Father Coughlin's Activism and Political Views & Controversy
Father Coughlin's Activism and Political Views
Coughlin stood strong against capitalism and its foundations, warning against the dangers of communism regularly. His political views were solely "for the good of the people," as he saw it, and was against all things "government." He also became a sympathetic shoulder for a fascist Nazi regime in his later broadcast years.
A man of faith and fortitude, Coughlin never wavered in all his years. He stuck firmly by any way of thinking he believed in, even if it meant he would be viewed as anti-Semitic. His role as an activist eventually took over his role as radio host, and Father Coughlin became a renowned figure, not only in America, but worldwide. Good or bad, he was a true celebrity of his era.
Controversy
After Huey Long's assassination in 1935, Coughlin joined forces with Francis Townsend, Gerald L. K. Smith and other followers of Long. He urged them to join the National Union of Social Justice, a group he had formed some years earlier, and which elected William Lepke to run against Roosevelt in the Presidential election. After Lepke's defeat, Coughlin joined the Christian Front and intensified his focus on Big Business and bigger government.
Coughlin stood strong against capitalism and its foundations, warning against the dangers of communism regularly. His political views were solely "for the good of the people," as he saw it, and was against all things "government." He also became a sympathetic shoulder for a fascist Nazi regime in his later broadcast years.
A man of faith and fortitude, Coughlin never wavered in all his years. He stuck firmly by any way of thinking he believed in, even if it meant he would be viewed as anti-Semitic. His role as an activist eventually took over his role as radio host, and Father Coughlin became a renowned figure, not only in America, but worldwide. Good or bad, he was a true celebrity of his era.
It is probably the case that those people who felt that way about radio,
ReplyDeletealways felt that way about radio.
There were Christian organizations using radio from the very earliest days
at the very time others believed it was a tool of the devil. Just as there
are still people in the church who DO NOT like rock music. Within churches
lately there has been somewhat of a conflict over rock music (particularly heavy
metal and even rap music). Some ministries believe that they can use those
styles of music to reach young people as long as the message in the music is
positive. Others find the music style itself to be completely godless.
People within Christian organizations have various opinions on all matters and
always have. It is also true that as things are around for awhile people can
become less averse to them. The referenced statement (above) would leave the
impression that a certain groups religious principles were easily put aside
because their love for the all mighty dollar was stronger. I am certain that
among the many digest subscribers, many would think of themselves as
fundamentalists and this sort of statement is somewhat offensive. And we do know for
certain that all fundamentalists were not appalled at the appearance of
radio. For me these types of posts do not even make for interesting reading. In
the end they come off as nothing more than the authors political point of
view. What is far more interesting and more appropriate for the digest is a post
that is far less ambiguous. Rather than putting everyone in one little box
( i.e... those fundamentalists ) to make a general overall sweeping
statement , talk about specific people and instances. There have been many good posts
on this digest regarding the radio work of Father Coughlin, Billy Sunday and
Amie Semple McPherson. It is very interesting to read about how these
individuals used radio and how the radio audience reacted to them. It would be
very disingenuous to write about Father Coughlin and then tell the readers that
this is how the average Catholic of the time period thought. We all know
that within the Catholic Church , Father Coughlin was a very controversial
individual. He had supporters but he also had just as many detractors in his
own church. The referenced statement at the top of this post regarding
religious fundamentalists is overly simplistic and simplicity never makes for an
accurate historical account.