Bad Faith

1. The Abortion Myth: A Fabricated Origin Story

The Religious Right’s most cherished and durable myth is its myth of origins.

A convenient narrative. The widely accepted story, propagated by figures like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, claims that the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 galvanized evangelical leaders into political action, outraged by legalized abortion. This narrative suggests a sudden awakening from political complacency to fight a moral evil.

Historical ambivalence. However, historical evidence contradicts this claim. Until the late 1970s, evangelicals largely considered abortion a "Catholic issue."

• A 1968 Christianity Today conference found evangelical theologians unable to agree on a unified stance, acknowledging ambiguities and allowing for abortion in certain circumstances like "individual health, family welfare, and social responsibility."
• The Southern Baptist Convention, in 1971, 1974, and 1976, passed resolutions supporting abortion under conditions such as rape, incest, severe fetal deformity, or risk to the mother's health.
• W. A. Criswell, a prominent fundamentalist and former Southern Baptist Convention president, even expressed satisfaction with Roe v. Wade in 1973, stating a child became a person only after birth.

Silence and equivocation. The overwhelming evangelical response to Roe v. Wade was silence or ambivalence. Even future anti-abortion stalwarts like James Dobson acknowledged in 1973 that the Bible was silent on the matter, making it plausible for evangelicals to believe a fetus was not a full human being. This widespread lack of immediate, unified opposition undermines the abortion myth.

2. The Real Catalyst: Defending Segregated Christian Schools

The real catalyst for the Religious Right was a court decision, but it was not Roe v. Wade.

Green v. Connally. The true spark for the Religious Right's emergence was the 1971 federal court ruling in Green v. Connally, upheld by the Supreme Court, which denied tax-exempt status to racially segregated private schools. This decision directly challenged "segregation academies" that had sprung up in response to public school desegregation, including Jerry Falwell's Lynchburg Christian School and Bob Jones University.

IRS scrutiny. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) began inquiring about the racial policies of these church-related schools, threatening their tax exemptions. This government action infuriated evangelical leaders who had long boasted that their institutions, accepting no federal money, were immune to government oversight. They viewed tax exemption as a right, not a subsidy, and saw the IRS actions as an assault on their religious freedom.

Weyrich's insight. Paul Weyrich, a key architect of the Religious Right, recognized this issue as the potent catalyst he had long sought. He had previously tried to mobilize evangelicals on issues like pornography, school prayer, and even abortion, but "nothing galvanized evangelical leaders to action until the Internal Revenue Service began to challenge the tax-exempt status of racially segregated schools." This defense of segregated institutions, framed as religious freedom, provided the necessary rallying cry.

3. Evangelicalism's Progressive Roots and Social Reform

Over the course of the nineteenth and well into the twentieth century, evangelicals were engaged in a broad spectrum of social reform efforts, many of them directed toward those on the margins of society.

A different history. Contrary to the modern perception of evangelicalism as inherently politically conservative, its historical trajectory in America reveals a strong tradition of social reform. The Second Great Awakening (late 18th to early 19th century) energized evangelicals to address societal ills, driven by a postmillennial conviction that they could reform society and usher in God's kingdom on earth.

Broad reform agenda. Nineteenth-century evangelicals championed a wide array of progressive causes:

• Education: Advocating for "common schools" to provide upward mobility for immigrant and less fortunate children.
• Prison reform: Seeking humane treatment and rehabilitation for inmates.
• Abolition of slavery: Many Northern evangelicals actively fought against this scourge.
• Temperance: Though paternalistic in hindsight, it aimed to alleviate suffering caused by alcohol abuse.
• Women's rights: Supporting equality and opportunities for women.
• Peace crusades: Opposing violence and war, with even references to evangelical campaigns for gun control.

Piety and humanity. Leaders like Charles Grandison Finney emphasized that "God loves both piety and humanity," believing that a regenerated individual had a responsibility to improve society and care for the vulnerable. This commitment to social justice stands in stark contrast to the later political agenda of the Religious Right.

4. Dispensationalism's Retreat from Societal Engagement

The consequence of Darby’s premillennialism (Jesus would return before the millennium) was to absolve evangelicals of responsibility for addressing social ills.

A theological shift. In the decades following the Civil War, evangelical optimism about societal perfection waned amidst industrialization, urbanization, and the influx of non-Protestant immigrants. This led to a theological shift away from postmillennialism (Jesus returns after a period of peace) towards dispensational premillennialism, popularized by John Nelson Darby.

Theology of despair. Premillennialism posits that Jesus will return before a thousand-year period of peace, potentially at any moment, to "rapture" the faithful into heaven, leaving others behind for divine judgment. This doctrine, which divided human history into "dispensations," fostered a "theology of despair" among many evangelicals.

