Evangelicals saw the military as a bastion of masculine traditional values

Evidence

DURING THE VIETNAM WAR, evangelicals had come to admire the military as a bulwark against the erosion of authority and as a holdout for traditional values amid a hostile, secularizing, and emasculating culture. During the 1980s, they worked to forge closer connections with the military in order to strengthen this last bastion of American greatness. Not surprisingly, Falwell assisted in this effort. Working at the Reagan administration’s behest to point out the follies of détente, he frequently called on retired military men to help him make his case. But it was James Dobson who would play the most critical role in cementing ties between evangelicals and the military. — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 305

Categorization

• XREF: Falwell working ‘at the Reagan administration’s behest’ is a key evidence point for the reader contesting whether this strand is the whole of white evangelicalism or a politically-aligned dominant strand. — connects to: Evangelical churches fuse patriotic and military ritual with Christian worship to sacralize the nation — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 36
• QUESTION: What precisely did Dobson do to cement military-evangelical ties in the 1980s? Looking forward to the next chapter.