Carl McIntire was very influential during his days as a writer and radio broadcaster. McIntire started a newspaper in 1936 called the Cristian Beacon. In these, he was able to spread his preachings and sermons to a broader audience. Many people within the Christian faith began to learn about McIntire and his writings. This was the beginning of his popularity and the reason he was so influential in the creation of the “Christian Right”. In 1955 he created his radio broadcast called “Reformation Hour” (Ironically it was only thirty minutes). On this broadcast, he would discuss his religious and political thoughts on the current world. He would begin every broadcast with a bible verse and then go on to talk about controversial topics within the U.S. at the time. By the 60s his broadcast was heard by over 600 different radio stations. He would also hold numerous bible conferences and church councils. This was his way of spreading the bible to as many young protestants as possible. He always preached to his followers to read the bible completely every year, and to spread his word throughout their communities.
McIntire was also viewed as a true patriot of his time. During WWII he was very clear about his stance on the nazis and how bad of a party it was. Adding onto this he was also extremely Anti-Communism and his biggest argument was about the control the soviet union had on religion in their country. These stances would gain him many more followers due to common beliefs among the citizens of the U.S. Also in the 70s he would lead many pro-war marches, which gained him many white working-class followers as a result. Since making these viewpoints publicly known, many people began to listen to him more often, and through that, he turned more and more people to follow the bible and the Christian faith.
Neo-evangelicalism was a big cause of the government’s swing to the right. More and more people were beginning to fear change and what could come from a lack of control. The church had always had this view, which led to people catching wind of this and listening to their church or preachers more often. Since people were beginning to transition their views it also led to others wanting to join them because of the amount of attention they were receiving. So a combination of aligning views and people joining because their peers or family members were also joining the church was a huge factor in why the “conservative consensus” began within the U.S. politics in the 80s. Citizens also believed that the church could be reinvolved with the government and that they could get the entire U.S. to convert to Christianity. Beginning a whole new fight over the first amendment and people joining and leaving the Christian “Band Wagon” due to this.
Will Wright 