Jerry Falwell is dead. He is not in heaven and he is not in hell since they don't exist. All he has is his rotting corpse and the history that he left behind. Falwell is known for creating the "Moral Majority" and being a leader in right-wing religious activism. The terminology is incorrect, for right-wing and religious shouldn't go together. They are an oxymoron. And Falwell exemplifies this more than anyone.
Back in the sixities, when many church activists were battling for civil rights, Falwell stayed away. This is from the New York Times obituary:
“Preachers are not called to be politicians, but soul winners” he said in a sermon entitled “Ministers and Marchers” in March 1964. “If as much effort could be put into winning people to Jesus across the land as is being exerted in the present civil rights movement, America would be turned upside down for God.”
A cop out for sure, and I think the real reason he didn't lift a finger for civil rights was most of his followers were Southern white folk, who if not racist were satisfied with the status quo. And he most likely was satisfied too. But when other groups wanted rights—women, homosexuals—then he became political. It is also worth noting that around the same time, the early seventies, he was investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. It's interesting that since he started heavily influencing the Republican party that his tax-free empire has not been investigated.
It's no secret that he hates gays and liberals. He said the antichrist is Jewish, and obviously has a dim view of Islam. A hypocritical bigot in a churchman's clothes is not hard to find here in America, but his ascendancy shows the real problem: lack of taxes. When religious organizations start to pass certain income levels, they need to be regulated and taxed. This includes The Catholic Church, Scientology, Evangelicals, and even my mother's rather benign Presbyterian Church. In any society money equals power, and power like than needs to be kept in check. Shouldn’t these funds go to roads and schools rather than evangelical colleges with their limited education? Shouldn’t they should go to our army rather than the election of the numbskulls who start wars?
Any politician who would tax religious organizations would face incredible opposition; the people who prosper from these unregulated money streams will fight tooth and nail. But forget about saving souls, who will save our country?
Back in the sixities, when many church activists were battling for civil rights, Falwell stayed away. This is from the New York Times obituary:
“Preachers are not called to be politicians, but soul winners” he said in a sermon entitled “Ministers and Marchers” in March 1964. “If as much effort could be put into winning people to Jesus across the land as is being exerted in the present civil rights movement, America would be turned upside down for God.”
A cop out for sure, and I think the real reason he didn't lift a finger for civil rights was most of his followers were Southern white folk, who if not racist were satisfied with the status quo. And he most likely was satisfied too. But when other groups wanted rights—women, homosexuals—then he became political. It is also worth noting that around the same time, the early seventies, he was investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. It's interesting that since he started heavily influencing the Republican party that his tax-free empire has not been investigated.
It's no secret that he hates gays and liberals. He said the antichrist is Jewish, and obviously has a dim view of Islam. A hypocritical bigot in a churchman's clothes is not hard to find here in America, but his ascendancy shows the real problem: lack of taxes. When religious organizations start to pass certain income levels, they need to be regulated and taxed. This includes The Catholic Church, Scientology, Evangelicals, and even my mother's rather benign Presbyterian Church. In any society money equals power, and power like than needs to be kept in check. Shouldn’t these funds go to roads and schools rather than evangelical colleges with their limited education? Shouldn’t they should go to our army rather than the election of the numbskulls who start wars?
Any politician who would tax religious organizations would face incredible opposition; the people who prosper from these unregulated money streams will fight tooth and nail. But forget about saving souls, who will save our country?
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