Religious leaders were vital participants in organized social protests like marches and large-scale demonstrations. I believe the prominent role of religion in protests, particularly during the early 20th Century, was due to many social problems associated with moral sanctions, such as during the American Revolution, gender politics, sexual morality, and prohibition rules. Moreover, religion was a crucial determinant of politics during the Century. For instance, protestant voices raised concern over the fitness of John F. Kennedy that challenged his 1960 campaign. Therefore, religion during the 20th Century played an active role in social moral policing and political contribution characterized by Church-state tension, making it the primary participant in organized social protests.
Religion was not only the source of zeal and criticism for protests in the early 20th Century but also provided the meeting place for movements in the US while delivering resources to support protests, serving as the movement’s symbol. Acting as part of the elites in the society, religious leaders identified social-morality issues on separate social identity, unequal freedom, or unjustified order of social relationships. The Roman Catholic Church pressed for and represented the freedom of movement participants sought. Additionally, the transformation of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries substantially upset the politics and economies globally, setting the ground for religious leaders’ intervention in the 20th Century.
During the 20th Century, religion was used to feed the passionate flame in protests to serve revolutionary social change, defiant morals, and civilization. Dynamic religious actors acted as elites in the 20th Century to reorganize communities according to acceptable moralities and politics. Economic and political factors in preceding centuries disrupted the traditional social order giving a stage to new religious and political revolts to re-introduce morality and civilization in the society.