Falwell Invigorated by 2004 Election
Well, Jerry Falwell has entered back into the news media with a bang claiming the resurrection of the Moral Majority which some said disbanded in 1989 with George H.W. Bush, whom was said to be lukewarm on their issues. Every time I turn on the radio, switch on the television, or pick up a magazine and Christianity is mentioned Jerry Falwell and/or Pat Robertson’s names are sure to follow. Over the past 3 decades these two men have given a brand new face to Christianity, these two men have definitely made a difference in the way Christianity is perceived by the western world.
The way in which Christianity is perceived in the US has definitely been damaged with these two men as the poster boys and I think it’s time for a change. I’m sick and tired of hearing their comments of hate, their comments of condemnation, their comments of nonsensical drivel flooding the airways and the minds of people who don’t have a clue as to who Jesus really is. It’s unfortunate that this is what they have to go on.
Just so I’m not making baseless comments about these men, let me give you a couple of their statements
Following the September 11th attacks Falwell said: “Liberal secularists, gays, lesbians and the ACLU are to blame for these attacks for making the United States a target for foreign terrorists.”
Last year Falwell called Islam’sprophet Mohammed a “terrorist”.
Pat Robertson is quoted as saying: “Jesus told me that President Bush would be re-elected.” This quote almost made me wish Bush wasn’t re-elected.
These are just a few of the many baseless statements that the two have made by these two poster boys. One must ask, however, why are they the poster boys and how they became the poster boys of Christianity in America? I’d assume it’s because they said a few things and got a lot of press for it which constituted them a large following. However, things must change! If they don’t Christianity will continue to spiral downward in the eyes of Americans (both in the red and blue states!)
Why do we need poster children for Christianity? Why isn’t Jesus good enough to be the poster child for the very way in which people are following? It’s sad to think about, but Jesus has never been good enough to carry the banner of this way of life. Jesus isn’t a very glamorous person–a carpenter (blue-collar worker), born of a virgin (some would say he’s an illegitamate child), the prophet Isaiah said that he wasn’t anything spectacular to look at, and he was sentenced to death as a criminal receiving the most humiliating means of death possible in his day. I guess those characteristics just don’t cut it in the church as someone who is supposed to carry the banner of “Christianity” to the world.
I think it’s interesting how we’re so quick (the church that is) to shove all the things about Jesus that the world would consider admirable and/or fall in love with, under the rug in order to appease the world with ourselves. Well, it’s not working…and it’s time for a change. Maybe we as the church should consider putting Jesus back in front and let our self-appointed poster boys fall by the wayside.
Related posts:
- “Jesus accepting gays”
- Messianic Muslim found Jesus in the Koran
- Random thought of the day.
- Leap of Faith?
- A Day Off: Saved!
