Highlights first synced by [[readwise]] [[September 2nd, 2020]]

• “God Save Our President Who Saved Our Country and Our World!” (Location 207)
• ‘We hold that all men are endowed by their Creator’ with certain rights,” the president asserted. “In one sentence, we established that every free government is embedded soundly in a deeply-felt religious faith or it makes no sense.” (Location 227)
• In 1954, Congress followed Eisenhower’s lead, adding the phrase “under God” to the previously secular Pledge of Allegiance. A similar phrase, “In God We Trust,” was added to a postage stamp for the first time in 1954 and then to paper money the next year; in 1956, it became the nation’s first official motto. (Location 236)
• the postwar revolution in America’s religious identity had its roots not in the foreign policy panic of the 1950s but rather in the domestic politics of the 1930s and early 1940s. (Location 257)
• Decades before Eisenhower’s inaugural prayers, corporate titans enlisted conservative clergymen in an effort to promote new political arguments embodied in the phrase “freedom under God.” As the private correspondence and public claims of the men leading this charge make clear, this new ideology was designed to defeat the state power its architects feared most—not the Soviet regime in Moscow, but Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal administration in Washington. (Location 258)
• these new evangelists for free enterprise promoted a vision best characterized as “Christian libertarianism.” (Location 263)
• director Cecil B. DeMille helping erect literally thousands of granite monuments to the Ten Commandments across the nation as part of a promotional campaign for his blockbuster film of the same name. (Location 271)
• In a forceful rejection of the public service themes of the Social Gospel, they argued that the central tenet of Christianity remained the salvation of the individual. (Location 395)
• Nothing better exemplified such values, they insisted, than the capitalist system of free enterprise. (Location 397)
• they saw Christianity and capitalism as inextricably intertwined and argued that spreading the gospel of one required spreading the gospel of the other. (Location 402)
• They built a foundation for a new vision of America in which businessmen would no longer suffer under the rule of Roosevelt but instead thrive—in a phrase they popularized—in a nation “under God.” (Location 409)
• In his view, both systems rested on a basic belief that individuals would succeed or fail on their own merit. (Location 456)
• For Fifield and his flock, Roosevelt’s actions violated not just the Constitution but the natural order of things. (Location 464)
• In their crusade against the wanton growth of government, the church would find natural allies in corporate America because both were committed at their core to the “preservation of basic freedom in this nation.” “Goodness and Christian ideals run proportionately high among businessmen,” the ad assured. “They need no defense, for with all their faults, they have given America within the last decade a new world-high in general economic well-being.” (Location 470)
• “the liberty and dignity of the individual, in which freedom of choice, of enterprise and of property is inherent.” (Location 480)
• Fifield called for a return to traditional values. (Location 491)
• Fifield repeatedly warned them that the growth of government had crippled not only individual initiative but personal morality as well. (Location 621)
• Pew wholeheartedly agreed. “According to my book there are five principal issues before the country: The socialization of industry, the socialization of medicine, the socialization of education, the socialization of labor, and the socialization of security,” (Location 683)
• The keynote came from General Matthew Ridgway, who interrupted his duties leading American forces in Korea to send an address from Tokyo. He insisted that the founding fathers had been motivated, in large part, by their religious faith. (Location 892)
• As the crew and congregation circled above Memphis, Graham led them in a solemn prayer that “the great C&S Airline may be blessed as never before.” Years later, the minister would touch down in Memphis again to speak before a convention of hotel owners, where he furnished a similar sort of benediction. “God bless you and thank you,” Graham said earnestly, “and God bless the Holiday Inns.” (Location 962)
• Graham’s warm embrace of business contrasted sharply with the cold shoulder he gave organized labor. (Location 966)
• The minister insisted that a truly Christian worker “would not stoop to take unfair advantage” of his employer by ganging up against him in a union. Strikes, in his mind, were inherently selfish and sinful. (Location 968)
• “On all sides today we hear people speaking fearfully of the spread of atheistic communism. (Location 1177)
• “The choice,” he insisted, “boils down to this: ‘Christ or Communism.’ There is really no other. (Location 1181)
• during the early years of his ministry, Graham devoted himself to spreading the gospel of free enterprise. (Location 1229)
