Homebrewed Christianity Podcast

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. F