Falwell's Insult Compounds Nation's Injury

By Judy Mann

Friday, September 21, 2001; Page C08

Excuse me if I am a little low on Christian forgiveness nowadays, but the Rev. Jerry Falwell's apology for the intolerant obscenities he uttered doesn't have that ring of truth one expects from a man of the cloth.

The conservative evangelist said his remarks placing blame for last week's terrorist attacks on abortionists, feminists and homosexuals "seemed harsh and ill-timed." That is the understatement of the month. Falwell's statements were made during a discussion with religious broadcaster Pat Robertson on his "The 700 Club" television show last Thursday.

The two have provoked a coast-to-coast storm of outrage with their remarks, which Falwell claims were taken out of context. Robertson, who was busily agreeing with him during the interview, is now repudiating Falwell's comments. For his part, Falwell posted a statement on his Web site saying he was making a nuanced theological point that was misunderstood by the "secular media."

Misunderstood, my foot. Here's a partial transcript:

Falwell: I agree totally with you that the Lord has protected us so wonderfully these 225 years. . . . I fear . . . this is only the beginning. And with biological warfare available to these monsters . . . what we saw on Tuesday, as terrible as it is, could be minuscule if . . . God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve.

Robertson: Jerry, that's my feeling.

Falwell: The ACLU's got to take a lot of blame for this.

Robertson: Well, yes.

Falwell: And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools -- the abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say, "You helped this happen."

Robertson: Well, I totally concur.

By their reckoning, I am one of the people responsible for the savage onslaught against our nation. I am a feminist. I believe in abortion rights, just as I believe in the right of gay men and lesbians to live their lives in peace.

Robertson and Falwell are well known to the groups they defile. Robertson made headlines in 1992 by accusing feminists of wanting to kill their children and practice witchcraft.

Both of these merchants of God have generated millions upon millions in donations to their political ministries. Falwell is probably best known as the founder of the Moral Majority, which went belly up in 1989 after the the Rev. Jim Bakker gave commercial evangelism a bad name. At the time, Falwell said the Moral Majority had achieved its mission of pushing religious conservatives into politics, but he also acknowledged that business was slacking off: Donations had plunged from $11 million in 1984 to about $3.5 million in 1988.

Falwell, who is headquartered in Lynchburg, Va., said he was moving out of politics and back into the pulpit and television. For a while, he fell off the national radar screen, which for a guy who basked in celebrity must have hurt.

But now he's back with a vengeance, scapegoating loyal Americans and deploying God as an excuse. Perhaps now, Robertson and Falwell will be seen by all Americans for what they are: not pillars of morality or comforters in faith, but cynical, intolerant money-grubbers who use God to milk the vulnerable and to spread hate.

Contrast Falwell and Robertson to feminist leaders such as Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority, who this week issued an eloquent appeal to the world to use this occasion to rid itself of the Taliban militia and restore basic rights to the women and girls of Afghanistan, who have suffered greatly under its rule. "We must make sure that the lives of women and girls are saved and that the restoration of the rights of women and girls is not marginalized as a side issue," she said.

Smeal called for continued humanitarian aid for Afghan females in Afghanistan and Pakistan. And she made the point that the Afghan people are not our enemy.

Student activists, civil rights groups and religious leaders from Boston to San Francisco are joining the growing chorus against massive retaliation that would kill innocent people.

We are confronting a situation of enormous complexity. We need cool heads, not the fulminations of an Elmer Gantry.

The deadly mix of religion and politics has led to bloodshed throughout history. A supreme deity has been called on to bless unspeakable acts of carnage, as was most certainly the case with the Sept. 11 hijackers. Falwell and Robertson are using God for their own intolerant purposes, just as the Taliban is. They've revealed themselves for what they really are, and with any luck the nation will send them into the obscurity they so richly merit.

We don't need Falwell's vengeful God right now. We need divine guidance to find a way to punish the terrorists that will ultimately result in peace.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1117-2001Sep20.html