THE CHRISTIAN LEFT - WHO ARE THEY AND HOW ARE THEY DIFFERENT FROM THECHRISTIAN RIGHT

Much has been written about the Christian Right but its counterpart, t he Christian Left, has received less scholarly attention. This Study a ttempts to better understand activists of the Christian Left, who they are and how they differ om the Christian Right? We begin by examining the emergence of one of the more prominent organizations of the Chris tian Left - the Sojourners. Then, using data from the National Survey of Religious Activists and The Faith and Social Justice Project, we co mpare 2663 members in four social movement organizations of the Christ ian Left with 2139 members in four organizations of the Christian Righ t. Comparisons indicate that the members of these two movements have v ery different social aim political worldviews. Our study suggests that these differences cannot be explained by social structural variables (income, age, education, or occupation) but are more likely due to the ir distinctive religious orientations.