Jerry Falwell passed away today, at 73, and if his view of the afterlife was sound, and he was indeed the "giant of faith" that his supporters claim, then he now knows more than you or I know about the mysteries of the universe.
Falwell was an ambiguous sort of person. I first saw him, many years ago, in a talk show interview on TV. He was speaking for the Moral Majority, and he spoke very reasonably. I remember thinking that if this was the Christian Right, then America was in good shape indeed. Sometime later I saw him on his religious show, and he was wearing quite a different hat. He was wild-eyed and apocalyptic, and left me feeling like I should throw some coins into a guitar case or something. Falwell was a bridge between evangelical Protestant faith, and secular politics, but it was clear that the traffic didn't flow evenly in both directions.
The last time I remember seeing him was in a film on Creation Science vs. Evolution. Wearing his preacher hat, he said: "If man evolved, then God can't have created him. If man did not fall, then Christ cannot have redeemed him." I am going from memory on that quote, but I am sure I am close. I think Falwell was wrong on both counts. Evolution is as much a part of creation as gravity, and redemption is about getting from where we are to where we want to be, regardless of how we got here in the first place.
Falwell had a tremendous impact on American politics. He brought socially conservative Christians out of political apathy to swell the ranks of the Republican electorate. The late Republican majorities in Congress, as well as the Presidency of George W. Bush, would not have happened without that voting block. Those who think that more Americans should participate in politics should give him his due. They won't.
Falwell was an old school Baptist to be certain, but he was more reasonable and charitable than his enemies would allow. Some years ago he made peace with a former follower and preacher who had come out of the closet. That was an act of Christian charity which ought to count for something.
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