For a Christian America: A History of the Religious Right [Hardcover]

Ruth Murray Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2002

Based on more than twenty-five years of research, this objective, balanced, informative, and, above all, interesting social history traces the growth of the religious right in America from its humble grassroots beginnings in the early 1970s to its present status as a powerful cultural and political force. Both sides of the political spectrum will find this in-depth but very readable social history to be full of insights into an important cultural movement.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Christian Right is a movement largely dominated by men: Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed, et al. But this was not always the case. As Brown shows in this even-handed but ultimately disappointing study, the social upswell that led to the rise of the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition was originally a woman's movement formed to defeat the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. Its leaders were predominantly Protestant women, mothers and homemakers like Ann Paterson of Oklahoma, who led the charge in the first state to vote down the ERA, and Beverly Findley, head of Women Who Want to be Women. Their faith-based activism and innovative tactics (e.g., baking homemade bread for legislators on the first day of each legislative session) brought them unprecedented success; by the end of the '70s, the ERA was dead and their cause had evolved into a more comprehensive pro-family movement focused on social values. Then the men took over. And it's at this point that Brown's analysis begins to falter. She offers nothing more than thumbnail sketches of the two most powerful Christian Right organizations of the last two decades the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition and only terse mini-biographies of their founders, Falwell and Robertson. Nor does Brown provide any real insight into the influence the movement has exerted in the media and in politics (the "Republication Revolution" of 1994 is mentioned only in passing). What readers are left with, then, is an interesting monograph about women in the anti-ERA movement of the 1970s but it is not a comprehensive history of the Religious Right in America.

From Library Journal

For more than 25 years, Brown, a former professor of political science and sociology at Rose State College, interviewed people associated with right-wing religious political action groups. Here she reports on her encounters, especially with those who opposed the Equal Rights Amendment. Buyer beware: this is not a history of the Religious Right from 1970 to the present, as the subtitle suggests. Instead, it is an interesting, anecdotal supplement to books like Mark Noll and others' The Search for Christian America. While the author is very careful to report her results objectively, she often fails to provide basic information that would have helped readers understand what the conflicts were all about. For instance, if she had simply provided the brief text of the ERA, wild claims by opponents that its passage would mean legally mandated unisex public restrooms would appear as ridiculous as they are. Such a collection of opinions by the Religious Right might inspire new insights, but this book offers very little new information. Recommended for large academic libraries only. James A. Overbeck, Atlanta-Fulton P.L.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (August 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573929735
• ISBN-13: 978-1573929738
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #154,458 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Objective, but could be better organized .., October 28, 2002

By 

Strategysoft (San Diego, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: For a Christian America: A History of the Religious Right (Hardcover)

This book does an objective review of origin and growth of various religious right socio-political movements such as Anti-ERA, Pro-life, Focus on Family, Family Research Council, Moral Majority, Chiristian Coalition etc. without taking sides on controversial issues such as abortion, gay rights, same sex marriage, separation of church and state, prayer in school, teaching creationism/ evolution in public schools, school vouchers etc. over the last 3 decades.

Though informative, the organization and presentation could be improved upon. Not a good book to explore detailed arguments on both sides of any particular issue and hardly convincing to get people to switch their positions or change minds.

As a moderate who is not very religious, I valued this book for its objectivity. After reading this book, I am a little less scared of the religious right, but a little more impressed with the political clout it wields and its ability to set the national agenda.

I would find the arguments from the religious right more acceptable if it was not based on the bible or any such set dogma. Also, the anger of religious right against "humanism" in any form does not seem to be justified or open-minded.