Randall Balmer: Myth Busting Evangelical Activism & Its Origins

What if everything you thought you knew about why evangelical Christians became politically active was completely wrong? Today I sit down with one of America's greatest historians of religion, Randall Balmer, to do some serious myth-busting. We dive deep into what Balmer calls "the abortion myth" - the widely believed but false story that evangelicals mobilized politically in the 1970s over Roe v. Wade. The real origin story? It's much more uncomfortable - it was actually about defending racial segregation in Christian schools when the IRS threatened their tax-exempt status. Balmer takes us through this hidden history he discovered firsthand at a 1990 gathering of religious right leaders, where architect Paul Weyrich admitted abortion "had nothing to do with" their political mobilization. We trace how a religious community that once championed prison reform, women's rights, and abolition transformed into today's Christian nationalist movement, and explore what this means for the future of American religion. From Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump, from the Jesus movement to Project 2025, this conversation reveals how evangelicalism lost its prophetic voice and became, in Balmer's words, dangerously "worldly." It's a sobering but essential look at how we got here - and whether there's any hope for course correction.

Randall Balmer is one of America's leading historians of religion and a prominent scholar of evangelicalism. A professor at Dartmouth College, Balmer grew up in the evangelical subculture as the son of a preacher and attended Trinity College and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School before earning his PhD. His groundbreaking research has challenged conventional narratives about American religious history, most notably exposing what he calls "the abortion myth" - the false claim that evangelicals became politically active in response to Roe v. Wade, when they actually mobilized to defend racial segregation in Christian schools.

Balmer is the author of numerous influential books including Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right, God in the White House, and America's Best Idea: The Separation of Church and State. His work has appeared in major publications and he has been featured on PBS, NPR, and other national media. Known for his meticulous archival research and willingness to challenge his own evangelical community, Balmer argues that today's religious right represents a dramatic departure from 19th-century evangelicalism's progressive social activism. Despite his critiques, he maintains hope for a return to what he sees as evangelicalism's authentic prophetic tradition rooted in care for the marginalized and social justice.

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