Earlier this week I was reading USA Today's on-line coverage of Jerry Falwell's funeral. USA Today has recently added a nifty thing to their articles: readers can comment just like on a blog. As you might imagine, Falwell's funeral drew lots and lots of comments. As you might imagine, not all of these were particularly gracious.
In the immediacy of the moment, my ire was raised and I decided to create a username and jump in order to defend Falwell. But I suddenly stopped. First off, those two words "defend Falwell" had never before been put in that order in my own mind in my entire life. And secondly, I couldn't think of anything really positive to say.
And so it leaves me at the end of the week pondering this man's legacy. On the 'friend' side, Falwell was certainly a fellow believer, a brother in Christ, and he woke up many conservative Christians who were apathetic about political issues.
On the 'foe' side, Falwell created a monster of a politically conservative Christian sub-culture that nearly demanded that the words "evangelical Christian" and "Republican" were synonymous. This was certainly not the case before his rise to prominence in the late 1980's. Conservative Christians were very instrumental in electing dark-horse Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter in the 1970's.
Falwell made waves everywhere he went. He took strong stands on significant cultural issues but often did so in ways that were alienating rather than bridge-building. The fall-out of this in my own experience has been that sometimes people on the journey towards Christian faith are worried that they'll be associated with folks like that. Or that they have to become an angry Republican in order to become a Christian.
Falwell will always be remembered for his fresh alchemy of politics and religion. From my little corner of the world as a Christian, I think that his net impact has been negative in the broader culture. But maybe one day when the curtain's pulled back and all is revealed for what it truly was, I'll see that I was very, very wrong.
5 comments:
I missed a lot of Falwell's heyday, lost in the colossal decisions demanded by puberty and high school. Concerning divisive issues like this, I usually assume people extreme and always think some other side of the story must exist. In Falwell's case, I have yet to hear anyone come to his defense, to tell the other side.
I think this is telling.
Still, it was rather difficult to watch the response of folks on news stations and in newspaper editorials when he passed away. A mood of celebration seemed to hover, and I just have a hard time celebrating death, especially so immediately upon one's passing. I remember feeling the same way when Saddam Husein was hanged. Regardless of what people did in life, it's just hard to celebrate death. In both these instances, it seemed as if people were doing so, which was hard to swallow.
I thought often in the days after his death what the appropriate response was. Not really being aware of his influence, I had no answer to this. I just have a hard time believing that celebration was that answer.
Falwell was . . . inflammatory and controversial - yes. Malicious - I seriously doubt it. So then, where does that leave us, because I'm sure that i don't entirely represent Christ as He would like me to. I'm sure there are plenty of ways that I misrepresent the gospel that just don't get the same press coverage that Falwell got.
Also, less covered in the press were ministries Falwell started to care for pregnant unwed mothers and men with drug addictions. Is it really our place anyways to evaluate the summative impact that a person has had - esp. in light of God's sovereignty? If anything, Falwell has at least stirred many people from apathy about God and Christianity, which in my opinion makes our goal of engagement with non-xns a bit easier . . . you know the whole hot or cold not lukewarm thing.
I do find myself in a strange place, though (definitely feelin' you, Alex) in "defending" Falwell - because I for one know that I wasn't exactly speaking kind and encouraging words about him during his life . . . and for that I need to repent.
I didn't know him personally, so I can't speak to any influence he had on an individual level. But I did know him publically, and from what I saw, his overall public impact was negative.
But I can't rejoice in that he's dead. However, I do rejoice that I will never hear him again say that "(some horrible tragedy) was God's punishment against (some group of innocent people faintly affiliated with group that Falwell hated)"
Personally, I attribute his more inflamatory comments like the above^ to him just simply being old. He is a passionate guy who cared deeply for the Lord and for this country, who occasionally spoke out of turn. RIP
jeff,
thanks for jumping into the conversation.
while i certainly don't want to create a one-sided straw man out of falwell or his legacy, i think to simply ascribe such statments to his being old gets him off the hook too easily. billy graham is also passionate and does not regularly make stupid comments such as the above. age is not a pass to simply spout off at the mouth and say whatever.
but i certainly agree that from what i can see he cared deeply for the lord and for the country. i just wish that he would have done so with the same passion but much greater winsome-ness...
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