Incubator escapee wiki

Jerry Falwell

Article Discussion

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Lead too short Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr.Template:Efn (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007)<ref name="times">Template:Cite news</ref> was an American Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservative activist.<ref name=soulforce/> He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia. He founded Lynchburg Christian Academy, later renamed Liberty Christian Academy, in 1967, founded Liberty University in 1971, and co-founded the Moral Majority in 1979.

Early life and educationEdit

Falwell and his twin brother Gene were born in the Fairview Heights area of Lynchburg, Virginia, on August 11, 1933, the sons of Helen Virginia (née Beasley) and Carey Hezekiah Falwell.<ref name=NYT051507/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His father was an entrepreneur and one-time bootlegger who was agnostic.<ref name=NYT051507/> His father shot and killed his brother Garland and died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1948 at the age of 55.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite magazine</ref> His paternal grandfather was a staunch atheist.<ref name=NYT051507/> Jerry Falwell was a member of a group in Fairview Heights known to the police as "the Wall Gang" because they sat on a low concrete wall at the Pickeral Café.Template:Sfn Falwell met Macel Pate on his first visit to Park Avenue Baptist Church in 1949; Macel was a pianist there.<ref name=":0" /> They married on April 12, 1958.Template:Sfn The couple had two sons, Jerry Jr. (a lawyer who succeeded Jerry Sr. as president of Liberty University until 2020) and Jonathan (who succeeded Jerry Sr. as senior pastor at Thomas Road Baptist Church, and became chancellor of Liberty University in 2023), and a daughter, Jeannie (a surgeon).

Falwell and his wife had a close relationship, and she supported him throughout his career. The Falwells often appeared together in public, and did not shy away from showing physical affection. Of his marriage, Falwell jokingly said: "Macel and I have never considered divorce. Murder maybe, but never divorce." Macel appreciated her husband's non-combative, affable nature, writing in her book that he "hated confrontation and didn't want strife in our homeTemplate:Nbsp... he did everything in his power to make me happy." The Falwells had been married for nearly 50 years when Jerry died.Template:Sfn

Falwell graduated from Brookville High School in Lynchburg, and from then-unaccredited<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, in 1956. He enrolled there to subvert Pate's relationship with her fiancé, who was a student there.<ref name=":0" /> Falwell was later awarded three honorary doctorates: Doctor of Divinity (1968) from Tennessee Temple Theological Seminary, Doctor of Letters from California Graduate School of Theology, and Doctor of Laws from Central University in Seoul, South Korea.<ref name="official biography">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Associated organizationsEdit

Thomas Road Baptist ChurchEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

In 1956, aged 22, Falwell founded the Thomas Road Baptist Church. Originally at 701 Thomas Road in Lynchburg, with 35 members, it became a megachurch. Also in 1956, Falwell began The Old-Time Gospel Hour, a nationally syndicated radio and television ministry. When Falwell died, his son Jonathan inherited his father's ministry, and took over as the church's senior pastor.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The weekly program's name was then changed to Thomas Road Live.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref>

Liberty Christian AcademyEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} During the 1950s and 1960s, Falwell spoke and campaigned against the civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. and the racial desegregation of public school systems by the federal government. Liberty Christian Academy (LCA, founded as Lynchburg Christian Academy) is a Christian school in Lynchburg that the Lynchburg News in 1966 called "a private school for white students".

