The Cross and Reaganomics: Conservative Christians Defending Ronald Reagan

(Paperback)

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The Cross and Reaganomics: Conservative Christians Defending Ronald Reagan, by Eric R. Crouse, offers important insights on why Reaganomics was a major reason conservative Christians supported Reagan at the polls. On election night in November 1980, Americans witnessed the victory of a conservative to the presidency. With the United States experiencing economic stagnation and high inflation, many were hopeful of Ronald Reagans deeds matching his optimistic rhetoric of Americas potential. What followed was a decade of economic transformation, military buildup, and a political awakening of conservatism. One story that has not received much attention is the relationship between conservative Christians and Ronald Reagans economic policies. Crouse argues that conservative Christians were among the strongest champions of limited government, free enterprise (particularly small business), and anticommunism. A surprising number of conservative Christian leaders discussed the works of major free market economists. Conservative Christians embraced and tapped into the traditional American values of individual opportunity, personal responsibility, and human freedomall themes they believed were front and center in Reaganomics. Although American pluralism prevented any plan to Christianize the nation by politics, in the sphere of economics conservative Christians did witness political and cultural gains.

Reviews

Eric R. Crouse . . . provides a readable and sympathetic history of Christian support for the Reagan administration. . . .Crouses thorough chronicle features leaders on both sides, as well as minor figures whose political significance has been overlooked. * First Things *
Crouse does a service with his careful reading of journalistic articles and editorials in popularand not so popularsources in the evangelical and fundamentalist press. Publications such as John F. Alexander's The Other Side and Jim Wallis's Sojourners enter into heated polemics with Christianity Today and more ideologically-driven journals, including the libertarian The Individualist Review and The Freeman. The result is a compelling and complex series of exchanges over the failures and successes of free market economic theory. . . .Crouse reminds readers that wages, income redistribution, and productive labor were as significant to many Christians as any of the hot-button social issues of the day. * Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture *
This is a very important and very thoughtful look at much that is badly misunderstood from the Reagan era, particularly the faith-based views and sympathies by those who supported President Ronald Reagan during a historic two-term presidency. Eric Crouse refuses to accept the stereotypes and handy caricatures of the diverse group of conservative Christians who supported Reagan. He takes the time to dig in and look deep at what these folks truly believed. Crouse gets it right. This is a significant contribution to Reagan scholarship and also to our understanding of the nexus between religion and politics. -- Paul Kengor, Grove City College and author of God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life

Author Bio

Eric R. Crouse is professor of history at Tyndale University College, Toronto.