The Christian Liberty Party (CLP) is a minor third political party in the United States whose platform advocates social conservatism.[1] Its platform positions include the opposition to abortion, as well as opposition to property taxes;[1] it advocates "an educational system that respects individual freedom of conscience and reinforces the Biblical role and responsibility of the family as the educator of youth".[2] Ideologically, the Christian Liberty Party is aligned with the Christian right and Christian nationalism, viewing the United States as a Christian state and seeing "the Bible as a blueprint for political action".[3][4][5]
Christian Liberty Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Split from | Constitution Party |
| Ideology | Christian right Christian nationalism |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Website | |
| https://sites.google.com/site/christianlibertyparty/ | |
History
editThe Christian Liberty Party was founded in June 2000 as the American Heritage Party after a group of members left the Constitution Party.[6] The reason for the establishment of Christian Liberty Party was due to the fact that the Constitution Party did not explicitly identify itself as a Christian party.[2] To this end, the Christian Liberty Party is "a political party that adopts the Bible as its political textbook and is unashamed to be explicitly Christian ... [and] whose principles are drawn from Scripture."[2]
Platform
editCurrent platform
editThe current platform is available on the Christian Liberty Party's official website.[7] It currently has 7 planks.[7]
Platform topics
editThe current platform has not been edited since 2010. The preamble states "If to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterward defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair; the event is in the hand of God!" - George Washington and acknowledges "In so doing we acknowledge the God of the Bible as the Supreme Judge, Lawgiver and King and the first cause of all existence. Consequently, the principles and the platform of our party are rightly derived from Biblical presuppositions. We acknowledge the legacy of our Founding Fathers who believed that "a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles" is essential to securing liberty and good government."
Social policy
editThe Christian Liberty Party opposes abortion and euthanasia as cited in their platform saying "We support legislation to prohibit all acts of abortion and infanticide" and "We oppose laws that condone or legalize euthanasia or so-called "mercy killing."[7]
The party supports the right to bear arms in accordance with the Second Amendment.
The party opposes pornography, stating "Therefore we support laws making it a criminal offense to distribute or display pornography."
Fiscal policy
editThe party opposes the Federal Reserve and "support a return to the monetary and banking provisions set forth in the Constitution and the abolition of the Federal Reserve System."[7]
Campaigns
editUnder its old name of the American Heritage Party it ran candidates for local positions in 2000 and 2002 in the state of Washington.[2]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ a b Hershey, Marjorie Randon (2005). Party Politics in America. Pearson Longman. p. 310. ISBN 978-0-321-20226-0.
- ^ a b c d Blevins, Dave (2006). American Political Parties in the 21st Century. McFarland & Company. p. 15-17. ISBN 978-0-7864-2480-1.
- ^ Green, John C.; Rozell, Mark J.; Wilcox, Clyde (2003). The Christian Right in American Politics: Marching to the Millennium. Georgetown University Press. p. 245. ISBN 978-1-58901-429-9.
- ^ Hershey, Marjorie Randon (2017). Party Politics in America. Taylor & Francis. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-134-83666-6.
- ^ McKeen, Leah A D, "Canadian Christian Nationalism?: The Religiosity and Politics of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada" (2015). Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive). 1740.
- ^ Day, Alan John (2002). Political Parties of the World. John Harper. p. 508. ISBN 978-0-9536278-7-5.
- ^ a b c d "Christian Liberty Party - Platform".