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The Moral Majority: the Fundamental1st-Christian's Fight Against Humanism and Pluralism in American Politics

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The Moral Majority: the Fundamental1st-Christian's Fight Against Humanism and Pluralism in American Politics Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Master's Theses Graduate College 8-1983 The Moral Majority: The Fundamental1st-Christian's Fight Against Humanism and Pluralism in American Politics James A. Kruis Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Kruis, James A., "The Moral Majority: The Fundamental1st-Christian's Fight Against Humanism and Pluralism in American Politics" (1983). Master's Theses. 1586. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/1586 This Masters Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE MORAL MAJORITY: THE FUNDAMENTAL1ST-CHRISTIAN'S FIGHT AGAINST HUMANISM AND PLURALISM IN AMERICAN POLITICS by James A. Kruis A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of P o litica l Science Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan August 1983 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE MORAL MAJORITY: THE FUNDAMENTALIST-CHRISTIAN’S FIGHT AGAINST HUMANISM AND PLURALISM IN AMERICAN POLITICS James A. Kruis, M.A. Western Michigan University, 1983 The Moral Majority claims to be nonreligious but they are actually a very religious reaction against humanism and pluralism, fighting their battle from behind a facade of legitimate moral issues. Their reaction against humanism is due to their failure to distinguish properly between religion and morality. Their reaction against pluralism is a result of the fact that pluralism has been overextended and thus weakened, making it vul­ nerable to attack. In place of humanism and pluralism the Moral Majority advocates more freedom: freedom from government interference and freedom to solve social prob­ lems with "moral, spiritual" solutions. The Moral Majority could make a positive contribu­ tion to American politics by reestablishing the relative pluralism of the Founding Fathers and disestablishing the philosophy of absolute pluralism. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT For me Professor William Ritchie is the best among all the professors I have had the privilege of knowing. After reading the first draft of this thesis over a year ago, he aptly called me a "basket case." Whatever prog­ ress I have made since then toward being a "Master of Arts" has been only with his very substantial aid. James A. Kruis ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this document, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify markings or notations which may appear on this reproduction. 1. The sign or “target” for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is “Missing Page(s)”. If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting through an image and duplicating adjacent pages to assure complete continuity. 2. 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TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT................................................................... ii Chapter I. INTRODUCTION................................................................................ 1 II. THE MORAL MAJORITY....................................................................... 20 A Continuum of Commitments.............................................. 20 Sister Organizations ........................................ 23 Constituency ............................................................................... 26 T actics ........................................................................................... 28 Influence...................................................................................... 32 Finances ......................................................................................... 34 Numerical Strength and Organization ........................ 36 Summary ........................................................................................... 37 III. THE MORAL MAJORITY VERSUS HUMANISM............................ 39 Religion and Morality .......................................................... 40 The Demonic Scapegoat .............................................. 47 The Vulnerability of Humanism ............................ 53 The Vulnerability of the Moral Majority.. 59 Christian Humanism and Secular Humanism Compared.................................................. 61 i i i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Summary ........................................................................................... 73 IV. THE MORAL MAJORITY VERSUS PLURALISM........................ 74 The Extension of Pluralism..., .................................... 74 The Limits of Pluralism .................................................... 89 Absolute Pluralism, Relative Pluralism, and Reactionary Pluralism .......................................................... 94 Absolute Pluralism versus Monotheism ....................... 98 Freedom and Other Alternatives to Pluralism ... 105 Summary ........................................................................................... 118 V. THE MORAL MAJORITY VERSUS ITS CRITICS...................... 120 General Review of Criticisms on an Intuitive Level........................................................................ 122 The Moral Majority Lacks Compassion ...................... 126 The Moral Majority is Anti-Intellectual ............. 128 The Moral Majority is Rigid and Uncompromising.......................................................................... 134 The Moral Majority is Paranoid .................................. 138 The Moral Majority Fails to be Monotheistic... 142 VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION.......................................................... 146 FOOTNOTE............................................................................................................ 155 REFERENCES....................................................................................................... 156 APPENDIX.................................................................. 163 BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................. 165 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION In American P o litics: The Promise of Disharmony, Samuel Huntington (1981) says America is not explained well by p o litic a l theories that make economic and materi­ alistic interests the central issue because in America, unlike most countries, morality is more often the key is­ sue in its political conflicts. He says: It is precisely the central role of moral pas­ sion that distinguishes American politics from the politics of most other societies, and it is this characteristic that is most difficult for foreigners to understand. (p. 11) In a more pithy phrase Huntington
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