Changes That Came About As A Result Of The Religious Right Movement
Fundamentalism (biblical belief in taking the Bible literally) had been on the rise in the United States for the past 30 years, and gained momentum in the 1970’s with a few very influential leaders of churches. They had not been very politically involved up to this point, but in the late 1970’s feeling as if there were an attack happening in America on traditional family values, and also a relaxed approach being taken as far as foreign policies, they began forming very specific organizations, and this movement became known as the Religious Rights movement.
The organizations formed were opposed to the secular trends, didn’t want to see the right to abort a child allowed, and wanted to combat giving rights to homosexuals among other things. They didn’t like that President Jimmy Carter, originally their conservative leader, was now supporting the Equal Rights Amendment for all including “on account of sex.” This opposition created the formation of groups such as the Concerned Women for America. This group was created in direct response to the feminist group called The National Organization for Women which was pushing for women’s rights in America.
The two groups had differing opinions on the women’s place, with the CWA advocating that the “women’s place was in the home, subordinated to their husbands,’ and this “contradicted the gains made toward sexual equality and the reality of many women’s lives” at the time working outside the home. This opposition also gave fuel to some very influential fundamental religious leaders like Jerry Falwell who ended up found the Moral Majority in 1979. The Moral Majority would be a very important group that would help mobilize Christians towards making social and political changes. As the political arena was changing, rules were now in place for how different groups could finance or support political change. The formation of Political Action Committees (or PACS) was begun as a legal way to raise funds or support financially the campaigns of a candidate.
The Moral Majority would fund a PAC that would be just for campaign funds of conservative candidates, and also fund the “Moral Majority Legal Defense Fund,…dedicated to reversing the legacy of liberal firms such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). ”The Moral Majority was also the driving force behind the creation of a group of law firms, and student law organizations that were dedicated to combat attacks on the conservative establishment in the United States. These groups that were created were in a direct response to three landmark rulings, that would as whole “effectively ended the practice of prayer and Bible reading in public schools. ” The Religious Right movement, now calling themselves the New Right, gained political clout when they found a candidate to fully support in the person of Ronald Reagan. He was a candidate that wanted to “roll back 50 years of liberal policies” (Norton, 2015), and was anti-abortion and supported prayer in schools. He also worked to end the Republican parties support of the Equal Rights Agenda. Reagan also worked very hard to appoint many conservative members of the Supreme Court.
Members that would have influence on liberal cases. “This increasingly conservative Court upheld a Georgia law that punished consensual sex between men with up to twenty years in jail and ruled that a Missouri law restricting the right to an abortion was constitutional. ” There was a shift inside the United States regarding traditional attitudes and beliefs as more individuals realized that this was a movement to support and champion. As the administration of the Unites States regularly turned to the founder of a conservative organization called, Focus on the Family, for policy advice, so did the conservatives of the nation find a voice in changing the political landscape of the time.
