“We will see a breakdown of the family and family values if we decide to approve same-sex marriage, and if we decide to establish homosexuality as an acceptable alternative lifestyle with all the benefits that go with equating it with the heterosexual lifestyle,” Jerry Falwell, a leading member of the Moral Majority, made this statement in reference to his views on the moral decline of America in the 1970s. His beliefs, along with other Americans’ beliefs, became the foundation of what is known as the New Right. The New Right was a network of political activists and organizations that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, and it emphasized cultural issues such as abortion, feminism, and prayer in school. Three events can be associated with the rise of the New Right: the campaign of Goldwater in the election of 1964, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) approval along with the Roe v. Wade decision, and the influence of “televangelists.” Each of …show more content…
The Moral Majority was founded by Reverend Jerry Falwell in 1979. As an evangelical minister and founder of Liberty University, he fully supported the beliefs and conservative ideals of the New Right. Falwell was one of many evangelists who ushered the New Right into the 1980s and paved the way for a new order in American politics. The Moral Majority was reaching audiences that were unheard of in the decades prior to the 1980s. This was an effect of “televangelists,” or evangelical preachers who appeared regularly on television to preach their beliefs. By broadcasting over radio, direct-mail marketing, and cable TV, “televangelists” were able to reach millions of American voters. They constantly advocated for the New Right’s conservative causes. The “televangelists” were one of the most important causes to the rise of the New Right into the American political system of the
In his 2014 book 11 Principles of a Reagan Conservative, Dr. Paul Kengor laid out the foundational beliefs of the Reagan presidency. Of importance to the relevance of Reagan and the current political climate are the principles related to social conservatism: faith, family, and the sanctity and dignity of human life.(1) Those principles formed one leg of Reagan’s three-legged philosophy of conservatism. Many of the same principles form the core of the current conservative wing of the Republican Party, but demographics within the United States have changed the relevancy of the principles. Understanding the political climate and demographics of the 1970s and 1980s in relationship to social conservatism and projecting the demographics and political climate of the 2018 mid-term election will determine the efficacy of the message of social conservatism for the current electorate. 107 lines
Falwell and his followers took advantage of the media, radio broadcasts and television programs, to freely speak about their viewpoint on homosexuality, pornography, and abortions. During this time period, the LGBT community was becoming more obvious to many people because of the Stonewall Riots. Jerry Falwell perceived this as America losing his traditional values and in order to uphold its customary roots, he launched a campaign to cleanse America. His views on these matters reached over three million homes through both radio stations and television stations. Falwell’s master plan was to bend the world’s airwaves to God’s will.
As the Democratic platform changed, the Republican party became very conservative and defended state’s rights due to its opposition to what was called “big government” (Rise of Rep. Party, p. 567). On the issue of race, the Republican party fully supported that the white race was superior and the state had its own right to remain segregated. A key politician that represents this change was the former Senator Jesse Helms. Religion was the driving force of his political views and he was very vocal about his opinions. His campaign developed the concept of the “New Right” which refers to the Christian church stepping into the realm of politics (Jesse Helms Doc). In the 1970s and the 1980s, many organizations became available, such as the Christian Coalition and Moral Majority, to support the church having political influence. Since the church became a part of political campaigns, politicians became more reserved in their discrimination in a perception known as Southern Strategy. This popular technique was used mainly by the Republican party that was extremely traditional known as the “Tea Party” or “far-right”. The first politician to introduce the idea was President Nixon in 1960, through his speeches to the people. The “Southern Strategy” technique is used when the speaker uses choices of words to convey a negative, underlying meaning without blatantly stating their opinion (class discussion). As an example, Nixon expressed his support of state’s rights as a way of admitting that he supported the continuation of segregation in the
Gay liberation throughout the United States had a purpose for lesbians and gay men to have gay lifestyles be normal. Gay liberation affected politics because gay men and lesbians wanted to inform their peers and family, which changed how citizens would view their sexual orientation. The gay liberation took place during the 1960’s through the 1980’s in which changed many cultures. The culture in the United States changed dramatically because during the 1960s through 1980s , there was an AIDS outbreak. AIDS was a sickness after HIV that would cause an individual’s body to weaken, therefore United States citizens would link AIDS to people who were gay or lesbian. For instance, David Rayside compares the United States to Britain, “After World War II, however, Britain once again stood out in the extent to public anxieties about sexuality were fanned and legal regulation of homosexual activity policed”(40) and “British authorities were especially preoccupied with the condemnation and strict containment of homsexuality.”(40). Homosexuality affected politics because authorities would prioritize the gays and lesbians before anything else. There were clear observations that governments from Britain and United States were not in favor for homosexuality, therefore attempting to change people's views on homosexuality so gays and lesbians would not be accepted into the society. Being accepted into a society requires majority of citizens to approve of other’s decisions. For example, citizens viewing gays or lesbians in public without attempting to discriminate their sexuality. The women’s movement was similar to the gay liberation because it affected politics greatly by hierarchies being
In the election year of 1992, the AIDS epidemic ran rampant through America, despite attempts to curb its effects. Not only was America as a country unwilling to step up to help an already stigmatized population, but finding ways to deal with the rapid spread became more of an accessory to political agendas than a necessity to save lives. The Republican party, which holds on to religiously-influenced ideals, was not eager to offer support to a group which Christianity condemns, so did very little to rectify the epidemic. On top of inaction, many did not want to help gay people; homosexuality was still widely unaccepted in society, and the addition of AIDS to the LGBT community did nothing to endear their situation to the general public.
