The leader of the Christian Right tells how political activism has affected him.
Shedding his earlier opposition to political involvement, Jerry Falwell helped found Moral Majority in 1979. The group was organized to oppose abortion and to support traditional family values, a strong national defense, and the State of Israel.
Moral Majority enabled fundamentalists to join forces with those from other religious traditions in addressing social and moral issues. Falwell says Catholics make up the largest constituency in Moral Majority, accounting for some 30 percent of its adherents. The organization also includes evangelicals, Jews, and Mormons.
Last month, Falwell announced the formation of Liberty Federation, an umbrella organization that will address a broader range of public policy issues (CT, Feb. 7, 1986, p. 60). Among other issues, the organization will speak out on the strategic defense initiative, the spread of communism, and American foreign policy toward South Africa and the Philippines. Moral Majority is functioning as a subsidiary of Liberty Federation. Another subsidiary, Liberty Alliance, operates as the educational and political lobbying arm of Liberty Federation.
CHRISTIANITY TODAY asked Falwell to assess the Religious Right in 1986. He also outlines his goals for the future, and tells how he has changed after seven years of political activism.
Has the New Right’s political power crested, or will it continue to grow?
The New Right has been very successful, and its influence is growing rapidly. There is a perception across the country that with Ronald Reagan in the White House, the moral issues are on the front burner, the country is moving to the Right, and we have won the battle.
However, most people in the New Right would tell you they are having difficulty raising funds. That is true for two reasons. First, so many more organizations are raising funds out of the same pool. Second, the perception of safety, which our success has created, hurts fund-raising efforts. You don’t do well in fund raising unless you are in trouble.
Organizations in the political Right are realizing that there are X number of people interested in supporting conservative causes, and they are all asking those same people for money. One of my friends receives at least 30 letters a day from political and conservative organizations. The number of organizations needing money is growing faster than the head count of conservative supporters. So some of these organizations are going to die out.
But these factors have not affected the Christian Right. Our supporters back us out of a spiritual motivation, rather than political motivation. Our budget is $100 million—the largest ever. Our supporters are giving continuously, regardless of who is in the White House.
The New Right has had a positive influence on the Christian Right. They have educated us on many of the issues, giving us political savvy in a hurry. And groups like Moral Majority have spawned hundreds of groups of conservative Christians who are now registered voters. They are speaking to the issues, and they are politically involved. The next step for us is challenging our people to run for office. We probably have 90 to 100 running this year.
Your statements last fall opposing economic sanctions against South Africa raised the ire of many Americans, including religious leaders. Isn’t this a problem that has no simple theological answer?
I don’t know any reasonable Christian who supports apartheid. So we begin from a point of agreement. But there is tremendous diversity on how to solve the problem. I have fundamentalist friends who disagree with my position on South Africa.
I want to see every one of the 30 million residents of South Africa participating in the political process there. And I want to see it happen as quickly as possible. But I don’t want South Africa to go the route of Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Angola. When colonialism became history in Africa and Europeans moved out instantly, bloodbaths occurred. The citizens of those countries had not had time to develop the expertise to operate a fair and reasonable government.
The gradual move toward reform that South African President P. W. Botha is committed to will eventually bring a participatory government. It will bring an end to apartheid, and provide prosperity without bloodshed.
Now, the African National Congress (ANC) and its arm inside the country, the United Democratic Front, are advocating violence. Half of the 800 people who have died have been blacks killed by blacks. There has been brutality, and you can’t excuse all the conduct of the South African government any more than you can the ANC.
Change can take place. But intervention from outside—from the Soviets or the United States—will create havoc. We need to use economic pressure and a lot of restraint to give them time to do in a few years what it took America 170 years to accomplish.
Your stands on political matters give rise to criticism from both the Right and the Left. How do you live with that kind of tension?
I have a relative position of safety as pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church, in Lynchburg, Virginia. We have 21,000 members who have grown up with me since the inception of the church 30 years ago. They know where I’m coming from. They have seen my views develop.
Many of them were here when we were a part of the segregated South and had no black members. They were here when our first black member was baptized. They saw our philosophy change, and they saw our commitment to noninvolvement in political issues reversed. They were here long enough to hear the rationale and to see that change is not always bad.