• It redirected focus from collective societal ills to individual regeneration.
• It questioned the utility of social reform if the world was destined for imminent judgment.
• It led to a withdrawal from political engagement, as politics was seen as "the realm of Satan."

Cultural impact. This theological diversion had profound effects, from influencing architectural choices (prioritizing function over form in anticipation of Christ's return) to shaping evangelistic appeals. Films like A Thief in the Night (1972) powerfully illustrated the urgency of individual conversion in the face of imminent rapture, reinforcing the idea that making this "transitory world a better place" was less important than saving souls.

5. The Evangelical Subculture: Isolation and Future Mobilization

Symbolically, the Scopes trial was a turning point. In the course of the 1920s and 1930s, American evangelicals doubled down on their rejection of the larger culture.

Post-Scopes retreat. The 1925 Scopes "monkey" trial, which pitted science against faith and ridiculed evangelicals as "backwoods country bumpkins," became a symbolic turning point. Feeling besieged by Darwinism, higher criticism, and the perceived moral decay of the Jazz Age, evangelicals retreated from mainstream culture.

Building an insular world. They responded by constructing an extensive "evangelical subculture"—an interlocking network of institutions designed to shield themselves and their children from a corrupting secular society. This included:

• Churches and denominations
• Bible camps and institutes
• Colleges and seminaries
• Publishing houses and missionary societies

Apolitical interlude. For several decades, this subculture fostered an apolitical stance. Many evangelicals, influenced by premillennial beliefs and a conviction that the world was condemned, saw politics as Satan's realm and refused to vote. This period of isolation, however, inadvertently laid the groundwork for future political mobilization. The institutions built during this time—schools, media operations, evangelistic organizations—would later provide the infrastructure for evangelicals to re-enter the public arena in the 1970s, albeit with a very different agenda.

6. A Brief Progressive Resurgence: The Chicago Declaration and Jimmy Carter

The Chicago Declaration was a remarkable document in that it reaffirmed evangelicalism’s historical commitment to those Jesus called “the least of these.”

Progressive stirrings. The early 1970s saw a brief resurgence of progressive evangelicalism, reminiscent of its 19th-century social reform roots. In 1973, fifty-five evangelicals convened in Chicago to draft the Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern. This document boldly decried:

• Militarism and racism
• Economic inequality and materialism
• The scandal of hunger in an affluent society
• It also reaffirmed evangelicalism's historic commitment to women's equality.

Carter's evangelical appeal. Jimmy Carter, a "born-again" Southern Baptist Sunday school teacher, capitalized on this progressive evangelical sentiment. His 1976 presidential campaign, emphasizing racial justice, prison reform, and human rights, resonated with many evangelicals.

• He was seen as a truth-teller in the wake of Nixon's Watergate scandal.
• His defeat of notorious segregationist George C. Wallace in the Florida primary signaled a shift away from overt racism in Southern politics.
• Many evangelicals, though not yet politically organized, voted for Carter out of novelty and shared faith, propelling him to the White House.

A progressive agenda. As president, Carter pursued policies aligned with progressive evangelical values: pardoning Vietnam draft evaders, prioritizing human rights in foreign policy, protecting wilderness areas, and appointing more women and minorities to government posts. His presidency represented a moment when a progressive evangelical vision held national prominence, before the rise of the Religious Right.

7. Weyrich's Political Strategy: Finding a Rallying Cry

“The new political philosophy must be defined by us [conservatives] in moral terms, packaged in non-religious language, and propagated throughout the country by our new coalition,” Weyrich wrote in the mid-1970s.

A formidable voting bloc. Paul Weyrich, a conservative strategist, recognized the untapped political potential of white evangelicals. He believed their large numbers could form a powerful voting bloc for conservative causes if properly mobilized. His goal was to define a "new political philosophy" in moral terms, appealing to evangelicals without overtly religious language.

Searching for an issue. For nearly two decades, Weyrich experimented with various issues to galvanize evangelical interest:

• Pornography
• School prayer
• The Equal Rights Amendment
• Even abortion

He admitted, "I utterly failed" to spark widespread activism with these issues. The challenge was finding a "catalyst, a standard around which to rally."

The IRS as the spark. The Green v. Connally ruling and subsequent IRS actions against segregated Christian schools provided this catalyst. Evangelical leaders, particularly those whose institutions were affected, were enraged, interpreting the government's actions as an assault on religious freedom. Weyrich astutely leveraged this anger, shifting the debate from a defense of racial segregation to a more palatable defense of religious liberty, thereby laying the foundation for the Religious Right.

