Does anyone have any information on when politicians on a national level began to seriously recruit evangelical Christians? Also, when did this voting bloc rise to the level of prominence it’s held in the past two elections and the upcoming one?
Gestalt
The movement is usually dated to the formation of the Moral Majority by Jerry Falwell in 1979, and the subsequent 1980 election. The defection of evangelicals from Jimmy Carter (whom many had supported in 1976) to Reagan was a key factor in Reagan’s victory.
But Fundamentalist Christians (under whatever name) have long been important in American politics. The Scopes Monkey Trial was in 1920-something.
[Disclaimer–I’m not an expert in any of this. Comments on Rick Warren based on a New Yorker article I read about him some years ago.]
Great question!
I think the beginning of their influence goes back well beyond 2000. As the Republican Party became more conservative in the last decades of the century, cultural and social conservatism became more prominent in party discourse, and this resonated with conservative Christians in a way that it never had before. The abortion debate may have been the primary catalyst leading to this development.
There’s little room to doubt that evangelical churches are growing generally. At the same time, the message seems to be shifting from moral crusading and stern warnings to what, IMO, are more constructive messages. I think in decades to come, this growth will continue, but the message sent by these churches will become more conciliatory to the general cultural tone of society; there will be less emphasis on the dangers of Harry Potter, and more emphasis on community outreach programs, including literacy programs that make books available to kids.
As the churches continue to grow but their message becomes more inviting, I think they will dissolve as a political force much as the mainstream Protestants did long ago.
Right, but the creationism issue was settled for some time after that, right? In the 70s, for example, was there a sizable movement to teach creationism in schools and/or qualify the scientific status of evolution?
Gestalt
They have indeed, off and on since colonial times. However, the movement has not been politically active at all times and places. After the Scopes Trial (but not necessarily because of the Scopes Trial), fundamentalism all but disappeared for several decades as an organized political movement. Many fundamentalists shunned political activism as too worldly, and social issues in American politics were eclipsed during the Great Depression, World War II, and the early Cold War.
The modern fundamentalist, evangelical Christian political movement can be dated with some specificity to the election of 1980.
William Jennings Bryant, the plaintiff’s attorney in Scopes, ran for president on the “religious fervor” ticket three times before this case (a case, by the way, that he won–at the cost of public opinion; turns out Scopes was indeed in violation of Tennessee law. Bryan died five days later and Tennessee law was changed in short order). His first run was 1896. Cross-brandishing bullies in America date back to Plymouth Rock. Or, if you prefer, Columbus.
But I would date the current trend to Falwell. Other religious movements/figures of the 70s, like Anita Bryant and anti-abortion protesters, made very little distinction between Democrats and Republicans.
Another significant player was the Christian Coalition, started up by Pat Robertson and ran by Ralph Reed in the late 80’s, up 'til about 2002.
What everyone on the Left is missing is this: Prior to the late Sixties, the vast majority of the people who’d now be lumped into the “conservative Christian bloc” were Democrats. White Southerners generally loved FDR and were enamored of the New Deal.
So, why did they “turn conservative”? They didn’t! In the Thirties, NOBODY in either major party supported gay marriage, legal (let alone federally funded) abortions, or the abolition of prayer in school. If Thomas Dewey or Wendell Willkie had tried to tell Southern Christians that the Democrats were in favor of those things, he’d have been laughed at, and (correctly) dismissed as a paranoiac or a liar.
So, prior to the late Sixties and early Seventies, Christians with conservative religious values were free to ignore those lurid social issues and vote their pocketbooks. It was only with the rise of the Sexual Revolution that such Christians began to elevate social issues over economic self-interest.
If you’re interested, you can watch an episode of PBS’s Frontline about the Evangelical movement and GWB’s campaign.