The Constitution (1787) separated churches and other religious organizations from the state, but religion still plays a huge role in the social and political life of America. Â
As a result of the sensational processes that made evangelical fundamentalists scandalous even outside the United States, the movement split into fundamentalists and evangelists by the middle of the 20th century. Fundamentalists, being radical supporters of rigorist adherence to Christian morality and a literal interpretation of the Bible, became even more radical and continued to call themselves fundamentalists. Evangelicals ceased to classify themselves as "fundamentalists."
Evangelicals tried to take an active part in public life and politics. By the 1980s, a huge number of television programs had appeared, which the evangelists used as a means of promoting their views. They also actively supported J. Carter and R. Reagan.
Evangelists pay much attention and efforts to the fight against abortion, actively advocate for the traditional role of women, and more recently, speak against immigration. Nevertheless, they express concern over social issues such as unemployment, poverty, concern for citizens' health and environmental protection and support political actions aimed at resolving these problems.
Evangelicals are committed to justice and the goal of making the world a better place. Evangelists are in the middle between fundamentalists and liberals. Their basic beliefs have common roots with the principles of fundamentalists, but evangelical ideas about the world were strongly influenced by the optimism inherent in American society.
The growing influence of the evangelists has been reflected in US foreign policy in several ways, leading to changes that are especially noticeable on two issues. Firstly, the leadership of the country, supporting evangelists worldview, is changing its priorities and methods with regard to humanitarian aid policies and human rights, while at the same time increasing its attention to both providing assistance abroad and protecting human rights. Second, Washington’s support for the State of Israel has intensified despite the fact that the liberal Christian establishment has distanced itself from Jerusalem.
Despite these government initiatives, evangelists, for reasons of both cultural and theological nature, are often suspicious of interstate assistance and multilateral institutions. They prefer independent or faith-based organizations.
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