Getting what "We" Deserve: Terrorism, tolerance, sexuality, and the christian right

New Political Science

Volumn 25, Issue 3, 2003, Pages 329-349

  Burack, Cynthia ^a  

^a OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 85044813156     PISSN: 07393148     EISSN: 14699931     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/07393140307180     Document Type: Article

References (64)

1. Elisha, Omri. March 2002. "A Theology of Blame," ”. In Anthropology News, The Official Newspaper of the American Anthropological Association March,; available online at: (March 2, 2002).
2. Harris, John F., 2001. "God Gave U.S. 'What We Deserve/Falwell Says,". The Washington Post, September 14: C3
3. Birch, Elizabeth. 2001. "Speech by Elizabeth Birch at HRC's Fifth Annual National Dinner,". Human Rights Campaign,; available online at: (October 10, 2001).
4. Falwell, Jerry. 2001. "Jerry Falwell Apologizes,". Cross + Word,; available online at: (May 20, 2002).
5. Buckley, William F., 2001. "Invoking God's Thunder on the Reverend Jerry Falwell,". National Review Online, September 18 Many conservatives, including William F. Buckley and Rush Limbaugh, joined this chorus of disapprobation. See; available online at: (March 4, 2002); People for the American Way.
6. 2001. "Media Reactions to Jerry Falwell-Pat Robertson Comments on the September 11 Tragedies,". October 18 2001 available online at
7. Robertson, Pat. 2001. "Robertson's Statement Regarding Terrorist Attack on America,". The Official Site of Pat Robertson, October 9; available online at: (October 10, 2001).
8. Robertson, Pat. September 21 2001. "Pat Robertson's Letter to U.S. Newspaper Editors," ”. In The Official Site of Pat Robertson September 21,; available online at: May 18 2002
9. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, "Jerry Falwell Tries to Cash In on Controversy: TV Preacher's Ministry Sends Out Fund-Raising Appeal Exploiting His Controversial Tirade over Terrorist Attacks," October 22, 2001; available online at: (October 25, 2001); Lloyd Grove, "The Reliable Source," The Washington Post, October 24, 2001, p. C3.
10. Carlson, Peter. 2001. "Jerry Falwell's Awkward Apology: What Did He Mean and When Did He Mean It? Huh?". Washington Post, November 18: F5
11. Falwell, Jerry. 2001. "Jerry Falwell Apologizes,". Cross + Word, September 18; available online at: (May 18, 2002).
12. Harding, Susan Friend. 2000. The Book of Jerry Falwell: fundamentalist Language and Politics, 19Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Here I use terminology that is frequently used by Protestant conservative Christians. Harding emphasizes the "connecting tissues" that bring together those who are variously described as "fundamentalist," "evangelical," and "Pentecostal." See
13. Hadden, Jeffery K., and Shupe, Anson. 1988. "Televangelism: The Story the Media Missed,". Boston Review, April; available online at: (February 1, 2002).
14. 2002. "News of the Year: Far Right,". The Advocate, January 22: 25 This was true not only of the mainstream press, but also of the lesbian and gay press. See e.g. This news bulletin asks rhetorically if "2001 mark[ed] a sea change in the right wing's willingness to demonize gay people" and concludes: "maybe so, if conservative pundits' and politicians' responses to Jerry Falwell's finger-pointing are any indication."
15. Rosenblum, Nancy L., 1998. Membership and Morals: The Personal Uses of Pluralism in America, 3–46. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
16. Kymlicka, Will. 1999. "Liberal Complacencies," ”. In Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?, Edited by: Okin, Susan Moller, Cohen, Joshua, Howard, Matthew, and Nussbaum, Martha C., 31–34. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. For a similar argument and debate, see
17. Sullivan, Kathleen M., 1998. "Defining Democracy Down,". The American Prospect, 9 (41)); available online at: (February 2, 2002).
18. Snyder, R. Claire. 2003. "Neopa triarchy and the Antihomosexual Agenda," ”. In Fundamental Differences: Feminists Talk Back to Social Conservatives, Edited by: Burack, Cynthia, and Josephson, Jyl J., 157–171. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
19. Bull, Chris, and Gallagher, John. 1996. Perfect Enemies: The Religious Right, the Cay Movement, and the Politics of the 1990s, New York: Crown.
20. Badgett, M. V. Lee. 2001. Money, Myths, and Change: The Economic Lives of Lesbians and Cay Men, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
21. Herman, Didi. 1997. The Antigay Agenda: Orthodox Vision and the Christian Right, 127125Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press Herman.
