4 The Religious Right and its critics Flashcards
1
Q
why did Reagan succeed in 1980 and 1984?
A
- tax policies and small government
- oppostion to 1960s permissivness
- advoccy of traditional family values
- won support of right-wing anti-social change in the 1960s.
2
Q
the beliefs of the Religous Right
(1) what did the religous right increase among American politics? what did they insist?
A
- polarisation
- campaigns that promoted traditiona family values
- religous right insisted those values could be maintained if women were homemakers who never had abortions, affiars, pre-marital sex, and recognised the man as the head of the family
2
Q
the beliefs of the Religous Right
religous right leadership: PS and BlH. Organisations? dislikes? goals?
A
- Phyllis Schlafly (catholic)
- Beverly LaHaye (protestant) whose 500,000-strong Concerned Women for America far outnumbered the membership of the NOW by the mid 1980s
- disliked counter culture, sought ‘traditional family values’
3
Q
the beliefs of the Religous Right
(2) how was the Religous Right politically important?
A
- many in the religous right voted for Reagan in 1980 and 1984 and George H.W. Bush in 1988 in the hope they would promote traditional values and oppose abortion, homosexuality and drug taking
4
Q
promotion of traditional values
how did they do this?
A
- organisations
- the media
- support for conservatvie politicians
5
Q
the promotion of traditional values
Baptist minister Jerry Falwell: beliefs and oppositions
A
- opposition to smoking, drinking, and rock n’ roll.
- advice that women should follow what the Bible said about submission to their husbands
6
Q
the promotion of traditional values
Falwells broadcast name/numbers
A
- Old Time Gospel Hour
- broadcast on 225 TV stations and 300 radio stations each week during the 1980s
7
Q
the promotion of traditional values
‘moral majority’
4 Ps + $$$/votes
A
- baptist organisation established in 1978 as ‘pro-life, pro-family, pro-morality and pro-american’
- in 1980 he helped raise millions of dollars for Reagan’s presidential campaign
- some estimated this registered around 2m votes
8
Q
the promotion of traditional values
Moral Majority gone… New organisations?
A
- Christian Coalition was established in 1989 in order to lobby the governemnt to enact socially conservative measures
- By 1992, it boasted 150,000 members and claimed to control the republicans in several southern states
9
Q
the religous right
what did it oppose
A
- feminism
- divorce
- working mothers
- the ERA
- drugs
- abortion and roe v. wade
- sexual liberalisation
- homosexuality
- pop culture’s preoccupation with sex
- porn
- sex education
10
Q
republicans and the promotion of traditional values
when was the relationship first forged between the religous right and republican party?
A
- when the IRS threatned to end federal tax exemptions for racially segregated Christian schools in 1978
- congressional republicans responded to these voters concerns and stopped the policy
11
Q
republicans and the promotion of traditional values
voting bloc?
A
- particularly in the south, the religous right voted for republicans
12
Q
Reagan and the Religous Right
how was Reagan an attraction to the Religous Right
A
- during his campaign in 1980 he emphasised his disgust at 1960s excesses and permissiveness and his opposition to feminism and the ERA
- despite it not being the case, he was seen as the apostle of the nucelar family
13
Q
Reagan and the Religous Right
1984 presidential campaign slogan
A
- Morning Again in America advertisements played on traditional family values
14
Q
Reagan and the Religous Right
what did he support?
A
- school prayer
15
Q
Reagan and the Religous Right
what did he criticise the federal courts for?
A
- not allowing creationism to be taught in schoolsc
16
Q
Reagan and the Religous Right
how was the Religous Right disappointed under Reagan?
A
- he wanted constitutional amendments to ban abortion and restore prayer in public schools
- he couldn’t get the necessary majority in Congress, the RR felt he didn’t try very hard on these issues
17
Q
Family Protection Act
terms?
A
- prohibition of abortion
- restoration of school prayer
- tax breaks for housewives
- tuition tax credits for children attending private schools
- single sex sports
- parental cenorship of reading materials in schools
- denial of teenage access to contraception unless parents were notified
18
Q
Reagan and the Religous Right
Reagans judges
A
- nominated 400 conservative judges
- helped compensate for his failure to win congressional approval for his conservative social agenda
19
Q
Reagan and the Religous Right
Reagan appointed what % of the federal judiciary by the end of his presidency?