Falwell opened The Lynchburg Christian Academy in 1967 as a segregation academy and a ministry of Thomas Road Baptist Church.Template:Sfnm

The Liberty Christian Academy is recognized as an educational facility by the Commonwealth of Virginia through the Virginia State Board of Education,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Southern Association of Colleges and Schools,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the Association of Christian Schools International.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Liberty UniversityEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

In 1971, Falwell co-founded Liberty University with Elmer L. Towns.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Liberty University offers over 350 accredited programs of study, with approximately 16,000 students on-campus and 100,000 online.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Moral MajorityEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

File:Ford B1710 NLGRF photo contact sheet (1976-09-30)(Gerald Ford Library) (cropped).jpg
Falwell greeting President Gerald Ford in 1976
File:President Ronald Reagan and Jerry Falwell.jpg
Falwell with President Ronald Reagan in 1983
File:Bush Contact Sheet P19932 (cropped).jpg
Falwell with President George H. W. Bush in 1991

During the 1980s, the Moral Majority became one of the largest political lobbies for evangelical Christians in the U.S.<ref name=MSNBC>Template:Cite news</ref> According to Falwell's autobiography, the Moral Majority was promoted as "pro-life, pro-traditional family, pro-moral, and pro-American"Template:Sfn and was credited with delivering two-thirds of the white evangelical vote to Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election.Template:Sfnm According to Jimmy Carter, "that autumn [1980] a group headed by Jerry Falwell purchased $10 million in commercials on southern radio and TV to brand me as a traitor to the South and no longer a Christian."Template:Sfn As head of the Moral Majority, Falwell consistently supported Republican candidates and conservative politics. This led Billy Graham to criticize him for "sermonizing" about political issues that lacked a moral element. At the time of Falwell's death, Graham said: "We did not always agree on everything, but I knew him to be a man of God. His accomplishments went beyond most clergy of his generation."<ref name=MSNBC/>

PTLEdit

File:Jerryfalwellwaterslide.jpg
Falwell rides the water slide at Heritage USA.

In March 1987, Pentecostal televangelist Jim Bakker came under media scrutiny when it was revealed that he had a sexual encounter with, and allegedly raped, Jessica Hahn, and had paid for her silence.<ref name=Time12-1988>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Bakker believed that fellow Pentecostal pastor Jimmy Swaggart was attempting to take over his ministry because he had initiated a church investigation into allegations of his sexual misconduct.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> To avoid the takeover, Bakker resigned on March 19 and appointed Falwell to succeed him as head of his PTL ministry, which included the PTL Satellite Network, television program The PTL Club and the Christian-themed amusement park Heritage USA.<ref name="Observer">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Bakker believed Falwell would lead the ministry temporarily, until the scandal died down,<ref name="ATC">Template:Cite news</ref> but Falwell barred Bakker from returning to PTL on April 28,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> calling him "probably the greatest scab and cancer on the face of Christianity in 2,000 years of church history".<ref name="Observer"/> Later that summer, as donations to the ministry declined in the wake of Bakker's scandal and resignation, Falwell raised $20 million to keep PTL solvent and delivered on a promise to ride the water slide at Heritage USA.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Despite this, Falwell was unable to save the ministry from bankruptcy, and he resigned in October 1987.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Social and political viewsEdit

Template:Conservatism US

FamiliesEdit

Falwell advocated beliefs and practices influenced by his version of biblical teachings.Template:Sfn

TithingEdit

In 1989, he told Liberty University employees that membership in his church and tithing were mandatory.<ref> Associated Press, Falwell Mandates Tithing and Church Membership for All of His Employees, latimes.com, USA, March 11, 1989 </ref>

Vietnam WarEdit

Falwell felt the Vietnam War was being fought with "limited political objectives" when it should have been an all-out war against the North.Template:Sfn In general, Falwell held that the president "as a minister of God" has the right to use arms to "bring wrath upon those who would do evil."Template:Sfn

Civil rightsEdit

On his evangelist program The Old-Time Gospel Hour in the mid-1960s, Falwell regularly featured segregationist politicians like governors Lester Maddox and George Wallace.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Of Martin Luther King Jr., he said: "I do question the sincerity and nonviolent intentions of some civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mr. James Farmer, and others, who are known to have left-wing associations."Template:Sfn

Of Brown v. Board of Education, he said in 1958:

<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

Template:ErrorTemplate:Main other{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries

}}

{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}

In 1977, Falwell supported Anita Bryant's "Save Our Children" campaign to overturn an ordinance in Dade County, Florida, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. He supported a similar movement in California.<ref name = NYT051507/>

Twenty-eight years later, during a 2005 MSNBC television appearance, Falwell said he was not troubled by reports that the nominee for Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, John G. Roberts, had done volunteer legal work for gay rights activists in the case Romer v. Evans. Falwell told then-MSNBC host Tucker Carlson that if he were a lawyer, he too would argue for civil rights for LGBT people. "I may not agree with the lifestyle, but that has nothing to do with the civil rights of that part of our constituency", said Falwell. When Carlson countered that conservatives "are always arguing against 'special rights' for gays", Falwell said equal access to housing and employment are basic rights, not special rights. "Civil rights for all Americans, black, white, red, yellow, the rich, poor, young, old, gay, straight, et cetera, is not a liberal or conservative value. It's an American value that I would think that we pretty much all agree on."<ref name=soulforce>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Israel and JewsEdit

Falwell's relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin was reported in the media in 1981.<ref>Mouly, Ruth, and Roland Robertson. "Zionism in American Premillenarian Fundamentalism." American Journal of Theology & Philosophy, vol. 4, no. 3, 1983, p. 103. JSTOR website Retrieved 27 May 2023.</ref> Falwell's staunch pro-Israel stance, sometimes called "Christian Zionism", drew the support of the Anti-Defamation League and its leader Abraham Foxman,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but they condemned what they perceived intolerance toward Muslims in Falwell's public statements.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They also criticized him for saying that "Jews can make more money accidentally than you can on purpose".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="jews">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In his book Listen, America!, Falwell called the Jewish people "spiritually blind and desperately in need of their Messiah and Savior."Template:Sfn

In the 1984 book Jerry Falwell and the Jews, Falwell is quoted saying: <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

I feel that the destiny of the state of Israel is without question the most crucial international matter facing the world today. I believe that the people of Israel have not only a theological but also a historical and legal right to the land. I am personally a Zionist, having gained that perspective from my belief in Old Testament Scriptures. I have also visited Israel many times. I have arrived at the conclusion that unless the United States maintains its unswerving devotion to the State of Israel, the very survival of that nation is at stakeTemplate:Nbsp... Every American who agrees Israel has the right to the land must be willing to exert all possible pressure on the powers that be to guarantee America's support of the State of Israel at this time.Template:Sfn{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries

}}

{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}

EducationEdit

Falwell repeatedly denounced certain teachings in public schools and secular education in general, calling them breeding grounds for atheism, secularism, and humanism, which he claimed to be in contradiction with Christian morality. He advocated that the U.S. change its public education system by implementing a school voucher system that would allow parents to send their children to either public or private schools. In his book America Can Be Saved, he wrote: "I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won't have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Falwell supported President George W. Bush's Faith Based Initiative, but had strong reservations about where the funding would go and the restrictions placed on churches: <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

My problem is where it might go under his successors. ... I would not want to put any of the Jerry Falwell Ministries in a position where we might be subservient to a future Bill Clinton, God forbid. ... It also concerns me that once the pork barrel is filled, suddenly the Church of Scientology, the Jehovah Witnesses Template:Sic, the various and many denominations and religious groups—and I don't say those words in a pejorative way—begin applying for money—and I don't see how any can be turned down because of their radical and unpopular views. I don't know where that would take us.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries

}}

{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}

ApartheidEdit

In the 1980s Falwell said sanctions against South Africa's apartheid regime would result in what, he felt, would be a worse situation, such as a Soviet-backed revolution. He also urged his followers to buy up gold Krugerrands and push U.S. "reinvestment" in South Africa.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 1985 he drew the ire of many when he called Nobel Peace Prize winner and Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu a phony "as far as representing the black people of South Africa".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="Pear 1985">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The Clinton ChroniclesEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

