentalist Christian movement arose specifically as a reaction to a perceived threat to Christian values posed by the self-indulgence of the 60s and 70s.
But then, the current anti-Christian braying of the left arose as a reaction to the perceived threat of Christian fundamentalism too.