22. Smith, Anna Marie. 1998. "Why Did Armey Apologize?," ”. In Unraveling the Right: The New Conservatism in American Thought and Politics, Edited by: Ansell, Amy E., 167New York: Westview Press.
23. Smith, Anna Marie. 1997. "The Centering of Right-Wing Extremism through the Construction of an 'Inclusionary' Racism and Homophobia," ”. In Playing with Fire: Queer Politics, Queer Theories, Edited by: Phelan, Shane. 114New York and London: Routledge.
24. Smith, Anna Marie. 1994. New Right Discourse on Race and Sexuality: Britain, 1968-1990, 68Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
25. Smith, Rogers. 1993. "Beyond Tocqueville, Myrdal, and Hartz: The Multiple Traditions in America,". American Political Science Review, 87 (3): 549–565.
26. Kintz, Linda. 1997. Between Jesus and the Market: The Emotions that Matter in Right-Wing America, Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
27. For a popular rendering of these theological arguments, see the "Left Behind" series of novels by Tim La Haye and Jerry B. Jenkins. The books have been staples on the New York Times Best Sellers List since they debuted in 1995.
28. Haye, Tim La. 1980. The Battle for the Mind, Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Reveil.
29. Robertson, Pat. 1991. The New World Order, 256Nashville, TN: W Publishing.
30. McDowell, Josh, and Hostetler, Bob. 1998. The New Tolerance: How a Cultural Movement Threatens to Destroy You, Your Faith, and Your Children, Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
31. Cantor, David. 1994. The Religious Right: The Assault on Tolerance and Pluralism in America, 26New York: Anti-Defamation League Cantor. Robertson made these comments on the 14 January 1991 broadcast of the 700 Club. Robertson, quoted in
32. Lienesch, Michael. 1993. Redeeming America: Piety and Politics in the New Christian Right, 169–171. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press.
33. Conn, James L., April 1999. "Rift on the Right: Right-Wing Strategist Paul Weyrich Says the Culture War is Lost, but Dobson, Robertson and Other Religious Right Leaders Insist They've Just Begun to Fight," ”. April, Church and State. John A. Moran, a co-chair of the Republican Leadership Council, was quoted as saying that the Republican Party needed to "soften the image of the party" and "avoid ideological purity."; available online at: (November 16, 2001).
34. Buchanan, Pat. 1992. "Address by Patrick J. Buchanan," ”. In Official Report of the Proceedings of the Thirty-Fifth Republican National Convention Held in Houston, Texas, 371–376. Washington, DC: Republican National Committee.
35. Burlein, Ann. 2002. Lift High the Cross: Where White Supremacy and the Christian Right Converge, 147–148. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
36. Hardisty, Jean. 1999. Mobilizing Resentment: Conservative Resurgence from the John Birch Society to the Promise Keepers, 116Boston: Beacon.
37. Lerman, Hannah. 1996. Pigeonholing Women's Misery: A History and Critical Analysis of the Psychodiagnosis of Women in the Twentieth Century, New York: Basic Books.
38. American Psychiatric Association. 2001. "Position Statement on Therapies Focused on Attempts to Change Sexual Orientation (Reparative or Conversion Therapies),". November 28 2000; available online at:). It is useful to note that there are differences between the responses of mental health organizations to "reparative therapies." In 1997, the American Psychological Association passed a resolution that stopped short of labeling the "therapies" unethical and merely imposed some safeguards on their applications. Organizations such as NARTH strongly opposed the resolution.
39. Focus on the Family. 2001. "Toward an Open Debate on Homosexual Behavior,". November 28 1998; available online at
40. Tolerance, Religious. 2001. " 'Ex-Gay' Advertisements: In Newspapers and on TV";. November 6 available online at
41. Focus on the Family. 2001. "Toward a New National Discussion of Homosexuality,". November 28 1998; available online at
42. PFAW. 2001. "Right Wing Watch Online,". November 11 1998; available online at
43. Jeffery Jay Lowder. 2001. "The God of Terrorism,". Secular Web, November 20; available online at:.
44. Connor, Ken. 2001. "Reflections after the Terror,". Family Research Council, October 10 2001,; available online at:.
45. Barton, David. 1997. "America's Founding Fathers: Were They Christians?," ”. In Steeling the Mind of America, Edited by: Perkins, Bill. Volume II, 34–38. Green Forest, AR: New Leaf Press. For an explicit example of this argument, see the careful linking of the putative Christian beliefs of the founders with the beliefs, practices, and policies of the 1994 "freshman" class of Congressional Republicans.
