Jerry Falwell Life And Career Social And Political Views

Falwell studied journalism for a time after high school ( 1950) at Lynchburg College and then became a Christian in his second year. He then transferred to Baptist Bible College in Missouri. Soon afterwards, he met his future wife, Macel Pate. They were married on April 12, 1958. Jerry Falwell was a vocal supporter of racial segregation during the 1950s and 1960s.

He was ordained in 1956, and in 1968Events Undated Booker Prize for Fiction is established by Booker plc. 1968 is known as the year of the Prague Spring and also the year of the Paris riots. The ASCII character code is standardized as ANSI Standard X3. Nauru adopt his national anthem of the Falwell began televising his services. The program was eventually titled " The Old-Time Gospel HourThe Old Time Gospel Hour is a ministry program broadcasted from Thomas Road Baptist Church, the largest church of any denomination in North America. The founding pastor is Jerry Falwell.." By the mid- 70sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Years: 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Events and trends, he was reaching millions. In 1979Events January-February January 1 Sino-American relations: United States and the People's Republic of China establish diplomatic relations January 4 State of Ohio agrees to pay $675,000 to families of dead and injured in Kent State University shootings., he created the Moral Majority, a group dedicated to promoting its conservative and religious Christian-centric beliefs via support of political candidates. In the 1980sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s Years: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Events and trends, fundamentalism began to get a negative image. Another televangelist, Jim BakkerJim Bakker (born January 2, 1939 in Muskegon, Michigan) is an American televangelist, Assembly of God preacher, and evangelist beset by scandal, and the former host of The PTL Club (PTL being an acronym for 'Praise the Lord' and 'People That Love') with h was convicted of fraud and received jail time. Falwell, rumored to have been involved in the conviction, then took over management of Bakker's ministry, Praise The Lord ( PTL), in 1987. PTL was soon bankrupt. Some argue (source A&E's "Biography") that Falwell deliberately scuttled the competition.

In November 2004 Falwell announced the creation of what he called a "21st century resurrection of the Moral Majority," which disbanded in 1989. The new group is called the Faith and Values Coalition, which will serve as a focal point for his group's attempts to assert its agenda in the United States government. Among its intentions are adding anti-abortion conservatives to the Supreme Court and helping to elect another "George Bush-type" conservative in the next election. Falwell announced that he would serve as the coalition's chairman for four years, along with his son, Jonathan Falwell and " Left Behind" author Tim Lahaye. [1]

2 Social and political views

The Anti-Defamation League and its leader Abraham Foxman have expressed strong support for Jerry Falwell and his staunch pro-Israel stand, referred to sometimes as " Christian Zionism." Falwell has repeatedly denounced public schools and secular education in general, calling them breeding grounds for atheism, secularism, and humanism, which he claims are in contradiction with Christian morality. He advocates that the United States abolish its public education system, replacing it with church-run schools, similar to the school voucher proposals by the Bush administration. His advocacy is widely considered to be theocratic in nature, and Falwell's views are noted by his critics as similar or equivalent to those of conservative Mullahs in Islamic countries.

2.1 Hustler vs. Falwell

In November 1983, Larry Flynt's sex magazine Hustler carried a parody 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 compensation, alleging invasion of privacy, libel, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. 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 and won on February 24, 1988 ( Hustler Magazine, Inc. et al. v. Jerry Falwell, 485 U.S. 46); the ruling confirmed that public figures cannot recover damages based on emotional distress suffered from parodies.

Falwell now is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. He leads services at Thomas Road Baptist Church.

3 Controversial remarks

In February of 1999, an article in Falwell's National Liberty Journal suggested that a Teletubbies character, Tinky Winky, could be a hidden homosexual symbol, because the character was purple (which he claimed was a color symbolic of homosexuality), had a triangle on his head and carried a handbag. The gay press had made similar comments before, but people made fun of Falwell anyway.

After the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack, he (along with fellow televangelist Pat Robertson) made comments interpreted as blaming various groups for the attack. The two were widely condemned for having made these comments. Falwell said:

And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. 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."

Robertson then responded:

Well, I totally concur, and the problem is we have adopted that agenda at the highest levels of our government. And so we're responsible as a free society for what the top people do. And, the top people, of course, is the court system.

Falwell later told CNN:

I would never blame any human being except the terrorists, and if I left that impression with gays or lesbians or anyone else, I apologize.

In an interview given on September 30, 2002 for the October 6 edition of 60 Minutes, Falwell said: "I think Mohammed was a terrorist. I read enough by both Muslims and non-Muslims, [to decide] that he was a violent man, a man of war." These comments led to rioting particularly in the town of Solapur, India, leaving 8 people dead.

The following Friday, Mohsen Mojtahed Shabestari , the spokesman of Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khameini, issued a fatwa for Falwell's death, saying that Falwell was "mercenary and must be killed," and, "The death of that man is a religious duty, but his case should not be tied to the Christian community."

3.1 Other quotes

"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. What a happy day that will be!" America Can Be Saved

"...You've got to kill the terrorists before the killing stops and I am for the President - chase them all over the world, if it takes ten years, blow them all away in the name of the Lord." CNN Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer, October 24, 2004

"And the fact that [John Kerry] would not support a federal marriage amendment [prohibiting gay marriage, it equates in our minds as someone 150 years ago saying I'm personally opposed to slavery, but if my neighbor wants to own one or two that's OK. We don't buy that." Anderson Cooper 360, November 3, 2004

4 External links

Falwell, Jerry Falwell, Jerry Falwell, Jerry Falwell, Jerry

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1 Life and career