Editing Charles Coughlin (section)

== Viewpoints ==
===Antisemitism===
The television producer [[Norman Lear]] recounts in his autobiography how Coughlin's radio broadcasts disturbed him deeply at age nine. As a Jew, they made him aware of the widespread [[antisemitism]] in American society.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 6, 2023 |title=Norman Lear Was Impacted by Royal Oak's Antisemitic 'Radio Priest' Father Coughlin |url=https://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/31539/norman_lear_was_impacted_by_royal_oak_s_antisemitic_radio_priest_father_coughlin |access-date=November 30, 2024 |website=Deadline Detroit}}</ref>

Coughlin believed [[Economic antisemitism|Jewish bankers]] were behind the 1917 [[October Revolution]] in Russia that brought the [[Bolsheviks]] into power, backing the [[Jewish Bolshevism]] conspiracy theory.{{sfn|Tull|1965|p=197}}{{sfn|Marcus|1972|pp=256}}{{sfn|Schrag|2010}} During the last half of 1938, ''Social Justice'' printed weekly installments from the 1903 ''[[The Protocols of the Elders of Zion|Protocols of the Elders of Zion]],'' a fraudulent antisemitic text.{{sfn|Marcus|1972|p=188}}

Coughlin denied being antisemitic on several occasions.{{sfn|Tull|1965|pp=195, 211–12, 224–25}} However, he received indirect funding from the German Government.{{sfn|Warren|1996|pp=235–244}}

=== Communism and socialism ===
In January 1930, Coughlin began attacking [[socialism]] and [[Ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Soviet Communism]], both ideologies strongly opposed by the Catholic Church. In 1933, Coughlin criticized Roosevelt's decision to extend [[diplomatic recognition]] by the United States of the [[Soviet Union]].{{r|SlateCoughlin}}

Coughlin criticized American capitalists, stating that their greed was making [[Communism|communist]] ideologies attractive to workers. He warned, "Let not the workingman be able to say that he is driven into the ranks of socialism by the inordinate and grasping greed of the manufacturer."{{sfn|Brinkley|1983|p=95}}

=== Capitalism ===
The historian [[Michael Kazin]] wrote that Coughlin's followers saw capitalism and communism as equally evil. They believed that they were defending those people who were joined more by piety, economic frustration, and a common dread of powerful, modernizing enemies than through any class identity.{{sfn|Kazin|1995|pp=112}} In a 1930 broadcast, Coughlin stated,  <blockquote>
“We have lived to see the day that modern Shylocks have grown fat and wealthy, praised and deified, because they have perpetuated the ancient crime of usury under the modern racket of statesmanship.”<ref name=":5" /> </blockquote>
Coughlin proclaimed in 1935: <blockquote>"I have dedicated my life to fight against the heinous rottenness of modern [[capitalism]] because it robs the laborer of this world's goods. But blow for blow I shall strike against Communism, because it robs us of the next world's happiness."{{sfn|Kazin|1995|pp=109}}</blockquote>The NUSJ's articles of faith included work and income guarantees, the nationalization of key industries, [[wealth redistribution]] through increased taxation of the wealthy, federal protection of [[Trade union|labor unions]], and limiting property rights in favor of government control of the country's assets for public good.{{#tag:ref|"Principles of the National Union for Social Justice"{{sfn|Brinkley|1983|pp=287–288}}}} Coughlin said,

{{Blockquote|We maintain the principle that there can be no lasting prosperity if free competition exists in industry. Therefore, it is the business of government not only to legislate for a minimum annual wage and maximum working schedule to be observed by industry, but also so to curtail individualism that, if necessary, factories shall be licensed and their output shall be limited.{{sfn|Beard|Smith|1936|p=54}}}}One of Coughlin's slogans was "Less care for internationalism and more concern for national prosperity",{{sfn|Brinkley|1983|pp=}} which appealed to [[United States non-interventionism|isolationists]] and many Irish Catholics.{{sfn|Marcus|1972|p={{page needed|date=October 2022}}}}

