| Jerry Falwell | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jerry Lamon Falwell August 11, 1933 Lynchburg, Virginia, United States |
| Died | May 15, 2007 (aged 73) Lynchburg, Virginia, United States |
| Occupation | Pastor, televangelist, commentator |
| Years active | 1956–2007 |
| Religion | Southern Baptist |
| Website | |
| Liberty University Bio | |
Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007)[1] was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia. He founded Lynchburg Christian Academy (now Liberty Christian Academy) in 1967, Liberty University in 1971, and cofounded the Moral Majority in 1979.
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Background
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Seminaries
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Falwell and twin brother Gene were born in the Farview Heights region of Lynchburg, Virginia, the son of Helen and Carey Hezekiah Falwell.[2] His father was an entrepreneur and onetime bootlegger who was agnostic.[2] His grandfather was a staunch atheist.[2] Jerry Falwell married the former Macel Pate on April 12, 1958. The couple had two sons and a daughter (Jerry Falwell, Jr., a lawyer; Jonathan Falwell, a pastor; Jeannie, a surgeon).
He graduated from Brookville High School in Lynchburg, Va., and from Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri in 1956. This Bible college was unaccredited until 2001.[3] Falwell was eventually awarded three honorary doctoral degrees, and he sometimes used the title "doctor". The honorary doctorates were Doctor of Divinity from Tennessee Temple Theological Seminary, Doctor of Letters from California Graduate School of Theology, and Doctor of Laws from Central University in Seoul, South Korea.[4]
In 1956, at age 22, Falwell founded the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, where he served as pastor. The Church went on to become a megachurch, and is now run by Jerry Falwell's son Jonathan Falwell, who serves in the same capacity as his father. [5]
In 1971, Jerry Falwell founded Liberty University, a Christian liberal arts university in Lynchburg, Virginia. Liberty University has approximately 62,000 students of whom about 12,000 are residential students and 50,000 are enrolled online.[6]
In 1979, Falwell founded the Moral Majority, which became one of the largest political lobby groups for evangelical Christians in the United States during the 1980s.[7] The Moral Majority was founded as being "pro-family", "pro-life", "pro-defense" and pro-Israel.The group is credited with delivering two thirds of the white, evangelical Christian vote to Ronald Reagan during the 1980 presidential election.[8][9] During his time as head of the Moral Majority, Falwell consistently pushed for Republican candidates and for conservative politics. This led Billy Graham, and other conservative Christian leaders, to criticize him for sermons about political issues that lacked a moral element.[7]
Falwell strongly advocated beliefs and practices he believed were taught by the Bible.[10] The church, Falwell asserted, was the cornerstone of a successful family. Not only was it a place for spiritual learning and guidance, but also a gathering place for fellowship and socializing with like minded individuals. Often he built conversations he had with parishioners after the worship service into focused speeches or organized goals he would then present to a larger audience via his various media outlets.
On his evangelist program The Old-Time Gospel Hour in the mid 1960s, Falwell regularly featured segregationist politicians like Lester Maddox and George Wallace.[11] About Martin Luther King he said: "I do question the sincerity and nonviolent intentions of some civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mr. James Farmer, and others, who are known to have left wing associations."[12]
In speaking of the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling, he said, in 1958:
In 1977, Falwell supported Anita Bryant's campaign, which was called by its proponents "Save Our Children", to overturn an ordinance in Dade County, Florida prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and he supported a similar movement in California.[2]
But 28 years later, in an appearance on MSNBC television, Falwell said he was not troubled by reports that the nominee for Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, John G. Roberts (whose appointment was confirmed by the U.S. Senate) had done volunteer legal work for homosexual rights activists on the case of Romer v. Evans. Falwell told MSNBC's Tucker Carlson that if he were a lawyer, he too would argue for civil rights for LGBT people. "I may not agree with the lifestyle, but that has nothing to do with the civil rights of that part of our constituency," Falwell said. When Carlson countered that conservatives "are always arguing against 'special rights' for gays," Falwell said that equal access to housing, civil marriage, and employment are basic rights, not special rights. "Civil rights for all Americans, black, white, red, yellow, the rich, poor, young, old, gay, straight, et cetera, is not a liberal or conservative value. It's an American value that I would think that we pretty much all agree on."[14]
