Memory eternal, Paul Weyrich<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It was the kind of quote that is catnip for politicos and scribes inside the Washington Beltway. "What Americans would have found absolutely intolerable\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2009\/01\/memory-eternal-paul-weyrich\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Memory eternal, Paul Weyrich\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It was the kind of quote that is catnip for politicos and scribes inside the Washington Beltway. 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{"id":1531,"date":"2009-01-12T06:00:28","date_gmt":"2009-01-12T11:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tmatt.net\/?p=1531"},"modified":"2009-01-12T06:00:28","modified_gmt":"2009-01-12T11:00:28","slug":"memory-eternal-paul-weyrich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2009\/01\/memory-eternal-paul-weyrich\/","title":{"rendered":"Memory eternal, Paul Weyrich"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

It was the kind of quote that is catnip for politicos and scribes inside the Washington Beltway.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Americans would have found absolutely intolerable only a few years ago, a majority now not only tolerates but celebrates,\u201d proclaimed Paul M. Weyrich, chairman of the Free Congress Foundation. <\/p>\n

Then came the statement that set pundits to chattering for weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI no longer believe that there is a moral majority,\u201d proclaimed Weyrich, in a 1999 epistle<\/a> that made many liberals cheer and some conservatives grumble.<\/p>\n

It helps to understand that Weyrich \u2014 who died shortly before Christmas \u2014 was the strategist who coined the \u201cmoral majority\u201d label for the Rev. Jerry Falwell and his new grassroots network. Weyrich urged conservative intellectuals and donors to build think tanks, political-action committees and lobbying groups \u2014 mirroring strategies on the left. Above all, he helped lead efforts to convince conservative Catholics, Protestants and Jews that, when it came to issues of faith and family, they could find unity in their shared cultural values.<\/p>\n

For many activists, noted direct-mail pioneer Richard A. Viguerie, this legacy is enough to put him on the right\u2019s \u201cversion of Mount Rushmore\u201d with William F. Buckley, Jr., Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. <\/p>\n

But for others \u2014 Sen. John McCain leaps to mind \u2014 this same Weyrich was a narrow true believer who was a faithful Catholic conservative, first, and a loyal Republican, way, way, second.<\/p>\n

Weyrich knew that his famous 1999 epistle on politics and culture was a turning point. After all, the founder of the Heritage Foundation was arguing that America\u2019s cultural heritage was cracked. The leader of the Free Congress Foundation was saying that a GOP-driven Congress was failing, on cultural issues.<\/p>\n

For many years, he argued, conservatives assumed that most Americans agreed with them on moral and cultural issues. They also believed that \u201cif we could just elect enough conservatives, we could get our people in as Congressional leaders and they would fight to implement our agenda.\u201d But this equation didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason, I think, is that politics itself has failed. And politics has failed because of the collapse of the culture,\u201d he argued. \u201cThe culture we are living in becomes an ever-wider sewer. In truth, I think we are caught up in a cultural collapse of historic proportions, a collapse so great that it simply overwhelms politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview months after issuing that letter, Weyrich explained that two radically different groups of politicos \u2014 with sharply different motives \u2014 misinterpreted his main message. <\/p>\n

On the political left, many said he had issued a ringing call for religious conservatives to go back to church and stay there. On the political right, many of his friends and allies were angry and felt betrayed for the same reason. Apparently, they read right past his statement: \u201cPlease understand that I am not quarreling with anybody who pursues politics, because it is important to pursue politics, to be involved in government.\u201d<\/p>\n

The key, said Weyrich, was that he had become convinced that many conservatives couldn\u2019t see that it is almost impossible to pass legislation that produces change at the level of homes, churches, schools, theaters and malls. It is almost impossible for politics to shape or redeem culture. Instead, the realities of media, education and mass culture are what shape \u2014 over time \u2014 America\u2019s political trends.<\/p>\n

The political strategist knew that \u201cvalues voters\u201d in red zip codes would continue to win some battles in the years ahead. But the political victories that would matter the most, he said, would be the defensive moves that protected their own churches, schools, missions and other religious groups from future legal attacks.<\/p>\n

Weyrich never urged anyone to quit. But the former journalist did warn religious leaders that it was time to focus on winning the \u201cculture wars\u201d in their own homes and sanctuaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe probably have lost the culture war,\u201d he concluded, in the 1999 letter. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean the war is not going to continue, and that it isn\u2019t going to be fought on other fronts. But in terms of society in general, we have lost. This is why, even when we win in politics, our victories fail to translate into the kind of policies we believe are important. \u2026 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to drop out of this culture, and find places \u2026 where we can live godly, righteous and sober lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"