When the Christian Right made their first assault on the political process during the 1980 election, they had ambitious plans for conservative clergy. The Religious Round-table invited thousands of ministers to campaign rallies to arouse enthusiasm for Ronald Reagan, while Jerry Falwell implored pastors to “urge people to vote, tell them how to vote, right there in the pulpit.” In fact, despite the media image of a broad-based grassroots movement, the early Christian Right organizations consisted largely of fundamentalist and Pentecostal pastors.
After this initial foray, however, the Christian Right shifted the focus to evangelical laity, often neglecting or even circumventing the pastor. Indeed, organizers and scholars alike soon argued that evangelical ministers were an unlikely political base: their emphasis on soul-winning, devaluation of the “things of this world,” and fear of congregational resistance often neutralized them politically.
As it turns out, this conventional wisdom was far too pessimistic. Bit by bit, evangelical clergy have been “born again” to political activism–as can be seen in the 80,000 or more ordained ministers of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Here we draw on surveys of Baptist pastors during the past four presidential elections to assess changes in their politics.
What do the surveys show? First, Baptist clergy certainly seem drawn toward politics. In 1992, over 75 percent claimed to have more than a “mild interest” in governmental affairs. And, as the accompanying table shows, a growing contingent wants to be more active politically (rising from 25 percent in 1980 to 48 percent in 1992). In addition, those thinking that the SBC should be more involved in vital social and political issues grew from 40 percent in 1988 to 52 percent by 1992. Clearly, Southern Baptist clergy no longer automatically reject a role in the governance of “this world.”
In “The Prophetic Clergy” (1974), political scientist Harold Quinley found that conservative Protestant pastors were much less sympathetic to political activity than were mainline Protestants. That gap has now almost vanished, at least for Southern Baptists. Since 1980, greater proportions of these pastors approve of taking stands on issues from the pulpit or outside, endorsing candidates, preaching whole sermons on issues, forming study or action groups in the church, and joining national political organizations. Even militant actions, such as protest marches, have become more acceptable.
Has involvement also grown? Incontestably yes. When we asked ministers whether they had ever engaged in particular political actions, the proportion answering yes to each steadily increased from 1980 to 1992. As a group, then, Southern Baptist clergy have matured politically.
In the last three presidential elections, we also inquired whether ministers had undertaken particular actions within the past year–a more demanding test. Here we see, in many instances, even more dramatic results. The number taking a public stand on an issue, for example, rose from 68 percent during 1984 to 76 percent during 1992; contacting public officials, from 35 percent to 52 percent; and endorsing a political candidate, from 42 percent to 64 percent. Clearly, some degree of political involvement has become almost ritualized, making the typical SBC pastor far more active than the average American.
Perhaps the most potent illustration of this point comes from evidence of ministers’ roles in the 1988 and 1992 presidential campaigns. As the table shows, Southern Baptist clergy have realigned politically, changing from a predominantly Democratic body in 1980 to solid Republican status four years later. And this alignment with the gop has persisted: among SBC clergy, fellow Southern Baptists Bill Clinton and Al Gore did little better against George Bush than did Greek Orthodox Michael Dukakis in 1988.
This partisan change has been accompanied by a striking amount of electoral activism. After ascertaining their candidate preferences, we asked pastors whether they took part in the presidential campaign besides merely voting. The number reporting at least some campaign involvement in the presidential primaries rose considerably from 1988 to 1992. Even more significant is the surge in general election activism, from 37 percent in 1988 to a stunning 59 percent in 1992. As we might expect, almost all these efforts benefited the Republican ticket.
Heightened political involvement has not been universal, however: politicization has been most thorough among self-identified fundamentalists and, to a lesser extent, conservatives. This represents a major change over time. In 1980, Southern Baptists still exhibited the patterns discovered by Quinley in the 1960s: theological moderates and liberals were both more enthusiastic about activism and more involved. By 1992, however, the situation was reversed, with fundamentalists and conservatives surpassing moderates in most kinds of activity.
During 1992, for example, 85 percent of fundamentalists endorsed a candidate, compared to 63 percent of the conservatives and 49 percent of the moderates. The same pattern persisted across the board, whether the activity in question was preaching a whole sermon on a political issue (69 percent, 57 percent, and 39 percent, respectively), circulating a petition (65 percent, 47 percent, and 23 percent), or boycotting a product or a company (71 percent, 48 percent, and 18 percent). During the 1992 general election, 82 percent of the fundamentalists engaged in campaigning, compared to 58 percent of the conservatives and only 45 percent of the moderates.
What has motivated this increased activism? Strong commitments to key issues and effective external mobilization. Ministers who report growing concern about abortion, gay rights, prayer in schools, and “family values” are more likely to endorse political activism–and to be involved as well. Similarly, members of Christian Right groups such as the (defunct) Moral Majority, Focus on the Family, American Family Association, and Christian Coalition also rank higher in approval of political activity and actual involvement.
Quite clearly, Southern Baptist pastors have become something of a political force. While all conservative Protestant clergy have probably not changed as dramatically, the Southern Baptist case suggests the political relevance of ministers. At least some of the contemporary strength of the conservative Christian movement–especially in the South–reflects the activity of evangelical clergy. And there is evidence that this heightened activity of evangelical clergy is having an impact on those sitting in the pews.
Copyright (c) 1996 Christianity Today, Inc./BOOKS AND CULTURE Review
Volume 2, No. 2, Page 8
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