In 1994, Falwell promoted and distributed the video documentary The Clinton Chronicles: An Investigation into the Alleged Criminal Activities of Bill Clinton. The video purported to connect Bill Clinton to a murder conspiracy involving Vince Foster, James McDougall, Ron Brown, and a cocaine-smuggling operation. The theory was discredited, but the video sold more than 150,000 copies.<ref name="falwell">The Falwell connection Template:Webarchive by Murray Waas Salon.com</ref>

The film's production costs were partly met by "Citizens for Honest Government", to which Falwell paid $200,000 in 1994 and 1995.<ref name="falwell"/> In 1995 Citizens for Honest Government interviewed Arkansas state troopers Roger Perry and Larry Patterson about the Foster murder conspiracy theory. Perry and Patterson also gave information about the allegations in the Paula Jones affair.<ref name="falwell"/>

The infomercial for the 80-minute videotape included footage of Falwell interviewing a silhouetted journalist who claimed to be afraid for his life. The journalist accused Clinton of orchestrating the deaths of several reporters and personal confidants who had gotten too close to his supposed illegal activities. The silhouetted journalist was subsequently revealed to be Patrick Matrisciana, the producer of the video and president of Citizens for Honest Government.<ref name="falwell"/> "Obviously, I'm not an investigative reporter", Matrisciana admitted to investigative journalist Murray Waas.<ref name="falwell"/> Later, Falwell seemed to back away from personally trusting the video. In an interview for the 2005 documentary The Hunting of the President, Falwell said, "to this day I do not know the accuracy of the claims made in The Clinton Chronicles."<ref>The Hunting of the President (DVD) 2005</ref>

Views on homosexualityEdit

Falwell condemned homosexuality as forbidden by the Bible. Homosexual rights groups called Falwell an "agent of intolerance" and "the founder of the anti-gay industry" for statements he had made and for campaigning against LGBT social movements.<ref name=NYT051507/><ref name="Blumenthal 2007"/> Falwell supported Anita Bryant's 1977 "Save Our Children" campaign to overturn a Florida ordinance prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and a similar movement in California.<ref name=NYT051507>Template:Cite news</ref> In urging the ordinance's repeal, Falwell told one crowd, "Gay folks would just as soon kill you as look at you."<ref name=homosexuals>Template:Cite news</ref> When the LGBT-friendly Metropolitan Community Church was almost accepted into the World Council of Churches, Falwell called them "brute beasts" and said they were "part of a vile and satanic system" that "will be utterly annihilated, and there will be a celebration in heaven".<ref name=vile/> He later denied saying this.<ref name=intersex/> Falwell also regularly linked the AIDS epidemic to LGBT issues and said, "AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals, it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals."<ref name=AIDS>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

After comedian and actress Ellen DeGeneres came out as a lesbian, Falwell referred to her in a sermon as "Ellen DeGenerate". DeGeneres responded, "Really, he called me that? Ellen DeGenerate? I've been getting that since the fourth grade. I guess I'm happy I could give him work."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Falwell's legacy regarding homosexuality is complicated by his support for LGBT civil rights and his attempts to reconcile with the LGBT community in later years. In October 1999, he hosted a meeting of 200 evangelicals with 200 gay people and lesbians at Thomas Road Baptist Church for an "Anti-Violence Forum", during which he acknowledged that some evangelicals' comments about homosexuality qualified as hate speech that could incite violence.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the forum, Falwell told homosexuals in attendance, "I don't agree with your lifestyle, I will never agree with your lifestyle, but I love you" and added, "Anything that leaves the impression that we hate the sinner, we want to change that."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He later told New York Times columnist Frank Rich that "admittedly, evangelicals have not exhibited an ability to build a bond of friendship to the gay and lesbian community. We've said go somewhere else, we don't need you here [at] our churches."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