46. Bennett, David H., 1988. The Party of Fear: The American Far Right from Nativism to the Militia Movement, 7New York: Vintage.
47. Smith, Anna Marie. 1994. New Right Discourse on Race and Sexuality: Britain, 1968-1990, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
48. Phelps, Fred. 2002. "God Hates America Sermons from WBC Pastor Fred Phelps, Sr,". Westboro Baptist Church, April 6; available online at:.
49. Horsley, Neal. 2002. "USA Nuked Because of Freedom?,". Creator's Rights Party, March 3 See also the contribution to the debate over the causes of terrorism on the Creator's Rights Party web site: "The vast majority of American citizens have proven themselves willing to tolerate the most grievous sin rather than risk offending any significant group in this nation, like the abortion advocates or the homosexuals or other sexual outlaws … But mark these words well[:] when nuclear or biological terror settles over this nation in the months and years ahead, that bold mocking of the God of Abraham will change."; available online at:. October 14 2001
50. Innes, Dick. 2002. "Why Terrorism?,". ACTS International, January 20 The following argument is arguably ideologically closer to that expressed by Falwell and Robertson, but it is difficult to differentiate from the ostensibly more extreme "Creator's Rights Party" version: "In the wake of the September 11 barbaric terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and many other acts of terrorism in recent days, not only in America but around the world--one cannot help but wonder about the correlation of these events with the ever-increasing tearing down of the Christian beliefs upon which the U.S.A. was founded, and the Judaeo-Christian (sic) ethic upon which much of our Western society has been built… Let us not forget other recent societies who also ignored God--including those of Hitler and Stalin!", 2001; available online at
51. Nathan, Rich. 2002. Who is My Enemy? Welcoming People the Church Rejects, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. One such Christian approach challenges those who attend principally to saving America to minister instead to the "brokenness" of individuals who are "postmodernists," feminists, homosexuals, and liberals. See
52. 2001. "Bom Again Adults Remain Firm in Opposition to Abortion and Gay Marriage,". July 23 See reporting of the Barna Group research on Christians' views of homosexuality (2001). The Barna Research Group, Ltd. is a Christian marketing research company that provides information and analysis on attitudes and cultural trends. Barna Research Online,; available online at: (March 10, 2002).
53. Mill, John Stuart. 1859/1994. On Liberty and Other Writings, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
54. Hamburger, Joseph. 1999. John Stuart Mill on Liberty and Control, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
55. Mill, John Stuart. 1861/1979. Utilitarianism, Indianapolis, IN: Hackett.
56. Cameron, Paul, and Dreyfuss, Robert. 1999. "The Holy War On Gays,". Rolling Stone, March 18 See e.g. an interview with anti-gay "researcher"; available online at: (March 6, 2002).
57. Lind, Michael. 2001. "Fundamental Flaws,". The observer, November 11; available online at: (November 15, 2001). Lind also excoriates the environmental "romantic left" that he argues is increasingly substantively allied with the Christian Right.
58. VandeHei, Jim. 2002. "GOP Looks to Move Its Social Agenda,". Washington Post, November 25
59. Smith, Anna Marie. 2001. "The Politicization of Marriage in Contemporary American Public Policy: The Defense of Marriage Act and the Personal Responsibility Act,". Citizenship Studies, 5 (3): 303–320. available online at: (December 1, 2002). See
60. Gutterman, David S., 2001. "Presidential Testimony: Listening to the Heart of George W. Bush,". Theory and Event, 5 (2)); available online at: (October 2, 2002).
61. Lynch, Colum. 2002. "Islamic Bloc, Christian Right Team Up to Lobby U.N.,". Washington Post, June 17: A1A13
62. Martin, William. 1996. With God On Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America, New York: Broadway Books. For a discussion of the relationship between the Christian Right and the Republican Party, see Chapter 13 ("And Who Shall Lead Them?") of
63. Weyrich, Paul M., 2000. "Paul Weyrich Letter,". Religious Freedom Coalition, September 14 available online at: (November 11, 2001).
64. Milbank, Dana. 2001. "Religious Right Finds its Center in Oval Office: Bush Emerges as Movement's Leader after Robertson Leaves Christian Coalition,". Washington Post, December 24: A2