The right adopted religious mobilization in imitation of the left’s success

Evidence

I begin with the premise that the once-popular notion in the social sciences that modernity will necessarily lead to a decline of religiosity, the so-called secularization paradigm, is no longer tenable. In the words of a leading sociologist of religion, Peter Berger (1999, 9), “The world today is massively religious, is anything but the secularized world that had been predicted (whether joyfully or despondently) by so many analysts of modernity [including Berger himself in his earlier writings].” Furthermore, it seems clear that this worldwide resurgence of religion has not been the result of a rise in individual religiosity, but rather is due to the increasing presence of religion in the public sphere and its instrumental use in politics. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 1664 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

Weyrich went on to call for a constitutional convention in hopes of producing a form of government more congenial to conservatism. “I don’t want everybody to vote,” he said at a gathering in the fall of 1980. “As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.” — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 238 (#builds-on, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Key New Right strategist wanted low voter turnout to boost conservative power — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 238; The concentration camp legend originated on the political left — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 373; The Religious Right’s abortion politics predate Roe and were chosen for strategic reasons — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 222 (+2 more)

Related

• Key New Right strategist wanted low voter turnout to boost conservative power (similarity 0.82)
• The New Right was built by copying the left’s religious coalition-building. (similarity 0.81)
• Religion’s resurgence reflects political instrumentalization, not personal piety (similarity 0.81)
• The Religious Right’s abortion politics predate Roe and were chosen for strategic reasons (similarity 0.80)
• Weyrich’s conservatism centered on anticommunism and economics, not religion (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Religion’s resurgence reflects political instrumentalization, not personal piety #contradicts (0.75) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 1664