How Much of a Role Christianity has played in U.S. Democracy
- Marty
- Nov 18, 2019
- 8 min read
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
These are the words of the first amendment, written by James Madison in 1789. It explains that the U.S. government cannot invent and force citizens to follow a specific religion, they cannot enforce laws that constrain free speech, press can report and spread news without fear of reprimand; no matter the information, U.S. citizens can group to partake in activities without governmental interference, and the people can voice their concerns about actions/decisions made by the government. It was prudent for the Founding Fathers to showcase a great deal of care and detail for the laws that would run the free country. Moreover, since the beginning, religion was what America began with. The liberty to live with or without God in life, love, and the pursuit of happiness.
How does Christianity benefit the U.S. politically? Faith and politics, before the second World War, were affiliated for the people. Arguably, that affiliation has been there since before the founding, but after World War II, the Cold War closely united the two. Communism was a significant contributor to placing the nation in fear, which would, in turn, push people into the arms of God. Christianity was an effective practice in calming and creating a sense of peace. The United States was facing “The Red Scare,” the promotion of widespread fear of communism or anarchism by foreign communists. The world was on the edge of a nuclear holocaust, and right as this chaos was spreading, Los Angles was introduced to Billy Graham in 1949 – calling it the Los Angeles Crusade.
Billy Graham, an American evangelist, and established religious figure was said to be the most influential Christian of the twentieth century. The Los Angeles Crusade was organized by the apostolic group Christ for Greater of Los Angeles. They put together a 3-week campaign for Graham, but because of its success, they extended it to 8-weeks. It was organized with prayer support provided by more than 1,000 prayer groups that had been formed in and around Los Angeles. These groups regularly prayed for the crusade’s success. The Billy Graham Evangelist Association states on their website, “Billy Graham took Christ literally when He said in Mark 16:15, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” People flocked towards his speeches. He integrated the idea of a “spiritual revival,” which helped tame the swarming fear and turmoil churning in the country. Graham’s stout preaching caught the attention of journalist and businessman William Randolph Hurst – a staunch anti-communist. Hurst takes a liking to Graham’s anti-communist rhetoric, and he instructs his newspapers to give Graham the media’s national stage.
This is what will propel America’s journey to a more evangelical way of life for the right side of the political party. Graham’s sudden rise in popularity was akin to the way pop stars suddenly surface. He was on every magazine, every channel, and on every station preaching against the communist movement. To further expand his status, Graham started to branch his teachings to those in political power. He became acquainted with mayors and governors, and Graham even built a soft friendship with Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States. During the 1952 presidential campaign, it was mentioned that Eisenhower had never been baptized. The two men conversed back and forth, and within two weeks of being sworn in as president, Eisenhower was baptized Presbyterian. Graham had it in his head that if he could convert specific, influential leaders, it would make the Christian faith more palatable. They invoked faith as a fight against communism. When Eisenhower left office in 1960, church membership increased to more than 65%, according to Clint Kimball of LDS Membership Statistics.
It was at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, where Eisenhower heard the phrase “Under God” involved in the religious lecture. The preacher had apparently liked the idea of adding the phrase to the Pledge of Allegiance and constructed the concept of making it apart of starting words school children recite before their mornings. Pondering these words and their meaning to the Pledge, Eisenhower agreed to adding this phrase and consulted officials to make this possibility a reality.
During this incredibly tense Cold War, Congress decided that also adding “In God We Trust” to our motto was acceptable. This motto was going back to the preconceived notion that we were a chosen people, and that this country’s foundation was built upon the idea of religion. Because of faith, our founding fathers, and ancestors, America was, by its own circumstances, able to rise out of a travesty put by the Royal Rule of England. This motto was another turning point for America's governing and social standing.
The Civil Rights Movement was a decade that used religion to push an agenda that has been fought for and against since before the 13 colonies were established. During the movement of uniting faith and politics, there was also the movement of the black Church, which had sustained African Americans since slavery. The Church was the meeting place for the movement in the South. It was the ground on which protesters based their beliefs. If God makes man in his image, why shall one image not be accepted? The Church was a way for the people to come together in the time of conflict. It was an installation in the community beyond the control of the white-dominated society, and it is a place where people could express themselves without reprisal. Martin Luther King Jr. was a preacher himself. A brilliant speaker, writer, activist, and a common man, put forth a development that has forever changed social ideas, rights, and fairness among human beings. In 1955, he became the pastor of a small Montgomery Church. As soon as King started his career of preaching the Lord’s words of Christianity, Rosa Parks sat down on the bus.
