Social conservatism in the United States
Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Congressional caucuses Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other Social conservatism in the United States is a political ideology focused on the preservation of traditional values and beliefs.
[11] The United States anti-abortion movement opposes induced abortion on moral and religious grounds and supports its legal prohibition or restriction.
[13] Social conservatives often oppose feminism, believing that men and women are fundamentally different and their traditional gender roles in society should be maintained.
Social conservatives with familialist leanings call on the government to exert moral leadership over sexual mores and actively promote family values.
Many blame pornography for corrupting children, encouraging sexual violence against women, promoting casual sex, and destroying marriages.
They prefer abstinence-only sex education for its compatibility with traditional Christian ethics regarding chastity and the sanctity of marriage.
[25][26] The wearing of purity rings among unmarried women is encouraged by social conservatives in order to preserve traditional Christian notions regarding human sexuality.
It opposes allowing transgender people to use their preferred gender identity's pronouns, names, bathrooms, and locker rooms.
[30] In modern times the relationship between Christianity and transgender people has been strained, as most churches require their members to adhere to what they believe to be their "God-given" gender.
Social conservatives have continued to attack the Supreme Court, blaming these decisions for pushing Christianity out of America's mainstream culture.
[33][34] Many social conservatives, mainly Christian fundamentalists, believe that creationism or intelligent design should be taught in public schools in place of evolution.
[38] Social conservatives are accommodationists who often oppose secularism, state atheism, and moral relativism, viewing them as threats to the nation's Christian character.
[4][49] As such, social conservatives have rallied to prevent casinos from opening in areas where they are numerically in strength, citing that gambling is opposed to family values.
[50] The Woman's Christian Temperance Union, one of the oldest organizations espousing social conservatism, advanced the argument that "communities with casinos suffer higher rates of home foreclosures, financial distress, and domestic violence", thus calling for people to oppose gambling.
[52][53] The 1897 Constitution of the National Reform Association, one of the oldest organizations espousing social conservatism in the United States, with a focus on introducing a Christian amendment to the U.S. Constitution, expressed alarm at what they viewed as:[54] Perceiving the subtle and persevering attempts which are made to prohibit the reading of the Bible in our Public Schools, to overthrow our Sabbath laws, to corrupt the Family, to abolish the Oath, Prayer in our National and State Legislatures, Days of Fasting and Thanksgiving, and other Christian features of our institutions, and so to divorce the American Government from all connection with the Christian religion; Viewing with grave apprehension in our politics, the legal sanction of the liquor traffic, and the disregard of moral and religious character in those who are exalted to high places in the nation.
Democrats continued to put forward increasingly liberal policy ideas that ran counter to the beliefs of many conservative Americans which mobilized them to protect their interests.
Reagan appealed to social conservatives who felt marginalized by the growing liberalization of American culture, calling on the "forgotten man" or "moral majority".
[60][61] After the tumultuous period of political and cultural changes in the 1960s–1970s, Reagan's moderate traditionalism appeared as a source of needed stability for many Americans.
[67] During his time in office, Bush would pass influential conservative social policies such as the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and support an increase in funding of abstinence-only sex education.
[68] While President Bush did not strongly promote anti-abortion policies, he supported the movement through an emphasis on parental rights and focus on strict regulation of taxpayer funding.
[77] However, independent polls have repeatedly shown that Tea Party supporters are nearly indistinguishable in their views from traditional Republican social conservatives, despite their choice to emphasize economic issues.
