# Frank Schaeffer, Co-founder of the Religious Right Movement Tells His Story **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 9, 2008, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-schaeffer-co-founder-of-the-religious-right-movement-tells-his-story/476459 "2008-12-09T22:18:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-schaeffer-co-founder-of-the-religious-right-movement-tells-his-story/476459/21 "2008-12-12T06:02:08Z")
I’m not very familiar with leaders of the Religious Right, but according to scrolling Yahoo! headlines tonight, another evangelical leader recently came forward in an interview on _NPR_ to say that he is changing his views on gay marriage. He later amended that to say that he supports civil unions. Since then, he has stepped down from his leadership position because members say he does not represent their values anymore. I just hate it when religious organizations become exclusive. The Right doesn’t have a monopoly on “family values.” It’s a lot easier for gays to live in families when they are **married**. Meanwhile, the **Constitution** is our (the nation’s) founding document, not _The Baptist and Reflector_. Where the notion of anti-stewardship came from, I do not know. As a child, I was taught by all of my Southern Baptist kinfolk to take care of the earth. Now doing that is out of line. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-schaeffer-co-founder-of-the-religious-right-movement-tells-his-story/476459/22 "2008-12-12T09:38:05Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > Where the notion of anti-stewardship came from, I do not know. As a child, I was taught by all of my Southern Baptist kinfolk to take care of the earth. Now doing that is out of line. The Devil appears as an Angel of Light, as they say. Of course, those who believe this may then accept devils as angels & mistake real angels of truth for devils. I’m not clear on what happened to make conservation “too lefty.” I think there was a sort of anti-environmentalist backlash that coalesced by 1990, & the GOP somehow decided that they were a way to get votes. Thus, to be conservationist gradually became not “conservative,” which is bizarre–but became promulgated by influential partisan voices. But that’s just the impression I got. There is a religious type that sees conspiracies everywhere (I was really messed up as a kid by exposure to Jack Chick & such) & can be readily deceived that groups like Greenpeace, etc., are (ohnoes) pagan!!! This is of course the sort of malicious misrepresentation put forth by someone with an axe to grind or consumed with his own conspiracy theories (a bit like this post, actually 😉 )–but some people buy into that readily. ---
**Author:** ![Carson\_O\_Genic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Carson\_O\_Genic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carson_O_Genic)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-schaeffer-co-founder-of-the-religious-right-movement-tells-his-story/476459/23 "2008-12-12T10:06:36Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > I’m not clear on what happened to make conservation “too lefty.” I think there was a sort of anti-environmentalist backlash that coalesced by 1990, & the GOP somehow decided that they were a way to get votes. Thus, to be conservationist gradually became not “conservative,” which is bizarre–but became promulgated by influential partisan voices. But that’s just the impression I got. ``` We could perhaps begin with James G.Watt, R.Reagan's Secretary of the Interior- "A left-wing cult dedicated to bringing down the type of government I believe in." ``` –James Watt, describing environmentalists ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-schaeffer-co-founder-of-the-religious-right-movement-tells-his-story/476459/24 "2008-12-12T11:33:42Z")
astorian writes: \> . . . Franklin Schaeffer . . . His full name is Francis August Schaeffer, just like his father. It appears that he’s not even Francis August Schaeffer, Jr. or Francis August Schaeffer II. He’s always referred to as Frank Schaeffer or Frankie Schaeffer. ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-schaeffer-co-founder-of-the-religious-right-movement-tells-his-story/476459/25 "2008-12-12T15:07:36Z")
Probably because they were properly Francis August Schaeffer IV and Francis August Schaeffer V. Frank used to bill himself as Franky Schaeffer V, most notably as director and/or producer of _How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture_, a “documentary film series” starring Francis Schaeffer (and C. Everett Koop, later Reagan’s Surgeon General; though to judge from the quick search I did to refresh my memory, he’s seldom mentioned now when the series is discussed). I’m wondering now how much influence this series may have had on the politicization of the Christian Right c. 1980. (Side comment: did anyone else think that the elder Schaeffer’s L’Abri Fellowship was vaguely cultic?) ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-schaeffer-co-founder-of-the-religious-right-movement-tells-his-story/476459/26 "2008-12-12T15:11:52Z")
