The Woman in A Mink Coat - Fundamentalism in America

[Freedom_from_Chains]

This is the first part of a three part series about the rise of Christian fundamentalism in the Republican party.

The Woman in A Mink Coat
By Joan Bokaer Wed Nov 23, 2005 at 08:49:19 AM EST

The year was 1986. I was on a speaking tour of Iowa, talking about the Religious Right's support for nuclear weapons. As usual, after the talk several people approached me. But this time one woman stood out. She was wearing a mink coat. I remember her because it wasn't often in the nuclear disarmament movement that you see someone wearing a mink coat, especially indoors. As she spoke to me, she was visibly shaking, fighting to hold back tears. She said that she couldn't bear to go to Republican Party meetings anymore and handed me a memo from Pat Robertson. It read:

How to Participate in a Political Party

Rule the world for God.
Give the impression that you are there to work for the party, not push an ideology.
Hide your strength.
Don't flaunt your Christianity.
Christians need to take leadership positions. Party officers control political parties and so it is very important that mature Christians have a majority of leadership positions, God willing.



I was to see Pat Robertson in person two years later when he was running for President. We were both speaking in the same hotel in Manchester, New Hampshire. After my talk, I slipped into the room where he was speaking to his supporters. I just remember two things: the venom and the numbers. He talked about those "homosexuals" and "feminists" with such fury that the words came out of his mouth like venom. He was scary.
But his speech was mostly about numbers. He gave a date, then subtracted another date, then added something ... I had no idea where all this addition and subtraction was leading until he came to the sum and his eyes lit up. The final tally came to the number 666 -- the mark of the Beast. That's all I remember of that event - the venom and the numbers.

Soon after his numbers speech in Manchester, Robertson pulled off a coup. He actually beat Vice President George HW Bush in the Republican Iowa caucuses for President, 1988. He lost the primaries soundly, but his upset in Iowa should have been a wake-up call. But it wasn't. At least not for me. Robertson was defeated.

One year later the Moral Majority disbanded. The Moral Majority was created in 1979 by Republican strategists to swell the ranks of the Republican Party by recruiting members of fundamentalist, Pentecostal and charismatic churches. Political strategist Paul Weyrich, who coined the term "Moral Majority" stated the movement's goals:


We are talking about Christianizing America. We are talking about simply spreading the gospel in a political context.

These political operatives worked hand-in-hand with religious leaders such as Jerry Falwell and Tim LaHaye who wanted to use the Republican Party to promote their religious beliefs. But in 1989 the Moral Majority disbanded.
Surely the movement had peaked, and I could focus on better things. Right?

Part II While We Were Sleeping

Part II Taking Over The Republican Party, - Angels on A Pinhead



Talk to Action - Reclaiming Citizenship History and Faith.