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Robert G. Grant (born 1936) is an Americanpolitical activist, and the former leader of severalChristian right groups in theUnited States. He is considered by many the "father" of the Christian Right in the US.[1] He served as the chairman of Christian Voice, "the nation’s oldest conservative Christian lobby", and the American Freedom Coalition.[2]
Grant earned aB.A. in history fromWheaton College inWheaton, Illinois, aBachelor of Divinity andMaster of Divinity fromFuller Theological Seminary inPasadena, California, and aPh.D fromCalifornia Graduate School of Theology inGarden Grove, California. He was also awarded a diploma from theSt. Paul Bible College inSt. Paul, Minnesota.
Concerned about what he saw as moral decay in America, Grant founded American Christian Cause in Southern California in 1974 to fight against pornography and homosexual rights. In 1978, he relocated to Washington, D.C., and founded Christian Voice, the first major Christian Right organization in America. Grant quickly built Christian Voice, recruiting over 107,000 dues paying members including nearly 37,000 pastors. Grant involved national conservative leaders in his movement, including Gary Jarmin,Howard Phillips,Terry Dolan, andRichard Viguerie. Christian Voice-backed candidates, includingRonald Reagan,Steve Symms,Dan Quayle, andJohn Porter East, defeated incumbents in the1978 and1980 elections.
Grant's group campaigned for the election of PresidentRonald Reagan in the1980 presidential election. After Phillips, Dolan, and Viguerie left several years later, they andJerry Falwell formed a new Christian right organization, theMoral Majority. Similar groups subsequently founded includedConcerned Women for America,American Coalition for Traditional Values, and theChristian Coalition. Grant was the founding president of the American Freedom Coalition withRalph Abernathy. He is currently on the board of governors of theCouncil for National Policy.
Grant appeared on60 Minutes,Nightline,CBS,NBC News, theMorton Downey, Jr. Show,Good Morning America,CBS Nightwatch and various local and national radio and television talk shows. He has been quoted inTime,Newsweek,U.S. News & World Report,Washington Post,Christianity Today, and other publications.[3][better source needed]
Grant has also worked as a radiotalk show host, as the co-host of the television talk showLet Freedom Ring, and on the publisher's council ofConservative Digest Magazine,[citation needed] and is the publisher ofAmerican Freedom Journal.[citation needed]
Grant is an ordainedBaptistminister.[citation needed] He has worked in various ministerial positions[which?], as the religion editor ofThe Washington Times, and has led over 125pilgrimages to Israel.[citation needed] He was the founder of theCalifornia Graduate School of Theology.[citation needed] He was a member ofEd McAteer's organization,Religious Roundtable.[4] He was a founding chairmanCoalition for Religious Freedom and theTraditional Values Coalition, both withTim LaHaye. He founded the United Community Church ofGlendale, California.[citation needed]