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The Rise and Fall of Southern Baptist Institutions for the Separation of Church and State, 1936-1979

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The Rise and Fall of Southern Baptist Institutions for the Separation of Church and State, 1936-1979 A Crenelated Wall: The Rise and Fall of Southern Baptist Institutions for the Separation of Church and State, 1936-1979 By John Timothy Ruckle Jr. A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor David A. Hollinger, Chair Professor Richard Cándida Smith Professor Richard E. Hutson Spring 2015 © 2015 by John Timothy Ruckle Jr. All rights reserved. Abstract A Crenelated Wall: The Rise and Fall of Southern Baptist Institutions for the Separation of Church and State, 1936-1979 by John Timothy Ruckle Jr. Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Berkeley Professor David A. Hollinger, Chair This dissertation centers on the origins and projects of the Baptist Joint Committee (BJC), founded and funded in 1936 by the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), and the Protestants and Other Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (POAU), founded in 1948 as the brainchild of Southern Baptist elites. I argue these organizations were primarily concerned with opposing American Catholic projects, especially those which sought public monies for parochial schools. Ironically, the structures and organizations which greatly aided this effort to expand religious tolerance and liberty in this period had their origins in concerns about the Catholic Church and American Catholicism held by many Baptists. A crisis point for the BJC and the POAU occurred when, in 1963, in the Schempp case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the devotional use of the Bible and prayer in public schools was unconstitutional. This decision was deeply unpopular with most evangelical politicians and lay people. Working against pressures and measures to amend the First Amendment “to put God back in the schools” in the post-Schempp U.S., evangelical elites of the BJC and POAU helped save it from emendation by vigorously, systematically, and publicly opposing the Becker Amendment and similar legislation. However, BJC and POAU support for Schempp and its de-Christianization of the public schools greatly alienated the broad evangelical support for these organizations. By the 1980s, after the SBC was captured by its right wing, Southern Baptist support was effectively withdrawn from the BJC and the POAU, and these organizations lost their evangelical underpinnings. The BJC and the POAU reinvented themselves and subsequently worked to oppose those projects of the Religious Right they deemed contrary to the separation of church and state—a Religious Right where, ironically, the SBC now played a large role. 1 To progress, not perfection i Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1 – The Southern Baptist Origins of the Protestants and Other Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and their Engagement with American Catholicism Chapter 2 – The Southern Baptist Origins of the Baptist Joint Committee (BJC) and Their Defense of the First Amendment Post-Schempp Chapter 3 - Mapping Intellectual Exchanges and Influence on Church-State Issues between Southern Baptist Elites and the American Jewish Committee, 1950s-60s Chapter 4 - The Seattle Bible Trial of 1966 after Schempp, from Right-wing Resistances to Ironic Inversions Conclusion Bibliography ii Acknowledgements Writing a dissertation of this kind is a collaborative process. Not only were my advisors and mentors an ongoing influence, my conversations with countless historians, sociologists, lawyers, religious studies scholars, and other scholars and friends shaped my ideas. Also my special thanks to Mark A. Chancey whose advice and prolific scholarship on the Bible in public schools was invaluable. Equally significant in shaping this project were the wonderful archivists and librarians who helped along the way. My time working at the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives in Nashville, Tennessee was critical in determining the direction of this project. I owe a special debt of gratitude to archivists Taffey Hall and Bill Sumner. Ms. Hall was the friendliest, most thorough, and most helpful archivist I have ever had the pleasure of working with. The SBHLA kindly supported my work with their Lynn May Study Grant and kept me safe when a tornado hit Nashville on my first day in the archives. I shall never forget huddling in the basement of the Southern Baptist Convention building, taking refuge with the others with my computer clutched close to my chest, while Jim read Psalm 91 to the mostly nervous crowd. At the South Carolina Political Collections, Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library, the University of South Carolina I would like to thank Herb Hartsook. A portion of the research for this dissertation was funded by their Bryan Dorn Research Award. The SCPC’s Flynn Harrell Collection provided a wealth of sources for the