Parks sets him on a different course. Once she takes the action of refusing to give up her seat on the bus, a movement starts. King, unintentionally, started to lead the bus boycott. He gave his first civil rights speech in a packed Montgomery Church. He spoke about the obvious unfairness and discrimination that had been happening on the buses and why those who were discriminated against were not wrong for trying to change the law. King laid out these ideas while merging biblical conversation with democracy. Referencing the Bible’s teachings of “We are all equal before God,” and merging that with The Declaration of Independence’s, “All Men are created equal.” What King is doing is taking that affirmation seriously. He saw a way to change America while not destroying America.
The election of President Kennedy in the 60's resurfaced the struggle between Church and state. There was much backlash towards Kennedy being Catholic. Up until Kennedy, most of our presidents had been Protestant. America had been a “Protestant country.” People were and are still afraid of what they are not. Richard Nixon and Billy Graham were just a few individuals that were uncomfortable with a Roman Catholic in the Whitehouse. Billy Graham was so uncomfortable with the prospect, that Graham held a meeting in Switzerland with Protestant officials to discuss the assurance of Kennedy not being elected. Billy Graham wrote to Kennedy personally and spoke with Nixon about the conflicts but did not speak to the media directly. He stayed on the outside while quietly working on the inside to make sure his efforts were seen. When Kennedy was elected, he held a speech explicitly speaking about the conflicts between America’s Church and state. Delivering with intellect and empathy, Kennedy articulated that his religious beliefs were important to him only. That it did not matter which Church he believed in, but what kind of America he believed in. This speech was a success in relieving some fears, but more importantly, it demonstrated that the American people had elected someone that was aware of what the country was afraid of. He had the solutions and the words to ease fear.
After Kennedy was elected, Billy Graham made a point to meet and talk with the new president to keep his hold on power so that his Christian influence would not distinguish. Conspiring against the winning candidate did not matter to Graham anymore – as long as he still had his hands on the ones who could create political change. While Graham was working on the inside of the White House, Martin Luther King was the outsider – trying to grab the attention of the president about the civil rights crisis. At this time, Kennedy is not concerned about the civil rights movement; Kennedy is concerned about the Cold War, and other types of social issues. In Birmingham, Alabama, King launches a string of protests that would hopefully spark photos and media to alert Kennedy of the violence in the South. Billy Graham was unsympathetic for the southern African American community at the time and wrote King to “put the brakes on,” according to PBS’s God in America: Soul of a Nation. Birmingham became more violent after King’s arrest, and protester’s faith was severely tested. The police had lined the streets with hoses and police dogs two blocks from the jail. Andrew Young, an American politician, diplomat, and activist that worked beside King told PBS what the protesters did when they approached the barricade. The police told them, “You’re not going to the jail,” and their only response was to sit and pray.
Black men, women, teenagers fell upon their knees in prayer. Beforehand, King wrote a letter in the margins of a New York Times newspaper to bring serious attention to what was happening to minorities in the South. King wrote, “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet-like speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.” He goes into driving past white churches with their perfectly manicured lawns and calls out the white religious leaders that denounced him for being unfairly arrested. The men running the country ignored King for some time after.
Christianity has played a role in more than the foundation of this country. It has helped whole communities find peace and acceptance. A generation found peace during a threatened war, people produced prayer to decrease conflict between those who were different, and families used faith to uphold justice. It is important that we, as a nation, remember our history as to not repeat mistakes. Whether a person holds no religious belief or does, it is a fact that Christianity has helped America grow as a country.
Work Cited:
PBS, Mellowes, Marylin, “Soul of a Nation.”
The Faith of Jimmy Carter, America: The Jesuit Review, Shirley, Betsy, 11 April 2018
The Great Awakening: Seven Ways to Change the World, Reviving Faith and Politics, Wallis, Jim, 2008
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Lazuk, Ethan, The Classroom, “What Are the Causes of Fear of Communism in the US?” 23 July 2018 https://www.theclassroom.com/causes-fear-communism-us-8372.html
Into the Big Tent: Billy Graham and the 1949 Los Angeles Campaign Billy Graham Center Archives
Global Nonviolent Action Database, Danny Hirschel-Burns, 30 January 2011 https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/african-americans-birmingham-alabama-protest-segregation-1956-1958
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African Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania, "Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]" Page Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
New Georgia Encyclopedia, Moye, J. Todd, “Government and politics; Political Figures,” 16 December 2003 https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/andrew-young-b-1932
-marty
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