Young evangelicals came of age with George W. Bush as their president and the media as their caretaker. And when Jerry Falwell died last week, many didn’t really get it.
One young conservative in Michigan confused the Rev. Dr. Jerry Falwell with Fred Phelps, the Kansas pastor who pickets soldiers’ funerals, and wondered whether his death was a good thing.
Another young conservative, this one in Washington, D.C., described him as an extreme fundamentalist who hurt the conservative movement.
Journalism students know him best for the landmark case Hustler Magazine and Larry C. Flynt v. Jerry Falwell, which reached the Supreme Court in 1998. Flynt had published a vicious parody ad featuring Falwell, which the high court upheld as "free speech."
So who was Jerry Falwell, and what is his legacy?
“Jerry’s passions and convictions have helped to change the course of our country for the better for more than 30 years, and I was glad to call him my friend,” Dr. James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family Action, told his radio listeners last week.
“In the late 1970s, Dr. Falwell led socially conservative Christians out of isolation and into direct confrontation with the culture, especially on the evil of abortion. He kind of led the way, and I was listening, and I learned from him.”
Young evangelicals also can learn from him.
“I think they have to learn not to cede the political ground to the Left,” said Dr. Lee Edwards, distinguished fellow in conservative thought at the Heritage Foundation.
“They cannot just stay in their churches and read the Bible and go to prayer meetings. They are going to have to get involved in the politics of the day – and that was Jerry Falwell’s message. Jerry Falwell was a brilliant, consummate organizer.”
Steve Watters, director of young adults at Focus on the Family, said Falwell stepped into the battle early and therefore took a lot of the enemy fire.
“Since Christians still get a lot of their news from mainstream sources, we know the reporting we’re going to get on conservatives like Dr. Dobson, Dr. Falwell or Dr. Robertson is rarely going to be flattering,” he said.
“I think a lot of Christians would rather avoid the fights of our day, and they think it’s guys like Falwell or Dobson who are starting the fights, when in reality they are often the only ones willing to stick their neck out to defend our eroding Christian liberties.”
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, issued a statement saying Falwell “was a pioneer whose legacy, marked by courage and candor, blazed the trail for all men and women of conviction to engage — boldly — on the great questions of our day.”