8. The 1978 Elections: Abortion's Strategic Introduction

The midterm elections in 1978, when pro-life Republicans defeated favored Democratic candidates in New Hampshire, Iowa, and Minnesota, persuaded Weyrich that opposition to abortion could work as a populist issue.

A new populist issue. After mobilizing evangelicals around the IRS issue, Weyrich and other nascent Religious Right leaders sought another issue to broaden their appeal beyond the defense of segregated schools. Robert Billings, a Bob Jones University alumnus, initially suggested gay rights as an "emotionally charged issue." However, the 1978 midterm elections offered a different path.

Targeted campaigns. In key races, anti-abortion activists (primarily Roman Catholics) distributed hundreds of thousands of pamphlets in church parking lots on the final weekend before the election. This tactic proved decisive in low-turnout elections:

• In Iowa, incumbent Democratic Senator Richard C. Clark, expected to win easily, was defeated by a pro-life Republican challenger. An election day survey indicated 25,000 Iowans voted for the challenger due to his abortion stance.
• In Minnesota, pro-life Republican candidates captured both Senate seats and the governorship, with Christianity Today crediting anti-abortionists for the "collapse of Minnesota's liberal Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party."

Excitement and collaboration. These unexpected victories electrified Weyrich and his allies, demonstrating abortion's potential as a populist issue. Correspondence from Weyrich to conservative allies "fairly crackles with excitement," confirming that the 1978 elections were a "true cause for celebration" and a formative step in galvanizing evangelical voters. This success prompted the Religious Right to strategically embrace abortion as a key part of its agenda.

9. The 1980 Election: Reagan's Calculated Alliance

“Now, I know this is a non-partisan gathering, and so I know that you can’t endorse me,” he said, pausing for dramatic effect, “but I only brought that up because I want you to know that I endorse you and what you are doing.”

Reagan's embrace. In the 1980 presidential election, Ronald Reagan, despite his personal history (divorced, remarried, former Hollywood actor) and previous pro-choice stance as California governor, strategically courted evangelical voters. At a Dallas rally of 15,000-20,000 evangelicals, he delivered a carefully crafted speech.

• He declared his support for creationism and the Bible.
• He "flawlessly delivered his line" endorsing the evangelicals and their work.
• Crucially, he "excoriated the 'unconstitutional regulatory agenda' directed by the Internal Revenue Service 'against independent schools,'" directly addressing the core grievance that mobilized the Religious Right.

Abortion's absence. Notably, Reagan's speech made "no mention whatsoever of abortion." While Weyrich publicly celebrated, he privately complained that Reagan's aides "carefully avoided the issues of abortion, the Equal Rights Amendment, Gay Rights and Prayer in the Schools," fearing a backlash if Reagan was too closely identified with the "Christian Right."

Carter's defection. Despite Jimmy Carter being a "born-again" Christian and Sunday school teacher, evangelicals turned dramatically against him. While Carter's presidency faced challenges from a balky economy and the Iran hostage crisis, his refusal to seek a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion was viewed as an "unpardonable sin" by the emerging Religious Right, solidifying their shift to Reagan.

10. The Enduring Consequences of the Abortion Myth and Unaddressed Racism

I believe the abortion myth matters because unacknowledged and unaddressed racism has a tendency to fester.

A compromised foundation. The book argues that the abortion myth, by obscuring the Religious Right's origins in defending racial segregation, allows a foundational racism to fester. This unaddressed past compromises the movement's integrity and its claims to "family values."

• The 2016 and 2020 elections, where 81% and 78% of white evangelicals voted for Donald Trump, respectively, forced a re-evaluation of the movement's core motivations.
• Trump's history of racist rhetoric and actions, from the "birther" conspiracy to "shithole countries" remarks, suggests a lingering appeal or tolerance for racism among some white evangelical voters.

Hypocrisy and lost voice. The Religious Right's unwavering support for Trump, despite his ethical compromises and self-confessed sexual predation, highlights a disconnect between their stated "family values" and their political allegiances.

• Leaders like Jerry Falwell Jr. and Franklin Graham have praised Trump, often dismissing his racism or claiming divine appointment.
• This alliance with a "vulgar demagogue" has led the Religious Right to forfeit its prophetic voice, reducing it to a mere political interest group.

A call for repentance. The author contends that facing the abortion myth and the racism "baked into" the Religious Right is crucial for healing and redirection. A re-examination of biblical mandates and evangelical history—which championed care for the marginalized, racial justice, and public education—could prompt a re-evaluation of current political agendas, including:

• Immigration policies
• Environmental stewardship
• Poverty and healthcare
• Women's rights

Repentance and a return to their progressive roots could offer a path to redemption and rapprochement with evangelicals of color, fostering a more consistent and biblically aligned political engagement.

Last updated: February 20, 2026