Cycnos | Volume 32.2- Les guerres culturelles aux États-Unis | II. Guerres culturelles : le rôle du conservatisme

Résumé :

International audience

The overruling of Engel v. Vitale, the decision with which the Supreme Court had declared school prayer unconstitutional in 1962, became a cause célèbre for the conservative Christian Right in the United States in the 1970s. During his 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan enthusiastically endorsed this fight. But once in power, things proved more difficult: the Jawyers working for his Department of Justice found it extremely difficult to draft a school-prayer amendment that would be compatible with the Establishment Clause of the 1" Amendment, the Republican Party itself was divided on the issue (with some Senators favoring a moment of silence instead of a prayer), and the Senate failed to adopt the text supported by the Reagan administration in 1984. This failure illustrates how American culture and the secular foundations of American institutions made it impossible in the 1980s to turn back the clock on the issue ofreligion and school.

Les années 1970 ont vu aux États-Unis l'émergence de la Droite Chrétienne. Principalement composé de Chrétiens évangéliques blancs, ce mouvement a occupé une place considérable dans la campagne présidentielle de Ronald Reagan en 1980 (Reagan for President Campaign Plan). 1 Son équipe de campagne élabora alors une stratégie centrée sur les États à forte population évangélique, comme la Caroline du Sud, le Tennessee, la Virginie, la Louisiane, la Floride, le Mississippi, l'Alabama et le Kentucky (Demerath et Yang : 29). Elle y fit diffuser des spots publicitaires sur les chaînes locales tous les dimanches matin, pendant leurs programmes religieux (ABC News-Harris Survey ; Voter Group Strategy Recommendations Memorandum ; Evangelicals Memorandum). La campagne envoya également une lettre, signée de Ronald Reagan, à 42 000 pasteurs évangéliques, lettre accompagnée d'un

Mots-clés : Christian Right, First Amendment, Republican Party, Ronald Reagan, School Prayer

Date de publication : 2016