Welcome everyone to another regularly scheduled rerun here on the show. We do a couple of reruns a month. It gives us a little bit of

breathing room to do some prep and production work here on the back end. But today's rerun is actually more regularly scheduled in that because I always take at least one episode off for the Thanksgiving holiday. So I hope everyone

is having or had a good holiday if that particular holiday applies to you.

Now just because it's a holiday doesn't mean that members can get to their normal members only bonus content as they always do for rerun days.

As promised the conversation that Amanda and I had for the members was doing a sort of deep dive into the Me Too campaign and the so-called Harvey Weinstein effect. But really taking a long view on it. Not just the day-to-day

revelations but where can we take this movement long term and what restorative justice practices need to be put in place to minimize backlash. But just with the goal of having the best possible long term outcome for everyone involved. So that was the conversation that went out to members just before the holiday. If you're not already a member and would like to hear that and all of our bonus content.

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So you can get all the details on that by following the big giant can't possibly miss it banner at best of left calm. And finally for today's rerun. I thought it would be good to kick off the holiday season with a look back at one of the most ever green episodes I've done in the last few years.

Title history of the Christian right. I think it is just as appropriate now as ever. And to see that this episode came out in 2015. So to see exactly where we have come in the last couple of years in light of what was being said about the evolution and current state of the religious right in this country. I think it's quite fascinating. So without further ado, enjoy.

This program is made possible by the members and donors to the show. If you'd like to support the work we're doing, please visit the Contribute tab at best of a left calm. Now looking to the award winning best of a left podcast with clips today from NPR, the Tom Hartman program David Pakman show, the young Turks and truth day radio.

So the story as you tell it about this alliance between business leaders and Christian leaders dates back to the 1930s when business leaders were struggling on two fronts, the depression and the new deal. What were their problems with the new deal?

Their problems with the new deal were that they suddenly found themselves on the defensive. The new deal had passed a large number of measures that were regulating business in some ways for the first time. It had empowered labor unions and given them a voice in the affairs of business.

Corporate leaders resented both of these moves. And so they launched a massive campaign of public relations designed to sell the values of free enterprise.

The problem was is that their naked appeals to the merits of capitalism were largely dismissed by the public. The most famous of these organizations was a group called the American Liberty League. And it was heavily financed by leaders at DuPont, General Motors and other corporations.

The problem was that it seemed like very obvious corporate propaganda. As Jim Farley, the head of the Democratic Party at the time said they ought to call it the American Cellophane League because number one, it's a DuPont product and number two, you can see right through it.

So when they realized that making this direct case for free enterprise was an effective, they decided to find another way to do it. They decided to outsource the job.

And as they noted in their private correspondence, ministers were the most trusted men in America at the time. And so who better to make the case to the American people than ministers?

And so they felt that the ministers kids say things in a more credible way than business leaders could about the importance of free enterprise and its connection to Christian ideals.

That's it exactly. They used these ministers to make the case that Christianity and capitalism were soulmates. This case had been made before, but in the context of the new deal it takes on a sharp new political meaning.

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