=== Money supply ===
Coughlin spoke  about the negative influence of what he termed as "[[Cleansing of the Temple|money changers]]".  He also condemned what he called the government "...permitting a group of private citizens to create money..." at the nation's expense.{{sfn|Carpenter|1998|p=173}} He said that the Great Depression was a "cash famine" and proposed the nationalization of the [[Federal Reserve System]] as the solution. In January 1934, Coughlin testified before the [[United States Congress|US Congress]], saying, <blockquote>"If Congress fails to back up the President in his monetary program, I predict a revolution in this country which will make the [[French Revolution]] look silly!" He also said to the Congressional hearing, "God is directing President Roosevelt."<ref name=":3">{{cite news |date=January 17, 1934 |title='Roosevelt or Ruin', Asserts Radio Priest at Hearing |newspaper=The Washington Post |pages=1–2}}</ref></blockquote>Coughlin urged Roosevelt to use the unlimited coinage of [[Free silver|silver]] to inflate the money supply and reorganize the financial system.<ref name="coughlinbroadcast" /> The US Government increased investment in silver for a limited period following the [[American Silver Purchase Act]] of 1934, which resulted in U.S. silver mines being nationalized between 1934 and 1943 through stamp taxes.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 19, 2017 |title=Silver Tax Stamps |url=https://info.mysticstamp.com/this-day-in-history-june-19-1934_tdih/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102195007/https://www.mysticstamp.com/info/this-day-in-history-june-19-1934/#:~:text=To%20help%20stabilize%20its%20value,stored%20or%20made%20into%20coins |archive-date=January 2, 2021 |access-date=August 12, 2022 |website=Mystic Stamp Discovery Center |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Federal Reserve===
In the 1930s, Coughlin called on [[United States Congress|Congress]] to take back control of the [[money supply]] from the [[Federal Reserve Banks]].  He said that Congress had the authority under [[Article One of the United States Constitution#Section 8: Powers of Congress|Article I]] of the US Constitution to [[United States Mint|coin money]] and regulate its value.<ref name=":5">{{cite web |date=October 9, 2020 |title=Charles E. Coughlin |url=https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/charles-e-coughlin |access-date=December 1, 2024 |website=Holocaust Encyclopedia}}</ref>

=== Fascism ===
As the 1930s progressed, Coughlin's views changed. Eventually he became "openly antidemocratic", according to the political scientists [[Steven Levitsky]] and [[Daniel Ziblatt]], "calling for the abolition of political parties and questioning the value of elections".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Levitsky |first1=Steven |url=https://archive.org/details/howdemocraciesdi0000levi |title=How Democracies Die |last2=Ziblatt |first2=Daniel |date=January 16, 2018 |publisher=Crown Publishing |isbn=978-1-5247-6295-7 |edition=First edition, ebook |page=[https://archive.org/details/howdemocraciesdi0000levi/page/31 31] |url-access=limited}}</ref> His views mirrored those of Richards, who held [[reactionary]] [[Conservatism|conservative]] beliefs.{{r|RWCoughlin}}

In 1936, Coughlin expressed sympathy for the fascist governments of [[Hitler|Adolf Hitler]] in Germany and [[Mussolini|Benito Mussolini]] in Italy, terming them as an antidote to Communism.{{sfn|Marcus|1972|pp=189–90}} A ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' report from Berlin in 1938 identified Coughlin as "the German hero in America for the moment" with his sympathetic statements towards Nazism as "a defensive front against Bolshevism".<ref name="3StationsRefuse">{{Cite magazine |date=December 1, 1938 |title=Three Stations Refuse Coughlin Talks For Allegedly Inciting Race Prejudice |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1938/1938-12-01-BC.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102195012/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1938/1938-12-01-BC.pdf |archive-date=January 2, 2021 |access-date=August 11, 2019 |magazine=Broadcasting |pages=17, 79 |volume=15 |issue=11}}</ref>

However, in February 1939, when the American Nazi organization the [[German American Bund]] held a large rally in New York City,{{sfn|Bredemus|2011}} Coughlin immediately distanced himself from them. On the ''Golden Hour'', he said: <blockquote>"Nothing can be gained by linking ourselves with any organization which is engaged in agitating racial animosities or propagating racial hatreds. Organizations which stand upon such platforms are immoral and their policies are only negative."{{sfn|Coughlin|1939}}</blockquote>

=== Prohibition ===
Coughlin was critical of [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibitionism]], which he said was the work of "fanatics".{{sfn|Brinkley|1983|p=96}}