The story of American Religion is one of migration, be it from immigrants from other countries or from the movement of Americans from city to city and from state to state. This is especially true of American Southerners who, during the Great Depression, moved out of their homeland and to the more industrial areas of the country like Detroit or Los Angeles. When these Southerners migrated to Los Angeles and Southern California, they brought with them their evangelical religious beliefs. In “From Bible Belt to Sun Belt,” author Darren Dochuk describes how that brand of southern evangelicalism initially shaped Southern California, and then US politics as a whole, through cultural clashes with the existing New Deal Democrats of the area, by …show more content…
Dochuck states that fifteen million Americans, or 12 percent of the national population, moved to the west prior to World War II, a large portion of which were Southern. These Southerners brought with them two very strong beliefs in the doctrines of Jefferson and Jesus. These doctrines were shaped by the conservatism of the South, which did not allow for the separation of the Protestant faith and these people’s public and political beliefs, while also viewing the secularization of the American West as suspect. While most of these Southern transplants proclaimed themselves apolitical, they believed themselves to be the protectors of Christian beliefs and vanguards for a Christian …show more content…
The Southern Baptist Convention was the first Protestant denomination to start demanding national oversight of their clergy and was soon followed by other denominations. As these preachers came under the guide of national groups, they were strongly pushed to create “Cold Warriors”, a strong guard against the communist efforts both at home and abroad. These “Cold Warriors” started to become aligned with the conservative Republicans that were spearheading the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and running against the New Deal and Social Democrats. Evangelical denominations also started pushing anticommunist radio preachers who preached on personal wealth and interests over the previous ideals of community and helping society as a