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Moral Majority

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The Moral Majority was a political organization of the United States which had an agenda of evangelical Christian-oriented political lobbying. It dissolved during 1989.

History

Moral Majority was initiated as a result of a struggle for control of an American conservative Christian advocacy group known as Christian Voice during 1978. During a news conference by Christian Voice's founder, Robert Grant, he claimed that the Religious Right was a "sham... controlled by three Catholics and a Jew." Paul Weyrich, Terry Dolan, Richard Viguerie and Howard Phillips left Christian Voice. During a 1979 meeting, they urged televangelist Jerry Falwell to found Moral Majority. This was also the beginning of the New Christian Right..

Moral Majority was an organization made up of conservative Christian political action committees, which campaigned on issues its personnel believed were important to maintaining its Christian conception of moral law, a conception they believed represented the opinions of the majority of Americans (hence the movement's name). With a membership of millions, the Moral Majority was one of the largest conservative lobby groups in the United States. Some issues for which it campaigned:

  • outlawing abortion
  • opposition to state recognition and acceptance of homosexuality
  • enforcement of a traditionalist vision of family life
  • censorship of media outlets that promote what it labeled as an 'anti-family' agenda

The Moral Majority had adherents in the two major United States political parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, though it exercised far more influence on the former.

Falwell was the organization's best known spokesperson throughout the 1980s. By 1982, Moral Majority surpassed Christian Voice in size and influence. The organization dissolved officially in 1989 but lives on in the Christian Coalition network initiated by Pat Robertson.

In 1981, a series of exposés (later nominated for the Pulitzer Prize) by Memphis reporter Mike Clark led to some condemning the interactions between the Moral Majority and the Republican Party.

The Moral Majority Coalition

In November 2004, Falwell revived the Moral Majority name for a new organization, the Moral Majority Coalition. The intent of the organization is to continue the "evangelical revolution" to help conservative politicians get elected. Referring to the Coalition as a "21st century resurrection of the Moral Majority," Falwell, a father of the modern "religious right" political movement, committed to leading the organization for four years, but died on May 15, 2007.

Pop culture references

  • The punk rock band Green Day makes a reference to the moral majority in their single "Minority" with the line "I want to be the minority/I don't need your authority/Down with the moral majority/'cause I want to be the minority".
  • The industrial rock band "KMFDM" mentions the moral majority in their song "WW III" (or World War 3) WWIII (album), in one of their lines, "War on the moral majority, on corporate.com imperialism".
  • Monty Python's "The Oral Majority" sketch is a direct parody.
  • '80s/'90s band Pop Will Eat Itself use a sample of a Jerry Falwell speech in a track, opening their Cure for Sanity album, called "The Incredible PWEI vs. the Moral Majority".
  • The Welsh band The Manic Street Preachers sing "Number one - the best - no excuse from me I am here to serve the moral majority" (sarcastically) in their song "Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart".
  • The Infocom game Leather Goddesses of Phobos begins the game with the message "This is also unsuitable for censors, members of the Moral Majority, and anyone else who thinks that sex is dirty rather than fun."
  • In the Sierra On-Line game Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work, among the many signs at the airport terminals, one reads: "Where does the Moral Majority turn to promote censorship and creeping Fascism? 'Slant,' the Holier-Than-Thou Newsweekly. No liberal pandering, no pinko editorial cartoons, no objective journalism... just good ol' fashioned Fundamentalism. Printed on 100% recycled environmentalists."
  • During a scene in the film Scream 2, a class of students discusses the impact of pop culture on real-life violence. When it is implied that the fictional movie Stab was the influence for the murder of a young couple, CiCi (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar) replies: "That is so moral majority."
  • The Grunge band, L7 refers to itself as "neither moral, nor majority" in its song "Pretend we're dead" on its third studio album, Bricks Are Heavy.
  • A popular bumper sticker displayed by opponents of the group read: "The Moral Majority is Neither!"

Notable people within the movement

See also

  • Moralism (Note that the Moral Majority was not 'moralist' in the humanist sense.)
  1. Martin, William (1996). With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America. New York: Broadway Books.
  2. Sara, Diamond (1995). Roads to Dominion. New York: Guilford Press.
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