I'm taking a class on American history that covers some of the civil rights era, and it seems that at that time and before, neither liberal nor conservative rhetoric seemed to lean much on Christian rhetoric, and neither more than the other. However, in modern politics, it seems that a lot of conservative leaders frequent invoke fairly heavily Christian rhetoric. When did this become the case, and how did a political party seem to become so strongly tied to one specific religious faction? Thanks!
Hey! I can kinda answer this one!
A big part of the whole part of religion become a factor was the civil rights movement. When Barry Goldwater, Republican presidential nominee, came out against the civil rights act, many people in the American South gravitated towards him, as it aligned with their beliefs.(The south has been historically Democrat and the north has been Republican, but this largely flipped with the civil rights act) (Source: John Clifford Green - Responsible Partisanship? The Evolution of American Political Parties since 1950)
On top of that, the south has always had some very strict religious beliefs compared to the north. In the early days of the Republic, the Second Great Awakening opened many people up to more "radical" (for the time) religious beliefs, but the south heavily depended on the economy of slavery, and often used biblical texts to justify their cruelty, and in turn tried to mix their religion with the politics of slavery. As the north became more secular over time, tradition just kinda stuck with the south. (Main source for this is Daniel Howe - What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848; I can also get other sources though)
Edit: clarified two things
hi! you may be interested in a couple of earlier related posts