They see the weeks and weeks of information and experience that lead up to the public positions I take. As a result, no matter what may be printed in the newspapers, when I come home I have no reaction to calm down. And with no intention of ever running for political office, I don’t have to worry about opinion polls.
When you espouse a position that you know will be criticized, are you prepared to respond to your opponents?
As a younger preacher, I was far more sensitive to public opinion and criticism. There are two college professors who for 15 or 20 years have taped every message I have preached. They try to find some contradiction or ethnic bias or something. Every time they think they find something, they run to the Washington Post. There were days when I responded to them. But one day I realized that no matter who said what, it didn’t hurt me. My response to this garbage did me far more damage than what my critics said or did to me. So I stopped responding long ago. I operate totally on offense now.
Criticism can help keep us accountable. Who carries out that function in your life?
First, I am accountable to God. Next, I am accountable to a local congregation. As a pastor, I can’t have any scandals. And I can’t have a financial debacle because my congregation must have confidence in me. Third, as an organization, we are accountable to our donors. We are audited by an outside accounting firm every year. All of our donors have access to our financial statements.
How has your role changed since you founded Moral Majority?
Before Moral Majority was formed, I had more freedom to express my opinions. Since then, I’ve had to gradually pull in the ropes and be very cautious on making statements until I’ve weighed the impact on our own camp. The South African debate is probably the most volatile one we have been involved in because there are really good people on both sides of the issue.
I’ve had to pull in my tendency to shoot from the hip. I’ve also had to learn that I can’t talk to anybody outside my own family about sensitive subjects, because my comments invariably appear in print. That’s a hard lesson for a very public, extroverted person like myself.
In Lynchburg, I can stop at a hot-dog joint and talk with the guys I went to high school with. That doesn’t mean I don’t have detractors here. I do. But in this town I’m just Jerry.
It’s totally different when I leave Lynchburg. My high visibility has made me become what I don’t like to be: a private person outside of my home town. That is the most painful consequence of what I do.
Liberty University is a special concern of yours. What are your hopes and dreams for that school?
Liberty University is my way of carrying out the dream and vision God has given me. That vision is to give the gospel to the world in my generation. Television and radio are effective; the local church here is effective; our speaking tours are effective. But my hope for making an impact on the world with this generation and generations to come is to train young people in the things that are vital to the cause of world evangelization.
Now in our fifteenth year, we have 6,900 students. We have 75 majors, and we are fully accredited. Our master’s program is in place, and our doctoral program begins this fall. We’re also planning to start a law school. When you include our elementary and high school, we have 8,500 students. We have a dream of 50,000 students shortly after the first of the century.
There are several areas where Liberty University can reverse the trends that have corrupted society. We have trained 1,000 preachers. We have also trained journalists. We have a large business major, and a large education major. Our students who major in political science are required to work as interns in Washington for senators and congressmen. One of our graduates is running for Congress this fall. One day we will be doing what Harvard has done. We’ll have hundreds of our graduates running for office.
How is God moving you further along the ministry path he has set for you?
At age 52, my spiritual growth is as important as it was 34 years ago when I became a Christian. The study of the Word of God, my personal relationship with God, and my time in fellowship and prayer are as vital, if not more so, now as in the past.
I read a lot—not only the Bible and books about the Bible and men and women of God—but also books like Iacocca and Losing Ground. I try to read all the best sellers that are coming out so the world doesn’t walk past us. I probably read two books a week. I have to make some sacrifices in order to find the time to do that. I’m trying to improve myself. I’m trying to learn. I’m trying as hard to grow now as I did 30 years ago so that I am capable of leading the people that God has put under my ministry.
What would you like your legacy to be?
I’d like to be remembered as a good husband, father, and pastor. That is my first calling. I’ve got three children in school. Two of them are in college, and one is in law school. We do everything together. I may fail in a lot of areas, but, God willing, it won’t be at home.
Likewise, as pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church, I’m always here on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday morning. I won’t miss two Wednesday nights a year. And I don’t miss any Sunday mornings.
NORTH AMERICAN SCENE
PROLIFE DEMONSTRATION
36,000 March in Washington
The annual March for Life brought an estimated 36,000 people to Washington, D.C., last month to protest legalized abortion. The demonstration marked the thirteenth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling that made abortion legal in the United States.