> [@BJMoose](#): > > Probably because they were properly Francis August Schaeffer IV and Francis August Schaeffer V. > > Frank used to bill himself as Franky Schaeffer V, most notably as director and/or producer of _How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture_, a “documentary film series” starring Francis Schaeffer (and C. Everett Koop, later Reagan’s Surgeon General; though to judge from the quick search I did to refresh my memory, he’s seldom mentioned now when the series is discussed). > > I’m wondering now how much influence this series may have had on the politicization of the Christian Right c. 1980. > (Side comment: did anyone else think that the elder Schaeffer’s L’Abri Fellowship was vaguely cultic?) I just read _Crazy For God_. Frank Schaeffer himself does characterize L’Abri as having been vaguely cultic. He also thinks there was a lot about it that was really wonderful. Also, as Shaeffer tells it, those two documentary films were part of what got the ball rolling as far as the politicization of the right. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-schaeffer-co-founder-of-the-religious-right-movement-tells-his-story/476459/27 "2008-12-12T18:26:36Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > astorian writes: > > \> . . . Franklin Schaeffer . . . > > His full name is Francis August Schaeffer, just like his father. It appears that he’s not even Francis August Schaeffer, Jr. or Francis August Schaeffer II. He’s always referred to as Frank Schaeffer or Frankie Schaeffer. Perhaps **astorian** was thinking of Franklin Graham (Billy’s son)? ---
**Author:** ![Dumbguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dumbguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dumbguy)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-schaeffer-co-founder-of-the-religious-right-movement-tells-his-story/476459/28 "2008-12-12T21:01:51Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > There was no NEED for a Religious Right until the secular left began imposing its own agenda Where have you been? The secular left has been imposing it’s agenda for centuries. Slavery, women’s suffrage, integrated schools, we just keep coming. Whatever your sacred cow is, we’ll get to it eventually. We’re never satisfied, we never tire, and we always win in the end. Gird your loins. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-schaeffer-co-founder-of-the-religious-right-movement-tells-his-story/476459/29 "2008-12-13T19:27:15Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > That a large number of people are unaware of one of the founders of the political movement they support may say more about that group than you want to admit. > > OTOH, I would agree that hearing Mr. Schaeffer would probably have little effect on the majority of members of that group as they would more likely view him as an apostate than as a person whose eyes have been opened. (I would not particularly fault them for that. I do not know of any group who has been persuaded _en masse_ to throw over their beliefs simply because some prominent member(s) may have had a reversal of opinion. Certainly few on the Left followed when the original neo-cons switched sides to join the Right.) > > It would probably be more fruitful to inquire about the numbers of the younger generation of the Religious Right who have recently begun to break ranks with the old guard over issues such as the environment, coservation, and social justice. **Tom~** captures precisely what I’d intended here. Prior to those meetings, fundamentalism and evangelicalism had existed as two distinct movements among conservative Christians – neither with much political clout nor the motivation to seek any. They together gradually changed that, with Falwell, a powerful speaker whether you agree with him or not, as the initial major public voice, joined later by people from Allen Keyes to Pat Robertson to Paige Patterson. And one’s opinion of who pushed what agenda is a matter of opinion. I stated mine, erroneously interjecting attitude into what was intended as a summary of historical fact. > [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > His full name is Francis August Schaeffer, just like his father. It appears that he’s not even Francis August Schaeffer, Jr. or Francis August Schaeffer II. He’s always referred to as Frank Schaeffer or Frankie Schaeffer. Actually, I believe it’s a four-generation family name sequence. IIRC, “Francis Schaeffer” is the son of Francis A. Schaeffer Jr. and is himself Francis A. Schaeffer III; “Frank(ie) Schaeffer” is Francis A. Schaeffer IV. And by and large neither uses the postnominal Roman numeral, distinguishing father from son by the Francis/Frank(ie) dichotomy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-schaeffer-co-founder-of-the-religious-right-movement-tells-his-story/476459.md?page=1)