Falwell's staunch pro-Israel stand, sometimes referred to as "Christian Zionism", drew the strong support of the Anti-Defamation League and its leader Abraham Foxman.[15] However, they condemned what they perceived as intolerance towards Muslims in Falwell's public statements. They also criticized him for remarking that "Jews can make more money accidentally than you can on purpose."[16][17]
One unusual link between Falwell and Conservative rabbi Arnold Resnicoff, a Navy chaplain, was created when President Ronald Reagan surprised the participants at Falwell's "Baptist Fundamentalism '84" convention in Washington, D.C., by choosing to read Resnicoff's on-site report of the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing as his keynote address.[18] When Resnicoff later served as Special Assistant for Values and Vision for the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, he would meet with Falwell to discuss issues linked to religious rights in the military, including the role and responsibilities of U.S. military chaplains. Resnicoff reported that Falwell supported the idea of using the Biblical verse that teaches that "God hears the words of our mouths and the meditations of our heart" as a basis for allowing Christian chaplains to offer "inclusive" prayers, because they could offer denominational words, such as "In Jesus's name," silently, as a "meditation of the heart."[19]
Falwell repeatedly denounced certain teachings in public schools and secular education in general, calling them breeding grounds for atheism, secularism, and humanism, which he claimed to be in contradiction with Christian morality. He advocated that the United States change its public education system by implementing a school voucher system which would allow parents to send their children to either public or private schools. Jerry Falwell wrote in America Can Be Saved that "I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won't have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them."[20]
Falwell supported President George W. Bush's Faith Based Initiative, but had strong reservations concerning where the funding would go and the restrictions placed on churches. "My problem is where it might go under his successors.... I would not want to put any of the Jerry Falwell Ministries in a position where we might be subservient to a future Bill Clinton, God forbid.... It also concerns me that once the pork barrel is filled, suddenly the Church of Scientology, the Jehovah Witnesses [sic], the various and many denominations and religious groups — and I don't say those words in a pejorative way — begin applying for money — and I don't see how any can be turned down because of their radical and unpopular views. I don't know where that would take us."[21]
In the 1980s Jerry Falwell was critical of sanctions against the apartheid regime of South Africa. He claimed that sanctions would result in what, he felt, would be a worse situation, such as a Soviet-backed revolution. He drew the ire of many when he called Nobel Peace Prize winner and Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu a phony "as far as representing the black people of South Africa."[22] He later apologized for that remark and claimed that he had misspoken.[23] He also urged his followers to buy up gold Krugerrands and push U.S. "reinvestment" in South Africa.[24]
In 1994, Falwell promoted and distributed the video documentary The Clinton Chronicles: An Investigation into the Alleged Criminal Activities of Bill Clinton. The video purported to connect Bill Clinton to a murder conspiracy involving Vincent Foster, James McDougall, Ron Brown, and a cocaine-smuggling operation. The theory was discredited, but nonetheless sold more than 150,000 copies.[25]
Funding for the film was provided by "Citizens for Honest Government," to which Jerry Falwell paid $200,000 in 1994 and 1995.[25] In 1995 Citizens for Honest Government interviewed two Arkansas state troopers, Roger Perry and Larry Patterson, regarding the murder conspiracy about Vincent Foster. Perry and Patterson also gave information regarding the allegations in the Paula Jones affair.[25]
Falwell's infomercial for the 80-minute tape included footage of Falwell interviewing a silhouetted journalist who claimed to be afraid for his life. The journalist accused Clinton of orchestrating the deaths of several reporters and personal confidants who had gotten too close to his illegalities. It was subsequently revealed, however, that the silhouetted journalist was, in fact, Patrick Matrisciana, the producer of the video and president of Citizens for Honest Government.[25] "Obviously, I'm not an investigative reporter," Matrisciana admitted to investigative journalist Murray Waas.[25] Later, Falwell seemed to back away from personally trusting the video. In an interview for the 2005 documentary The Hunting of the President, Falwell admitted, "to this day I do not know the accuracy of the claims made in The Clinton Chronicles."[26]
