Commentary--Extremist Elements within Christian Right by Sara Diamond, copyright 1986 Fundamentalist Christians' crusade against homosexuals is no secret. But elements within the Christian Right--emboldened by their increasing political clout--are allowing other forms of intolerance to take hold within their ranks. A minor scandal ensued back in 1981 when Bailey Smith, then- President of the Southern Baptist Convention, said that God doesn't hear the prayer of a Jew. The fundamentalist community seemed to have cleaned up its act for a few years, but recent events illustrate a disturbing trend: **The National Religious Broadcasters, a professional organization representing 1000 Christian media outfits, allowed anti-Semitic activists to distribute literature at their February 1986 convention. Publisher Pat Brooks of New Puritan Library from North Carolina gave away copies of The Six Pointed Star. "The Jewish star is the most evil of all symbols," Brooks said as she warned conventioneers of the "Zionist conspiracy" to deprive Americans of their tax dollars. Washington D.C. radio broadcaster Dale Crowley, handed out pamphlets proclaiming that "good Jews accepted Christ" and urging his colleagues to shun Christians building alliances with Jews. **Meanwhile, born-again Superstar Jerry Falwell, in a forum on Jewish-Christian relations, voiced love and admiration for the Jewish people, and unequivocal support for Israeli policies in the Mideast. Falwell received the Jabotinsky Award from former Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin in 1980. But no more than five minutes after his talk before the religious broadcasters, he moved to another room for a press conference on South Africa. There Falwell taunted a black reporter with "You're biased. You're obviously with the Jewish media." **Maranatha Campus Ministries , headed by Bob Weiner with chapters at about 50 U.S. universitites, distributes a booklet on "Christian Dominion." Its arguments is that God chose "English- speaking Teutonic peoples" to come to America and "administer government among savage and senile peoples" and to "establish a system where no chaos reigned." One wonders what percentage of the current U.S. population can trace their ancestry back to this "chosen race." **At a July convention sponsored by the Mountain View-based Coalition on Revival, Concord TV-42 station President Ronald Haus gave a workshop on using the media to spread Biblical values. Haus offered advertising tips for Christian TV and radio station managers in cities with large Jewish populations. Just offer them cheap ad rates, Haus quipped. "A good Jew likes a good deal." **TV-42 broadcasts throughout Northern California from stations in Concord and Fresno. One of the network's in-house produced programs is "Accent on Health," hosted by Maureen Salaman, president of the 100,000 member National Health Federation. Aside from her leading role in the alternative health movement, Salaman is known nationally as a veteran activist in Willis Carto's Liberty Lobby. Carto has been described by civil libertarians as the most notorious anti-Semite and racial supremacist in the U.S. Last year Carto's Institute for Historical Review lost a lawsuit to a Long Beach man whose family was gassed to death at Auschwitz. Carto claims the Nazi Holocaust never took place. In 1984 Salaman campaigned as the Vice Presidential candidate of Carto's electoral front, the Populist Party. Just a few months ago Salaman led an internal power struggle within the Populist Party. She came out on the side of Willis Carto against the less extreme American Independent Party faction. TV-42 President Ronn Haus apparently knows Maureen Salaman only as a health food expert. Do these signs indicate that the Christian Right--now flexing its muscles in the electoral arena--is broadening its base by moving further toward the fringes of political acceptability? Historically, fundamentalism has been a breeding ground for opportunistic racists and anti-Semites, but one might have hoped that contemporary standards of tolerance would have changed that tradition. It's possible that many zealous fundamentalist leaders are simply too naive to recognize extremism within their own movement. But if they want to gain any degree of legitimacy within mainstream America, they're going to have to throw the proverbial bad apples out of their own barrel. ----------------------------------------------------------------- he proverbial bad a