Moral Majority

(proper noun)

A faction of the Republican Party whose policies include conservatism on social and personal matters, marrying religion to the political process; sometimes pejoratively used to describe the Republican Party since the election of Ronald Reagan to the presidency in 1980.

Related Terms

  • Generation X
  • Douglas Coupland

Examples of Moral Majority in the following topics:

  • The Religious Right

    • As Ronald Reagan campaigned for President in 1980, some of his strongest supporters were members of the Religious Right, including Christian groups like the Moral Majority, 61% of whom voted for him.
    • Notable leaders and groups within the Religious Right are Robert Grant's advocacy group Christian Voice, Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority, Ed McAteer's Religious Roundtable Council, James Dobson's Focus on the Family, and Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network.
    • The birth of the New Christian right, however, is usually traced to a 1979 meeting where televangelist Jerry Falwell was urged to create a "Moral Majority" organization.
    • Jerry Falwell's founding of the Moral Majority was a key step in the formation of the New Christian Right.
  • Demographic Shifts

    • At the same time, the rise of the "moral majority," which had begun after the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, continued into the new decade.
    • The moral majority is a faction of the Republican Party whose policies include conservatism on social and personal matters, marrying religion to the political process.
    • He also discussed how major corporations such as McDonald's provided a shared state of consumerism that formed a new zone of comfort.
    • By pointing out major social problems such as AIDS, depression, and sexuality, Coupland helped define an entire generation.
  • The Revolution and Churches

    • Religion offered a moral sanction for opposing the British in the colonies.
    • Religion played a major role in the American Revolution by offering a moral sanction for opposition to the British—an assurance to the average American that revolution was justified in the sight of God.
  • Social Change

    • The Roaring Twenties represented a significant shift in American cultural values, morals and social roles.
    • The Roaring Twenties was a decade with a distinct cultural edge in which ideas about morality and social roles shifted as much as the booming economy.
    • Fueled by ideas of sexual liberation, however, dating underwent major changes on college campuses.
  • Populism and Religion

    • Before World War I, Bryan believed moral progress could achieve equality at home and, in the international field, peace between all the world's nations.
    • By 1921, Bryan saw Darwinism as a major internal threat to the US.
    • The major study which seemed to convince Bryan of this was James H.
    • Bryan was horrified that the next generation of American leaders might have the degraded sense of morality which he believed had prevailed in Germany and caused the Great War.
    • " For Bryan, the Bible was absolutely central to answering this question, and moral responsibility and the spirit of brotherhood could only rest on belief in God.
  • Progressivism and Religion

    • A major component was the Social Gospel Movement, which applied Christianity to social issues and gained its force from the Awakening, as did the worldwide missionary movement.
    • Two major leaders of the holiness revival were Phoebe Palmer and her husband, Dr.
    • Activists in the Social Gospel movement hoped that by public health measures as well as enforced schooling so the poor could develop talents and skills, the quality of their moral lives would begin to improve.
    • It is likely that the Social Gospel's strong sense of leadership led to women's suffrage, and that the emphasis it placed on morality led to prohibition.
  • Prohibition

    • Prohibition outlawed alcohol for 13 years, splitting the nation morally and politically while empowering organized crime.
    • A hotly contested issue, the "Dries" who supported Prohibition proclaimed it to be a victory for public morals and health, while "Wets" criticized the alcohol ban as an intrusion of mainly rural, Protestant ideals upon a central facet of urban, immigrant and Catholic life, as well as a loss of large amounts of tax revenue.
    • The rift between the Dries and the Wets over alcohol consumption and sales largely hinged on the long-running, historical debate over whether drinking was morally acceptable in light of the anti-social behavior that overindulgence could cause.
    • Speakeasies became far more popular during the Prohibition era, partially influencing the mass migration of Jazz musicians from New Orleans to major northern cities like Chicago and New York.
    • Enforcement of Prohibition was a major challenge throughout the 1920s due to a lack of coordination between law enforcement agencies and the difficulties of detecting and apprehending bootleggers.
  • Women and Church Governance

    • Women constituted the majority of converts and participants in the Second Great Awakening and played an important informal role in religious revivals.
    • Women made up the majority of the converts during the Second Great Awakening and therefore played a crucial role in its development and focus.
    • While they constituted the majority of converts and participants, women were not formally indoctrinated and did not hold leading ministerial positions.
    • During the period of the revivals, mothers—who were seen as the moral and spiritual foundation of the family—used their teaching and influence to pass religion to their children.
  • The Strategic Bombing of Europe

    • During World War II, many military strategists believed that major victories could be won by attacking industrial and political infrastructure, rather than purely military targets.
    • Lindemann's paper put forward the theory of attacking major industrial centers in order to deliberately destroy as many homes and houses as possible.
    • Bombing was to be "focused on the morale of the enemy civil population and in particular of the industrial workers."
    • The impact of bombing on German morale was significant.
    • Some of the major cities saw 55-60 percent of dwellings destroyed.
  • McClellan's Peninsular Campaign

    • The Peninsular Campaign of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862, and was the first large-scale offensive in the eastern theater.
    • The operation, commanded by Major General George B.
    • President Lincoln eventually ordered the Army of the Potomac back to the D.C. area to support Major General John Pope’s forces in the Northern Virginia Campaign and the Second Battle of Bull Run.
    • Nonetheless, Confederate morale was high following the battles, and Lee continued his aggressive strategies in the Second Battle of Bull Run and the Maryland Campaign.
    • In turn, the Union’s morale was crushed following McClellan’s retreat and what was perceived to be poor strategic planning on the part of Union army leadership.
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