Falwell condemned homosexuality as forbidden by the Bible. Pro-gay rights groups called Falwell an "agent of intolerance" and "the founder of the anti-gay industry" for statements he has made and for campaigning against LGBT social movements.[2][27] Falwell supported Anita Bryant's 1977 "Save Our Children" campaign to overturn a Florida ordinance prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and a similar movement in California.[2] In urging the repeal of the ordinance, Falwell told one crowd, "Gay folks would just as soon kill you as look at you."[28] When the LGBT-friendly Metropolitan Community Church was almost accepted into the World Council of Churches, Falwell called them "brute beasts" and stated, "this vile and satanic system will one day be utterly annihilated and there'll be a celebration in heaven."[29] He later denied this.[30] Falwell also regularly linked the AIDS pandemic to LGBT issues and stated, "AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals, it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals."[31] Amongst many remarks over the years he is probably most known for statements attributed to him about a Teletubby being a homosexual role model for homosexual recruitment and stating that LGBT organizations angered God, thereby in part causing God to let the September 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina happen.[32][33][34]
After comedienne and actress Ellen DeGeneres came out as a lesbian, Falwell referred to her in a sermon as "Ellen DeGenerate." DeGeneres responded by saying "Really, he called me that? Ellen DeGenerate? I've been getting that since the fourth grade. I guess I'm happy I could give him work."[35]
At the same time, Falwell's legacy regarding homosexuality is complicated by his support for LGBT civil rights (see "civil rights" section above), as well as his efforts at reconciliation with the LGBT community in later years. In October 1999 Falwell hosted a meeting of 200 evangelicals with 200 homosexuals at Thomas Road Baptist Church for an "Anti-Violence Forum", during which he acknowledged that some American evangelicals' comments about homosexuality entered the realm of hate speech that could incite violence.[36] At the forum, Falwell told homosexuals in attendance "I don't agree with your lifestyle, I will never agree with your lifestyle, but I love you" and added "anything that leaves the impression that we hate the sinner, we want to change that"[37] He later commented to New York Times columnist Frank Rich that “admittedly, evangelicals have not exhibited an ability to build a bond of friendship to the gay and lesbian community. We've said ‘go somewhere else, we don't need you here [at] our churches.’”[38]
In February 1999, an unsigned article that media outlets attributed to Falwell was published in the National Liberty Journal – a promotional publication of the university he founded – claimed that the Teletubby named Tinky Winky was intended as a gay role model. An article published in 1998 by the liberal Salon.com had noted Tinky Winky's status as a gay icon.[39][40] In response, Steve Rice, spokesperson for Itsy Bitsy Entertainment, which licenses the Teletubbies in the US, said, "I really find it absurd and kind of offensive."[32][41] The immensely popular UK show was aimed at pre-school children, but the article stated "he is purple – the gay pride color; and his antenna is shaped like a triangle – the gay-pride symbol." Apart from those characteristics Tinky Winky also carries a magic bag which the NLJ and Salon articles said was a purse. Falwell added "role modelling the gay lifestyle is damaging to the moral lives of children."
After the September 11 attacks in 2001, Falwell said on Pat Robertson's The 700 Club, "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'" [42] Falwell further stated that the attacks were "probably deserved," a statement which Christopher Hitchens called treasonous.[43] After heavy criticism, Falwell said that no one but the terrorists were to blame apologized saying "if I left that impression with gays or lesbians or anyone else, I apologize." .[33]
Falwell has also said, "Labor unions should study and read the Bible instead of asking for more money. When people get right with God, they are better workers."[44]
Jerry Falwell was renowned for his views against the Arab world and Muslims. According to Asharq Al-Awsat, a pan-Arab newspaper, Falwell stated that Islam is Satanic.[45]
In a televised interview with 60 Minutes, Falwell stated, "I think Muhammad was a terrorist." He added, "I concluded from reading Muslim and non-Muslim writers that Muhammad was a violent man, a man of war." Falwell later apologized to Muslims for what he said about Muhammad and affirmed that he did not necessarily intend to offend "honest and peace-loving" Muslims. However, he still refused to erase his opinions about Islam in his website and the sincerity of his apology was doubted.[46][47]
Egyptian Christian intellectuals, in response, signed a statement in which they condemned and rejected what Falwell had said about Muhammad being a terrorist.[48]
In 1972, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched an investigation of bonds issued by Falwell's organizations. The SEC charged Falwell's church with "fraud and deceit" in the issuance of $6.5 million in unsecured church bonds.[49] The church won a 1973 federal court case prosecuted at the behest of the SEC, in which the Court exonerated the church and ruled that while technical violations of law did occur, there was no proof the Church intended any wrong-doing.
