THE BLESSINGS OF BUSINESS: CORPORATE AMERICA AND CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICALISM IN THE SUNBELT AGE, 1945-2000 by DARREN ELLIOTT GREM (Under the Direction of James C. Cobb) ABSTRACT Scholars and pundits have often cast postwar conservative evangelicalism as a kind of doppelganger of liberal activism, as a grassroots expression of populist will against the social revolutions of the 1960s. In contrast, this dissertation argues that the rise of culturally and politically-engaged, conservative evangelicals first began in the midst of the New Deal state in the 1940s and 1950s and depended heavily on another will—the will of corporations and corporate actors, especially those working out of the economic and social context of an emergent, postwar “Sunbelt.” There, in the midst of a burgeoning regional economy that stretched from Georgia to Texas to California, a postwar generation of business leaders worked with evangelical leaders to resurrect the cause of religious, economic, and political conservatism in the midst of the early Cold War. In the 1960s and 1970s, as the Culture Wars heated up, they brought their faith, free market policies, and “family values” to the forefront of American public life. The blessings of business were everywhere—in the ministries of celebrity evangelists like Billy Graham and lay evangelists like R.G. LeTourneau; in corporate-funded missionary groups like Young Life, Campus Crusade for Christ, The Navigators, and Wycliffe Bible Translators; in independent evangelical colleges strung throughout the South and West; in everyday operations at thousands of small businesses and dozens of mass-market corporations; in evangelical-inspired “biblical success” books and in a cottage industry of evangelical-led entrepreneurial seminars; in evangelical culture industries and megachurches; and, most especially, in the careers of evangelical political leaders from Jerry Falwell to George W. Bush. In documenting both the successes and failures of these corporate-evangelical alliances, this dissertation explains why conservative evangelicalism reemerged when and where it did. But it also shows how corporate power has shaped—and continues to shape—religious culture and politics in modern America. INDEX WORDS: Evangelicalism, Corporations, Conservatism, New Evangelical Right, Post-World War II U.S., Sunbelt THE BLESSINGS OF BUSINESS: CORPORATE AMERICA AND CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICALISM IN THE SUNBELT AGE, 1945-2000 by DARREN ELLIOTT GREM B.A., Furman University, 2001 M.A., University of Georgia, 2004 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2010 2010 Darren Elliott Grem All Rights Reserved THE BLESSINGS OF BUSINESS: CORPORATE AMERICA AND CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICALISM IN THE SUNBELT AGE, 1945-2000 by DARREN ELLIOTT GREM Major Professor: James C. Cobb Committee: John C. Inscoe Laura Mason Bethany Moreton Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2010 iv DEDICATION For my family v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First things first, I want to thank my family for the blessing they have been during this process. My parents, W. Ellie and Phyllis C. Grem, have been supportive of my education from pre-school through graduate school, and they have shaped my life, faith, and career in ways I have only begun to realize. I also appreciate the love and support of my older brother Marty and “big sista” Joy, both of whom keep my head on straight. My wife, Jenna, pushes me each day to be a better husband, father, friend, and teacher. She is my best friend too, putting up with me— for some reason—since the day we met. I appreciate her love and patience more than anything, and I promise, one of these days, we’ll take that Caribbean cruise. I also thank the entire Mason clan for welcoming me into their family and for providing me some good R&R when needed most. My kids, William and Lily, are already an inspiration, convincing me each day that parenthood is a richer and far more rewarding challenge than any academic or professional endeavor I will ever undertake. The History Department at the University of Georgia has been enlightening, challenging, and delightful place to work. My advisory committee was everything I wanted and more. Jim Cobb wisely counseled me through several dead ends and false starts, pushing me to be as ambitious and analytic as possible. He called it like he saw it, and I would never want him to do otherwise. Next beer’s on me. John Inscoe saw me through my first research seminar and my first published article. He also asked some great questions at various stages of the research and writing process, and I thank him for the advice he offered over many a free lunch. Laura Mason likewise taught me a great deal about how to think about who matters in history and inspired me vi to think hard about religious culture and the broader ramifications of everyday life. She also gave