By David W. Marshall | Trice Edney Wire
(TriceEdneyWire.com) – During the Reagan era, prominent figures of the Religious Right movement played a significant role in mobilizing conservative Christians and advocating for their political interests. While the movement was largely led by figures such as Jerry Falwell (Moral Majority) and Pat Robertson (Christian Coalition), younger individuals such as Ralph Reed and Paul Weyrich also played a key role in the movement’s organizational and political outreach.
The younger leaders often focused on mobilizing support on the grassroot level, developing strategies for political engagement, and leveraging new media technologies to spread their message. Ralph Reed, as executive director of the Christian Coalition, was a major influence in mobilizing evangelical voters and influencing political discourse during the 1990’s; thereby extending the reach of the Religious Right’s agenda. Paul Weyrich, as a key strategist, was co-founder of the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress (now the Free Congress Foundation). He was instrumental in building the conservative infrastructure that supported Ronald Reagan. With the White evangelical voters becoming mobilized and focused while working within a conservative infrastructure, their numbers and political influence grew over the years to become a formidable force and voting bloc. We see the outcome with as demonstrated by today’s Trump’s MAGA movement.
Those of us who oppose the MAGA movement and their anti-DEI agenda can learn a lot from the tactics used by Falwell, Reed and Weyrich. Particularly on how they made abortion a rallying cry for the Religious Right. Abortion became the most potent unifying issue in modern American politics. It became a defining issue as part of a long-term political and cultural strategy. Through mass mailings, religious broadcasting, and organizing conservative Christians, the Moral Majority and similar organizations reframed abortion not only as a moral but also a political issue that defines their movement. The Religious Right was strategic. Conservative evangelicals, Catholics and other groups built a broad coalition not primarily on theological terms, but on the language of “human rights” for the unborn. Opposition to Roe v. Wade became both a symbol and an overwhelming priority of the movement’s vision.
The Religious Right transformed abortion into a litmus test for candidates and judges, shaping the Republican Party’s platform and the agenda of conservative movements for decades. Theologically and politically aligned churches became centers for grassroots organization, encouraging voter registration, political activism, and public protest. The Moral Majority mobilized millions of voters and influenced candidate selection and party platforms. The persistence paid off. After nearly five decades of sustained activism, the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade. This was the crowning achievement of a long campaign by the Religious Right.
The network of progressive churches should follow the Moral Majority blueprint. Where conservative Christians used abortion as their rallying cry, progressive Christians who believe in justice and fairness should use overturning anti-DEI measures as their unifying and defining issue to galvanize and mobilize voters. U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., means business by giving progressive Christians the legislation they need as a rally point. She introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would restore what major advocates say are major setbacks to closing social and economic gaps for Black and other marginalized communities. “Their rollbacks have been swift and deep over the last six months, and all marginalized people are feeling the impacts,” Rep. Pressley told The Grio. She described the Trump administration’s anti-DEI agenda as “anti-Blackness on steroids.” Pressley’s “Equity in Government Act” would restore policies which former President Joe Biden established by executive order to expand equity efforts across the federal government.
Executive Orders 13985 and 14091 mandated that federal agencies embed equity in their everyday business, including tailoring services to ensure that they reach and improve the lives of Black and Brown, women, LGBTQ and disabled communities. The Biden administration’s DEI framework invested programs and grants designed to expand access to housing, education, entrepreneurship, health care, voting and reduced exposure to environmental harms and community violence. Biden described his equity orders as a “whole-of-government response” to the systemic harms caused by policy discrimination and basis. “There were gains being made,” Pressley said during a press conference promoting the Equity in Government Act. She also stressed the fact that “gains and not guarantees”. Despite Biden’s federal action to address systemic racism and bias, Trump on his first day in office rescinded Biden’s equity orders and banned all DEI-related programs and policies. The Trump administration is also pressuring private industries, including universities and Fortune 500 companies, to follow suit.
Rep. Pressley is fighting back and she is giving others the ammunition to join the fight. “People need organizing prompts, and this legislation also provides that because that’s necessary for the movement to remain fortified, emboldened, to keep momentum up,” Pressley said. In other words, the “Equity in Government Act” can be used as the progressive’s rallying cry for a long-term fight. While we don’t have five decades to get this right, the bill can be a starting point leading into the mid-term elections.
David W. Marshall is the founder of the faith-based organization, TRB: The Reconciled Body, and author of the book God Bless Our Divided America.