Catholic Intellectuals and Conservative Politics in America, 1950-1985At the end of World War II, conservatism was a negligible element in U.S. politics, but by 1980 it had risen to a dominant position. Patrick Allitt helps explain the remarkable growth of the contemporary conservative movement in the light of Catholic history in the United States. Allitt focuses on the role of individual Catholics against a backdrop of volatile cultural change, showing how such figures as William F. Buckley, Jr., Garry Wills, John T. Noonan, Jr., Michael Novak, John Lukacs, Thomas Molnar, Russell Kirk, Clare Boothe Luce, Ellen Wilson, Charles Rice, and James McFadden forged a potent anti-liberal intellectual tradition. Catholic Intellectuals and Conservative Politics in America, 1950-1985 is much more than a history of conservative Catholics, for it illuminates critical themes in postwar American society. As Allitt narrates the interplay of liberal and conservative politics among Catholics, he unfolds a history both intricate and sweeping. After describing how New Conservatism was shaped in the 1950s by William F. Buckley, Jr., and an older generation of Catholic thinkers including Ross Hoffman and Francis Graham Wilson, Allitt traces the range of Catholic responses to the cataclysmic events of the 1960s: the election of John F. Kennedy, the civil rights movement, the decolonization of Africa, Supreme Court decisions on school prayer, the war in Vietnam, and nuclear arms proliferation. He shows how the transformation of the Church prompted by the Second Vatican Council not only intensified existing divisions among Catholics but also shattered the unity of the Catholic conservative movement. Turning to the 1970s, Allitt chronicles bitter controversies concerning familyroles, contraception, abortion, and gay rights. Next, comparing the work of John Lukacs, Thomas Molnar, Garry Wills, and Michael Novak from the 1950s through the 1980s, Allitt demonstrates how individual Catholic conservatives drew different lessons from similar contingencies. He concludes by assessing recent ideological shifts within American Catholicism, using as his test case the conservative resistance to the Catholic Bishops' 1983 Pastoral Letter on Nuclear Weapons. Offering new insight into the subtle interplay between religion and politics, Catholic Intellectuals and Conservative Politics in America, 1950-1985 will be engaging reading for everyone interested in the post-war evolution of American politics and culture. |
Contents
American Catholicism in the 1950s | 16 |
Catholic Conservatives and the 1950s | 49 |
Transformations of the Early 1960s | 83 |
Copyright | |
6 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Catholic Intellectuals and Conservative Politics in America, 1950-1985 Patrick Allitt Limited preview - 2019 |
Catholic Intellectuals and Conservative Politics in America, 1950-1985 Patrick Allitt No preview available - 1995 |
Common terms and phrases
abortion American Catholic anti-Communist antiabortion anticommunism argued believed Berrigan bishops Brent Bozell capitalism Catholic church Catholic conservatives Catholic intellectuals Catholic liberals Catholic new conservatives Catholicism century Christian civil rights Cogley communism Communist conservatism conservative movement contemporary contraception criticized debate declared defense Doubleday early Editorial encyclical example faith favored Frederick Wilhelmsen freedom Garden City Garry Herberg historians human Humanae Vitae Ibid interview issue Jesuit John Courtney Murray John Lukacs journal Kennedy laypeople letter liberal Catholics Mater et Magistra Michael Novak moral Murray National Review natural law Nixon non-Catholic Noonan nuclear weapons numbers orthodoxy papal philosophical political Pope President priests principles Protestant radical reform religion religious Revolution Rice Ross Hoffman Second Vatican Council secular Sept sexual social society Soviet teaching theologians theology Thomas Molnar tion tradition Triumph United University Press Vatican II Vietnam William Buckley William F Wills's Wilson wrote York