A substantial revision of a doctoral dissertation, We Gather Together is an ecumenical genealogy of a powerful, conservative religious coalition that has exercised cultural and political influence over the last five decades of American history. Neil J. Young, a historian and independent scholar, argues that the religious right is not monolithic. Nor was it a political strategy created on the eve of the 1980 presidential election. It was and is a series of morphing alliances between conservative Roman Catholics, evangelical and fundamentalist Protestants, and Mormons around social issues and political convictions. Young's book is also noteworthy because his historical investigation foregrounds a diverse and intricate network of fragile alliances riven by theological and moral beliefs; he exposes the religious right as constantly pulsing to a rhythm of “internal tensions, denominational divisions, and often competing agendas” (7).
Theology is a key feature of Young's argument. In particular, he reveals through his excellent historical research that in the 1950s and 1960s Catholics, evangelical Protestants, and Mormons were all deeply concerned with the liberal ecumenical movement coming out of mainline Protestantism. Before these religious faiths began to recognize one another as possible cultural and political allies on issues such as abortion, school prayer, and the Equal Rights Amendment, they began to find common cause in resisting the ecumenical movement and opposing theological liberalism even while viewing each other suspiciously. What Young's research reveals is a religious history of internal and interfaith discussions among conservative Catholics, Mormons, and evangelical Protestants on topics such as the nature of salvation and the authority of Scripture that cast new light on the political mobilization of these groups into a cultural and religious coalition. An antiecumenical spirit, conservative interfaith dialogue, and theological responses to secularism played an important role in the rise of the religious right. In Young's view, the religious right is not simply a political coalition but a complex, strained alliance of multiple religious traditions wrestling internally and externally with their theologies in efforts to foster mutual cooperation. The “tension between theological incompatibility and political and cultural sympathy” (254) is clearly displayed, for example, in Young's chapter on abortion in the 1970s.
Young's narrative seems to pivot around the rise of the Moral Majority in the late 1970s and the 1980 presidential election. Prior to this pivot, the narrative is driven by interfaith convergence and divergence around issues such as abortion, school prayer, the Equal Rights Amendment, the sexual revolution, and the rise of secularism. Unity between conservative Catholics, evangelical Protestants, and Mormons, or between any two groups, was often symbolic and “spiritual,” and for the sake of politics. And, as indicated, ecumenical aligning was often complicated, challenging, and unsuccessful. Young's narrative demonstrates the mutual suspicion between conservative Catholics and evangelical Protestants, the attacks on Mormons by these two groups, and “the Mormon tradition of institutional independence and self-direction” (136). With the rise of the Moral Majority in the late 1970s the narrative tends to be driven by presidential election cycles, with evangelical Protestants predominating. The overall narrative is also uneven. Young slowly moves from 1950 to 1980 in two hundred-plus pages, and then rushes from Reagan to the 2008 presidential election in less than sixty pages. A concluding chapter focuses on the LDS Church in light of Mitt Romney's two failed presidential bids and Mormon opposition to California's Proposition 8—again exposing how difficult it is for conservative Catholics, evangelical Protestants, and Mormons to bury theological divisions and historical tensions for the sake of a cultural and political cause. The conclusion demonstrates how “religious liberty” has become the new rallying cry of the religious right.
American religious historians should gladly welcome how Young has mapped the uneasy ties that bind together the religious right's multiple factions. His inclusion of Mormons in the narrative of the rise of the religious right is an important contribution. Young's book is highly recommended for upper-division undergraduate and graduate courses in contemporary American religious history as well as religion and politics.
