Racism was integral but rendered invisible in the Christian Right’s origins
Evidence
However, these accounts and that of Balmer’s do align in that racism and racist ideas played an integral role in shaping a political realignment that brought conservative white Christians into the Republican Party fold. Therefore, the key is not that it was only racism that united the Christian Right, as Balmer argues. The key is that racism was rendered so consistently invisible alongside other “moral” issues the Christian Right highlighted. Balmer’s thesis, while oversimplified, does bring the importance of race into clear view. — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 533
Categorization
- XREF: Balances Balmer’s single-cause argument against the multi-issue reality — synthesizes accounts like Catholic anti-abortion networks also covered. — connects to: Forced desegregation of Christian schools, not abortion, sparked the Christian Right — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 530; Defending a Christian nation has meant defending the racial order — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 476; Christian conservatives now justify discrimination via rights language rather than morality — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian…, 292 (+12 more)
Broader Connections
- Religious Right leaders reframed racism as religious freedom to mask self-interest
#expands(0.85) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 110 - New right racism operates through cultural uniformity, not racial supremacy
#qualifies(0.72) - Intergroup identification plus conventional life values, not doctrine, drive religious racism.
#complicates(0.72) — Deborah L. Hall and David C. Matz and Wendy Wood, Why Don’t We Practice What We Preach? A…, 86 - Islamophobia within the Christian Right extended into law enforcement counterterrorism circles.
#exemplifies(0.70) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 537