"The FCC's friends ascended to high places. Franklin D. Roosevelt's secretary of the interior, Harold Ickes, cast the New Deal as 'the carrying out of the social philosophy of the founder of Christianity.' Labor Secretary Frances Perkins poured her energies into the expansion of the American welfare state because her faith demanded nothing less."
"In 1932, a group of religious leaders gathered in Indianapolis to advance their long-standing project, a plan to fundamentally 'Christianize' American society. The meeting had been convened by the Federal Council of Churches, then the dominant voice of American Protestantism. The organization ratified a platform declaring that 'the total abolition of poverty' was 'entirely consistent with the ideal which Jesus and all His true disciples have taught and realized.'"
In 1932, the Federal Council of Churches convened religious leaders in Indianapolis to advance their project of Christianizing American society. They adopted a platform declaring poverty's total abolition consistent with Jesus's teachings and advocated for a planned economic system that was more rational, productive, humane, and righteous. This strategy proved effective as FCC allies gained influential positions. Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes framed the New Deal as implementing Christianity's social philosophy, while Labor Secretary Frances Perkins collaborated with Christian leaders to advance major legislation including Social Security and Fair Labor Standards Acts. These New Deal-era social gospelers successfully wove religious values into America's legal framework, yet their historical significance remains largely overlooked in contemporary discussions of Christian nationalism.
#christian-nationalism #new-deal-era #social-gospel #religious-influence-on-policy #american-religious-history
Read at The Atlantic
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]