TeletubbiesEdit

In February 1999, a National Liberty Journal article (the media attributed it to Falwell)<ref name=NLJ>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> claimed that Tinky Winky, a Teletubby, was intended as a homosexual role model. The NLJ is a Liberty University publication. A 1998 Salon article had referred to Tinky Winky's status as a gay icon.<ref name=Tubbythump>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Arizona supporter funds largest-ever gift annuity to LU Template:Webarchive (February 27, 2008) By Mitzi Bible – Liberty Journal</ref> In response, Steve Rice, spokesperson for Itsy Bitsy Entertainment, which licenses Teletubbies, a U.K. show for preschool children, in the U.S., said, "I really find it absurd and kind of offensive."<ref name=Tinky>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Winky>Template:Cite news</ref> The NLJ wrote, "he is purple—the gay pride color; and his antenna is shaped like a triangle—the gay-pride symbol". Tinky Winky also carries a magic bag, which the NLJ and Salon called a purse. Falwell added, "role-modeling the gay lifestyle is damaging to the moral lives of children".

September 11 attacksEdit

After the September 11 attacks in 2001, Falwell said on Pat Robertson's The 700 Club, "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.'"<ref name="falwell apology"/><ref name="falwell 9/11">Falwell speaks about WTC disaster, Christian Broadcasting Network Template:Webarchive</ref> In his opinion, LGBT organizations had angered God, thereby in part causing God to let the attacks happen.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Falwell said the attacks were "probably deserved", a statement Christopher Hitchens called treasonous.<ref>"Christopher Hitchens and Ralph Reed Square Off over Late Leader's Influence; the Christian Right." Template:Webarchive Hannity & Colmes. May 17, 2007. FOX News. Retrieved June 23, 2009.</ref> After heavy criticism, Falwell said that no one but the terrorists were to blame and "If I left that impression with gays or lesbians or anyone else, I apologize."<ref name="falwell apology">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="shield of protection">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Falwell was later the object of some of his followers' outrage for retracting his statements about divine judgment on the U.S. and its causes, because they had heard in his preaching for many years that the U.S. must repent of its lack of devotion to God, immoral living, and timid support of Israel if it wanted divine protection and blessing.Template:Sfn

Labor unionsEdit

Falwell said, "Labor unions should study and read the Bible instead of asking for more money. When people get right with God, they are better workers."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Relationship with American fundamentalismEdit

File:Dr. Jerry Falwell holds a religious rally.jpg
Falwell at an "I Love America" rally in 1980

In her extensive ethnographic study of Falwell, cultural anthropologist Susan Friend Harding noted that he adapted his preaching to win a broader, less extremist audience as he grew famous. This manifested itself in several ways. For example, though he was a teetotaler,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Falwell no longer condemned "worldly" lifestyle choices such as dancing, drinking wine, and attending movie theaters; he softened his rhetoric predicting an apocalypse and God's vengeful wrath; and he shifted from a belief in outright biblical patriarchy to a complementarian view of appropriate gender roles. He also began to aim his strongest criticism at "secular humanists", pagans, and liberals rather than engaging in the racist, antisemitic, and anti-Catholic rhetoric common among Southern fundamentalist preachers but increasingly condemned as hate speech by the consensus of American society.Template:Sfn

IslamEdit

Falwell opposed Islam. According to Asharq Al-Awsat, a pan-Arab newspaper, he called Islam "satanic".<ref>A case that is forgotten...another group of takfir from Arab-West Report</ref> In a televised interview with 60 Minutes, Falwell called Muhammad a "terrorist", adding, "I concluded from reading Muslim and non-Muslim writers that Muhammad was a violent man, a man of war." Falwell later apologized to Muslims for what he had said about Muhammad and affirmed that he did not intend to offend "honest and peace-loving" Muslims, but he refused to remove his comments about Islam from his website.<ref>Rev. Jerry Falwell: I think Muhammad was a terrorist from Arab-West Report</ref><ref>Recent developments from Arab-West Report</ref> In response, Egyptian Christian intellectuals signed a statement condemning what Falwell had said about Muhammad being a terrorist.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Legal issuesEdit

Beginning in the 1970s, Falwell was involved in legal matters that occupied much of his time and increased his name recognition.

