The Real Origins of the Religious Right

[elleng]

They’ll tell you it was abortion. Sorry, the historical record’s clear: It was segregation.

'One of the most durable myths in recent history is that the religious right, the coalition of conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists, emerged as a political movement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion. The tale goes something like this: Evangelicals, who had been politically quiescent for decades, were so morally outraged by Roe that they resolved to organize in order to overturn it.

This myth of origins is oft repeated by the movement’s leaders. In his 2005 book, Jerry Falwell, the firebrand fundamentalist preacher, recounts his distress upon reading about the ruling in the Jan. 23, 1973, edition of the Lynchburg News: “I sat there staring at the Roe v. Wade story,” Falwell writes, “growing more and more fearful of the consequences of the Supreme Court’s act and wondering why so few voices had been raised against it.” Evangelicals, he decided, needed to organize.

Some of these anti- Roe crusaders even went so far as to call themselves “new abolitionists,” invoking their antebellum predecessors who had fought to eradicate slavery.

But the abortion myth quickly collapses under historical scrutiny. In fact, it wasn’t until 1979—a full six years after Roe—that evangelical leaders, at the behest of conservative activist Paul Weyrich, seized on abortion not for moral reasons, but as a rallying-cry to deny President Jimmy Carter a second term. Why? Because the anti-abortion crusade was more palatable than the religious right’s real motive: protecting segregated schools. So much for the new abolitionism.'>>>

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/religious-right-real-origins-107133

[rurallib]

1. Sam Bee did a great segment on ths back @ June or so

[Igel]

2. Great expose.

Bit sketchy on the facts. I knew many in the religious right, and while most weren't pro-segregation they were very, very much anti- a lot of things unrelated to race.

It's easy to pick and choose facts to support motivated reasoning that supports what you always wanted to believe. Carter had a lot of political foes on the right, some were anti-segregation but many were anti many, many other things.

Einstein said that physics shouldn't be made simpler than possible. Apparently it's hard to make political claims simpler than possible.

[Democrats_win]

3. Maybe it was in response to Carter's overt religion.

Before the right got their hands on religion, Carter successfully used religion in his first run for the presidency. The right was not about to let Carter use religion for re-election especially since Uncle Ronnie was on deck.

They've had a nice run with the anti-choice thing: every baby has a right to live. It's so difficult to argue that in the face of thousands of years of abuse, that women should be able to control their own bodies. For people who are completely ignorant of history, anti-choice was a real winner. Hey, pro-union ideas have faded too. They argue that unions are no longer necessary. You know, sort of like how fighting for women's rights are no longer necessary in the face of Betty Crocker consumerism. The really big things: choice, wage theft, wage slavery, voting, unions, and Jesus's teachings have been easily swept away. The religious right allowed greed to consume the world.

Here's to you, Pope benedict, Pope John Paul, Puke Jerry Falwell, Punk Pat Robertson and Patsy Paul Wyrich. God knows what you've all been up to and she's pissed. Negligence indeed.

[Missn-Hitch]

4. I wish the Lard had not taken Falwell prior to Obama's election

and marriage equality.