The Not-So-Lofty Origins of the Evangelical Pro-Life Movement

[cbayer]

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/sexandgender/6801/the_not_so_lofty_origins_of_the_evangelical_pro_life_movement_/

February 4, 2013
By JONATHAN DUDLEY
Jonathan Dudley is the author of Broken Words: The Abuse of Science and Faith in American Politics (Random House, 2011).


Parents shop for shrink-wrapped children in a scene from Schaeffer and Koop's 1979 "Whatever Happened to the Human Race."
Jonathan Dudley

As the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade passed, evangelical leaders marked the occasion with histories of how their community took up the anti-abortion cause. Mark Galli, editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, (with whom I engaged in a discussion-via-blog-post this past fall) has suggested the movement formed out of grassroots reflection on “the terrible and inevitable consequences of legalized abortion.” Albert Mohler, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president, insisted it arose from moral outrage triggered by Roe v. Wade.

Both histories provide pristine portraits of the origins of the evangelical right, suggesting its founders based their advocacy on scholarly assessments and aspired to noble political ends. But a history can be told that is significantly less flattering.

The right-wing evangelical movement was not an immediate backlash to Roe v. Wade. The evangelical community, unlike Roman Catholicism, showed little interest in combating abortion until almost 1980. As Jerry Falwell lamented in 1979, “The Roman Catholic Church for many years has stood virtually alone against abortion. I think it’s an indictment against the rest of us that we’ve allowed them to stand alone.”

Although evangelicals were mostly silent on abortion after Roe v. Wade, they were not silent on other political issues. Paul Weyrich, one of the evangelical right’s most influential founders, recalls that the movement initially emerged to defend racially segregated Christian schools from government intrusion:

more at link

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Yeap, anti-abortion and 'precious life' of the unborn are relatively new to Christians. So

much for all hose core beliefs.

[hrmjustin]

2. Many of them were not against abortions at first.

Some of them even thought it was good because it got rid of undesirables. But when they realized there was money involved in this whole anti-abortion thing, well they changed their tune.

[cbayer]

3. I found this history fascinating and it was completely new to me.

Basically, abortion as an issue was invented by the neocons to get the evangelicals politically motivated and specifically motivated to vote for them.

I hope there are leaders amongst the evangelicals who will fight back against this and take them back to their rather neutral original position.

[hrmjustin]

4. There is too much money in it for them to reverse themselves.

But you have to start small. There are evangelicals that are not as conservative and they are growing with the younger crowd. We can always hope.

[cbayer]

5. I have seen several stories on the change in focus within the evangelicals.

Many seem to be re-focusing on climate change issues, which is great.

I also think many recognize that they were used by the neocons and are pulling back from politics altogether.

I'm not sure what you mean by the money aspect.

[hrmjustin]

6. They use the abortion issue to raise money for their churches and organizations.

They also use it to keep their power in politics.

I think some of them realize that if the want to speak truth to power you should have some distance from the power structure.

[cleanhippie]

9. I hope there are leaders amongst the liberal believers who will fight back against this...

And take their religion back from the neocons.

[SpartanDem]

10. Yes there is a long history racism in conservative elements of evangelical Christinaty

especially within denominations that would be considered fundamentalist. You may be familiar like people Bob Jones, Sr who was an ardent segregationist, the things he preached were not at all uncommon in fundamentalist circles. If you look the preaching of the prominent evangelist of 20's 30's,etc you will easily notice the parallels of what comes out AFA and FRC today. The only things that have changed are the targets the rants against blacks and Catholics have been supplanted by gays and Muslims.

I would also not say the issue was invented, they were absolutely against abortion before Roe. But the narrative on the left that it was was the catalyst that brought evangelicals in politics is wrong. One thing the article neglects, this was part of a broader theological change in evangelicals that had been building over the 70's. Active participation in politics was seen as ungodly, in part because it meant cooperation between groups that had been hostile and did not always agree with each other like the Southern Baptist and Independents. Never mind working with the Catholics. But that started to change by end of the 60's. The civil rights and women rights movement were antithetical to what they believed the world should be. Throughout the 70's there was a debate within evangelical circles with people like Jerry Falwell advancing arguments for more political involvement.

A really good book about history evangelicalism and fundamentalism is The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family by Andrew Himes. His grandfather was John Rice was prominent preacher and founder of an important fundamentalist newspaper.

&list=UUwxyVpCgww8fYCrs2kF6thA&index=13

[cbayer]

11. Thanks for the info. I recently watched the Frontline series about religion in the US

and they had some information on the growth of the fundamentalist movement. It seems that Billy Graham is the one who made the leap into politics.

[pinto]

7. Great read. Ties in with emergence of "Reagan Democrats" in 1980, as well, imo.

Mentioned this piece to my friend, a long term advocate for women's (and their partners') choice in reproductive decisions. She was unaware of the historical thread, as was I, and had one comment - "Yeah. It fits."

She's probably passing on the link to the article as I type...

Thanks for post.

[cbayer]

8. It would be great to spread this historical information.