You write the Obiturary: The Legacy of Falwell?

Question

Rev. Jerry Falwell (as many of you might know) is responsible for creating the religious/political movement the moral majority and the Christian Coalitions. At some points during the 80's-90's is movement was so powerful that many in the repub. party believed that his movements swayed elections.

QUESTION

Do you think that Falwell's legacy (over all) has left a positive or a negative imprint on America. PLEASE PROVIDE DETAILED AND THOUGHTFUL RESPONSES!!!!
(((This should be an interesting blog)))

Answer 1

I had to give thumbs up to BRITE TIGER and MASTER OF ALL. Falwell was most defintely controversial. Being a Virginian as he was, high school kept us up-to-date on all of his antics. Ok, maybe I shouldn't use the word "antics," but it seemed like he was happiest when he was condemning others...especially if he thought they were gay. It was interesting how he took over the PTL Club from Jim Bakker when it was learned that Bakker had had an affair nearly a decade earlier with Jessica Hahn. As soon as the Club was Falwell's, he immediately kept calling Bakker greedy and a homosexual. He supported segregation, said he didn't trust Martin Luther King's motives and he irritated people when he called Desmond Tutu a fake or phony after Tutu won a Nobel Peace Prize. And didn't he make a film or write a book about Bill Clinton in a conspiracy w/ others to smuggle cocaine? Later proved false. Ah, well...he influenced a lot of people, regardless. Personally, I thought he was THE most intolerant individual around, and I thought he created drama when he couldn't add flames to something.

Answer 2

Well I guess it will be up to history to decide for his legacy, but personally I'd say both. Positive because he did manage to unite a very substantial group of people who otherwise lacked representation and the country would have largely been unaware of otherwise. Raising awareness that these people are out there and that they hold so dearly to the values we associate with Falwell is a very important thing. On the other hand, it makes the US look really bad and morally perverted. Some of the things he eventually said led to his greatly decreased popularity, but they also proved that many of the people who supported him before didn't necessarily agree with his more extreme views. It is very unfortunate in my opinion that such a perverted mentality came to represent such a large group of people in the US. We'll see what this becomes in 30 years, if people even still remember it.

Answer 3

His preaching has helped to create an atmosphere of intolerance

Jerry Falwell's actions bring to mind a New Testament story of a gossiping woman. In a modernized account the woman asks Jesus how she might undo the harm she has caused by spreading false information. Jesus advises her that a malicious liar might just as well climb up to the pulpit of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, discharge a shotgun into his lying mouth and then try to reassemble the scattered portions of his skull as attempt to retract the harm done by flinging a single malicious lie.

Jerry Falwell will probably disregard the urgings of Jesus in this matter

Jerry Falwell represented what some have called "the first wave" of the Religious Right. Long before the Christian Coalition and the Promisekeepers, he led his "Moral Majority" into battle against the forces of godlessness and immorality. Recently he had lost much of his power, but was still active as a media clown, creating "controversy" out of nowhere. Lately, he was trying to make a comeback and to re-establish himself as one of the leading powerbrokers of the Religious Right.

Answer 4

Falwell was evil personified. He presented to the public the face of a man whose ethics were so screwed up that it blows my mind to think that anyone would believe that this was a man of God and a believer in Jesus Christ. Falwell proclaimed to be a Christian yet expressed bigoted opinions about other human beings. He tried to use his power and influence to deny basic human and civil rights to gay people because he hated them. Hatred, we're taught in Sunday school, isn't a God-like emotion. God apparently loves us all, and in His example we're supposed to love each other and try to get along. Falwell obviously didn't learn this little tidbit in whatever hell hole of a church he went to as a boy.
Falwell and others like him are a festering sore on the skin of human society; they hold up their holier-than-thou attitude and clash with anyone who doesn't behave in exactly the same fashion. Powerful religious movements like the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition are dangerous because they do sway elections. How the hell do you think George Bush got elected? It certainly wasn't by popular vote, I can tell you that. Overall, I think that Falwell's legacy and that of all other religious zealots has left an extremely negative effect on not only America, but the entire planet.

Answer 5

We won't know the answer to that question for a good many decades. What will ultimately become of the "Moral Majority"? Will they be a lasting political movement with a large following or will they drift off into the sunset like so many other movements? Will Liberty University grow and prosper or will it dwindle and fade?

No one can ever decide or describe the true significance of a person's life the moment of their death. Truman, while in office, was hated and had almost no support for his presidency at all ... today he is admired. It all depends where the winds of history will blow, and no one can see into the future.

Answer 6

hes gone now and i was taught never to say bad things about the dead. I'm sure god knows where to send him.

Answer 7

They say the devil has many disquises. He lost one today.