SEC and bondsEdit

In 1972, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched an investigation of bonds issued by Falwell's organizations. The SEC charged Falwell's church with "fraud and deceit" in the issuance of $6.5 million in unsecured church bonds.<ref name="npr-potent">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The church won a 1973 federal court case prosecuted at the SEC's behest. The court exonerated the church and ruled that while technical violations of law did occur, there was no proof the church intended any wrongdoing.

Falwell versus PenthouseEdit

Falwell filed a $10 million lawsuit against Penthouse for publishing an article based on interviews he gave to freelance reporters, after failing to convince a federal court to enjoin the article's publication. The suit was dismissed in federal district court in 1981 on the grounds that the article was not defamatory or an invasion of Falwell's privacy (the Virginia courts had not recognized this privacy tort, which is recognized in other states).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hustler Magazine v. FalwellEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

In 1983, Larry Flynt's pornographic magazine Hustler ran a parody of a Campari ad featuring a mock "interview" with Falwell in which he admits that his "first time" was incest with his mother in an outhouse while drunk. Falwell sued for $45 million, alleging invasion of privacy, libel, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> A jury rejected the invasion of privacy and libel claims, holding that the parody could not have reasonably been taken to describe true events, but ruled in Falwell's favor on the emotional distress claim and awarded damages of $200,000. This was upheld on appeal. Flynt then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which unanimously held that the First Amendment prevents public figures from recovering damages for emotional distress caused by parodies.

After Falwell's death, Flynt said of Falwell:

My mother always told me that no matter how much you dislike a person, when you meet them face to face you will find characteristics about them that you like. Jerry Falwell was a perfect example of that. I hated everything he stood for, but after meeting him in person, years after the trial, Jerry Falwell and I became good friends. He would visit me in California and we would debate together on college campuses. I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Falwell versus Jerry SloanEdit

File:Jerry Falwell, 1984.jpg
Falwell in Tallahassee, Florida, in 1984

In 1984, Falwell was ordered to pay gay rights activist and former Baptist Bible College classmate Jerry Sloan $5,000 after losing a court battle. In July 1984 during a televised debate in Sacramento, California, Falwell denied calling the gay-friendly Metropolitan Community Churches "brute beasts" and "a vile and Satanic system" that will "one day be utterly annihilated and there will be a celebration in heaven".<ref name=vile>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

When Sloan insisted he had a tape, Falwell promised $5,000 if he could produce it. Sloan did, Falwell refused to pay, and Sloan successfully sued.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The money was donated to build Sacramento's first LGBT community center, the Lambda Community Center, serving "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex" communities.<ref name="intersex">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Falwell appealed the decision, with his attorney charging that the Jewish judge in the case was prejudiced. He lost again and was made to pay an additional $2,875 in sanctions and court fees.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Trademark infringement lawsuit against Christopher LamparelloEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} In Lamparello v. Falwell, a dispute over the ownership of the Internet domain fallwell.com, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed an earlier District Court decision, arguing that Christopher Lamparello, who owned the domain, "clearly created his website intending only to provide a forum to criticize ideas, not to steal customers."<ref name="websitelawsuit">Supreme Court declines Falwell Web appeal Associated Press. April 17, 2006</ref> Lamparello's website described itself as not being connected to Jerry Falwell and is critical of Falwell's views on homosexuality.<ref name="websitelawsuit" /> On April 17, 2006, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the Appeals Court's ruling that Lamparello's usage of the domain was legal.

