CORNERSTONE Church in Texas is one of America's so-called megachurches, the size and shape of an aircraft hangar. The 5,000-strong congregation drives from miles around to hear the Good News.
Afterwards they tuck into sizzling meat and listen to a young Christian rock group as they belt out tunes praising the Lord. Flipping a burger, one grey-haired teacher in a polo shirt and shorts says that when you have God in your life, election choi
ces become simple: "I let the pastor do it."
The congregation tends to follow the pastor's instructions, and at the moment those are likely to recommend voting against Republican front runner John McCain as part of a conservative rebellion threatening to derail his campaign.
Ever since the Moral Majority burst onto the scene in the Seventies, the Christian Right has been a core component of the Republican Party. It is a movement burning with indignation at the thought that McCain may be the next president.
"We've got a party that's in open rebellion right now," said Richard Viguerie, a hardline conservative and author of Conservatives Betrayed. "We feel betrayed going back over many years."
On a long list of issues, the centrist McCain is at odds with the Christian Right. He tolerates gay marriage, supports research on human embryos and opposes tax cuts, torture at Guantanamo Bay and the teaching of creationism in place of science in schools.
His support for an amnesty for illegal immigrants, and his call for laws on climate change and restrictions on campaign finance, mean McCain has failed in most of the things cherished by conservatives.
"McCain is probably one of the most hated figures in the Republican Party," said Philip Klein, a columnist on the American Spectator. "I get e-mails from people who call him McPain. Over the last seven years, on issue after issue, he has stuck his thumb in the eye of conservatives."
McCain opposes the very idea of religious fundamentalists getting involved in politics. He once branded Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority, an "evil influence" on the party.
To most observers, the rebellion by the Christian Right might not seem to matter. With the support of the mainstream secular wing of the party, McCain has amassed nearly two-thirds of the 1,100 delegates he needs to secure the Republican nomination.
The candidate of the Christian Right, Mike Huckabee, is far behind – although he last night insisted he was staying in the race. And, with Mitt Romney dropping out last week, McCain has a clear run on the nomination.
But McCain's problem will come later. Last week, 14 million Democrats cast a vote in the primaries, compared with just eight million Republicans.
After the multiple failures of the Bush presidency, the country is swinging towards the Democrats. To have a chance at the White House, McCain will need every wing of his own party to get behind him.
Instead, the right are lining up to attack him. Rush Limbaugh, who has a conservative radio show with an audience of millions, said McCain may "ruin" the Party. Ann Coulter, whose right-wing website is standard reading for conservatives, has gone further, urging Republicans to vote Democrat on the basis that this will give her party four years to organise itself around a genuine conservative leader. And on Friday the high priest of the Christian Right, James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, endorsed Huckabee.
Knowing he needs conservative voters to have a chance in the November election, McCain last week braved the brickbats of the annual Conservative Political Action Committee, a body he ignored last year, insisting he had the credentials.
He told the audience he had changed his mind about an amnesty for illegal immigrants, saying a border fence must first be completed. This was greeted with a chorus of boos.
McCain's problem is that he has spent years making a name for himself by treading the centre ground, and now conservatives don't believe he is serious. They are demanding he appoint key conservatives to his campaign staff to prove his sudden conversion is for real.
However, McCain dares not do this for fear of alienating the party's secular mainstream. The one ace up his sleeve is Iraq. While Democrats have called for an immediate withdrawal, McCain, a Vietnam veteran, said US troops must stay "100 years" if necessary to grapple with terrorists. This has convinced some hardliners to support him, if only because the Democratic alternative is so much worse.
