Jerry Falwell

In 1956, aged 22, Falwell founded the Thomas Road Baptist Church. Originally located at 701 Thomas Road in Lynchburg, Virginia, with 35 members, the church became a megachurch. In the same year, he 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 senior pastor of the church.[15] The weekly program's name was then changed to Thomas Road Live.[16][17]

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 US federal government. Liberty Christian Academy (LCA, founded as Lynchburg Christian Academy) is a Christian school in Lynchburg which was described in 1966 by the Lynchburg News as "a private school for white students".

The Lynchburg Christian Academy later opened in 1967 by Falwell as a segregation academy and as a ministry of Thomas Road Baptist Church.[18]

The Liberty Christian Academy is recognized as an educational facility by the Commonwealth of Virginia through the Virginia State Board of Education,[19] Southern Association of Colleges and Schools,[20] and the Association of Christian Schools International.[21]

In 1971, Falwell co-founded Liberty University with Elmer L. Towns.[22] Liberty University offers over 350 accredited programs of study, with approximately 13,000 students on-campus and 90,000 online.[23]

Falwell greeting President Gerald Ford in 1976

Falwell with President Ronald Reagan in 1983

Falwell with President George H. W. Bush in 1991

The Moral Majority became one of the largest political lobbys for evangelical Christians in the United States during the 1980s.[24] According to Falwell's self-published autobiography, the Moral Majority was promoted as being "pro-life, pro-traditional family, pro-moral, and pro-American"[25] and was credited with delivering two thirds of the white evangelical vote to Ronald Reagan during the 1980 presidential election.[26] 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."[27] As head of the Moral Majority, Falwell consistently pushed for Republican candidates and for conservative politics. This led Billy Graham to criticize him for "sermonizing" about political issues that lacked a moral element. Graham stated at the time of Falwell's death, "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."[24]

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 (and alleged rape) with Jessica Hahn and had paid for her silence.[28] 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.[29] 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.[30]

Bakker believed Falwell would temporarily lead the ministry until the scandal died down,[31] but Falwell barred Bakker from returning to PTL on April 28,[32] and referred to him as "probably the greatest scab and cancer on the face of Christianity in 2,000 years of church history".[30] 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.[33] Despite this, Falwell was unable to revive the ministry from bankruptcy and he resigned in October 1987.[34]

Falwell advocated beliefs and practices influenced by his version of biblical teachings.[35]

Falwell felt the Vietnam War was being fought with "limited political objectives", when it should have been an all out war against the North.[36] 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."[37]

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.[38] About Martin Luther King he said: "I do question the sincerity and non-violent 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."[39]

In speaking of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, he said, in 1958:

If Chief Justice Warren and his associates had known God's word and had desired to do the Lord's will, I am quite confident that the 1954 decision would never have been made. The facilities should be separate. When God has drawn a line of distinction, we should not attempt to cross that line.[40]

In 1977, Falwell supported Anita Bryant's campaign, which was called by its proponents "Save Our Children", to overturn an ordinance in Dade County, Florida, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and he supported a similar movement in California.[5]

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 (whose appointment was confirmed by the US Senate) had done volunteer legal work for gay rights activists on the case of 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."[4]

Falwell's relationship with Israeli Prime Minister, Menachem Begin was reported in the media in the summer of 1981.[41] His staunch pro-Israel stand, sometimes referred to as "Christian Zionism", drew the support of the Anti-Defamation League and its leader Abraham Foxman.[42] However, they condemned what they perceived as intolerance towards Muslims in Falwell's public statements.[43] They also criticized him for remarking that "Jews can make more money accidentally than you can on purpose."[44][45] In his book Listen, America! Falwell referred to the Jewish people as "spiritually blind and desperately in need of their Messiah and Savior."[46]

In the 1984 book Jerry Falwell and the Jews, Falwell is quoted saying:

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 stake ... 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.[47]

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 United States change its public education system by implementing a school voucher system which would allow parents to send their children to either public or private schools. In his book America Can Be Saved he wrote that "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."[48]

Falwell supported President George W. Bush's Faith Based Initiative, but had strong reservations concerning where the funding would go and the restrictions placed on churches:

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 [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.[49]

In the 1980s Falwell said sanctions against the apartheid regime of South Africa 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 US "reinvestment" in South Africa.[50] 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".[51][52][53][54]

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 recording sold more than 150,000 copies.[55]

The film's production costs were partly met by "Citizens for Honest Government", to which Falwell paid $200,000 in 1994 and 1995.[55] In 1995 Citizens for Honest Government interviewed Arkansas state troopers Roger Perry and Larry Patterson regarding the murder conspiracy about Vincent Foster. Perry and Patterson also gave information regarding the allegations in the Paula Jones affair.[55]

