Jerry Falwell

I've watched various talk-show guests talk about Jerry Falwell's legacy over the last few days, and, as is appropriate for someone who has just died, many have highlighted good things about him. He appears to have been an extremely personable man, and I'm sure he loved his family and his friends.

But the defining moment for me regarding Jerry Falwell came when I saw a videotape of him a few years ago. It aired on one of the news channels, and I'm sure it was from the 1980s, maybe early 1990s. He was standing in the pulpit, preaching, and he said, "Homosexuals will kill you as soon as look at you."

I remember my incredible shock, thinking, "Did I just hear what I thought I heard?" But yes, he said that from the pulpit of his church. And you're confronted with the dilemna: He either believes this and is incredibly stupid; or he doesn't believe it and is consciously lying from the pulpit. I have to think it's the latter. Which means that he deliberately:

1. told a lie
2. intended to stir up hostility
3. toward an embattled minority group

Pre-WWII antisemitism anyone? St. Augustine believed that lying for the cause of faith was the greatest sin that a believer could commit. But it seems that many religious leaders today believe that the ends justify the means. Truth is secondary to what they consider to be advantageous.

Robert Schuller was on Larry King a few nights ago, and he commented that Jerry Falwell would be the first to say that he regretted comments like calling NOW the "National Organization of Witches." That's heartening to hear, but I wonder if his core values really changed that much. We all know that, after September 11, he blamed the attacks on gays and feminists---a twisted bit of logic if I ever heard one. As far as I know, it was religious fundamentalists and not gays and feminists who drove the planes into their targets. This is classic scapegoating, and it's abhorrent.

I know that many Christians disliked Jerry Falwell as well, and it's unfortunate that they have been tainted by his words and actions. But when the dominant media images of Christians are of people like him (which is the media's fault) and when Christian leadership defends him (which is the Christian leadership's fault), people get wary.

There is another aspect of this worth mentioning, related more to the conservative-liberal dynamic than a religious dynamic. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like, over the course of the 20th century, liberals have been right about most things. On lots of issues---civil rights, women in the workplace, AIDS---liberals have championed a cause early on; conservatives have attacked them bitterly in response; liberals have eventually prevailed through blood sweat and tears; and conservatives have picked up the banner about a decade later. Think about civil rights, something conservatives bitterly opposed; and yet now conservatives champion the cause and claim civil rights heroes as their own. Think also about AIDS, how very vehemently conservatives opposed any compassionate response or financial investment in a cure during the 1980s; and yet now many Christian groups have taken up the cause of AIDS in Africa (probably because now AIDS has ceased to be associated strictly with gays and is perceived as a worldwide phenomenon).

It's great that conservatives have embraced these causes. But there are two pieces that are missing:

1. Repentance. Where is the sense of repentance for the way conservatives attacked the original champions of these causes? They want to simply coopt these causes as their own and forget their own past.

2. Learning. They opposed civil rights, and liberals were right about that. They opposed AIDS funding, and liberals were right about that. And yet these facts never cause them to question whatever entrenched position they are defending today. They never seem to think "We were wrong about everything else. Maybe we're wrong about this too." It's frustrating for liberals to have to re-fight these fights over and over again, against the same enemies who paint them as villains with the same brush each time.

Last note: Yes, I'm a liberal. But I think it's very important not to be blinded by self-righteousness. Many people in this country are conservatives, and there are reasons why they are. The best thing we can all do is think about why the other half believes as they do. I've thought about this a lot, why conservatives believe what they do; and I'm hoping to write down some thoughts on that in an upcoming entry.