Glossary
Conservative: Favouring free enterprise, private ownership, and socially
conservative ideas.
Democrat: A member of the Democratic National Party in the US. Democrats tend to
favour sharing responsibility for the poorest in society, collective government activity,
secular government, gun control and higher taxes on the wealthy.
Demographic: Relating to the structure of populations.
Denomination: A recognised autonomous branch of the Christian church.
Glossolalia: The phenomenon of speaking in an unknown language, especially in
religious worship. It is practiced especially by Pentecostal and Charismatic
Christians.
Interest Group: any voluntary association that seeks to publicly promote and create
advantages for its cause.
Liberal: Favouring individual liberty, free trade, and moderate political and social
reform.
Lobby Group: A group of people seeking to influence legislators on a particular
issue.
Mainline Churches: The churches outside the evangelical tradition.
Mega-church: A church with an unusually large congregation, typically one
preaching a conservative or evangelical form of Christianity. To be defined as a
mega-church it is necessary to have 2,000 or more worshippers attend on any given
Sunday. The Saddleback Church in California boasts over 20,000 worshippers per
Sunday.
Pentecostal: Denoting any of a number of Christian movements emphasising
baptism in the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues, prophecy, healing and
exorcism.
Republican: A member of the Republican National Party in the US. Republicans
tend to favour free market solutions, increased spending on the military, reducing the
size of the government and lowering taxes. Republicans are on the whole anti-gun
control.
Secularisation: The transformation of a society from close identification with
religious values and institutions towards nonreligious values and secular institutions.
Televangelist: A person who seeks to convert others to the Christian faith,
especially by preaching on television.