Making the Bible Belt

Making the Bible Belt upends notions of a longstanding, stable marriage between political religion and the American South. H.L. Mencken coined the term "the Bible Belt" in the 1920s to capture the peculiar alliance of religion and public life in the South, but the reality he described was only the closing chapter of a long historical process. Into the twentieth century, a robust anticlerical tradition still challenged religious forays into southern politics.Inside southern churches, an insular evangelical theology looked suspiciously on political meddling. Outside of the churches, a popular anticlericalism indicted activist ministers with breaching the boundaries of their proper spheres of influence, calling up historical memories of the Dark Ages and Puritanwitch hunts. Through the politics of prohibition, and in the face of bitter resistance, a complex but shared commitment to expanding the power and scope of religion transformed southern evangelicals' inward-looking restraints into an aggressive, self-assertive, and unapologetic political activism. The decades-long religious crusade to close saloons and outlaw alcohol in the South absorbed the energies of southern churches and thrust religious leaders headlong into the political process—even as their foraysinto southern politics were challenged at every step. Early defeats impelled prohibitionist clergy to recast their campaign as a broader effort not merely to dry up the South, but to conquer anticlerical opposition and inject religion into public life. Clerical activists churned notions of history, race, gender, and religion into a powerful political movement and elevated ambitious leaders such as the pugnacious fundamentalist J. Frank Norris and Senator Morris Sheppard, the "Father of National Prohibition." Exploring the controversies surrounding the religious support of prohibition in Texas, Making the Bible Belt reconstructs the purposeful, decades-long campaign to politicize southern religion, hints at the historical origins of the religious right, and explores a compelling and transformative moment in American history.

... Locke's study of Texas politics in the Prohibition era adds another strategic piece to the puzzle in understanding its historical contours... Highly recommended., Only a few monographs force historians to reconsider something we all 'know.' Making the Bible Belt is one of those books. Joseph Locke argues convincingly that the critical role played by clericalism in the political life of Texas, rather than having always been present, actually dates only from the era of prohibition. Texas did not join the Bible Belt until the battle against alcohol allowed clericalism to overcome a long-standing tradition of anticlericalism and give religion its currently pervasive role in the state's public life., In this bold and informative book Locke poses a vital question: How did the religious world of late-nineteenth century Texas—freewheeling, iconoclastic, and skeptical of preachers in politics—become in the twentieth century a hub of the Bible Belt, with its conformist 'Texas Theology' and politically aggressive church establishment? His answers will be of value to anyone interested in the history and current role of religion in American politics., Many talk of the Bible Belt, but few understand its origins. Joseph Locke's book describes a forgotten anti-clerical culture in Texas, then explains the emergence of political preachers, provides an insightful account of the fight over prohibition there, and demonstrates the importance of a neglected historical figure-Senator Morris Sheppard. Locke's fascinating book reveals how conservative evangelicals came to exercise such influence in America. It tells a compelling story that explains the past and speaks to the present., With rigor and flair, Joseph Locke shatters the presumption, passed down by generations of pundits and scholars, that the South has always been the Bible Belt, a natural hothouse of fundamentalist zeal. It was only through the relentless crusading of a rising clerical class, capped off by the political triumph over rum, that the region we now recognize as evangelical orthodoxy's dominant hub assumed its reigning religiosity. This is a beautifully crafted book by a talented historian.

Joseph Locke is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Houston-Victoria.