A
- 50%
20
Q
Reagan and the Religous Right
how did George H.W. Bush aid this conservative judiciary?
A
- 3/4 of federal judges were conservative Reagan or Bush appointees by 1992
21
Q
the religious right and the supreme court: the campaign against abortion
how did the Religous Right promote its values after Roe v.Wade
A
- emotive mailings
- used ‘reformed’ pro-choicers to advertise its causes. Former feminists were encouraged to tell people they had renounced feminism
- moderate republicans opposition of abortion. George HW Bush changed his stance to please conservative republicans.
- used ‘rights’ language that emphasised the rights of the unborn child
22
Q
Operation Rescue
slogan
A
‘if you believe abortion is murder, act like its murder’
23
Q
Operation Rescue
initially, vs by 1988
A
- initially: peaceful sit ins
- as it developed, members became increasingly involved in trespassing on the property of clinics
- nationwide attention in 1988 during the DNC in Atlanta, Georgia, when 1200 members were arrested for staging disorderly protests outside abortion clinics.
- 1988-1989, nearly 50,000 members were jailed
24
# the federal government and abortion
disappointment from the religous right: supreme court **1990** and **1981**
- following retirement of Justice William Brennan in **1990**
- Bush nominated David Souter, whose views on abortion were unknown (not pro-life >:(
- **1981** Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor who had a record of sympathising with women in need of abortions >>>:(
25
# the federal government and abortion
religous right rejoice(??): clinics
- 'chastity clinics' funded by Congress where women would be encouraged to avoid sex
26
# the federal government and abortion
religious right rejoice: judicial appointments
- several supreme court rulings that hindered abortions as a result
- *Webster v. Reproductive Services of Missouri* **1989**: the Supreme Court ruled Missouri could deny women abortion
27
# the federal government and abortion
what did the RR hope? what actually occured? what happened to *Roe v. Wade*?
- hoped after *webster* more states would follow Missouri, but only 3 did
- it also did not overturn *Roe v. Wade*, and this was reaffirmed in **1992** ruling abortion was constitutional *Planned Parenthood v. Casey*
- Bush administration then declared support for an anti-abortion constitutional amendment, but the Democratic Congress refused to agree to such an amendment
28
# the campaign against homosexuality
how did the RR appeal to both catholics and protestants?
- opposed gay rights as part of their campaign for areturn to '*traditional moral values'*
29
# the campaign against homosexuality
antigay groups: examples + when did they gain strength?
- Traditional Values Coalition
- Umbrella Voice
- gained strength with the spread of AIDS
30
# the campaign against homosexuality
televangelist Pat Robertson
- **1966** Baptist Minister Robertson setup *The 700 club*, a christian news and tv programme.
- promoted traditional values
- lost in the presidential race to Bush in **1989**
- **1989** established the Christian Coalition, which lobbied against gay rights, abortion, and was pro-school prayer
31
# the campaign against homosexuality
CWFA
concerned women for america
32
# the campaign against homosexuality
Pat Buchanan
- **1992** George H.W. Bush won the Republican presidency but allowed Pat Buchanan (defeated) to deliver the opening speech at the RNC
- Buchanan said Democrat presidential candidate Bill Clinton and VP Al Gore constituted '*the most pro-gay and pro-lesbian ticket in history'*
33
# the campaign against homosexuality
JF and his MM
- jerry falwell and his moral majorit
34
# the campaign against homosexuality
JB adn his PTL
- televangelist Jim Bakker and his PTL ('*praise the lord'*) club
-
35
# the campaign against homosexuality
where did they have support?
