The ideas of George Lakoff are currently in vogue — and with good reason. His short accessible book Don’t Think of an Elephant! is an excellent primer on effective political communication, and makes the case that framing is an important component of political strategy. But there are those who have adopted “framing” as a panacea. Politics requires people, resources, organization, and strategy — as well as effectively communicated values and ideas.

When thinking about what to do in response to the Christian Right, it has been my experience that many people (but certainly not all) get so bogged down on matters of language that they are unable to get to the point of having coherent conversations about effective tactics and strategy — let alone evaluating and changing current tactics and strategy. The Christian Right has not ascended to significant power in the United States by framing alone. They have generated and effectively deployed people and resources, and refined and field tested tactics. They have a strategy and it has evolved over time. I addressed this in Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy. I identified what I saw as the major elements of the strategy of the Christian Right and offered some concrete ideas about what needed to be done.

There is no one correct formula of course, and those who are concerned about the Christian Right — wherever they may be in American political or religious life — are going to need to be actively reconsidering their approach to politics.

Chip Berlet, writing at Talk to Action, has launched a series of essays based on the principles learned in a quarter century at Political Research Associates, a progressive think tank that has specialized in studying the American political right.

Berlet argues this week that the general members of the Christian Right are not necessarily “dimwitted, ignorant, or crazy,” and that it is a significant mistake for people to think of them that way. Even worse to label them as such. Nevertheless, he writes, “That was a common perception promoted by centrist academics during the 1960s, but since the late 1970s sociologists have shown that people who join social movements–left or right–are remarkably similar to the population from which they emerge. And people in social movements are not mesmerized by crafty leaders, cluelessly following the whims of charismatic demagogues. Demagogues exist, to be sure, but they primarily succeed by swaying large groups of people by developing clever ways to frame ideas and issues.”

“Frames are necessary,” he continues, “but not sufficient to build a movement, but frames are an important tool.”

“That’s good news for progressives who want to mobilize a counter-movement. We can examine the frames put forward by the Hard Right and devise alternative frames that drive wedges between specific constituencies. We can do that with topical analysis, for example exploiting the tension between Christian conservatives and libertarians on social issues such as abortion and gay rights. And we can recognize that participants have different levels of commitment and loyalty to social movements.”

Talk to Action is currently in the first phase of development. We will be announcing a launch date for the second phase — a fully interactive site not unlike The Daily Kos or TPM Cafe soon. This will provide a place to discuss such matters among people who are concerned about the growth and power of the theocratic Christian Right.

Unlike what often happens elsewhere in the blogosphere, we intend to follow Lakoff’s advice regarding public disourse — that it be civil. Our inaugural post, at TTA was an essay by Berlet titled “Stop Labeling and Start Organizing.” Berlet believes — and we agree — that for a lot of people on the left and in the Democratic Party, name calling has too often substituted for more considered analysis — and that this has backfired politically.

Its time to rethink things.

As I wrote at the end of Eternal Hostility, “The threat is great and the time is now — and probably for the rest of our lives.”