Abstract
As the 1940s came to an end, religious worship emerged as a free enterprise tenet and the network grew to include churches and synagogues; religious institutions and practitioners embraced persuasive information as a means to increase religious participation. While publicly the council supported religion in general, several major council members supported evangelical Christianity and helped it gain political legitimacy in the Cold War ideological battles. Many council members were concerned about communist restrictions on religion and wanted to connect capitalism to religion, opening the door for free enterprise supporters to promote religion in several ways. Publicly, they developed the Religion in American Life (RIAL) campaigns.1 Like most Advertising Council campaigns, RIAL tried to be as inclusive as possible so that no potential markets would be alienated; however, many of the Protestant endorsers considered free enterprise to be “God’s system” and framed foreign policy as a religious mission to spread the American system.2 While the council campaigns promoted Protestantism, Catholicism, and Judaism, behind the scenes, council members, such as Hearst Publishing and Henry Luce of Time-Life, Inc., promoted Protestantism by advancing the career preacher Billy Graham, whose national and international campaigns helped blend evangelicalism with the American brand.3
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Notes
Volker R. Henning, “The Advertising Council and Its ‘Religion in American Life Campaign,’ ” Dissertation, University of Tennessee, August 1996, v, 2.
Brendan M. Jones, “Go-to-Church Ads Win Wide Support,” New York Times, December 25, 1949, 5; John Pollock, The Billy Graham Story (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003, 1985), 7; Henning, “The Advertising Council and Its ‘Religion in American Life Campaign,’ ” v.
Edward B. Fiske, “Redefined Values in Religion Urged,” New York Times, January 22, 1967, 54.
Brendan M. Jones, “Go-to-Church Ads Win Wide Support,” New York Times, December 25, 1949, 5; Pollock, The Billy Graham Story, 7; Henning, “The Advertising Council and Its ‘Religion in American Life Campaign,’ ” v.
Michael G. Long, Billy Graham and the Beloved Community (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), 73.
C. L. Sulzberger, “ ‘Military Mind’ Weighed as Political Question,” New York Times, June 1, 1952, E3; “Eisenhower to See Committee Heads,” New York Times, January 15, 1953, 18; “Billy Graham Sees President,” New York Times, November 4, 1953, 24; “No Title,” Time, November 16, 1953. Time has the same quote about “the nation is enjoying the greatest religious renaissance in history; “Crusader in the Capital,” Time, January 28, 1952.
Richard J. Ellis, To the Flag: The Unlikely History of the Pledge of Allegiance (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 2005); “The Crusade for Britain,” Time magazine, March 8, 1954; “U. S. Evangelist’s ‘Crusade’ in Britain Is Criticized by Labor Party Leaders,” New York Times, February 21, 1954, 33; “Billy Graham in Britain,” New York Times, February 24, 1954, 2; Pollock, The Billy Graham Story, 64–71, 78.
Peter Whitney, “Evangelist Billy Graham London’s Top Attraction,” New York Times, March 7, 1954, E6; “Children at Graham Rally,” New York Times, March 21, 1954, 17.
Peter D. Whitney, “Record 120,000 at London Arena Hear Billy Graham End Crusade,” New York Times, May 23, 1954, 1, 14.
Foster Hailey, “22,000 Jam Garden, 5,000 Outside, for Billy Graham,” New York Times, March 4, 1955, 1; “Billy Graham in Britain,” New York Times, March 19, 1955, 10; “Billy Graham Opens Crusade in Scotland,” New York Times, March 22, 1955, 29.
Foster Hailey, “22,000 Jam Garden, 5,000 Outside, for Billy Graham,” New York Times, March 4, 1955, 1; “Billy Graham in Britain,” New York Times, March 19, 1955, 10; “Billy Graham Opens Crusade in Scotland,” New York Times, March 22, 1955, 29.
William Inboden, Religion and American Foreign Policy, 1945–1960, The Soul of Containment (Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008).
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© 2011 Dawn Spring
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Spring, D. (2011). Saving the World through Religious Revival. In: Advertising in the Age of Persuasion. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230339644_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230339644_6
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