• May 15, 2007 1:58 PM

    Falwell's Legacy

    Jerry Falwell died today. Falwell, perhaps more than any other, is responsible for abortion being the main focus of this evening's Republican presidential debate. He founded the Moral Majority, now defunct, and convinced the media that it and he were the voice of Christians, though his view of morality was narrow and his organization never represented any majority. Indeed, the views of most Christians on matters of economic justice and war all but disappeared from the mainstream press. Under Falwell's relentless pressure, Christianity in the U.S. became synonymous with pro-war, pro-rich and pro-American.

    He was the prime mover, later followed and magnified by Pat Robertson and his Christian Coalition, in the takeover of the Republican Party by fundamentalist Christians. He relentlessly portrayed Christians as being persecuted.

    Falwell's theological inheritance is a nasty and mean one. One hopes that his Christian followers might read the Beatitudes rather than one of his diatribes.

    Posted by Michael Kieschnick
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  • butte [TypeKey Profile Page] :

    Falwell claimed to be a Christian.
    In reality his teachings were the antithesis of Christ.
    His legacy of hatred, intolerance, lack of social responsibility and compassion is an outstanding example of things Christ did NOT stand for.
    Pretty sad commentary on a so-called "Christian" leader.

    Posted on May 15, 2007 7:22 PM
  • Justin Krebs [TypeKey Profile Page] :

    Before a single Republican candidate spoke in last night's debate, Fox News expressed the collective sorrow of everyone on stage for Falwell's passing. And it couldn't have been a more appropriate venue to remember Falwell: he did more at his time than anyone to push right-wing religion into conservative politics.

    While we disagree with so much of what Falwell did, it is impressive how much political power he built. And it leaves us with a dilemma: if we believe religion should be separate from politics, then we allow men like Falwell to be the only voice speaking politics to the faithful. But how can we make sure as we counter work like his and build a coalition between religious communities and left-leaning politics that we don't re-enforce his claim that ethics in politics can only be derived from religious belief?

    Posted on May 16, 2007 10:20 AM

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