Jerry Falwell and the Rise of the New Christian Right in America

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,0, University of Frankfurt (Main) (Institut für England- und Amerikastudien), language: English, abstract: American politics have always to some degree been influenced by religion. As a nation whose long history of religious tolerance includes milestones like Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Statue of Religious Freedom and a rigid separation of church and state laid out in its constitution, the United States to this day has retained a blossoming and diverse religious culture. Government was neither ever to interfere with the religious affairs of its citizens, nor was it to establish any kind of regulation thereof, making religion in the U.S. virtually free enterprise. As a result, the spheres of public and political discourse have from time to time been swept by waves of assertions by the pious claiming their place in the governing of the nation. During the 20th century, there have been several prominent examples of intrusion into politics by the Christian Right defined by Clyde Wilcox as 'a social movement that seeks to mobilize and represent evangelical Christians in politics' (Laying up Treasures 23). This paper will focus on the New Christian Right of the 1980s that was shaped primarily by assertive spiritual leaders. For this purpose, an excerpt from a work by the fundamentalist preacher and leading figure of evangelical political activism, the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, will be examined.