• In his 1951 crusade in Greensboro, North Carolina, he spoke at length about the “dangers that face capitalistic America.” The nation was no longer “devoted to the individualism that made America great,” (Location 1229)
• In January 1951, he warned that “the vultures are now encircling our debt-ridden inflationary economy with its fifteen-year record of deficit finance and with its staggering national debt, to close in for the kill.” He chided Democrats for wasting money on the welfare state at home and the Marshall Plan abroad. (Location 1258)
• “Their greatest need is not more money, food, or even medicine; it is Christ,” he said. “Give them the Gospel of love and grace first and they will clean themselves up, educate themselves, and better their economic conditions.” (Location 1262)
• If Congress and the White House “would take the lead in a spiritual and moral awakening,” he said, “it would affect the country more than anything in a long time.” (Location 1278)
• Those who supported the revival were given cards to place in their Bibles, reminding them to pray daily “for the message of [the] Crusade to reach into every Government office, that many in Government will be won for Christ.” (Location 1280)
• Congress to push through a special measure authorizing the first religious service ever to be held on the steps of the Capitol Building. (Location 1291)
• He still had reservations about public displays of prayer—in his diary that month, he noted that he abided by “the V, VI, & VIIth chapters of the Gospel according to St. Matthew,” which were often cited for their injunctions against the practice—but he read the national mood and decided to acquiesce. (Location 1312)
• [They] are going to vote as a bloc for the man with the strongest moral and spiritual platform, regardless of his views on other matters.” (Location 1331)
• he condemned a set of “evils which can ultimately throttle free government,” which he identified as labor unrest, runaway inflation, “excessive taxation,” and the “ceaseless expansion” of the federal government. These were commonplace conservative positions, but Eisenhower presented them in religious language that elevated them for his audience. (Location 1384)
• On domestic matters, Graham had long been sounding Republican themes of rolling back the welfare state and liberating business leaders to operate on their own. But on foreign policy too, Graham closely followed the Republican script for those issues, (Location 1409)
• Graham condemned the “tranquil attitude to communism” in the country, warning that “Communists and left-wingers” posed a danger to the nation and that there already might be “a fifth column in our midst.” (Location 1415)
• his comments became indistinguishable from the official Republican slogans. (Location 1417)
• The GOP insisted, “We must clean up the mess in Washington”; at the same time, Graham asserted, “We all seem to agree there’s a mess in Washington.” (Location 1418)
• Time and time again, the preacher made a clear political attack from the pulpit, only to walk it back slightly with a shrug and a smile. (Location 1419)
• Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson, refused to conduct religious outreach of its own. (Location 1424)
• Spiritual Mobilization’s Faith and Freedom published a manifesto, titled “The Christian’s Political Responsibility,” in its September 1952 issue. (Location 1445)
• Working with Graham, Vereide, and countless others both inside and outside his administration, the new president endeavored to lead the nation back to what he understood to be its religious roots. In doing so, however, he would actually transform America into something altogether new. (Location 1471)
• The American people, like Eisenhower, had become very fervent believers in a very vague religion. (Location 1511)
• the Freedoms Foundation promoted Christian libertarianism. (Location 1524)
• After Eisenhower, religion would no longer be used to tear down the central state but instead to prop it up. Piety and patriotism became one and the same, love of God and love of country conflated to the core. (Location 1567)
• MORE THAN ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL, Senator Frank Carlson deserved credit for creating the National Prayer Breakfast. (Location 1638)
• Business leaders, of course, had long been working to “merchandise” themselves through the appropriation of religion. In organizations such as Spiritual Mobilization, the prayer breakfast groups, and the Freedoms Foundation, they had linked capitalism and Christianity and, at the same time, likened the welfare state to godless paganism. (Location 1830)
• Eugene Rostow, referred to these extraconstitutional religious practices in American political life as “ceremonial deism.” His choice of words captured the conventional wisdom on these issues well. (Location 2044)
• Like many others, these civil liberties organizations believed official invocations of a vague “God” had no substance or significance.9 (Location 2066)
