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Ronald Reagan was an odd choice for evangelicals. For one, he and his wife regularly consulted a medium. He was a Hollywood actor, which should have put him at odds with fundamentalists. Also, Christians have a long history of charity and compassion, while Reagan's policies cut aid to poor people. But in 1980, a lot of evangelicals turned to the Republican Party to vote for him over the evangelical Jimmy Carter. What happened?

Jimmy Carter gave audience to evangelical audiences, though not in the same way as Reagan. Carter told people to conserve, while Reagan's optimistic consumerism played to the rising prosperity gospel. Reagan delivered his famous endorsement of evangelicals at the Religious Roundtable, while Carter was suspiciously absent. Also, evangelicals have built up a strong craving for leaders. They love a strongman leader. So when Reagan showed up and promised to be tough, they went for him.

Today, we're examining some of the reasons that Reagan became a favorite of evangelicals. And why... maybe that doesn't make sense.

Sources:

• Article on shibboleths
• Reaganland by Rick Perlstein
• The Invisible Bridge by Rick Perlstein
• The Evangelicals by Frances Fitzgerald
• A Prophet With Honor by William Martin
• James Robison's speech at the Religious Roundtable
• 1980 GOP Platform
• Reagan's GOP acceptance speech in 1980
• Reagan's inauguration speech

Discussion Questions:

• What is a shibboleth?
• How do you test if someone is really a Christian? What if they're a politician? Does it matter?
• Why did Reagan seem like an unlikely match for evangelicals?
• How did Reagan impress evangelicals?
• What did this make you think about James Robison?

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