The idea of a Christian America began falling apart in the 1960s. For the religious right the 1960s and 70 answer the question, when did America stop being a Christian nation.
The social turbulence of this time period actually worked to solidify the religious right as a movement and political force beyond anti-Communism. This episode is about the undoing of America and the coming together of the Christian right.
The 1960s were not a culture war. They were a cultural shock and awe invasion by the radical left – at least that is the way it looked in the eyes of Christian conservatives. This is part 3 in my podcast series on the History of the Religious Right.
In this episode we look at the beginning of the battles over prayer in schools and several other key Supreme Court decisions from the 1950 through the 1960s. By the end of the 1960s Richard Nixon was learning how to leverage these social and cultural divides to his own power interests. In doing this he helped birth the religious right as we know it today.
