| The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), founded as one of the most individualistic Protestant denominations in the United States, was once the happy home of Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton. But since 1979 the SBC has become a vexing place for Democrats, and since 1990, the Convention has become an equally uncomfortable place for moderates independents as well.; This dissertation shows that though the Republicanization of the SBC coincides with the rise of the Fundamentalist Right and the emergence of a Republican majority in the South, such explanations do not fully account for the shift to the right of elites and rank and file in the 15 million-member Southern Baptist Convention. This dissertation analyses the theological, cultural, and historical antecedents which made Southern Baptist politics ripe for Republican Fundamentalist Right picking, while tracing the specific shift in ideology that the convention has taken in the wake of Southern and Southern Baptist "two-party" politics.; The dissertation also includes a case study of various branches of the Fundamentalist Right within the Republican party in a single state (South Carolina), which is used to explain the unique position of the SBC in this fundamentalist coalition.; Conclusions reflect on the future of Southern Baptist and Republican political conservatism based on recent SBC alliances, the sudden presence of Southern Baptists among Washington elites after 1992, and the unique contributions of Southerners and Southern Baptists to national politics. |