Falwell filed a $10 million lawsuit against Penthouse for publishing an article based upon interviews he gave to freelance reporters, after failing to convince a federal court to place an injunction upon the publication of that article. The suit was dismissed in Federal district court on the grounds that the article was not defamatory or an invasion of Falwell's privacy (the Virginia courts had not recognized this privacy tort, which is recognized in other states).[50][51][52]
In November 1983, Larry Flynt's pornographic magazine Hustler carried a parody advertisement of a Campari ad, featuring a fake interview with Falwell in which he admits that his "first time" was incest with his mother in an outhouse while drunk. Falwell sued for $45 million in compensation alleging invasion of privacy, libel, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.[53] A jury rejected the invasion of privacy and libel claims, holding that the parody could not have reasonably been taken to describe true events, but ruled in favor of Falwell on the emotional distress claim. This was upheld on appeal. Flynt then appealed to the Supreme Court, winning a unanimous decision on February 24, 1988. The ruling held that public figures cannot circumvent First Amendment protections by attempting to recover damages based on emotional distress suffered from parodies. The decision in favor of Flynt strengthened free speech rights in the United States in relation to parodies of public figures.
After the death of Falwell, Larry Flynt released a comment regarding his friendship over the years with Falwell.
"My mother always told me that no matter how much you dislike a person, when you meet them face to face you will find characteristics about them that you like. Jerry Falwell was a perfect example of that. I hated everything he stood for, but after meeting him in person, years after the trial, Jerry Falwell and I became good friends. He would visit me in California and we would debate together on college campuses. I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling."[54]
In 1984, Falwell was ordered to pay gay rights activist and former Baptist Bible College classmate Jerry Sloan $5,000 after losing a court battle. In July, 1984 during a TV debate in Sacramento, California, Falwell denied calling the homosexual-friendly Metropolitan Community Churches "brute beasts" and "a vile and Satanic system" that will "one day be utterly annihilated and there will be a celebration in heaven".[29] When Sloan insisted he had a tape, Falwell promised $5,000 if he could produce it. Sloan did, Falwell refused to pay, and Sloan successfully sued. The money was donated to build Sacramento's first homosexual community center, the Lambda Community Center, serving "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex" communities.[30] Falwell appealed the decision with his attorney charging that the judge in the case was prejudiced. He lost again and was made to pay an additional $2,875 in sanctions and court fees.
In Lamparello v. Falwell, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed an earlier District Court decision, arguing that Lamparello "clearly created his Web site intending only to provide a forum to criticize ideas, not to steal customers."[55] Lamparello's website describes itself as not being connected to Jerry Falwell and is critical of Falwell's views on homosexuality.[55] On April 17, 2006, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the Court of Appeals ruling that Christopher Lamparello's usage of the Internet domain "Fallwell.com" was legal.
Previous to this, "Falwell's attorneys have fought over domain names in the past" with a different man who despite eventually turned over jerryfalwell.com and jerryfallwell.com after Falwell threatened to sue for trademark infringement.[55] Lawyers for Public Citizen Litigation Group's Internet Free Speech project represented the domain name owners in both cases.
On July 31, 2006, Cable News Network's (CNN) Paula Zahn Now program featured a segment on "whether the crisis in the Middle East is actually a prelude to the end of the world," "marking the third time in eight days that CNN had devoted airtime to those claiming that the ongoing Mideast violence signaled the coming of the Apocalypse."[56] In an interview Falwell claimed, "I believe in the premillennial, pre-tribulational coming of Christ for all of his church, and to summarize that, your first poll, do you believe Jesus' coming the second time will be in the future, I would vote yes with the 59 percent and with Billy Graham and most evangelicals."
