The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 4 of 11)

Jay W. Molyneaux br> Denver, North Carolina /p>

"That tone -- angry, bombastic, and frequently puritanical -- was easily caricatured as hateful and intolerant of women, homosexuals, and religious minorities. Worse, it was often difficult to square with the Gospel."

I fully agree with W. James Antle II that Rev. Falwell did not properly distinguish law and gospel; but I say this as a Lutheran. Jerry Falwell was a Baptist and could not help reflect long-standing disagreements between Luther and the Anabaptists. It is perfectly in keeping with Baptist theology to confront the person in the pew with his sins and call him to a life of obedience to Christ almost in the same breath. For good or ill, this is an approach is and has been common among Protestants of various types. Too common by my lights but then "take the soup can off the shelf and read the label." In significant matters, I could not disagree with him more; but it pointless to fault Falwell for acting on who is was.

p>In the political realm, there is one certain thing likely to be all but lost in all the commentaries. Here was a man who took seriously the great promise of America. The voice of a single man can be heard in the forum of American deliberations and change the nation. For all his misgivings, Jerry Falwell loved his country. br> -- Michael Wm. Dooley br> Indianapolis, Indiana /p> p> The media attacks on Falwell over the years should be taken with a grain of salt. Maybe a tablespoon of salt. I saw Falwell speak to a student and professor audience at the University of Pennsylvania in 1982 or 1983. He was in his prime, he had just helped bring Reagan to office, and he was very, very good at dealing with the audience and some very pointed questions. No boneheaded comments, nothing outlandish and a lot of people left with an unexpected respect for him. I don't know much about him as a preacher or a political organizer, but I know what I saw then. It wasn't the wacky caricature that the mainstream media wanted to paint, and still want to paint, whenever a preacher says something conservative. br> -- Greg F /p>

Dr. Antle, I presume, the Reverend Falwell, would refer to himself as Dr. Falwell yet he had no doctorate degree from anywhere. He and I assume Dr. Robertson, another fraud, would use calamities as examples of divine judgments against secular society. Whether it was Katrina, do these two theologians know that New Orleans is below sea level, or the incineration of the World Trade Center, which was not because of our surrender to homosexuality!

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