The Theocons

I've recently begun to read Damon Linker's book, The Theocons. The Institute on Religion and Democracy is an organization which exists to promote "renewal" in mainline Protestant Churches (chiefly the United Methodist, Episcopal and Presbyterian Churches), and yet it has a Board of Directors which is largely Roman Catholic. Andrew Weaver has written about this phenomenon.

Roman Catholics prominent in IRD include: Father Richard John Neuhaus, Professor Robert George, Michael Novak, George Weigel. These are not ordinary Roman Catholics, but men with connections to and affinities with the neoconservatives or "neocons," thus the moniker "theocon."

Damon Linker's book, The Theocons makes an important contribution to the many books coming out lately on the topic of the Christian Right. Most of these works focus on the Evangelical portion of this movement. The Theocons gives us a bigger picture which goes a long way to explain the connections between Evangelicals, the Bush White House and neoconservative intellectuals with Washington ties.