Conservative Leader Jerry Falwell Dead at 73
Greg Adams
May 15, 2007
The Rev. Jerry Falwell, conservative religious leader and President of Liberty University, has died at a hospital in Lynchburg, Virginia. He was 73.
Falwell was an outspoken fundamentalist Christian leader and founder of the Moral Majority. He was a significant influence in the Republican Party, helping to shape the direction and focus of its positions on many social issues. He was a staunch opponent of abortion, gay rights, and collective bargaining. He supported President Bush’s faith-based initiatives and the war in Iraq.
In Falwell’s early career, he criticized the Rev. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, calling it the “Civil Wrongs Movement.” Speaking in favor of the racist positions of the day, he often hosted segregationists Lester Maddox and George Wallace on his television program, “The Old-Time Gospel Hour.” Falwell’s leanings eventually changed and he no longer publicly espoused segregationist views. Falwell is cited with helping to organize much of the political activism by members of the Religious Right and their growing numbers in the GOP.
The controversial Falwell will likely be most remembered for comments he made to Pat Robertson on the Christian television program “The 700 Club” after the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Falwell said, “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.'"
Falwell was also considered “uncaring” about the plight that AIDS has wrought upon humanity, often discounting government statistics that show approximately 39.5 million people are suffering from the disease across the world. “AIDS is God’s punishment to homosexuals,” Falwell said. According to the World Health Organization, there are over 2.3 million children living with HIV/AIDS.
Falwell was the pastor of the 20,000-member Thomas Road Baptist Church. He continued to believe that the attacks of 9/11 were God's judgment for "throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools.” He felt that, “the abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked."
Ron Godwin, Executive Vice President of Liberty University, met with media representatives shortly after the announcement of Falwell’s death. Godwin said that Falwell was found unconscious in his office and was transported to a hospital. “I had breakfast with Dr. Falwell this morning and he seemed to be in good spirits,” Godwin said. “I am confident that everything that could be done was done to help him.”
Mourners are gathering at Thomas Road Baptist Church for a service today. “Dr. Falwell was a giant of faith and a visionary leader,” Godwin added. “He left instructions for us to carry on.”
Falwell was an outspoken fundamentalist Christian leader and founder of the Moral Majority. He was a significant influence in the Republican Party, helping to shape the direction and focus of its positions on many social issues. He was a staunch opponent of abortion, gay rights, and collective bargaining. He supported President Bush’s faith-based initiatives and the war in Iraq.
In Falwell’s early career, he criticized the Rev. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, calling it the “Civil Wrongs Movement.” Speaking in favor of the racist positions of the day, he often hosted segregationists Lester Maddox and George Wallace on his television program, “The Old-Time Gospel Hour.” Falwell’s leanings eventually changed and he no longer publicly espoused segregationist views. Falwell is cited with helping to organize much of the political activism by members of the Religious Right and their growing numbers in the GOP.
The controversial Falwell will likely be most remembered for comments he made to Pat Robertson on the Christian television program “The 700 Club” after the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Falwell said, “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.'"
Falwell was also considered “uncaring” about the plight that AIDS has wrought upon humanity, often discounting government statistics that show approximately 39.5 million people are suffering from the disease across the world. “AIDS is God’s punishment to homosexuals,” Falwell said. According to the World Health Organization, there are over 2.3 million children living with HIV/AIDS.
Falwell was the pastor of the 20,000-member Thomas Road Baptist Church. He continued to believe that the attacks of 9/11 were God's judgment for "throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools.” He felt that, “the abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked."
Ron Godwin, Executive Vice President of Liberty University, met with media representatives shortly after the announcement of Falwell’s death. Godwin said that Falwell was found unconscious in his office and was transported to a hospital. “I had breakfast with Dr. Falwell this morning and he seemed to be in good spirits,” Godwin said. “I am confident that everything that could be done was done to help him.”
Mourners are gathering at Thomas Road Baptist Church for a service today. “Dr. Falwell was a giant of faith and a visionary leader,” Godwin added. “He left instructions for us to carry on.”