MORAL MAJORITY

noun (Politics) In the US, a right-wing political movement emphasizing traditional moral standards in society and drawing support mainly from fundamentalist Christian groups. Hence more generally (as moral majority), upholders of traditional right-wing social values. Etymology: So named because it claims to represent a majority of the American people favouring the re-establishment of moral standards. History and Usage: The Moral Majority movement was founded by Revd Jerry Falwell in Washington DC at the end of the seventies, originally as a 'legislative research foundation' to promote conservative Christian viewpoints. During the eighties it attracted considerable support and was able to put its message across through commercial religious broadcasting (the 'electric church'), even putting one of the televangelists up as a possible presidential candidate in the middle of the decade. In 1986 it was renamed the Liberty Federation but by this time the phrase moral majority had acquired the more general meaning of the conservative or traditionalist component of society. As well as the relentlessly Ann Summers view of sex, metal's other great shock tactic is horror and devil worship imagery. Accusations of satanism have stirred up America's moral majority to call for outright bans, a guarantee for enhanced teen appeal. Guardian 11 Aug. 1989, p. 24