As many of you know, i am a Jerry's kid. I attended Liberty University for two years from 92 to 94. My experience at this university was a very positive one because of the people i met and the friendships i established. There are some things that happened while i was there that frustrated me, but overall, it was a very good experience.
One of the things that i really enjoy are looking at political cartoons on the internet. What was so frustrating for me was that i went to my favorite politcal cartoon website the same day that Jerry Falwell died and there were already some of the most hateful cartoons published about him. People suggesting that Tinky Winky was going to be in the place of St. Peter at the Pearly Gates and others suggesting that he went straight to hell. Jerry didn't always get it right, i admit, but there were times when Jerry got it right.
One of those times was when a student that i knew was caught at an off campus party drinking alcohol, a big no-no for anyone attending Liberty. The policy was that he would be expelled from campus. Obviously, he didn't want to go home in shame to his parents for a night of bad choices so he found Jerry Falwell pulling up in his black suburban and asked if he could talk to him for a minute. Jerry let this guy into his car and this student proceeded to explain how he made this bad choice and that vowed his commitment to making better choices. Jerry sat there calmly listening to him and when he had finished, Jerry asked for this guys name and said that he would take care of making sure he stayed in school. Jerry did know about forgivness and how to give it unlike what people would have you believe.
As some of you know, i love the band U2. I own almost all of their albums, lots of international recordings and some of their fan club recordings as well. One album i do not own now is Rattle and Hum. During this rendition of "Bullet the Blue Sky", Bono goes off about "some preacher on the Old Time Gospel Hour stealing money from the old and the sick. Well the God i believe in isn't short on cash mister." I understand that there are some predatory "ministers" out there that do prey on the old and the sick but Jerry Falwell, whose show is called "The Old Time Gospel Hour", isn't predatory. He does pass the offering plate and he does ask people to give but he is not one of those preachers that lives lavishly off of what people give him. He lived a very reasonable life, as far as i can tell.
One of Jerry's biggest flaws is railing against gays. Now don't get me wrong, i am not saying that gay is ok but should it be a hill to die on? I was listening to a political analyst on msn talking about the death and legacy of Falwell. He is a rabbi and i assume from his ideas a liberal but he said something that i thought was good. He said that something that Jerry should have been going after much harder as a social ill is divorce and how divorce has ravaged our society and even our churches. He said, "Even if he was able to take homosexuality to zero in Amercia, homes would still be wrecked and laid to waste because of the destruction of divorce in our families." I tend to agree with that statement.
There is something else that follows this same logic that i learned in the financial class that Ang and i are taking. (Yes, you will continue to hear about this financial class for at least 4 more weeks) We were learning about giving and the issue of the poor came up. Check this out from Ezekiel 16:49:
"Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."
Um...i don't know about you, but i always thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of homosexuality. But here in Ezekiel he says that Sodom (and persumably Gomorrah) had more issues than just that. Another of their major sins was that they had plenty but gave nothing to the poor and needy. When i read that it hit me between the eyes! Jerry would often talk about the iniquity of Sodom and Gomorrah and about how they were destroyed because of their homosexuality. I am not arguing that homosexuality was part of their iniquity but you can't ignore what Ezekiel says here about another part of their iniquity being that they did not help the poor. Wouldn't that have been a campaign that Jerry could have championed? Would people have gotten behind him on that?
Without question, Jerry Falwell has left his mark on the political landscape of America forever. Some will remember him as a champion of Christians rights. Some will remember him as a hate monger. I will remember him as a man who challenged Christians everywhere to come out of the shadows and stand up for what they believed in. Not with weapons or force but with the ink of their pen on a ballot. Thank you, Jerry, for helping people stand.
1 comment:
I am just happy that you posted something. :) I know you have "other" things to do, like work and be with your family.
I, myself am another Liberty University graduate, and I also have many incredible memories from Liberty U., such as friends I met, i.e. Troy Wilcox; who have helped to shape my life in the kingdom of God.
I also read many cartoons and blogs concerning the Rev. Falwell and his unfortunate passing. Jerry had some extremely polarizing opinions, which is what most people remember him for. There are the occasional people who jump on the band wagon of criticism, such as a person who responded on the New York Times blog and said, "What about Jerry Falwell saying that we should assassinate the Hugo Chavez?" So, very politely another responded, "Hey genius that was Pat Robertson, not Jerry Falwell."
I thought Jerry Falwell was a personable fellow, he always seemed upbeat, and truly believed he was doing "God's work". Jerry helped to build a University which reached many underprivileged students and allowed them to have an education, where they may never have been able to do so.
Jerry's theology, i.e his belief system as does ours, shaped everything he did. Jerry was a dispensationalist, so that shaped what he believed about the Middle East and Bible Prophecy. Jerry believed in the literal, future reading of Revelation, so that shaped how he believed God would handle the world, so we do not need to 'preserve the environment', because God's going to destroy it anyway.
Jerry also believed in interpreting the O.T. on the basis of the current perspective of our present society, sometimes not through the context of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, which brings 'new creation', so that meant that whatever God did in the O.T. with Israel, it meant that we should do today with the United States, i.e. the New Israel. This shaped Jerry's political agenda's, in legislating morality, mainly anti-homosexual policies, or anti-abortion policies.
Since the U.S. is the 'New Israel' and it was founded on a laissez faire free market system of economics, then that system is the 'good' system, 'socialism', the bad system.
I am NOT criticizing Jerry Falwell's theology, even though I disagree with it, I am only stressing the point that we all need to study our current context, so that we don't simply accept ideologies, which do not teach the Way of the Cross, which is the only way to life.
I wish people remembered Dr. Falwell for what we knew he was like, but many will not. I wish that he could have taken a broader approach to life, but it was also the era in which he grew up in the faith. I understand why he took the stance he did, but the question remains, "Did it draw or repel people?"
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