The Rise of the Religious Right in Oklahoma (Part One)

Religion has had an important role in the history of Oklahoma from the beginning.  This series will trace the emergence of the religious right  that began with opposition to the ERA.

Congress voted to submit the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the states for ratification in March of 1972.  That year, 22 states ratified it. 

Oklahoma led the way in defeating the amendment.  It was the first state to refuse to ratify it.

Opposition to the amendment was led by Ann Patterson, an Episcopalian associated with Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum organization.  Most of Patterson’s support came from women involved in a Church of Christ women’s organization headed by Beverly Findley.

The anti-ERA forces apalled  women with warnings that their military husbands would be sleeping and showering in the barracks with women.  They also frightened religious conservatives with allegations that the National Organization of Women wanted to abolish the tax exemption  of all churches.

Pro-ERA forces had a more dialogical approach.  Methodists in Oklahoma hosted debates and invited advocates for both sides to participate.  The Oklahoma Conference of Churches, representing the position of most mainline denominations, offered open but muted support for the ERA.

Research indicated that only 17% of the Baptists, then under more moderate leadership than today, and a mere 5% of the Methodists in the state opposed the ERA.   Together they comprised 37.6% of the population of the state at that time.  Conservative Church of Christ  members comprised 5.2% of the population, but even in that denomination 57% were in favor of the ERA.

In the end, it appears that the squeaky conservative wheels in all these denominations came away with the most grease on this issue.  Their surprising success in stopping the ERA in Oklahoma energized political activity among conservatives and fundamentalists around the nation.

Ann Patterson and other Oklahomans went  on to assist in organizing anti-ERA efforts in other states. 

By 1982, the ERA was dead.  Three states short of the 38 needed for ratification.

Why Do We Need the Oklahoma Faith Network?

Oklahomans are a very religious people.  Unfortunately, the religious voices most frequently featured in the news media and most actively involved in politics are voices that are on the extreme fringe. 

The vast majority of the religious people in Oklahoma are not connected to the tea party.

Most Oklahomans want good public schools -- not a voucher to pay part of the tuition at a private school.

Most Oklahomans want affordable healthcare and are not opposed to the Obama administration's attempt to secure health care for the uninsured. 

Most Oklahomans support the government giving children free lunches at school and are not opposed to providing vouchers for food to impoverished families. 

The vast majority of the religious people in Oklahoma are not opposed to paying their fair share in taxes to support efficient government services.

On all of these issues the voices of most Oklahomans has been drowned out by the voices of extremists.

The Oklahoma Faith Network is working to make sure moderate and progressive religious voices are heard in the public square.

On the Democracy of the Heart

"I fear the plutocracy of wealth, I respect the aristocracy of learning, but I thank God for the democracy of the heart that makes it possible for every human being to do something to make life worth living while he lives and the world better for his existence in it."

-- William Jennings Bryan

On the Demographic Demise of the Religious Right

An excerpt from Dr. David Campbell's guest lecture at the University of Oklahoma on February 7, 2012. Campbell is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Notre Dame University and co-author of the book American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us

Moderate and Progressive Baptists will note that the time when evangelicalism began to decline and the "nones" began to rise also coincides with the completion of the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention and the increasing union of the SBC with the GOP.

Journey out of the Religious Right

Frank Schaeffer: My Journey Out of the Religious Right from Bruce Prescott on Vimeo.

Frank Schaeffer, author and son of the late Francis and Edith Schaeffer, speaks on the topic "My Journey Out of the Religious Right and into Mainstream Politics and Progressive Causes."

He spoke at the invitation of the University of Oklahoma's Religious Studies Program on the evening of April 8, 2013.