Transcript The Rise of the Religious Right

The Rise of the Religious Right
1960-1980
Terminology
 Religious Right: loose coalition of politically conservative
evangelicals, fundamentalists, Catholics, Jews, Mormons, etc. who
advocate political action on social and moral issues
 Evangelical: born again, preach the gospel
 Fundamentalist: militant, anti-modernist Protestant evangelical
In the Wilderness? 1925-1975
 Built churches, denominations, Bible institutes, colleges, seminaries,
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magazines, publishers, etc.
1942: National Association of Evangelicals
1943: American Council of Christian Churches
1950: Christian Crusade
1951: Campus Crusade for Christ
1965-1983: Christian school movement
1972: Eagle Forum
1973: Trinity Broadcasting Network
Cold War Consensus?
 Judeo-Christian tradition – inclusive, exclusive
 1948: World Council of Churches
 1949: National Council of Churches
 “Our form of government makes no sense unless it is founded in a
deeply felt religious faith, and I don’t care what it is.” Eisenhower,
1952
 1954: Congress adds “under God” to Pledge
 Protestant-Catholic-Jew (1955), Will Herberg
 Faith part of postwar unity against Communism
Billy Graham
 1946:Youth for Christ
 1949: LA crusade
 1954: integrated revivals
 1957: NYC crusade
 Truman to Obama
 Eisenhower, Nixon
1960 Election
 JFK (Catholic) v. Nixon (Quaker)(Graham)
 1960 speech before Ministerial Alliance of Houston
1964 Election
 Goldwater energizes conservatives
 Schlafly’s A Choice, Not an Echo
(1964)
 Defeated in landslide
 Defeat of many Republicans allows a
new generation of conservatives to
ascend to power
Age of Upheaval: 1960s-1970s
 Anti-institutionalism, anti-establishment
 Denomination switching, personal spirituality
 New religious movements
 Liberation theology, feminism
 Vatican II (1962-1965)
 1965 Immigration Act
 Charismatic Renewal (late 1960s through 1980s)
 Politicization of religion: clash between liberals and conservatives
within denominations
Liberalism and Humanism
 Secular Humanism
 Death of God theology
 Atheism (O’Hair)
 Liberal Evangelicals
 Sojourners
 Evangelicals for Social Action
 Red-Letter Christians
 Metropolitan Community
Church
Changes in the Churches
 Electronic Church
 Megachurches
 1961 CBN, 1973 TBN
 1965, Calvary Chapel
 1970s: FCC changes
 1974, Vineyard
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licensing
Growth of cable
Televangelism
Prosperity Gospel
Sex and tax scandals
 1975, Willow Creek
 1980, Saddleback
 2,000 weekly attendees
 non-denominational
 contemporary, casual
Fundamentalist Takeovers
 1969-1976: Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church
 1976-1979: Southern Baptist Convention
 1984: SBC disallows women ministers
Separation of Church and State
 1962: Engel v.Vitale – no prayer in public schools
 1963: Abington v. Schempp – no school-sponsored Bible reading in
public schools
 1968: Epperson v. Arkansas – no statute can prohibit teaching evolution
in public schools
 1971: Lemon v. Kurzman – cannot reimburse private school teachers
who teach secular subjects
 Perceived as attacks on religious liberty, morality
Put God Back in Schools
 Post-1954 rise of Protestant K-12 schools
 1961: Educational Research Analysts, inspect textbooks
 School Prayer Amendment: introduced in Senate in 1962, 1973,
1979, 1982…
 1963: Creation Research Society
 1968: Is the School House the Proper Place to Teach Raw Sex?
 1974: Kanawha County textbook controversy
Jimmy Carter
 Born-again evangelical, Southern Baptist, Sunday school teacher
 Newsweek declares 1976 “year of the evangelical”
 Playboy interview, 1976: “I’ve looked on a number of women with lust.
I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times”
 Energizes evangelicals, but they turn against him
 Supports ERA and abortion rights, blamed for Bob Jones cases
Bob Jones Cases
 1970: IRS changes tax-exempt policy to prohibit racial
discrimination or segregation
 1971: Green v. Connally (D.C. Circuit) – upheld IRS decision to deny
tax-exempt status to any organization that engaged in racial
discrimination
 1974: Bob Jones University v. Simon – no injunction against IRS
 1983: Bob Jones University v. U.S. – IRS can revoke tax-exempt status
of private/religious university if practices contradict compelling
government policy (i.e. ending racial bias)
Anita Bryant, Homosexuality
 1977: Dade county passes
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ordinance to prohibit
discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation
Save Our Children
Ordinance repealed
Orange juice boycott
1977: Florida also bans gay
adoption
Religious Right Mobilizes
 American Christian Cause,
 Moral Majority, 1979
1974
 Christian Voice, 1977
 Focus on the Family, 1977
 Concerned Women for
America, 1979
 Religious Roundtable, 1979
 Traditional Values Coalition,
1980
 Family Research Council,
1981
Bridge theological and denominational divides to form
coalition based on political and social issues
Jerry Falwell
 1956: Thomas Road Baptist
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Church
1956: Old Time Gospel Hour
1965: “Ministers and
Marchers”
1967: Lynchburg Christian
Academy
1971: Liberty University
1976: “I Love America” rallies
1979: Moral Majority
Paul Weyrich and Jerry Falwell
 Weyrich tried to unite religious
 The catalyst “was not the school-
and political conservatives since
1964 using issues like abortion,
school prayer, pornography
 Evangelicals not interested until
IRS tax-exempt status changed in
late 1970s
 Can longer retreat from the
world, gov’t instrudes
prayer issue, and it was not the
abortion issue.” -Weyrich, 1990
 Abortion as a symbol of
permissive culture, attack on
family, moral decay
 Abortion united Catholics and
evangelicals and Jews and other
conservatives
 Moral Majority, 1979
Ronald Reagan
 Divorced and remarried, social conservative
 Signed permissive abortion law in 1967
 1980 Religious Roundtable first National Affairs Briefing:
 “I know this is a nonpartisan gathering, and so I know you
can’t endorse me, but I want you to know that I endorse you
and what you are doing.”
Pat Robertson
 1961: CBN
 1966: “The 700 Club”
 1978: Regent University
 1988: a GOP candidate for
President
 1989: Christian Coalition
 1990: ACLJ