The Strategy of the Religious Right: Christian Fiction or Political Agitation?

The American Religious Right has been an important actor on the American political scene since the 1970s. The Religious Right’s leaders have been using various strategies and methods aimed at convincing politicians and the general public to apply the teachings of conservative Christianity to politics and public policy. Some of these activities, however, are very diffi cult to classify as typical political agitation methods, for example the publication of the Left Behind series. Theoretically classifi ed as Christian fi ction, the series presents many ideas that overlap with the political agenda of the Religious Right. This article presents a short review of methods used by the Religious Right, and attempts to properly classify the Left Behind series through a thorough analysis of its contents, focusing in particular on the political ideas included in Left Behind.