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Air Dates: July 25 & 26, 2015 | Dr. Bruce Thornton

America’s belief in God runs deep in our culture and our psyche but it’s under attack more today that perhaps at any time since our nation’s founding. Historians generally agree on four “Great Awakenings” in America’s past (we’ll have a future show on these later this summer), the last of which immediately preceded the Reagan Revolution.

Now that (seemingly) pretty much everyone who could possibly be running for the Republican nomination is in the race, are we looking at another “Christian Revolution”? Has the groundwork been laid? What’s missing? We talk with Dr. Bruce Thornton of the Hoover Institution to find out what were the cultural sparks that set off the Reagan grassfire to find out if the elements are there for a revolution or if this has the elements of a failed coup.

The Reagan Revolution

We’ll be talking with Dr. Thornton about the seeds of the Reagan Revolution and the expanding role of conservatives and evangelicals. Like why did the same evangelicals who had voted in droves for Jimmy Carter suddenly turn on him and vote in droves for Reagan?

But what about the three decades since? What happened? The Supreme Court chose to endorse sexual preference over religious freedom. Film and TV is overtly anti-Christian. Obama has lost all pretense of not being a Muslim advocate. Federal and state governments increasingly disavow themselves from Judeo-Christian beliefs to be “inclusive” of Muslims—like the Seattle mayor endorsing special housing funding for pro-Sharia law adherents. All this make you wonder, is America’s Christian heritage disappearing? Or are we on the verge of another great awakening? And what’s that mean for the possibility of another Reagan Revolution?

Links Mentioned

• Dr. Bruce Thornton from The Hoover Institution
• The Salon.com article “Reagan’s Christian revolt: How conservatives hijacked American religion“
• Retired Admiral James Lyon on Obama’s “stategy” – Islam as a threat doctrine
• Sign the Convention of States petition! Read Deborah Lee’s guest post to learn how to get involved (they’re especially looking for district captions) or head directly to the petition

Related Links

• See our past show with Dr. Thornton, “What the Media isn’t Telling you about Islam” (Show 5-04, in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo murders)
• A list of some of Dr. Thornton’s commentary on religion, culture, poltics, and more