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The connection Townsend made between the effects communists were having on religion in society and the influence Billy Graham was able to have on the population show the unity created through religion during this time of turmoil. Townsend professed that communism essentially created a “war against God, against Christ, against the Bible, and against all religion! “l While this statement seems as though it should attract hefty amounts of attention, Townsend claimed that it actually attracted little attention until fourth week when it became known as “God’s last great call”.
The issue began to attract attention largely due to the efforts of publisher William Randolph Hearst when he began publish Billy Graham’s actions. Graham’s anti-communist actions attracted Hearst, acting as the beginning of the unanticipated unification of religion. While this connection seemed unlikely, Graham believed Hearst was a tool of God being used to spread the word of religion which reinforced his belief in a higher power. Billy Graham’s belief that the population needed to join together and fight the further spreading of communism was seen in the growing population life that a revival was necessary.
Theologian Reinhold Nibbler thought of Graham as, ‘Salesman of the Year, due to evidence of ‘mass’ conversions under the ministrations of popular evangelists who arouse the religious emotions and elicit religious commitments with greater success than at any time since the days of Billy Sunday’. 3 Graham was successful at gaining the trust of the public and talented at putting belief in the people that Communism was brought about by the Antichrist’s.
Graham believed that Communism was only something that could be manifested through the evil of he Antichrist’s and that the only way to end the self-destruction the United States faced was for a “heaven-sent, Holy Ghost revival”. 4 Nibbler felt this was not accurate and describes Graham’s theory as an, “obscurantist version of the Christian faith”. 5 Nibbler does not deny that Graham’s idea is inaccurate, but that the extreme to which he has the public convinced is. It was not long before the people of the United States felt as if the danger inside the United States is real and imminent.
This is seen in the opening statements Of the chapter when the protestant populations Of Lass Angels ere comparing Los Angels to Stood and Sonogram, two cities burned and condemned by the wrath of God for their sins. Soon the idea of a necessary revival for survival against Common ism attracted many important religious figures, most notably American Pope Francis Cardinal Spaceman. It is said that, “Spaceman emphasized the menace of Communist infiltration within America and the destruction of the church abroad. 6 A man of this power only helped to further the public belief that the Nation needed to find salvation and led to the public putting greater trust in the churches than government insist actions. 7 The belief that Communism would remain a threat to the United States led Spaceman become concerned with anti-communism actions outside of his voiced opinions. Spaceman believed that the United States would continue to be at war with Communism as long as it did not take further action at eliminating all communists from America, he went so far as to work with the FBI to dispose of all Communists in the ranks of labor unions.
He did so in the form of a legitimate business in which he offered service to employers that would teach them how to eliminate Communists from their union employees. It appears that Spaceman fully believed his efforts to remove communism from economic organizations would directly impact religion and relieve the communist influence. Fanatical characters during times of turmoil in a society can have a strong influence over how the population unites to get through rough times, which is certainly seen through the influence of Spaceman.
Spaceman was an extremist who appeared to interpret everything in society during his time as an act of communism. Throughout the years he took special notice in events such as the torture of Joseph Cardinal Mindset, claiming that if things of this tauter are not stopped the Cold War will continue to bring men from their homes and to their deaths at the hand of the satanic driven Communists. 9 In Spaceman’s eyes the release of the movies The Miracle and Baby Doll are works Of the devil and support Communism, only further hurting the United States and their attempt to find salvation.
These interpretations were believed by people in support of anti-communism acts as another unifying factor in the Protestant Revival. President Eisenhower is another key person of power in initiating the move toward a more religious country. President Eisenhower knew the importance f a leader with strong religious beliefs due to the popularity of Billy Graham and Francis Cardinal Spaceman, which led him to confide in Billy Graham and make the statement, “l don’t believe the American people are going to follow anybody who’s not a member of a church”. O This idea, which directed him to Billy Graham for guidance, resulted with him becoming the first President ever to be baptized in the White House, which symbolized the importance of religion in the government structure of the United States. The President of the United States taking such an oath in public is incredibly influential and erected the American people to the belief the religion is absolutely necessary for the country to operate smoothly, which caused a large uniting of people under the religious ideas caused during the Cold War.
Billy Graham, Francis Cardinal Spaceman, and President Eisenhower successfully showed the importance of religion in American during the Cold War and how the Cold War made the rise of religion possible. If communists had not risen to attack and infiltrate, the United States would not have been able to retaliate, revive, and reunite as a country founded on religion.