Christian Coalition Reaches Out To Black Conservatives

By Brian Cabell/CNN

ATLANTA, Ga. (April 23) -- It was an unusual scene: Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed with a group of African-American pastors whose churches have burned down.

"I'm here today to just express my thanks to Ralph Reed and the Christian Coalition for what the Coalition is doing," said Rev. Anthony Page.

The Coalition is offering a $1,000 reward for information on arson fires that have destroyed nearly two dozen black churches around the south in the last year. Said Reed: "We're trying to bridge chasms of hatred and pain and suspicion and mistrust that have divided Christians from one another (96K WAV sound)."

Until now, black churches generally have not aligned themselves with the mostly white, politically conservative Christian Coalition. Though their religious beliefs might be similar, there's a lingering mistrust among black Christians.

"White churches really don't understand the things that cause a lot of black problems," said one African American church-goer. Said another woman: "If you've never been through what some blacks and the struggles they've been through, then you wouldn't understand (128K WAV sound)."

Still, African Americans are not as liberal as is generally thought. About 32 percent describe themselves as liberal, 32 percent say they're moderates and more than 30 percent consider themselves conservative. But can common ground be found between the generally activist black churches and the more conservative white churches, when their politics have so often been at odds?

Some civil rights leaders question the motives of the Christian Coalition. "I've not heard them crying out against hunger and homelessness and capital punishment and war," noted Rev. Joseph Lowery.

But the Christian Coalition is crying out against church arson with reward money, with the hope that sometime in the future, conservative white Christians and conservative black Christians will discover more reasons to come together.

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