Before that, a different man had turned over jerryfalwell.com and jerryfallwell.com after Falwell threatened to sue for trademark infringement.<ref name="websitelawsuit" /> Lawyers for Public Citizen Litigation Group's Internet Free Speech project represented the domain name owners in both cases.

Apocalyptic beliefsEdit

On July 31, 2006, CNN's Paula Zahn Now program featured a segment on "whether the crisis in the Middle East is actually a prelude to the end of the world". In an interview, Falwell said, "I believe in the pre-millennial, pre-tribulational coming of Christ for all of his church, and to summarize that, your first poll, do you believe Jesus' coming the second time will be in the future, I would vote yes with the 59 percent and with Billy Graham and most evangelicals."<ref>Paula Zahn Now, CNN: Transcript. Template:Webarchive July 31, 2006.</ref> Based on that and other statements, Falwell has been identified as a dispensationalist.Template:Sfn

In 1999, Falwell said the Antichrist would probably arrive within a decade and "of course he'll be Jewish".<ref name="Antichrist">Template:Cite news</ref> After accusations of antisemitism, Falwell apologized and explained he was simply expressing the theological tenet that the Antichrist and Christ share many attributes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Failing health and deathEdit

In early 2005, Falwell was hospitalized for two weeks with a viral infection, discharged, and re-hospitalized on May 30, 2005, in respiratory arrest.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="condition">Falwell is taken off ventilator, upgraded to stable condition Template:Webarchive. USA Today. May 30, 2005</ref> He was released from the hospital and returned to work. Later that year, a stent was implanted to correct a 70 percent blockage in his coronary arteries.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

At about 10:45 a.m. on May 15, 2007, Falwell was found unconscious and without a pulse in his office after he missed a morning appointment, and was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> "I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast... He went to his office, I went to mine and they found him unresponsive", said Ron Godwin, the executive vice president of Liberty University. His condition was initially reported as "gravely serious"; CPR was administered unsuccessfully. At 2:10 p.m., during a live press conference, a doctor from the hospital confirmed that Falwell had died of "cardiac arrhythmia, or sudden cardiac death".<ref name="Transcript">Transcript CNN.com, May 15, 2007</ref> The hospital released a statement saying that he was pronounced dead at Lynchburg General Hospital at 12:40 p.m. He was 73. Falwell's wife<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and sons were at the hospital at the time of the pronouncement.

File:Jerry Falwell Sr + Macel Pate Falwell Shared Gravestone.jpg
The Falwells' shared headstone

Falwell's funeral took place on May 22, 2007, at Thomas Road Baptist Church after he had lain in repose both at the church and at Liberty University. Falwell's burial service was private. He is interred at a spot on the Liberty University campus near the Carter Glass Mansion and Falwell's office. B. R. Lakin, his mentor, is buried nearby. After Falwell's death, his sons succeeded him at the two positions he held, Jerry Falwell Jr. as president of Liberty University and Jonathan Falwell as the senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church. Jerry Falwell Sr.'s daughter, Jeannie F. Savas, is a surgeon.

The last televised interview with Jerry Falwell Sr. was conducted by Christiane Amanpour for the CNN original series CNN Presents: God's Warriors<ref>Template:Usurped from CNN Template:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> on May 8, 2007, a week before his death; in the interview he said that he had asked God for at least 20 more years in order to accomplish his vision for the university he founded.<ref name="Transcript"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Falwell's last televised sermon was his May 13, 2007, message on Mother's Day.