Marchers gathered on the Ellipse behind the White House where they heard an address by President Reagan via a telephone and loudspeaker hookup. “We will continue to work together with members of Congress to overturn the tragedy of Roe v. Wade,” Reagan said.
The demonstrators also heard from members of Congress, including U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and U.S. Rep. Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.). “The success of this movement is assured,” Kemp said, “not only because it’s predicated on those Judeo-Christian values upon which America was founded, but because it is pro-people.”
The demonstrators marched to the Supreme Court building and the Capitol, where they lobbied members of Congress. Ten persons were arrested for demonstrating at the Supreme Court, and 31 others were arrested for protests at two Washington, D.C., abortion clinics.
Proponents of legalized abortion used the occasion to criticize the prolife movement. Eleanor Smeal, president of the National Organization for Women, said her group is planning a major march in Washington this spring in support of artificial contraception and legalized abortion.
UNIFICATION CHURCH
Voices of Dissent
Two newsletters are calling for change in the Unification Church, the cult headed by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon.
The newsletters, published by members of the Unification Church, call for greater freedom in personal lifestyles, more democratic participation by members, and doctrinal reform. One of the newsletters, The Round Table, was started last year by graduates of the Unification Theological Seminary in Barrytown, New York. The other, called Our Network, was begun in 1984 to support Moonies who are moving out of the cult’s mainstream.
Our Network editor Aquacena Lopez said most of Moon’s followers live outside the communal centers that serve as bases for the Unification Church’s missionary work. She said those followers feel rejected by Moon’s organization.
David Doose, an editor of The Round Table, said many members oppose the authoritarian style of Unification leaders from Eastern nations, primarily Korea. Another Round Table editor said many Unificationists want Moon’s organization to stress a stronger relationship to historic Christianity.
Doose said a Unification Church newsletter called The Pyramid is being published in part to counter the impact of The Round Table. However, Pyramid editor Dan Stringer said his newsletter is “only meant to articulate the faith of many members.” Stringer, a member of a Unification anti-Communist organization called CAUSA, said many of the dissenters “have not reconciled themselves to authority.… [They] leave themselves little choice but to move on and go beyond the Unification Church.”
TRENDS
Poor Do Worse in 1985
Demands for emergency food and shelter rose sharply last year in most of the 25 cities surveyed by the United States Conference of Mayors.
A report prepared by the organization says the demand for emergency food rose an average of 28 percent during 1985. Officials in 66 percent of the cities said the demand is so great that they must turn people away from their emergency food assistance programs.
Demands for shelter increased in 90 percent of the cities surveyed, staying the same in the remaining cities. Officials in most of the 25 cities said poverty levels remained the same or increased during 1985.
In a separate study, the National Urban League reported that economic and social gaps between blacks and whites in America widened significantly last year. In its annual report, the civil rights organization said income and educational attainment among blacks has declined in relation to whites. Poverty, youth unemployment, and single-parent families among black Americans increased.
National Urban League president John E. Jacob said government figures show that in 1984, the latest year for which figures are available, the median income of blacks dropped to 56 percent of the white median income. In 1970, the figure was 62 percent.
PEOPLE AND EVENTS
Briefly Noted
Damaged: By fire, the platform area of Chicago’s historic Moody Church. Fire destroyed the church’s pulpit, a grand piano, parts of a pipe organ, and the public address system. No one was injured in the blaze. Authorities said an intruder ransacked two church offices and then apparently ignited the fire after pouring a flammable liquid around the pulpit. Damage to the church was estimated at $500,000.
Appointed: To chair the board of World Vision International, Roberta Hestenes, director of the Christian Formation and Discipleship Program at Fuller Theological Seminary. An ordained Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) minister, Hestenes is the first woman to head the World Vision board in the agency’s 35-year history.
Died: Former Wheaton (Ill.) College registrar Enock C. Dyrness, 83, on January 15, in Walnut Creek, California. A 1923 Wheaton College graduate, Dyrness served on the college’s faculty and administration for more than 40 years.
Presented: To Navajo official Edward T. Begay, a copy of the first complete Bible translated into the Navajo language. The Navajo nation, representing 220,000 native Americans, first received the complete New Testament in its language in 1956. Navajo Bible Translators, with financial support from Wycliffe Bible Translators and the American Bible Society, finished the complete Navajo Bible last year.
