Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Timeflyer

(2,635 posts)
Sun Jan 21, 2024, 12:33 PM Jan 2024

The truth behind organized religious opposition to Roe and abortion

From book The Power Worshippers, by Katherine Stewart, 2019, chapter 3, “Inventing Abortion.”
“As the historian and author Randal Balmer writes, ‘It wasn’t until 1979---a full six years after Roe---that evangelical leaders, at the behest of conservative activist Paul Weyrich, seized on abortion not for moral reasons, but as a rallying-cry to deny President Jimmy Carter a second term. Why? Because the anti-abortion crusade was more palatable than the religious right’s real motive: protecting segregated schools.’
“More than a decade later, Weyrich recalled the moment well. At a conference in Washington, D.C., sponsored by a religious right organization called the Ethics and Public Policy Center (to which Balmer had been invited), Weyrich reminded his fellow culture warriors of the facts: ‘Let us remember, he said animatedly, that the Religious Right did not come together in response to the Roe decision. No, Weyrich insisted, what got us going was the attempt on the part of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to rescind the tax-exempt status of Bob Jones University because of its racially discriminatory policies.”
(Author Randal Balmer wrote of this in his book Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America.)

2 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
The truth behind organized religious opposition to Roe and abortion (Original Post) Timeflyer Jan 2024 OP
Yup and Jerry Falwell started his Liberty Road Church so that the good Christians of .... Botany Jan 2024 #1
Read that book. And keep it handy. It's a scary AF book. There's huge wealth behind ADF. ancianita Jan 2024 #2

Botany

(72,481 posts)
1. Yup and Jerry Falwell started his Liberty Road Church so that the good Christians of ....
Sun Jan 21, 2024, 12:42 PM
Jan 2024

… the Lynchburg, VA area didn’t have to go to church with black people. Weyrich is the
architect of much of the modern GOP’s voter suppression tactics. He knew years ago
that population demographics and the crap the GOP was selling doomed it to the dustbin
of history.

ancianita

(38,557 posts)
2. Read that book. And keep it handy. It's a scary AF book. There's huge wealth behind ADF.
Sun Jan 21, 2024, 11:42 PM
Jan 2024

"Inventing Abortion" chapter is a turning point of political history.

Highly recommend that folks spend their money on this well researched book.
Katherine Stewart is badass.

Thanks for posting about this!

Latest Discussions»Alliance Forums»Women's Rights & Issues»The truth behind organize...