• “It must be ‘UNDER GOD’ to include the great Jewish Community, and the people of the Moslem faith and the myriad of denominations of Christians in the land,” he said. “What then of the honest atheist? Philosophically speaking, an atheistic American is a contradiction in terms.” The Presbyterian praised atheists for being “fine in character” and “good neighbors” but suggested they were “spiritual parasites.” “I mean no term of abuse in this,” the minister added. “A parasite is an organism that lives upon the life force of another organism without contributing to the life of the other. These excellent ethical seculars are living upon the accumulated Spiritual Capital of a Judaio-Christian civilization, and at the same time, deny the God who revealed the divine principles upon which the ethics of this Country grow.” (Location 2194)
• A speaker warned that the measure was a sign that religion was becoming little more than a fad. “If you don’t bring God into every Cabinet meeting, political convention or other assembly,” she noted sarcastically, “it is bad public relations.” (Location 2220)
• These comments gave the public at the time—and scholars ever since—the mistaken idea that the pledge change was largely, or even solely, a result of Cold War anticommunism. But in reality it was the result of nearly two decades of partisan fighting over domestic issues. (Location 2256)
• The mint offered several suggestions, but Chase ultimately selected “In God We Trust” and lobbied for legislation authorizing the new slogan. It soon appeared, on bronze 2¢ pieces, in 1864. (Location 2305)
• Lincoln, aware that the gold supply supporting “greenbacks” was dwindling, joked that a more appropriate motto might be found in the words of the apostle Peter: “Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee.” (Location 2308)
• Disney then strode to the microphone to read the inscription from the dedicatory plaque: “Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America, with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to the world.” (Location 2568)
• “I have known Walt Disney for many years, and have long been aware of the spiritual motivation in the heart of this man who has dreamed Disneyland into being,” (Location 2571)
• “Beyond the creeds that would divide us, let us unite in a silent prayer, that this and every worthy endeavor may prosper at God’s hand.” (Location 2572)
• The Advertising Council (Location 2630)
• The Advertising Council classified its projects as acts of public service, but in truth they were acts of public relations, meant to sell the American people on the merits of free enterprise. (Location 2633)
• On the surface, it seemed wholly nonpartisan, simply intended to raise Americans’ awareness of their rights and responsibilities as citizens. Internally, though, organizers described it as a conservative-minded effort that would help Americans resist becoming “pawns of a master state.” (Location 2635)
• In 1949, the Advertising Council launched what would be its most influential effort, the “Religion in American Life” campaign. The stated purposes of RIAL, its creators claimed, were “(1) to accent the importance of all religious institutions as the basis of American life” and “(2) to urge all Americans to attend the church or synagogue of their choice.” While RIAL seemed more altruistic than the other postwar drives, it served the interests of corporate America as much as the others. (“In fact,” Ad Council chairman Stuart Peabody later noted, “when you stop to figure it out, there is hardly any Council campaign which doesn’t make some contribution to the health of American business.”) (Location 2644)
• in the same tones used to hawk antacid or mouthwash, promised that faith would cure their problems quickly. (Location 2658)
• The “Religion in American Life” campaign succeeded, in large part, because its creators linked it to the religious revival in the political sphere. (Location 2680)
• the council stressed that stations should “point out that our nation was founded on faith in God and that freedom to worship God constitutes a precious national heritage.” (Location 2684)
• Their involvement guaranteed a wider dissemination of the RIAL theme, of course, but also a broader acceptance of the message than would have resulted from a simple top-down approach. (Location 2730)
• There was a marked increase in religious observances each year as the annual campaigns reached their peak. (Location 2746)
• “Churches are beginning to advertise their product,” an Ohio man said, “and the result is that they are selling it.” (Location 2759)
• the most lasting legacy of The Ten Commandments was its marketing campaign. As he prepared for the debut, DeMille worked with the Fraternal Order of Eagles on an ambitious plan to establish monuments of the Ten Commandments on public property across the nation. (Location 2889)
• “The need for the Ten Commandments is even greater today that it was 3,000 years ago in Moses’ time,” Brynner insisted. (Location 2913)
• “WILL YOU BE FREE TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS IN THE FUTURE?” the headline blared. “NOT UNLESS: You and other free Americans begin to understand and appreciate the benefits provided by God under the American free enterprise system.” (Location 2984)