Balmer has a chapter subtitled "the abortion myth." The argument is that the Political Church (or Religious Right) coalesced around Roe v. Wade and their horror of abortion. And as he mentioned that, I realized that I believed it too.
As it turns out, Balmer argues that the Religious Right was not that horrified by the court decision when it happened. Many of them praised the decision. Seriously.
So what pulled them all together in a committed effort to grassroots politics and altering the political landscape? According to Paul Weyrich's own admission, it was the IRS's attempt to take away Bob Jones University's tax-exempt status because of their policy of racial discrimination.
That's right. The movement that now connects itself to abolition for legitimacy got its start defending racial discrimination. Isn't that sweet? Defending racists brought the right wingers together.
Sigh.
2 comments:
When Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 he said he was handing the South to the Republicans for the next forty years. I think he was too optomistic.
It's interesting how the Religious Right has a sort of Creation Story for themselves that provides a veneer of would-be righteousness for something far more venal.
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