The “Christian Right” and the alliance with the Republican Party flowed out of a specific synergy that formed 41 years ago. The alliance had its foundational paradigm start in 1979, when the Rev. Jerry Falwell founded an organization he named, The Moral Majority.
The purpose of the newly formed organization was to “advance conservative social values” in response to the social and cultural transformations that alarmed many evangelical conservatives in the 1960s and 1970s. As the Moral Majority launched, Rev. Falwell said this new organization would be known by two descriptions: Pro-American and Pro- Family.
One can say without any doubt that the cornerstone of the emerging movement of the “Christion Right” and its marriage to the Republican Party was the founding of The Moral Majority. However, the launch into the stratosphere of involvement in politics (especially aimed at reforming government at the federal level) came from a speech in August of 1980 given by Pastor James Robison at the National Affairs Briefing in Dallas Texas, where, 2,500 conservative evangelical pastors from 41 states registered their attendance as they arrived for the conference on August 21, 1980.
The next day, 16,000 evangelicals, pastors and laity alike, crowded into the brand-new Dallas Reunion Arena to hear speeches that were a call to action and political involvement as the 1980 national election approached. It should be noted that all three candidates running for President in 1980 were invited to speak, including President Jimmy Carter, and the Independent candidate, John Anderson. Only the Republican, Ronald Reagan, accepted the invitation.
Pastor Robison spoke immediately before Mr. Reagan. This was a speech that stood above all speeches heretofore given that was, for conservative evangelicals, a call to righteous action that metaphorically shook the foundations of the auditorium. Pastor Robison had a reputation for being harshly caustic and for railing against “communists, homosexuals, liberal politicians, radicals, perverts, leftists and the federal government.” His half hour TV show had been canceled by WFAA of Dallas a year earlier in 1979 for blaming homosexuals for crimes ranging from sexual molestation to murder. He had called the homosexual movement “a perversion of the highest order.”
Mr. Reagan’s campaign staff was aghast that he accepted the invitation not only to appear but also to speak on the same stage as Pastor Robison. However, Reagan accepted the invitation. Once there, his staff told Reagan he should wait backstage while Pastor Robison spoke. Instead, Mr. Reagan went on stage and sat next to Pastor Robison in the front row. Directly behind Mr. Reagan was the Rev. Falwell, who is seen talking joyously to Reagan during the approximate 13-minute plus speech. Reagan vigorously applauded and joined those on stage in several standing ovations for Pastor Robinson throughout the speech as the crowd roared its appreciation.
In Robison’s powerful speech, his remarks were aimed at the godless interpretation of the “separation of church and state.” He also emphasized that “the godly, decent., moral, and hardworking” must vote and put righteous leaders in power using Proverbs 29:2 to infer the current government in charge at the time of his speech was “wicked.” The inference was unambiguous. “You cannot separate God from government,” he said. He railed angrily as he talked about the current federal government headed by President Carter though he did not name him per se. He only talked in pejorative terms about the governance and the intent of the government with its “unbridled, excessive, and uncontrollable spending,” and the impending doom that America would see because of deficit spending.
He said the Bible should be regarded as an Economics textbook and used for healing the “cancerous invisible sores that embarrass us before the whole world.” He railed against the government giving handouts to people and then claimed that government’s role is not to help persons in need. He shouted that he did not need a handout when he was poor but needed individual help which he challenges the audience to do if they will join him in the sentiment. In his closing remarks, he said, “Government functions best when it governs least.” The crowd roared its approval as the final standing ovation was given.
Candidate Ronald Reagan’s speech immediately followed Pastor Robinson speech. Reagan began by saying to the 16,000 plus gathered, “I know you can't endorse a political candidate, but I endorse you.” The crowd roared its approval and continued as he went on to echo the ethos of the speech that Pastor Robinson had just given. Both speeches are available on You Tube in one link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH1e0xxRRbk&t=150s
The Robison speech of August 1980 foreshadowed President Reagan’s Inaugural Address five months later, in January of 1981, when the newly sworn in President Reagan said, “Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem!”
The “Christian Right,” was represented by pastors, such as Pastor Robison and Pastor Falwell. However, others like Rev. Pat Robertson of The 700 Club, Rev. James Kennedy, Rev. W.A. Criswell, and the doctor/ licensed psychologist, Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, etc. were not only concerned about government spending and inflation; they were also concerned about civil rights, the tax exemption status of emerging private Christian schools, and what they saw as IRS overreach when they appeared to be segregated by race. They were also bothered by the women’s movement, the gay rights movement, the teaching of evolution in schools, the Supreme Court decision of 1973 in Roe v. Wade, and the list went on and on. More than anything, the “Christian Right” saw themselves as the purveyors of righteousness to bring the country back to what they saw as “righteous living and morality.”
In 1980, they also wed a major political party, the Republican Party that wholeheartedly endorsed them through the standard bearer of that party, the soon to be President, Ronald W. Reagan, the 40TH President of the United States of America. That marriage continues to this day in 2020 strong as ever. If you are a member of the “Christian Right” today, you will be expected ipso facto to be a Republican, in most, if not all, instances.
