by Chris Staron | Dec 2, 2025 | Episodes, Season 6 - Rise of the Religious Right
How the New Right chose Jerry Falwell for The Moral Majority
The New Right had a plan–to bring evangelical Christians together as a voting bloc. But how to do that? They chose a few targets, people with big followings, and courted them. Jerry Falwell was an obvious choice. He was a fundamentalist preacher, televangelist, and the founder of Liberty University. He also had a propensity for the dramatic, seeing the end of days around every corner.
Falwell and The New Right turned evangelicals against Jimmy Carter
The New Right did not like President Jimmy Carter and did their best to turn evangelicals against him. A big job considering that Carter was an evangelical and often talked about his faith. Still, they wanted Ronald Reagan (a divorced actor with a reputation with the ladies) to be their man.
In this episode, Chris is joined by author and historian Rick Perlstein.
Sources
- Reaganland by Rick Perlstein
- article about Reinhold Niebuhr
- God’s Own Party by Daniel K. Williams
- The Evangelicals by Frances Fitzgerald
- Listen, America! by Jerry Falwell
Discussion Questions
- What was the role of the New Right in recruiting religious people?
- Why was Falwell an ideal candidate for the New Right?
- A higher percentage of evangelicals voted for Nixon than for Reagan. So why do we talk so much about Reagan as a turning point?
- What was the Moral Majority? How do we see groups like them operating today?
by Chris Staron | Nov 4, 2025 | Episodes, Season 6 - Rise of the Religious Right
Have evangelicals always been against abortion?
A lot of evangelicals are now single-issue voters, and that issue is abortion. But that was not always the case. In fact, for a great deal of American history, abortion was largely seen as a Catholic issue. There are, of course, exceptions. But most evangelicals and Protestants were divided on the subject, even favoring abortion when it came to preserving the health of the mother, or in cases of rape and incest.
The moral decline of the US pushes evangelicals to support the pro-life movement
On this episode, Chris interviews historian and author Daniel K. Williams about the history of the abortion debate in the United States. A major turning point was the availability of elective or “on-demand” abortions in places like New York. As evangelicals grew more upset with the moral decline of the country, they lumped abortion together with gay and lesbian rights fights, the proliferation of pornography, and decided that it needed to stop. Plus, big money through New Right PACs entered the field, and politicians were soon chosen on their allegiance to pro-life legislation.
Sources:
- Defenders of the Unborn: The Pro-Life Movement before Roe v. Wade by Daniel K Williams
- Reaganland by Rick Perlstein
- The Evangelicals by Frances Fitzgerald
- Romper Room on YouTube
- CBS Sunday Morning excellent story on Sherri Chessen
- Article on thalidomide
- Oyez.org for the Supreme Court cases
- Church History in Plain Language by Bruce Shelley
- American Experience article on Comstock Laws
- New York Times video on the Population Bomb (good stuff!)
- The US Constitution
- Frances Shaeffer and the Shaping of Evangelical America by Barry Hankins
Discussion Questions:
Was Reagan successful in helping the pro-life movement, or was he merely throwing them a bone to get votes?
Why was abortion considered a Catholic issue in the mid-1900s?
How did the Griswold case impact the Roe case?
How did changing sexual mores contribute to the pro-life movement?
How did the 1970 opening of New York to elective abortions impact public opinion? What is “abortion on demand”?
How did Reagan’s endorsement of the HLA shift Republican politics?
by Chris Staron | Aug 12, 2025 | Episodes, Race, Season 6 - Rise of the Religious Right
Following God requires sacrifice
In 2 Samuel 24 David is told that he must buy a certain piece of land in an act of repentance for his sins. The man who owns the land says that he’d like to give David the land and the animals to sacrifice. But David turns him down, insisting that he won’t give to God something that cost him nothing.
Ending prejudice and segregation requires sacrifice
This story demonstrates something that may be missing from the Christian world today. Sacrifice should cost us something. Sacrifice should be a sacrifice. In the 1970s, school districts in the North and South were told that they had to integrate schools. This move was opposed by people of all sorts, including some Christians who worried that if segregation academies lost their tax-exempt status then Christian schools would too.
This is the sad story of how some evangelicals with large followings came to oppose school integration. Our special guest is Daniel K. Williams, author of the excellent book God’s Own Party. I also feature a clip from Angie Maxwell author of The Long Southern Strategy.
Sources
- In Search of Another Country by Joseph Crespino
- Boston Against Busing by Ronald Formisano
- Reaganland by Rick Perlstein
- The Evangelicals by Frances Fitzgerald
- 2 Samuel 24
- Article on NPR
- God’s Own Party by Daniel K. Williams
Discussion Questions
- Sacrifice requires sacrifice. What are your thoughts on that statement?
- Do you believe in school integration? How should it have happened in the 1970s?
- Would you have wanted your kids to be bused to a different town if it meant a more multicultural experience?
- Why did some evangelicals with large followings think they needed to tie themselves to the GOP?
- How do we reconcile with the history of religious segregation academies?
