Free Fundamentalism in Comparative Perspective by Lawrence Kaplan

Jews, Mormons, and others. But even if one confines the examination to conservative Protestants, it is clear that not all the members of those denominations which can sensibly be described as "conservative Protestant" share the religious or political beliefs of Jerry Falwell. Commentators who notice only the growth of conservative Protestantism relative to the mainstream denominations are liable to see it mistakenly as an homogeneous or coherent base for the NCR.
Consider the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest grouping of conservative Protestants. Much has recently been made of the capture of a number of key organizational positions in the convention by active supporters of the NCR. 3 One might suppose that the entire membership of the SBC can be counted as present or future NCR supporters, and journalists do make this mistake. Actually it is likely that more than half the SBC-affiliated congregations would stand apart from the NCR, either because they are sufficiently liberal to disagree with NCR positions or because, while themselves holding to such positions, they accept the right of others to disagree. A survey of the attitudes of 431 SBC pastors toward the Moral Majority showed that fewer than half were either members or supporters of the movement. Almost all the others described themselves as opponents (Guth 1983:120).
The rift between "orthodox" conservative Protestants and those who are becoming slightly more liberal is not the only important division. NCR supporters are also criticized from the separatist fundamentalist position associated with Bob Jones University and its graduates. In one of a series of pamphlets entitled Fundamental Issues in the 80's, John Ashbrook concludes his critique of Falwell's The Fundamentalist Phenomenon by arguing that Falwell has changed camps. Falwell's concern to promote social issues has led him to abandon his separation from apostasy, the touchstone of fundamentalism. Another pamphlet in the series is called Enforced Morality Does Not Produce Revival . Bob Jones III has clearly expressed the view of this element of conservative Protestantism:

 

Page 48
The aim of the Moral Majority is to join Catholics, Jews, Protestants of every stripe, Mormons, etc., in a common religious cause. Christians can fight on the battlefield alongside these people, can vote with them for a common candidate, but they cannot be unequally yoked with them in a religious army or organization. Morality is a matter of religion: a man's morality is based upon his religious beliefs. . . . Alliances we would avoid at the local level are not made acceptable or less ecumenical due to the national level on which they operate. . . . A close, analytical, biblical look at the Moral Majority . . . reveals a movement that holds more potential for hastening the church of Antichrist and building the ecumenical church than anything to come down the pike in a long time, including the charismatic movement. (Bob Jones III 1980:13)
That there is an element of truth in Jones's assessment is suggested by Falwell's response to the crisis in the PTL ministry which followed Bakker's disgrace. Falwell is a traditional fundamentalist; PTL is a pentecostal ministry. In theory, Falwell should have regarded PTL as the purveyor of an unbiblical deceit. Instead, he pledged to do all he could both to preserve the organization and to maintain its audience, and assured its supporters that it would continue to be pentecostal. He defended this compromise of fundamentalist orthodoxy on the ground that the collapse of the PTL network would be seen by liberals and secularists as a victory. In the face of such enemies, pan-Christian solidarity is more important than doctrinal rectitude. It seems that the pragmatic accommodation originally advanced for the Moral Majority but denied for the religious sphere has spread from the political to the religious.
Conservative Protestantism is internally divided by theology and by differences over the