LegacyEdit

Views on Falwell's legacy are mixed. Supporters praise his advancement of his socially conservative message. They tout his evangelist ministries and his stress on church planting and growth. Conversely, many of his detractors have accused him of hate speech and identified him as an "agent of intolerance".<ref name="Blumenthal 2007"/>

The antitheistic social commentator Christopher Hitchens called Falwell's work "Chaucerian fraud" and "faith-based fraud". Hitchens took special umbrage at Falwell's alignment with "the most thuggish and demented Israeli settlers"<ref name=slate2/> and his declaration that 9/11 represented God's judgment of America's sinful behavior, deeming it "extraordinary that not even such a scandalous career is enough to shake our dumb addiction to the 'faith-based.'"<ref name=slate2/> Hitchens also said that, despite his support for Israel, Falwell "kept saying to his own crowd, yes, you have got to like the Jews, because they can make more money in 10 minutes than you can make in a lifetime".<ref name=slate2>Hitchens, Christopher. "Jerry Falwell, faith-based fraud Template:Webarchive." Slate. May 16, 2007. Retrieved September 3, 2013.</ref> Appearing on CNN the day after Falwell's death, Hitchens said, "The empty life of this ugly little charlatan proves only one thing: that you can get away with the most extraordinary offenses to morality and to truth in this country if you will just get yourself called 'reverend'."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

At one point, prank callers, especially home activists, were an estimated 25 percent of Falwell's total calls until the ministry disconnected the toll-free number in 1986.<ref>Hayduke, George. "Prey TV", Screw Unto Others: Revenge Tactics for all Occasions. pg. 166</ref> In the mid-1980s, Edward Johnson programmed his Atari home computer to make thousands of repeat phone calls to Falwell's toll-free number as a response to Falwell's having, Johnson felt, swindled large amounts of money from his followers, including Johnson's mother. Southern Bell forced Johnson to stop after he had run up Falwell's telephone bill by an estimated $500,000.<ref name=belltoll>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Jerry Falwell Jr. is a lawyer; he became president of Liberty University after his father's death and was put on indefinite leave from that position on August 7, 2020, after posting an inappropriate photo with a young woman on social media. He resigned on August 24 amid further questions about his and his wife's sexual and financial involvement with an associate.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>ReutersTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Falwell Jr. later said that the real reason his father began attending church as a teenager was that he had fallen in love with Macel, who played piano there and was engaged at the time, and that Falwell Sr. had used deception to convince her to break off the engagement.<ref name="vanf">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Director Terrence Malick has an unproduced screenplay about the lives of Falwell and pianist-singer Jerry Lee Lewis.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

PublicationsEdit

See alsoEdit

NotesEdit

Template:Notelist

ReferencesEdit

FootnotesEdit

Template:Reflist

BibliographyEdit

Template:Refbegin

Template:Refend

External linksEdit

Template:Sisterlinks 

 | name/{{#if:{{#invoke:ustring|match|1=0266566|2=^nm}}
   | Template:Trim/
   | nm0266566/
   }}
 | {{#if: {{#property:P345}}
   | name/Template:First word/
   | find?q=%7B%7B%23if%3A+Jerry+Falwell%0A++++++%7C+Jerry+Falwell%0A++++++%7C+%5B%5B%3ATemplate%3APAGENAMEBASE%5D%5D%0A++++++%7D%7D&s=nm
   }}
 }}{{#if:  0266566 {{#property:P345}} | {{#switch: 
 | award | awards = awards Awards for | biography | bio = bio Biography for
 }}}} {{#if: Jerry Falwell
 | Jerry Falwell
 | Template:PAGENAMEBASE
 }}] at IMDb{{#if: 0266566{{#property:P345}}
 | Template:EditAtWikidata
 | Template:Main other

}}{{#switch:{{#invoke:string2|matchAny|^nm.........|^nm.......|nm|.........|source=0266566|plain=false}} 

 | 1 | 3 =  Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning
 | 4 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning

}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:IMDb name with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|showblankpositional=1| 1 | 2 | id | name | section }}

Template:S-start Template:S-rel Template:S-new Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft Template:S-aca Template:S-new Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft Template:S-npo Template:S-new Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft Template:S-end

Template:American Social Conservatism Template:PTL scandal Template:Evangelical Protestantism in the United States Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://zalansite.site/mediawiki/index.php?title=Jerry_Falwell&oldid=10531"