Born:
August 11, 1933 in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Died:
May 15, 2007 in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Claim to Fame:
Ordained Southern Baptist minister; nationally syndicated radio host (Old Time Gospel Hour) from 1961 until his death; founder of Liberty University, a regionally accredited evangelical university with an ABA-accredited law school, in 1971; founder of the Moral Majority, the first major Religious Right organization, in 1979.
Career Highlight:
Often credited with delivering four million white evangelical voters to vote for Ronald Reagan during the 1980 presidential campaign, establishing the power of the Religious Right within the Republican Party.
Scandal/Controversy:
Former segregationist; noted for his spectacularly vitriolic anti-gay speech, especially during the 1970s and 1980s; unsuccessful plaintiff in Hustler v. Falwell (1988), a landmark libel case.
5 Quotes:
"The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country. If [there is] any place in the world we need Christianity, it's in Washington."
"God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve."
"If we are going to save America and evangelize the world, we cannot accommodate secular philosophies that are diametrically opposed to Christian truth. We need to pull out the stops to recruit and train 25 million Americans to become informed pro-moral activists whose voices can be heard in the halls of Congress. I am convinced that America can be turned around if we will all get serious about the Master's business. It may be late, but it is never too late to do what is right. We need an old-fashioned, God-honoring, Christ-exalting revival to turn America back to God. America can be saved!"
"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 [the 9/11 attacks] because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the 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.'"
"I feel most ministers who claim they've heard God's voice are eating too much pizza before they go to bed at night, and it's really an intestinal disorder, not a revelation."
"God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve."
"If we are going to save America and evangelize the world, we cannot accommodate secular philosophies that are diametrically opposed to Christian truth. We need to pull out the stops to recruit and train 25 million Americans to become informed pro-moral activists whose voices can be heard in the halls of Congress. I am convinced that America can be turned around if we will all get serious about the Master's business. It may be late, but it is never too late to do what is right. We need an old-fashioned, God-honoring, Christ-exalting revival to turn America back to God. America can be saved!"
"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 [the 9/11 attacks] because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the 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.'"
"I feel most ministers who claim they've heard God's voice are eating too much pizza before they go to bed at night, and it's really an intestinal disorder, not a revelation."
