tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post7698474975842152119..comments2024-03-26T11:33:59.219-06:00Comments on Religion in American History: Did Premillennialism Drive Political Conservatism? Why it matters.Paul Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13881964303772343114noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-3107736243054991662016-01-12T12:06:11.633-07:002016-01-12T12:06:11.633-07:00Great post! Alison Greene's new book, _No Depr...Great post! Alison Greene's new book, _No Depression in Heaven_ , is a crucial new contribution to this conversation, especially when it comes to figuring out what the heck really happened in Southern churches in the 1930s: <br />http://www.amazon.com/No-Depression-Heaven-Transformation-Religion/dp/0199371873/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15026087727949296079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-58816047995661034072016-01-11T12:25:49.693-07:002016-01-11T12:25:49.693-07:00I haven't read these works yet, but it would s...I haven't read these works yet, but it would seem to me that some of the answer lay in figuring out a way of measuring how strong premillennialism was as an article of faith and subject of preaching in various denominations and even local churches. Evanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07943113429261474436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-51352735999677698702016-01-10T09:04:27.815-07:002016-01-10T09:04:27.815-07:00The steady, relentless shift to the right in the s...<br />The steady, relentless shift to the right in the southern churches really began in the 60’s. The opposition to integration of blacks into the South’s economy and society was very strongly opposed in most churches. This was preached in most pulpits and accepted by most congregations. Also the “hippie” cultural revolution of the 60’s and 70’s had a profound impact on southern fundamentalist and evangelical churches. These movements were railed against vigorously within southern churches and by ministers of national reputation including Graham, Falwell and others. Since the ideas of civil rights and social freedom and equality were cornerstones of those movements the inclination of churches to oppose anything those movements espoused including women’s rights, civil rights, acceptance of other races, cultures and values and any “liberal” ideas, the churches, both ministers and congregations, were pushed relentlessly to opposition. Ministers found convenient biblical quotes to justify their position while ignoring other biblical messages. During the 70’s and 80’s the US economy and the southern economy was going through profound change. American factory jobs were disappearing. The textile and apparel industries had over 4 million employees in the 70’s. Today, less than 200,000. Likewise many other industries had similar declines in employment. The economies of southern states has made profound shifts to accommodate these changes resulting in many more diverse jobs, much smaller companies and a higher percentage of self-employment. The impact of this economic shift has had a profound effect on churches by driving them to ever more right wing and conservative philosophies. Many southern workers, instead of seeing themselves as pawns for big monolithic companies, began seeing themselves as self-sufficient job holders able to be flexible and make their own career decisions. Careers made dramatic shifts from working for one company your whole life to changing jobs as necessary. This has allowed individuals to identify with businesses and as businessmen with more in common with huge corporations than those people of society they identify as "lazy" and "drains" on the public coffers. <br /><br />Since fundamentalism and evangelism tend to promote the ideas of elitism and self-righteousness, members of those religious movements today see themselves as the “hardworking, clean living and good” members of society deserving of its rewards.<br />It’s just a small step from that self-image to “prosperity gospel” “right wing opposition to all social progress" and a “let the world go to hell, I’m waiting on the rapture” attitude.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13035717423508787415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-27709420393760612642016-01-10T09:03:46.223-07:002016-01-10T09:03:46.223-07:00 Even in fundamentalist or evangelical churches op... Even in fundamentalist or evangelical churches opinions differed. However, the general trend was conservative and became steadily more so across the time span I cite. In the 50’s and 60’s the majority of southerners were factory workers and were overwhelmingly supportive of the “New Deal” policies of FDR. They were generally supportive of sympathetic social policies also. Abortion was illegal then and I believe the majority of southerners supported legal abortion because the prevailing media story was the horrible risk and health price paid by over a million young women who sought abortions would be helped greatly by making abortions legal. There was a general acceptance of the idea that young women in trouble would seek abortions regardless of its legality or it’s risks. Likewise, since many people worked in factories in a very authoritarian environment, their support, or at least understanding of the benefits of organized labor was a popular concept. Most who opposed unionization did so from fear of job loss because of heavy factory management messages. These ideas were not vigorously opposed in the churches they attended. <br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13035717423508787415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-78281918806780778412016-01-10T09:02:18.590-07:002016-01-10T09:02:18.590-07:00As a 73 year old southerner who grew up in a small...As a 73 year old southerner who grew up in a small mill town with many relatives scattered across NC and who attended southern churches of several denominations for decades, I can offer some personal observations not completely covered in this article. To assume the opinions of members of congregations are accurately reflected by opinions of ministers is a big mistake. People attend church for many reasons and multiple reasons; social pressure, family pressure, business connections etc. I found in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s 80' and 90’s a huge divide in positions taken by ministers vs values of congregation members.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13035717423508787415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-56958237497929991092016-01-09T17:34:27.466-07:002016-01-09T17:34:27.466-07:00In contrast to Sutton's conclusions, the Fones...<i>In contrast to Sutton's conclusions, the Fones-Wolfs find evidence of many working class evangelical Southerners who attended Fundamentalist-leaning churches but were still supporters of FDR, especially during the New Deal.</i><br /><br />Excellent argument. <br /><br />And these things don't happen in a vacuum: What's often missing in these discussions is how the party that nominated William Jennings Bryan three times eventually became the party of "acid, amnesty and abortion." There would be no place for Bryan in the party today, although he might have some electoral viability with the other guys [think Michele Bachmann].Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com