A prominent American fundamentalist preached that God authored racial segregation

Evidence

Bob Jones Sr., founder of the college that later became Bob Jones University, was an especially ardent segregationist, and he centered his defense of segregation clearly in his religion. In an April 17, 1960, radio address, “Is Segregation Scriptural?” he declared “God is the author of segregation” and called the practice “God’s established order.” He referred to desegregationists as “Satanic propagandists” and “religious infidels” who are “leading colored Christians astray” with their “Communistic agitation to overthrow the established order of God.” — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 247

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s broader interest in how religious authority legitimates social hierarchy, paralleling caste-religion material read elsewhere. — connects to: A governor won office on a theology that God ordained segregation — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 118; Racist theological ideas sanctioned and made American slavery acceptable to Christian churches — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The…, 20; Race served as a theological marker separating the blessed from the cursed — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 1370 (+4 more)
• SHARE: The direct quote framing desegregation as ‘Satanic propaganda’ and ‘Communistic agitation’ would interest anyone tracking the fusion of racial and anticommunist theology.

Broader Connections

• A governor won office on a theology that God ordained segregation #exemplifies (0.95) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 118
• Mississippi Baptist clergy publicly defended racial segregation in explicitly white supremacist terms #exemplifies (0.85) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 122
• Mississippi segregationists’ racism was sincerely rooted in their Baptist theology, not hypocrisy #exemplifies (0.85) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 117
• Racist theological ideas sanctioned and made American slavery acceptable to Christian churches #exemplifies (0.80) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 20
• Fundamentalism originated as a specific early 20th-century American Protestant movement #expands (0.80) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 185
• Race served as a theological marker separating the blessed from the cursed #expands (0.78) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1370