November/December 1995 Issue

The Religious Right Of The ‘8Os And ‘9Os

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1982 ERA fails; two Florida abortion clinics are firebombed; the owner of an Illinois abortion clinic and his wife are kidnapped and held for a week by the “Army of God.” 1984 Abortion clinics are firebombed or burned by arsonists 24 times.
1987 Televangelist Jim Bakker caught in sex and financial scandals. 1988 Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart caught in sex scandal; televangelist Robertson fails in Republican nomination bid.
1989 Falwell disbands Moral Majority after several years of decline; Robertson founds Christian Coalition, hires wunderkind Ralph Reed to be its director.
1994 GOP wins House and Senate with Christian Coalition help; Christian right gains majority in 18 state parties. 1992 Buchanan calls for “cultural war” in failed presidential bid; George Bush campaigns on “family values” platform.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

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