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Ideology, rejection of the individual
The Social Gospel movement in the United States was parallel to the [[Christian socialism]] movement in Britain at about the same time.<ref> See Latta, (1936); Hutchison (1975)</ref> The two movements came together in Canada, where they were especially influential. Many ministers became active in the socialist movement in the form of the [[Cooperative Commonwealth Federation]] (CCF) and later the [[New Democratic Party]]. [[Tommy Douglas]], a Baptist minister, was leader of the CCF from 1942 and the premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961, where he led the first socialist government in North America and introduced universal public medicare to Canada. From 1961 to 1971 he led the [[New Democratic Party]] at the federal level.<ref> See Fraser (1990)</ref>
The Social Gospel movement in the United States was parallel to the [[Christian socialism]] movement in Britain at about the same time.<ref> See Latta, (1936); Hutchison (1975)</ref> The two movements came together in Canada, where they were especially influential. Many ministers became active in the socialist movement in the form of the [[Cooperative Commonwealth Federation]] (CCF) and later the [[New Democratic Party]]. [[Tommy Douglas]], a Baptist minister, was leader of the CCF from 1942 and the premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961, where he led the first socialist government in North America and introduced universal public medicare to Canada. From 1961 to 1971 he led the [[New Democratic Party]] at the federal level.<ref> See Fraser (1990)</ref>
==Theology==
==Theology and Ideology==
===Theology===
The Social Gospel preached the doing of good works especially to help social problems such as crime and poverty, so that societal problems would cease. Only then would Jesus return. The notions of the social gospel appeared primarily in the United States especially among theologically liberal Protestants. The social gospel was criticized by more traditional Protestants as abandoning faith for works and not focusing on the essential matter of personal salvation.
The Social Gospel preached the doing of good works especially to help social problems such as crime and poverty, so that societal problems would cease. Only then would Jesus return. The notions of the social gospel appeared primarily in the United States especially among theologically liberal Protestants. The social gospel was criticized by more traditional Protestants as abandoning faith for works and not focusing on the essential matter of personal salvation.
===Ideology===
As a general rule, the Social Gospel rejected tenets of individualism in favor of the collective.<ref name=realAgenda>[http://www.nationalreview.com/article/418476/secret-religion-american-left-jonah-goldberg Why the Left Will Never Talk about Its Real Agenda], [[National Review]]</ref>
====Rejection of the Individual====
While their theology was to preach good works to help resolve social problems, their goal was the basic transformation of the American social order by attacking what it believed to be the problem: individualism.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q3xyPFA_8O0C&pg=PA354|last=Nelson|first=Clifford|title=Lutherans in North America|publisher=Fortress Press|year=1975|pages=354}}</ref> The new emphasis on "social Christianity" did foster some criticism among some Protestants, but the Social Gospellers were able to straddle a kind of middle ground by only rejecting some aspects of individualism; primarily, those of economic and social theories.<ref name=curry>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z_JUqFAXzKkC&pg=PA181|last=Curry|first=Richard|title=American Chameleon: Individualism in Trans-national Context|publisher=Kent State University Press|year=1991|pages=181}}</ref>
This is where the middle ground lay between the socialist and non-socialist elements of the Social Gospel lie, as it was for the rest of the [[Progressive Movement]].<ref name=McGerr>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sRt6SrSxuU0C&pg=PA59|last=McGerr|first=Michael|title=A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in A|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2010|pages=59}} Noted in the book is that Lyman Abbott, [[Edward Alsworth Ross]], as well as one of the characters in the book [[Looking Backward]] all point to "individualism" as the problem.</ref>
Washington Gladden and Walter Rauschenbusch argued the most forcefully and clearly about this.<ref name=McGerr /> Gladden wrote "I do not believe that political society or industrial society or any other society will endure on a purely individualistic basis.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z_JUqFAXzKkC&pg=PA181|last=Gladden|first=Washington|title=The Church and the Nation|publisher=The Homiletic Review, Volume 50|year=1905}}</ref> Rauschenbush was the most clear and concise: "individualism means tyranny."<ref>{{cite book|last=Goldberg|first=Jonah|title=Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning|publisher=Crown Publishing Group|year=2008|pages=87}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p7g_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA202|last=Rauschenbusch|first=Walter|title=The Ideals of Social Reformers|publisher=The American Journal of Sociology, Volume 2|year=1897}}</ref>
With the individual rejected and the collective embraced, the State becomes the primary agent for coercion,<ref name=realAgenda /> especially for the most ardent socialists in leadership roles.
==Criticism==
One of the sharpest critics was [[Neo-Orthodox]] theological [[Reinhold Niebuhr]], who in 1936 defined the assumptions of the Social Gospel in terms of six propositions:<ref>Niebuhr, "The Blindness of Liberalism," ''Radical Religion,'' (Autumn, 1936), quoted in ''Reinhold Niebuhr: His Religious, Social, and Political Thought. Volume: 2. Contributors: Charles W. Kegley and Robert W. Bretall, eds (1956). pp 130-131. </ref>
One of the sharpest critics was [[Neo-Orthodox]] theological [[Reinhold Niebuhr]], who in 1936 defined the assumptions of the Social Gospel in terms of six propositions:<ref>Niebuhr, "The Blindness of Liberalism," ''Radical Religion,'' (Autumn, 1936), quoted in ''Reinhold Niebuhr: His Religious, Social, and Political Thought. Volume: 2. Contributors: Charles W. Kegley and Robert W. Bretall, eds (1956). pp 130-131. </ref>