"Thus, the controversy about the Moral Majority arises not only from its views, but from its name - which, in the minds of many, seems to imply that only one set of public policies is moral and only one majority can possibly be right"
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Kennedy points out that the furor surrounding the Moral Majority springs not only from its platform but from the implications embedded in its name. To call a movement the Moral Majority is to seize both the moral high ground and the arithmetic of democracy at once. It suggests that virtue and popular will already belong to one side, casting dissenters as immoral and marginal before any argument begins. The controversy, then, concerns a rhetorical move that pre-emptively delegitimizes opposition and narrows the field of legitimate policy choices.
The line comes from an era when conservative religious activism surged into national politics. Founded by Jerry Falwell in 1979, the Moral Majority organized evangelicals around issues like abortion, school prayer, and traditional family roles, and became a pillar of the New Right in the early 1980s. Kennedy, a liberal senator and a Catholic, addressed these currents directly in a speech at Liberty Baptist College, acknowledging the rightful place of faith-informed citizens in public debate while urging pluralism and restraint. He was not merely disputing policies; he was challenging the idea that any faction could claim a monopoly on moral truth or democratic legitimacy simply by naming itself as such.
Underlying the criticism is a vision of democracy that assumes many moral vocabularies and shifting coalitions. Majorities change from issue to issue, and moral reasoning in a diverse republic is a process of persuasion, not proclamation. When a political brand implies that only one set of policies is moral, it turns policy disagreement into a test of righteousness, making compromise suspect and dialogue harder. Kennedy’s warning is thus about the power of language in politics: names can do more than describe; they can define the boundaries of belonging. A healthier public square insists that opponents can be wrong without being wicked, and that no single majority has the last word on moral truth.
The line comes from an era when conservative religious activism surged into national politics. Founded by Jerry Falwell in 1979, the Moral Majority organized evangelicals around issues like abortion, school prayer, and traditional family roles, and became a pillar of the New Right in the early 1980s. Kennedy, a liberal senator and a Catholic, addressed these currents directly in a speech at Liberty Baptist College, acknowledging the rightful place of faith-informed citizens in public debate while urging pluralism and restraint. He was not merely disputing policies; he was challenging the idea that any faction could claim a monopoly on moral truth or democratic legitimacy simply by naming itself as such.
Underlying the criticism is a vision of democracy that assumes many moral vocabularies and shifting coalitions. Majorities change from issue to issue, and moral reasoning in a diverse republic is a process of persuasion, not proclamation. When a political brand implies that only one set of policies is moral, it turns policy disagreement into a test of righteousness, making compromise suspect and dialogue harder. Kennedy’s warning is thus about the power of language in politics: names can do more than describe; they can define the boundaries of belonging. A healthier public square insists that opponents can be wrong without being wicked, and that no single majority has the last word on moral truth.
Quote Details
| Topic | Ethics & Morality |
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