Religion and the Radical Right in American Public Life

Religious movements and religious ideas have played important roles in the United States almost since the formation of the American republic. From those who sought to abolish slavery in the 19th century to the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 20th, Christian clergy and laymen claimed relig...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Weinberg, Leonard B. (Author)
Contributors: Assoudeh, Eliot (Other)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2016]
In: Religion compass
Year: 2016, Volume: 10, Issue: 7, Pages: 176-187
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B USA / Right-wing radicalism / Right-wing populism / Religious movement / Protestantism / History 1861-2016
RelBib Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
CG Christianity and Politics
CH Christianity and Society
KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history
KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
KBQ North America
KDD Protestant Church
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:Religious movements and religious ideas have played important roles in the United States almost since the formation of the American republic. From those who sought to abolish slavery in the 19th century to the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 20th, Christian clergy and laymen claimed religious inspiration for their involvements. There is another side to this story, however. In addition to championing these progressive causes, Christian, largely Protestant, religious ideas have also been central to the various radical right-wing movements that have surfaced over the course of American history. Or, as the journalist H. L. Mencken once put it in connection with the 1928 presidential election campaign: "the Ku Klux Klan is really the secular wing of the Methodist church in the South!" Xenophobic, Anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic, and especially anti-communist, far-right organisations in the USA have employed religious sentiments to justify their campaigns against important social changes in public life. We propose to tell their story.
ISSN:1749-8171
Contains:Enthalten in: Religion compass
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/rec3.12203