- courts and state level
- **1986** Supreme Court upheld Georgia law that criminalised sodomy
- 24 states and Washington DC had similiar laws against this even in private
36
# the success of the campaigns
success of the campaign against abortion proof
- those seeking an abortion still struggle today
- arousing emotional images of 'murder'
37
# the success of the campaigns
ineffectiveness of homosexuality campaign
## Footnote
-
- same-sex marriage was sucessful in teh courts
-
38
# Nancy Reagan's 'just say no' campaign
frightening statistics: illgegal substances in the millins, babies
- 40m americans (1/6) used illegal substances
- 375,000 babies were born addicted to cocaine or heorin
39
# Nancy Reagan's 'just say no' campaign
What did Reagan and Bush do to eradicate drugs? was it successful?
- halting importation from foreign countries
- arresting dealers adn users
- thousands of small time users and dealers were sent to prison
- cocaine and other street drugs remained cheap and became more widely available
40
# the growth of the drug problem
**1985** vs **1989** poll on drug concern
- **1985**: barely 1% of Americans surveyed counted illicit drugs
- **1989**: 50% of those surveyed said drugs use was the gravest threat to national security
41
# the growth of the drug problem
4 main reasons for the growth of the drug problem?
| $$$, cameras, chillly, lady
- cocaine 'crack' was **cheap** and **available** to the poorest of citizens, as a sort of escape, and those selling it could make fortunes
- **stories** of crack adicts staging robberies to finance their addiction made compulsive reading
- **cold war** was winding down americans felt drug war was replacing it
- **first lady** placed lots of importance on it
42
# *'just say no'*
Nancy Reagan's just say no campaign: what was it?
- lots of coverage
- visited nurseries that treated 'crack babies'
- promotion of religous values, harsher school discipline and strict enforcement of antidrug laws
43
# *'just say no'*
**1986** President ordered federal workplaces be....?
- 'drug free'
- urine testing on workers in jobsi nvolving public health or national security
44
# *'just say no'*
**1988 Drug Free Workplace Act**
- universities and contractors that recieved federal govenrment money had to be drug free
45
# *'just say no'*
**1990** Federal spending on enforcement of drugs + what they were spending it on per year? impact?
- $10b+
- imprisonment
- 750,000 americans were charged each year with the violation of drug laws.
- little impact on the availability or price
46
# *'just say no'*
were they successful?
- no
- but they did create divisions
47
# the growth of political division
divisions in the republicans and democrats in congress
- between republican and democrats over traditional moral values and big government
- among republicans over traditional moral values
- among democrats over big government
48
# republican intra-party divisions
Pat Buchanan and televangelist Pat Robertson opinions on Bush
- they said he was insufficiently conservative
- called him an *'eastern establishment liberal'*
49
# republican intra-party divisions
Buchanan's second attack: who was his support from? what did he attack?
- dillusioned republicans with bush's tax hike and his lack of enthusiasm for the RR agenda (he said he wouldn't mind having a gay cabinet member)
- liberal influence in government, education, churches, and hollywood
50
# republican intra-party divisions
Republican National Convention **1992** Pat Buchanan speech
- spoke for the Religous Right and he attacked 'radical feminism' 'abortion on demand' and 'homosexual rights'
51
# democrat intra-party divisions
divisions within the democrats: what were they?
- much less bitter
- between old-style republicans who wanted great society policies, but acknowledged new democrats such as Bill Clinton were much more electable
- New democrats such as Bill Clinton who advocated a balanced federal government budget and decreased federal government itnerventionism
52
# inter-party divisions
Reagan supreme Court nominee?
- robert bork
53
# inter-party divisions
why did democrats hate Robert Bork?
| 5 main reasons
- attacked liberal supreme court decisions
- defended a connecticut law that would have denied contraceptives to married couples
- opposed abortion
- claimed womens rights were not included in the 14th amendment
- criticised the principle of racial equality.
54
# inter-party divisions
How did organisations ensure he was rejected?
- NAACP and the NOW stirred up vociferous popular opposition to him and lobbied senators
- senate rejected him
55
# conclusion bitter political divisions
increased divisions and gridlock in washington: why/
- strident media
- sound-bite communications
- no more consensus and unity
56
# conclusion
was the religous right successful?
- significant counter offensive
- but it couldnt turn the clock back
- lost momentum by **1992**