Based on this and other statements, Falwell has been identified as a Dispensationalist.[57]
In 1999, Falwell declared the Antichrist would probably arrive within a decade and "Of course he'll be Jewish."[58] After accusations of anti-Semitism Falwell apologized and explained that he was simply expressing the theological tenet that the Antichrist and Christ share many attributes.[59]
In early 2005, Falwell was hospitalized for two weeks with a viral infection, discharged, and then rehospitalized on May 30, 2005, in respiratory arrest.[60][61] President George W. Bush contacted Falwell to "wish him well."[61] He was subsequently released from the hospital and returned to his duties. Later in 2005 a stent was implanted to treat a 70% blockage in his coronary arteries.[62]
On May 15, 2007, Falwell was found without pulse and unconscious in his office about 10:45 am after missing a morning appointment and was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital.[63]
"I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast.... He went to his office, I went to mine and they found him unresponsive" said Ron Godwin, the executive vice president of Falwell's Liberty University. His condition was initially reported as "gravely serious"; CPR was administered unsuccessfully. As of 2:10 pm, during a live press conference, a doctor for the hospital confirmed that Falwell had died of "cardiac arrhythmia, or sudden cardiac death." A statement issued by the hospital reported he was pronounced dead at Lynchburg General Hospital at 12:40 pm, EST. Falwell's family, including his wife Macel and sons Jerry Falwell, Jr. and Jonathan Falwell, were at the hospital at the time of the pronouncement.
Falwell's funeral took place at 1:00 pm EDT on May 22, 2007 at Thomas Road Baptist Church after lying in repose at both the church and Liberty University. Falwell's burial service was private. It took place at a spot on the Liberty University campus near the Carter Glass Mansion, near his office. Buried nearby is B. R. Lakin.
After his death, his two sons succeeded him at his two posts; Jerry Falwell, Jr. took over as Chancellor of Liberty University while Jonathan Falwell became the Senior Pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church.
The last televised interview with Jerry Falwell was conducted by Christiane Amanpour for the CNN original series CNN Presents: God's Warriors.[64] He had been interviewed on May 8, one week before his death.[65] Falwell's last televised sermon was his May 13, 2007 message on Mother's Day.
Falwell's legacy today is strongly mixed and often a source of heated controversy. Supporters praise his advancement of his socially conservative message. They tout too, his evangelist ministries, and his stress on church planting and growth. Many of his detractors have accused him of hate speech and identified him as an "agent of intolerance".[27]
He was described by atheist social commentator Christopher Hitchens in turns as a "Chaucerian fraud" and a "faith-based fraud", and "especially disgusting in exuding an almost sexless personality while railing from dawn to dusk about the sex lives of others." Hitchens took special umbrage with Falwell's alignment with "the most thuggish and demented Israeli settlers", and his declaration that 9/11 represented God's judgement on America's sinful behaviour; deeming it "a shame that there is no hell for Falwell to go to, and [...] extraordinary that not even such a scandalous career is enough to shake our dumb addiction to the 'faith-based.'" Hitchens also mentioned that, despite his support for Israel, Falwell "kept saying to his own crowd, yes, you have got to like the Jews, because they can make more money in 10 minutes than you can make in a lifetime. He was always full, as his friends Robertson and Graham are and were, of anti-Semitic innuendo."[66] Appearing on CNN a day after Falwell's death, Hitchens said, "The empty life of this ugly little charlatan proves only one thing: that you can get away with the most extraordinary offenses to morality and to truth in this country if you will just get yourself called 'reverend'."[67] On C-SPAN, Hitchens made the comment that "If he had been given an enema, he could have been buried in a matchbox."[68]
Falwell was an enemy of the revenge humorist "George Hayduke", who called Falwell a "fund-grubbing electronic Bible-banger" and "pious pride-in-the-pulpit". In his book Screw Unto Others, Hayduke mentions the story of one Edward Johnson, who in the mid-1980s, programmed his Atari home computer to make thousands of repeat phone calls to Falwell's 1–800 phone number, since Johnson claimed Falwell had swindled large amounts of money from his followers, especially Johnson's own mother. Southern Bell forced Johnson to stop after he had run up Falwell's phone bill an estimated $500,000. At one point, crank callers, especially homosexual activists, made up about 25% of Falwell's total calls, until the ministry disconnected the toll-free number in 1986.[69] [70]
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