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A review by kevin_shepherd
Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right by Randall Balmer
4.0
“I’m afraid I don’t find much that I recognize as ‘Christian’ in the actions and policies of the Religious Right.” ~Randall Balmer, 2021
American Evangelicalism today looks little to nothing like the benevolent and progressive movement of its genesis. Early proselytizers campaigned for prison reforms, quality public education, subsidies for the poor and destitute, and increased rights for women. In short, they were in alignment with the teachings of Jesus Christ and embodied a “least of these” philosophy.
“God’s rule requires universal benevolence. I abhor a faith which has no humanity in it and with it. God loves both piety and humanity.” ~Charles G. Finney, Evangelist Minister, 1876
In Bad Faith, Randall Balmer makes a powerful argument that it was not until the mid to late twentieth century that compassionate and benevolent evangelicalism really fell apart.
1970: Following the shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University by the Ohio National Guard, evangelical preacher and leader Billy Graham defended the actions and policies of then president Richard Nixon. Many white evangelicals followed suit.
1973: In apparent opposition to the political shift lead by Graham, fifty-five evangelical leaders gathered at a YMCA in Chicago and drafted what became known as The Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern. In writing, these 55 prominent religious leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the teachings of Christ. They condemned racism, militarism and social inequity. Additionally, they publicly declared support of women’s rights. Unfortunately for everyone, the Chicago Declaration fell largely on deaf ears.
Enter the Abortion Myth
In spite of the assertions of talking heads like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, it was the protection and preservation of racism [not abortion] that first motivated evangelical engagement in political discourse. Forget ‘Roe v. Wade’ (1973); the Republican Far-Right is founded on ‘Green v. Connally’ (1971).
On June 30 1971, the District Court of D.C. ruled that organizations engaged in racial discrimination or segregation could not be defined as charitable organizations and therefore were not eligible for tax exemption. For the IRS it was officially open-season on private religious schools with long histories of racist exclusion. At the top of their hit list was Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina.
Formed primarily in response to the mandated desegregation order of ‘Brown v. Board of Education,’ 1954, many of these fundamentalist schools had an openly “whites only” policy. Ironically, it was the Christian-Right’s own Richard Nixon who first directed the IRS to rescind tax exemptions for all segregated private (religious) schools. The outcry was immediate:
“We don’t accept any federal money; therefore, the government can’t tell us what to do.”
It must be understood that tax exemption is itself a public subsidy. Although the so-called “Moral Majority” framed ‘Green v. Connally’ as an attack on religious freedom, it was, in truth, a response to racist segregation. The Christian-Right organized and the Moral Majority coalesced to preserve and protect institutionalized racism. Abortion was a non-issue.
Balmer’s research is solid. The modern incarnation of the Christian-Right was inarguably birthed on a foundation of racism and bigotry. The only real question is, does it matter? Does unacknowledged and unreconciled racism tend to fester? Do most evangelicals even know the genealogy of their crusade? Would they even care if they did?
______________________________________
“The Religious New Right did not start because of a concern about abortion. I sat in the non-smoke-filled back room with the Moral Majority and frankly do not remember abortion being mentioned…” ~Ed Dobson, assistant to Rev. Jerry Falwell
“The religious right did not get started in 1962 with prayer in school. And it didn’t get started in ‘73 with Roe v. Wade. It started in ‘77 or ‘78 with the Carter administration’s attack on Christian schools…” ~Grover Norquist, Moral Majority Activist
“…the IRS tried to deny tax exemption to private schools… That more than any single act brought fundamentalists and evangelicals into the political process.” ~Paul Weyrich, co-founder of the Moral Majority
American Evangelicalism today looks little to nothing like the benevolent and progressive movement of its genesis. Early proselytizers campaigned for prison reforms, quality public education, subsidies for the poor and destitute, and increased rights for women. In short, they were in alignment with the teachings of Jesus Christ and embodied a “least of these” philosophy.
“God’s rule requires universal benevolence. I abhor a faith which has no humanity in it and with it. God loves both piety and humanity.” ~Charles G. Finney, Evangelist Minister, 1876
In Bad Faith, Randall Balmer makes a powerful argument that it was not until the mid to late twentieth century that compassionate and benevolent evangelicalism really fell apart.
1970: Following the shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University by the Ohio National Guard, evangelical preacher and leader Billy Graham defended the actions and policies of then president Richard Nixon. Many white evangelicals followed suit.
1973: In apparent opposition to the political shift lead by Graham, fifty-five evangelical leaders gathered at a YMCA in Chicago and drafted what became known as The Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern. In writing, these 55 prominent religious leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the teachings of Christ. They condemned racism, militarism and social inequity. Additionally, they publicly declared support of women’s rights. Unfortunately for everyone, the Chicago Declaration fell largely on deaf ears.
Enter the Abortion Myth
In spite of the assertions of talking heads like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, it was the protection and preservation of racism [not abortion] that first motivated evangelical engagement in political discourse. Forget ‘Roe v. Wade’ (1973); the Republican Far-Right is founded on ‘Green v. Connally’ (1971).
On June 30 1971, the District Court of D.C. ruled that organizations engaged in racial discrimination or segregation could not be defined as charitable organizations and therefore were not eligible for tax exemption. For the IRS it was officially open-season on private religious schools with long histories of racist exclusion. At the top of their hit list was Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina.
Formed primarily in response to the mandated desegregation order of ‘Brown v. Board of Education,’ 1954, many of these fundamentalist schools had an openly “whites only” policy. Ironically, it was the Christian-Right’s own Richard Nixon who first directed the IRS to rescind tax exemptions for all segregated private (religious) schools. The outcry was immediate:
“We don’t accept any federal money; therefore, the government can’t tell us what to do.”
It must be understood that tax exemption is itself a public subsidy. Although the so-called “Moral Majority” framed ‘Green v. Connally’ as an attack on religious freedom, it was, in truth, a response to racist segregation. The Christian-Right organized and the Moral Majority coalesced to preserve and protect institutionalized racism. Abortion was a non-issue.
Balmer’s research is solid. The modern incarnation of the Christian-Right was inarguably birthed on a foundation of racism and bigotry. The only real question is, does it matter? Does unacknowledged and unreconciled racism tend to fester? Do most evangelicals even know the genealogy of their crusade? Would they even care if they did?
______________________________________
“The Religious New Right did not start because of a concern about abortion. I sat in the non-smoke-filled back room with the Moral Majority and frankly do not remember abortion being mentioned…” ~Ed Dobson, assistant to Rev. Jerry Falwell
“The religious right did not get started in 1962 with prayer in school. And it didn’t get started in ‘73 with Roe v. Wade. It started in ‘77 or ‘78 with the Carter administration’s attack on Christian schools…” ~Grover Norquist, Moral Majority Activist
“…the IRS tried to deny tax exemption to private schools… That more than any single act brought fundamentalists and evangelicals into the political process.” ~Paul Weyrich, co-founder of the Moral Majority