IN THEORY:What legacy will Falwell leave?

Moral Majority founder the Rev. Jerry Falwell died Tuesday. What do you think his legacy will be?

Jerry Falwell had an immeasurable impact on church and politics. Of course, the church has always been political, but Falwell affected politics with a distinct Christian perspective. As Falwell defined himself, he helped to define and mold the religious right. His polarization of the Christian conservative, what he redefined as evangelical, allowed for an emergence of the progressive Christian.

Falwell represented a Baptist perspective much different from our American Baptist angle at Fairview Community Church, but what he did by vocalizing his views was give us permission to name our beliefs and stand and be counted as Christians with another perspective. His radical-right beliefs compelled formerly reticent leaders forward to give voice to the silent majority.

While I found myself repeatedly on the opposite side of the spectrum, often frustrated, I credit Falwell for identifying himself and forcing those of us “in the closet progressives” to find our voice and jump into the Christian political conversation.

REV. SARAH HALVERSON

Fairview Community Church

Costa Mesa

The mix between religion and politics is inevitable; people put their faith into action. Falwell put his faith in God to work as he saw fit and helped mold and galvanize fundamentalist Christians into a political force. He will be remembered as the face and voice of the “religious right.”

Jerry Falwell was committed to his beliefs and not afraid to speak his mind. When he said that atheists, feminists, gays, civil rights activists and legal abortions in the United States angered God and brought about 9/11, he embarrassed other Christians, but we tried to appreciate his sincerity and honesty as we prayed and worked for tolerance of, and respect for, others.

Billy Graham calls him “a man of God.” That satisfies me as I rejoice that God loves us all.

(THE VERY REV’D CANON)

PETER D. HAYNES

Saint Michael & All Angels

Episcopal Church

Corona del Mar

I am not sure I am old enough to answer that question. His star had risen and passed before I was old enough to vote. If today’s news reports are any measure of his legacy, then it will not be pretty. However smart he was politically, he made several errors in judgment that made his passion for Jesus a secondary issue. I would be mortified if one of the few things I was remembered for as a follower of Jesus was who I voted for in a presidential election. Though Falwell and I would disagree about many things, there were many things we would also hold in common.

One of the ancient sages of our faith once said, “In essentials unity, in nonessentials, liberty, in all things charity.” So while he would probably question my methodologies and maybe even my salvation, I do not find it my place to question his.

RIC OLSEN

Lead Paster

The Beacon

Anaheim

A legacy is different than a heritage. It is something we create ourselves, as opposed to what is given to us as a gift or at birth. Jerry Falwell’s legacy intertwined politics, morality and religion in creating the far right at a time when young liberals who stood for something else were emerging.

It reminds me of the split in viewpoints at the time of the early rabbinic age when rabbis and priests argued over the written and the oral law and the future of biblical Israel, as we argue today over the future of America. The rabbis eventually won. In biblical times, the priests argued that there would be stricter observance of the Jewish law, that Israel would become a strict theocracy governed by the high priest and his council.

Falwell wanted America to also be ruled by strict adherence to outdated, medieval codes and edicts of centuries of logic, not modernizing for the society of today and tomorrow.

His death marks the passing of an era that will be remembered for holding on too long to the past without recognizing the needs and wants of a new liberal America.

RABBI MARC RUBENSTEIN

Temple Isaiah

Newport Beach