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.[55] "Obviously, I'm not an investigative reporter", Matrisciana admitted to investigative journalist Murray Waas.[55] Later, Falwell seemed to back away from personally trusting the video. In an interview for the 2005 documentary The Hunting of the President, Falwell admitted, "to this day I do not know the accuracy of the claims made in The Clinton Chronicles."[56]

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.[5][40] 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.[5] In urging the repeal of the ordinance, Falwell told one crowd, "Gay folks would just as soon kill you as look at you."[57] When the LGBT-friendly Metropolitan Community Church was almost accepted into the World Council of Churches, Falwell called them "brute beasts" and stated that they are, "part of a vile and satanic system" that "will be utterly annihilated, and there will be a celebration in heaven."[58] He later denied saying this.[59] Falwell also regularly linked the AIDS pandemic to LGBT issues and stated, "AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals, it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals."[60]

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."[61]

Falwell's legacy regarding homosexuality is complicated by his support for LGBT civil rights (see "civil rights" section above), as well as his attempts to reconcile with the LGBT community in later years. In October 1999, Falwell 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 American evangelicals' comments about homosexuality entered the realm of hate speech that could incite violence.[62] 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."[63] He later commented to 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."[64]

In February 1999 a National Liberty Journal article (the media attributed it to Falwell)[65] claimed that Tinky Winky, a Teletubby, was intended as a homosexual role model. The NLJ is a publication of the university he founded. An article published in 1998 by the Salon website had referred to Tinky Winky's status as an icon for the same movement.[66][67] In response, Steve Rice, spokesperson for Itsy Bitsy Entertainment, which licenses Teletubbies in the United States, said, "I really find it absurd and kind of offensive."[68][69] The UK show was aimed at pre-school children, but the article stated "he is purple–the gay pride color; and his antenna is shaped like a triangle–the gay-pride symbol". Apart from those characteristics Tinky Winky also carries a magic bag which the NLJ and Salon articles said was a purse. Falwell added that "role modeling the gay lifestyle is damaging to the moral lives of children".

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.'"[70][71] In his opinion, LGBT organizations had angered God, thereby in part causing God to let the attacks happen.[72] Falwell believed the attacks were "probably deserved", a statement which Christopher Hitchens described as treason.[73] Following heavy criticism, Falwell said that no one but the terrorists were to blame, and stated, "If I left that impression with gays or lesbians or anyone else, I apologize."[70][74] Falwell was later the object of some of his own followers' outrage for retracting his statements about divine judgment on America and its causes, because they had heard the same themes in his preaching over many years that America must repent of its lack of devotion to God, immoral living, and timid support of Israel if America wanted divine protection and blessing.[75]

Falwell also 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."[76]

Falwell at an "I Love America" rally in 1980

Cultural anthropologist Susan Friend Harding, in her extensive ethnographic study of Falwell, 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, he no longer condemned "worldly" lifestyle choices such as dancing, drinking wine, and attending movie theaters; softening his rhetoric which predicted an apocalypse and God's vengeful wrath; and shifting from a belief in outright biblical patriarchy to a complementarian view of appropriate gender roles. He further mainstreamed himself by aiming his strongest criticism at "secular humanists", pagans or various liberals in place of the racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic rhetoric that was common among Southern fundamentalist preachers but increasingly condemned as hate speech by the consensus of American society.[77]

Falwell opposed Islam. According to Asharq Al-Awsat, a pan-Arab newspaper, Falwell called Islam "satanic".[78] In a televised interview with 60 Minutes, Falwell called Muhammad a "terrorist", to which he added: "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 necessarily intend to offend "honest and peace-loving" Muslims. However, he refused to remove his comments about Islam from his website.[79][80] Egyptian Christian intellectuals, in response, signed a statement in which they condemned and rejected what Falwell had said about Muhammad being a terrorist.[81]

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.[82] The church won a 1973 federal court case prosecuted at the behest of the SEC, in which 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 filed a $10 million lawsuit against Penthouse for publishing an article based upon interviews he gave to freelance reporters, after failing to convince a federal court to place an injunction upon the publication of that article. 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).[83][84][85]

In 1983, Larry Flynt's pornographic magazine Hustler carried 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.[86] 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 favor of Falwell on the emotional distress claim and awarded damages of $200,000. This was upheld on appeal. Flynt then appealed to the US 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, Larry Flynt released a comment regarding his friendship over the years with 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.[87]

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".[58]

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.[88] The money was donated to build Sacramento's first LGBT community center, the Lambda Community Center, serving "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex" communities.[59] 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.[89]

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."[90] Lamparello's website describes itself as not being connected to Jerry Falwell and is critical of Falwell's views on homosexuality.[90] On April 17, 2006, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the Court of Appeals ruling that Lamparello's usage of the domain was legal.

Previous to this, a different man had turned over jerryfalwell.com and jerryfallwell.com after Falwell threatened to sue for trademark infringement.[90] Lawyers for Public Citizen Litigation Group's Internet Free Speech project represented the domain name owners in both cases.