Byker Bob on Jerry Falwell
This man, whether one liked and agreed with him or not, mobilized what became the antidote to the '60s. All of the battles that the various groups thought they had won during the late '60s were contested by Jerry Falwell, and his "Moral Majority". By the end of the '70s, most people were cutting off their long hair, and adopting more conservative lifestyles. The '70s were pretty much a decade of national partying, dope smoking, and such. Falwell's backlash was responsible for sweeping Ronald Reagan into office. At the time, I saw this as being a bad thing, because it appeared that the prudes were taking back the country. I'd just left one crazy religious group, and here, suddenly, it appeared that a bunch of evangelical fanatics were reversing all of the new things which I'd come to love and enjoy. They even wanted to censor the lyrics in rock n roll! There were massive protests outside of Planned Parenthood clinics.At this point in time, there are people who are absolutely paranoid that the Christian right is working in cahoots with our federal government to create a religious police state. I think that is just rhetoric, and don't take it seriously at all. One thing is certain, though. Reagan, possibly with Falwell's influence, induced a lot of "yellow dog Democrats", who were also born again Christians, to cross over and vote for Lincoln's party. Falwell's role was to convince Christians that they didn't have to sit around and just watch as anti-Christian decisions were made by the electorate. He got them involved in the political process, and demonstrated that the Republican party platform was more consistent with their beliefs than was that of the Democrats.Good or bad, Jerry Falwell certainly had more influence on the course of the USA than did HWA or any of his successors. Ol' Hog Jowls is probably turning over in his grave over being upstaged to such an extent.
From Worldwide Church of God Alumni message board 05/17/07
Labels: Byker Bob, evangelicals, fundamentalists, Jerry Falwell, the religious right
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