reply to post by DazedDave
From about 1960 to 1975, churches of various faiths had done some soul searching, replacing old liturgical traditions with new, reaching out to other
faiths, and becoming inclusive rather than exclusive. In the secular world, citizen action in civil rights, anti-war, environmental, and women's
movements upset the status quo in govt and culture.
From 1975 to 1980, those who disliked the above and wanted a return to the old ways, reached out (via mass mailings) to forge a voting block, which
was welcomed by the GOP. The GOP became the home to conservative "values voters" and Christian conservatives/fundamentalists. Reagan's 1980
election was the coming out party for this movement. Politics gave this group power and life for the next three plus decades.
After the turbulence of a changing world, where status quo was questioned, this new voting block found solace in authority, unquestioning faith, no
gray areas to ponder, and a culture where each person had his/her place (and had better stay there!) For ex, the GOP courted the Southern Baptist
groups who were against the "mixing of the races". And what could hold together a coalition of Northern conservative Catholics and Southern
Baptists? ...anti-Roe v Wade.
Of course, as business/corporations banded together to influence politicians, it helped the GOP to have a block of voters bound to the authority of
their churches, who would receive "voters guides" via conservative Christian organizations. Their base would be told to go to the polls to vote for
Christian values, electing politicians who would then be under the influence of corporations.
By 2003 Pres George Bush could count on Christian Right End Times believers to support his Middle East war in Iraq. I personally felt it disgusting
that, at a time when soldiers were coming home missing body parts and disfigured, over 200,000 emails from a conservative organization's plea were
sent to the FCC over an exposed nipple at Super Bowl.
BTW, the dividing of the country into warring camps, "you're either with us or against us" ideology Bush was able to use to great effect, can be
traced to the Christian Right's early days of separating Americans into believers and unbelievers, i.e. Republicans and Democrats. This brand of
Christian fervor has always been around, but once it was given political favor and power, that power became magnified with the advent of new mass
communication technology.