me some solid advice about raising kids as an academic, which I won’t soon forget. Bethany Moreton and I met one another as the dissertation was underway, but she quickly became a kindred spirit in figuring out the complexities of religious, political, and cultural life in modern America. Her energy and encouragement was appreciated time and again, as well as her unsolicited endorsements of my work to publishers and intellectual “partners in crime” alike. I also want to thank our departmental chair, Bob Pratt, for somehow finding the funds to support my research and the research of many a needy graduate student. The staff in our department has also been wonderful, and I thank Laurie Kane for making all the bureaucratic aspects of graduate school a breeze. I also thank Sheila Barnett and Brenda Luke for letting me photocopy way more than my allowance and for Vici Payne’s lifesaving “coffee club.” In addition, I extend my sincere thanks to Karl Friday and Paul Sutter for assigning me classes that paid the bills and offered the opportunity to interact with students—especially in my Religion in American History course and Post-1945 U.S. History course—who pushed me to rethink certain parts of my research. This project could not have been completed without extra-departmental support as well. Hence, I extend my appreciation to The Colonial Dames of America and the estate of Numan V. Bartley for providing dissertation grants at two vital junctures in the research process. UGA’s Graduate School also supported my final year of writing with a Dissertation Completion Fellowship, and I offer my heartfelt thanks to the brave souls who pulled the strings to get this fellowship reinstated and funded in the face of a yet another budget crisis. The professional friendships I have been privileged to have while working on this dissertation made it a better project, or at least made the process more enjoyable and rewarding. vii Lloyd Benson and Steve O’Neill were first my professors at Furman, but I now count them as pals. Many thanks for convincing this would-be marketing specialist to rethink life in a cubicle farm. In the history department, I want to thank my fellow graduate students—especially John Hayes, Tore Olsson, Lesley-Anne Reed, Daleah Goodwin, Ichiro Miyata, Bruce Stewart, Judkin Browning, Tom Okie, Blake Scott, Christina Davis, Barton Myers, and Derek Bentley—for taking an active interest in this project or just lending an ear. Faculty members who helped this project along in their own way included Pamela Voekel, Ian Lekus, Brian Drake, and Paul Sutter. Archivists at LeTourneau University and at the University of Texas-Austin played an essential role as I researched this project. At the former, I thank Henry Whitlow for allowing me free rein and providing me with free coffee as I searched through box after box of materials. At the latter, Tonia Wood tracked down any number of files that proved important for framing the project’s conclusion. Also, I thank the kind and patient folks at UGA’s Interlibrary Loan office for both fielding request after request and for not yelling at me when I irresponsibly turned in materials weeks after their due dates. Luke Harlow, Phil Sinitiere, Clay Howard, Ben Wise, Steven Miller, Matt Sutton, Randall Stephens, Eileen Luhr, Kevin Kruse, and John Turner also provided over-the-phone, over-dinner, or at-conference consultation and encouragement. Big thanks are especially in order for Luke and Phil’s hospitality while I was in Houston. The participants in the Clements Center’s “Sunbelt Rising” symposium helped to push my thoughts on the dissertation, but I want to set aside special thanks for Darren Dochuk, Michelle Nickerson, Matt Lassiter, Joe Crespino, Nathan Connolly, Andrew Needham, Sylvia Manzano, Bud Kellstedt, and Bob Lockhart. The late night trip for a “monster style” burger in Pasadena was especially fun. Paul Harvey and Kelly Baker welcomed me on the “blog staff” at Religion in American History, and I thank them viii for allowing me such a forum to make the online acquaintance of fellow historians and lay out my random thoughts on religion, politics, and SEC football. Debi and Dan Chandler, who babysat Will three days a week for dirt cheap, deserve their own paragraph. Jenna and I will probably never be able to express fully our appreciation. Finally, I thank Redeemer Presbyterian Church for serving as my spiritual home during the past seven and a half years. Many of the best conversations—and fiercest debates—I’ve had about religion, business, and politics have been with my brothers and sisters there, and I thank them for their all their inquiries, insights, encouragement, and fellowship. RPC’s work, especially with folks in need in the greater Athens community, squares with the truest meaning of the word “blessing.” ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...........................................................................................................