project, and it was my great pleasure to visit with and interview Flynn Harrell himself. Thanks to Rob Boston, Director of Communications, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, who made me aware that the Harrell collection had become available during the preparation of this dissertation. My mentors from the History Department at the University of California, Berkeley included, but were not limited to, my advisors David Hollinger and Richard Cándida Smith. In the English Department, I owe thanks to Richard Hutson. My gratitude and appreciation to all three scholars for their ongoing mentorship, support, and guidance. Special thanks to my adviser David Hollinger whose kind counsel and generous assistance were crucial to my success. The Department of History funded portions of the research and writing of this dissertation, as did the Graduate Division at UC Berkeley. Thanks also to my undergraduate mentors Michael Mangin, Michael Pebworth, and Bill Taylor who fostered my interest in the craft and honed my historical thinking from the earliest stages. This project would literally not have been possible without the help of my many dear friends. Ron Record, John Stratton, and Steph Marr provided me with long stays while I worked on this project. James, Hanna, and Jasper lent me their beach cottage for a writing marathon. So many friends invited me into their homes while I traveled to the archives, conferences, or simply needed a quiet place to write. My many housemates at the Hillegass- Parker House co-op were a great source of comfort and joy throughout this process, and my very special thanks to Megan Williams and Emily Cosin without whose love and kind counsel I would never have made it. My heartfelt gratitude goes out to the entire lunch crowd at Noonies, with special thanks and affection for Jessica Kirkpatrick and Sybil Lockhart. Gina Tassone was a great aid and comfort, and pressed me on my adverbs. So many friends helped I cannot properly thank them all. <3 I owe an enormous debt to my parents Tim Ruckle Sr. and Sharon McCuen, sisters Suzanne Ruckle, Shelagh Sanford, and Katy Hardeay, and my all other family members. My parents especially gave me not only material, intellectual, and emotional support, but used iii their training as editors to help improve myriad conference papers and chapter drafts. This dissertation would not have been possible without my family’s steadfast love and support. I love and appreciate them more than I can properly articulate. Despite the collaborative nature of this project, my interpretations are my own, and therefore any mistakes in judgment are entirely my own. iv Introduction We know less about how the law of religion in education developed, and almost nothing about how local partisan religious battles contributed to the legal change, or visa versa. --Sarah Barringer Gordon, 2007 1 On a sticky afternoon in June, 1962, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a ruling in the case of Engle v Vitale, stating that the government-written prayers promulgated in public schools by the state of New York were an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause.2 The public outcry was swift, loud, and almost wholly negative; letters of protest poured into newspapers, congressmen, the Court, and the President. The case sparked discussions in professional organizations such as the American Bar Association.3 Donald M. Collins Esq., an attorney from Media, Pennsylvania, fired off a letter to President John F. Kennedy complaining that, “the Supreme Court by the adoption of such an extreme extension of the anti-establishment concept may well have sundered from Christendom our once-beloved country…Yet you have refused to use the prestige of your office, your awareness of the power of which you have so recently shown, to speak out in the defense of our dearest and most fundamental tradition. As a Catholic I am ashamed, as a Democrat I am shaken and as a long-time Kennedy supporter I am betrayed.”4 Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York, and the foremost spokesperson for the Catholic hierarchy in the U.S., lamented that he was “shocked and frightened that the Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional a simple and voluntary declaration of the belief in God by public school children.”5 The vehement reactions to Schempp prompted President Kennedy to urge calm, declaring that “We will have to abide by what the Supreme Court says. We have a very easy remedy, and that is to pray ourselves. We can pray a good deal more at home and attend our churches with fidelity and emphasize the true meaning of prayer in the lives of our children.”6 Catholic congressman Frank Becker (R-NY) called the Engel decision “the most tragic in the United States” and the next day introduced a House bill to overturn it with a constitutional amendment.7 Becker was not alone—115 Members of the House 1 Sarah Gordon, “‘Free’ Religion and ‘Captive’ Schools: Protestants, Catholics, and Education, 1945-1965,” DePaul Law Review 56, no.
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