c. 1997 Religion News Service
WASHINGTON _ The Rev. Jerry Falwell, whose Moral Majority helped establish the religious right as a political force in the 1980s, says the movement was”asleep against the switch”in the 1996 election and he’s making some tentative moves to reinsert himself in the country’s political dialogue.
On Thursday (Feb. 13), Falwell moderated a”National Pastors’ Policy Briefing”for some 450 evangelicals _ ministers and their wives _ from around the country, urging them to raise the political awareness of the members of their congregations.
Falwell, who disbanded the Moral Majority in 1988, said he had not planned to hit the road again for political causes. But, without criticizing any particular organizations by name, he said the religious right needs a jump start.”I had no intention ever again of being up here,”Falwell told the ministers gathered at a Washington hotel.”I never planned to be giving a day or two a week of my life to these kinds of things, but the so-called religious right, somehow following Reagan and Bush, fell asleep against the switch.” He said”38 percent of our people voted for Bill Clinton Nov. 5. That can only be explained by lack of information, lack of knowledge.” Falwell invited several Republican members of Congress to the briefing and once again encouraged evangelicals to keep apprised of local and national politics.
The briefing was sponsored by the National Committee for the Restoration of the Judeo-Christian Ethic, a group created last summer to encourage conservative pastors to be involved in voter registration efforts. Falwell co-chairs the committee, which is based in Lynchburg, Va., the site of his Thomas Road Baptist Church and Liberty University, of which he is chancellor.
On Wednesday, Falwell spokesman Mark DeMoss said the national briefing is”not a … reincarnation of Moral Majority.” The Washington meeting comes about six months after Falwell began holding regional meetings across the country as part of his”God Save America”campaign.”It’s just encouraging pastors to stay involved in the (political) process and … it’s also, quite frankly, a promotional tool for Liberty University,”said DeMoss.
DeMoss said the Washington gathering, which included a dinner Wednesday night and a luncheon Thursday, was privately funded by a number of Christian businessmen who paid more than $10,000 for hotel accommodations and meals for the attendees.
At Thursday’s low-profile event, more than 450 evangelical pastors and their spouses heard from a series of speakers, including Family Research Council president Gary Bauer, Reps. J.C. Watts, R-Okla., and Sue Myrick, R-N.C., and Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C.
Most of the speakers urged the pastors to”mobilize”the”troops”in the congregations.”I truly believe that with all of us working together we’re going to see miraculous things happen,”said Myrick, who recently spoke at Falwell’s church, a place where women are not permitted to preach.
Watts, who Falwell described as a man who”may be the first African-American president,”was received with standing ovations before and after his remarks.”We need to let our faith navigate our politics, not our politics navigate our faith,”said Watts, who is scheduled to speak at Falwell’s church in March.
Bauer said the abortion issue is one that merits more attention from both political parties. Calling the Democratic Party the”party of the little guy,”Bauer said,”They have abandoned the littlest guy of all and they ought to be ashamed of themselves.” Republicans, he added, have been too cautious on abortion,”with a new excuse every day as to why they can’t deal with the issues that have brought us into politics.”My friends, the time is growing … near where if neither of these parties will find the courage to speak for our unborn children that one day they may wake up and discover that we have decided that neither of them deserve to be the governing party of the United States,”said Bauer, garnering strong applause.
Falwell used his own congregation as an example of how churches might work to register voters and to make sure they have transportation to the polls.”We don’t tell them how to vote,”he said.”It’s good citizenship. It’s legal. As a matter of fact, it’s a positive thing. … If every church member in America voted every time _ everyone who’s eligible to vote _ we could all live with the results.” Falwell said he would help educate pastors by sending faxes to preachers every Thursday night with updated political information.”If you don’t have a fax,”he said,”get into the 21st century and get one.”
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