The Republican party or Grand Old Party (GOP), for over 150 years, has maintained itself as a major political party within the United States of America. As a whole, the republican party follows the belief of military build up ,less taxes, and more importantly, a limited government. However, throughout recent years there has been an influx of conservative values being spread throughout the GOP. These values include harsh stances against: homosexuality, immigration, and abortion. This recent “conservative trend” has caused many to see the party as out of date. Ironically, it has not always been like this, as the party was once what would be defined as “liberal”. These liberal views included support of “conservatism” and universal health care(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/four-things-republicans-used-to-believe-2011-07-18). So, what happened? In short, the conservative influx in the 1950s would lead to this drastic change of views, which would lead us to today 's far right republican party. In order to-
The populist conservative movement known as the New Right became popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It appealed to a diverse variety of Americans. Historians link the rise
General prosperity helped produce a new middle class in search of self fulfillment and personal gratification abandoning moral righteousness of the past in the process. The culture wars of the 80s came from a conflict that arose between individual expression and moral righteousness. Culture wars over family values, abortion, gay rights, and immigration restriction represent battles waged between conservatives that stressed cultural nationalism and liberals that stressed cultural diversity. Traditional values and moral righteousness found their representation in the form of the religious right. Beginning in the late 70s Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority, made the decision that it was no longer possible for American Christians
“Conservative evangelicals who had returned to the Democratic Party in 1976 now defected back to the Republican Party, solidifying a trend in the making.” The Religious Right had effectively crystallized a general trend in the electorate. After the election of 1980, the Religious Right became “synonymous with the GOP in popular imagination” and socially conservative values became synonymous with the conservative movement. Despite the dissolution of the organizations that comprised the Religious Right later in the 1980s, its influence on conservatism in America had solidified and, until this day, has remained a decisive factor in both local and national
1.) The Moral Majority was an American political organization begun in 1979 and dissolved during the late 1980's that mainly consisted of conservative Christians. As the chart provided shows, the 60's were a liberal time of counter-culture, civil rights movements, and free use of drugs. The 70's were less liberal, as Americans were recovering from the 60's. By the early 80's, American society had slipped back into its conservative ideals, and it was during this time that the Moral Majority was founded. Americans in the 60's had wanted to rebel against everything that was considered a social norm; however, Americans wanted to return to their strict ideals in the 80's. The Moral Majority gave Americans the return to conservatism they wished for.
In the 65-year history of LGBTQ activism in the United States, the present moment stands out on the basis of gay marriage being legalized. At no other time would an observer have imagined that the LGBTQ movement was likely to succeed in such a manner that any gender can marry any other gender with the permission by the law (Stewart-winter
LGBTQ social movements have evolved over time from liberationist politics of the 1970s to an enormous contemporary focus on gay and lesbian marriage rights, a controversial and arguably assimilationist priority for mainstream LGBTQ advocacy groups. Different forms of activism have approached assimilationism versus societal reformation or preservation of unique constructions of queer identities with a myriad of arguments. In “The Trouble with Normal” by Michael Warner, the author focuses primarily on a criticism of gay marriage rights activism in which he posits that all marriage is “selective legitimacy.” He points to other LGBT movements and issues as more worthy of pursuing, particularly intersectional pursuits of equal rights for people regardless of coupled status. In “Marital Discord: Understanding the Contested Place of Marriage in the Lesbian and Gay Movement” authors Mary Bernstein and Verta Taylor give a snapshot history of LGBTQ activism since the 1970s and offer similar arguments as Warner about the heteronormative and neoliberal nature of placing the fight for legal marriage rights at the forefront of LGBTQ activism, although they do also introduce emerging improvements with the increasingly intersectional awareness of modern advocacy efforts.
The climate of the 1960s was turbulent. This decade was marked by many political movements, which reflected support for non-establishment themes. During this time the “sexual liberation movement” became a popular cause. This intensified social and political interest helped many disadvantaged groups to receive support and attention that previously had never been received. As part of the nation’s desire for sexual political liberation, gay liberation became visible.
Over the next two decades, half the states decriminalized homosexual behavior, and police harassment grew less frequent and obvious to the public. Also in 1975, it became legal for gays to hold federal jobs. However all this headway also made room for more opposition. In 1977, Anita Bryant was so successful at obtaining a repeal of a recent gay ordinance in her home state of Florida that by 1980, a league of anti gay clubs had come together to make a force, led in part by Jesse Helms. The AIDS scare that began in the eighties did not help the gay image either, but more citizens joined their ranks in order to combat the oppression and fund a search for the cure, so in the end it actually made the movement stronger. According to the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (2000), by 1999, the anti-sodomy laws of 32 states had been repealed, and in 1996 Vermont granted its gay citizens the right to same sex marriages. Gay rights has come a long way as a social movement, and though it still has a long way to go, it makes a good topic to analyze the process of the social movement.
At eighteenth century, the cost of increasing development of capitalism is anomie: people chasing material life insanely even sacrifice others’ benefits. Because of this, Adam Smith, a successful philosopher and economist, released that the original morality principle was not suitable for that society anymore, and it needed to build another new theory system to suit the developing society. He wrote two masterpieces that proposed his ideas: The Theory of Moral Sentiments, which discusses the human development by analysing the human emotion, and The Wealth of Nations, which summarises the development of capitalism and it is also a foundation for today’s economy. This essay will analyse the self-interest, plays as a motivator role in morality and economy field, and benefits the development in that society. Moreover, will suggest some limitations of Smith’s idea.