Daniel K. William’s article, Jerry Falwell’s Sunbelt Politics: The Regional Origins of the Moral Majority, traces how political ideology evolved from Southern fundamentalism and segregationist populism into an ideology of evangelical morality, free-market economics, and hawkish nationalism. Williams details how Falwell, a Southern Baptist preacher from Lynchburg, Virginia, wove fundalist religious values with the economic and political ethos of the Sunbelt, an area marked by suburban growth, corporate conservatism, and cold war militarism. Through his megachurch and media empire organization, Falwell transitioned from an advocate of segregationist populism to a key architect of a new suburban evangelical conservatism
Through a regional lens, Willliams provides an original and persuasive argument. He challenges the simplistic narrative that white evangelicals were politically manipulated by elite republicans, and instead argues that Falwell and his sunbelt allies were themselves the entrepreneurial actors who saw the state as a threat, not only to their businesses and churches but also to their individual values. I strongly agree with this agreement. Furthermore, Falwell’s embrace of free enterprise, entrepreneurial religion and suspicion of federal intervention seems to be more than opportunism. In my view it was born from the lived economic transformation of the South. His church modelled itself after shopping malls, ran ministries like corporate divisions, and treated faith as a product to sell. This synthesis of spirituality and capitalism made sense in Sunbelt America, where economic growth and religious revival were often two sides of the same coin. However, while he outlines how this fusion was formed, one thing I think his work lacks is addressing a question of how faith and tradition which is rooted in compassion, humility, and care for the needy coexist with the economic values of deregulation, tax cuts and cold war militarism. Can the gospel of self-sacrifice and communal responsibility truly align with the neoliberal gospel of deregulation and individual gain? How does moral and market conservatism coexist?
In today’s context, the legacy of Falwell’s Sunbelt politics persists in the alliance between the Republican party and the white evangelical voters. The Megachurches continue to function as both spiritual and political centers. Ultra Conservative pastors and religious leaders today base on spiritual interpretation to oppose welfare, expand gun rights, establishment of the parental rights over the independent school curriculum, opposing health mandates, abortion and LGBTQ+ rights etc. Politicians use God as a figure to justify their conservative political actions As we witness resurgence of culture wars, the arguments of Williams are still relevant. Figures like Falwell can be regarded as the founders who paved the way for generations of leaders who treat patriotism as a Christian virtue and capitalism as a divine mandate. But, this is not all patriotic. Here, I’m reminded of this year’s Boe Forum, where historian Jon Meacham claimed that patriotism is the love for the country but nationalism is love for your own kind. And figures like Falwell and the generations of leaders produced by him choose nationalism over patriotism. This framework has only grown more entrenched than ever. So today, has faith become a justification for entrenched power, inequality and nationalist agendas? When faith becomes to serve the market, who’s being worshiped? And more importantly, as Jon Mecham asked, will the constitution of the United States endure in nationalism or patriotism?
Will Wright 