clipped from: hnn.us 11-27-06
Damon Linker is the author of the recently published book, Theocons: Secular America Under Seige (Doubleday), HNN's November Book of the Month. He earned an MA in European history from New York University and a Ph.D. in political science from Michigan State University.
Back in the late 1960s, founding theocons Neuhaus and Novak were on the far left, toying with revolution in the name of civil rights and ending the Vietnam War. But unlike most of the protesters at the time, both men saw their political commitments as flowing from deep piety. They both wanted religion to play a much greater role in American life. But with the decline of the protest movement and growing secularization of the left, both men became convinced that a religious revival in the United States would likely come from elsewhere on the political spectrum. This began a rapid ideological shift to the right, which was largely completed by 1980. At first, Neuhaus placed his hopes for a populist religious revival in Jimmy Carter, but Carter soon disappointed him. The emergence of the Moral Majority in the late 70s, and its decision to abandon Carter and embrace Reagan, persuaded Neuhaus and Novak that the Republican Party was the natural home for devout religious believers.