Christendom College, the Spanish Civil War, and Constructing the Past in Religious Conservatism

Résumé

A common tactic among right-wing ideologies is the creation of an idealized or falsified past, which can be used to build a sense of common history among the followers of that ideology. One period in history which is a perennial favourite of right-wing ideologues to glamorize is the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939. For instance, the history of the Spanish Civil War was resurrected during the Cold War as a rallying point for right-wing American Catholics, then engaged in a vigorous culture war against the social changes of the 1960s. They called the struggle a crusade, and viewed Franco as a hero. Several of the attendees at the Christian Commonwealth Institute, a summer educational program for American Catholics held in Franco-era Spain, went on to found Christendom College in 1977, in the spirit of what they had seen in Spain. Christendom College, and a handful of other small Catholic liberal arts colleges founded in the 1970s and after, constructed themselves as opponents to the trajectory of the mainstream American Church. They viewed themselves as akin to the Medieval warriors of the Reconquista in Spain, or the military leaders of Franco’s coup, in that they believed they would one day sally forth to retake mainstream culture from the forces of secularism. As more recent events have shown, this was no mere romantic pipe dream or metaphor, but a serious plan to transform the cultural landscape of the US in their image.