The death of Jerry Fallwell means the "homegoing" of a brother in Christ and a Christian leader. It also marks the end of an era where Christian faith, and the evangelical tradition in particular, will be controlled and domesticated by one political party. It is no accident that the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention, the emergence of the Moral Majority and the election of Ronald Reagan all occurred at the same time. Jerry Falwell was a significant player in this convergence, and for the past 27 years has been an influential presence on the American religious and political scene.
At times Falwell spoke and acted like a biblical prophet challenging the presumptions and presuppositions of secularists, relativists and hedonists. This led to his active engagement in the political process where his power reached all the way to the White House. I personally appreciate and respect his prophetic and political influence. Where I have had serious problems with Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority is the partisan nature and use of their influence. They so identified evangelical Christian faith and party politics that they have become inseparable in the minds of many. As I see it, a kind of degeneration took place where prophetic witness evolved into harsh partisan rhetoric and raw partisan power.
We are living in tumultuous and tense times. Perhaps it has always been so, but I feel keenly the stress and strain of the world that is ever present and ever pressing upon us. In reaction to these times there has been this rising tide of fear and fundamentalism that offers partisan politics as the solution to long standing and complex problems.
It seems that we are caught between two horns of a cultural dilemma:
On the one hand is the pervasivenes of a secularist, materialistic and hedonistic society. On the other hand, are highly offended people of faith who would seek to impose narrow and strict interpretations of faith on every one. Perhaps no one else feels this tension, but I do.
On the one hand I deplore the loss of respect for human life, the decline of private and public morality, the diminishing of personal responsibility and the general permissiveness in our society. On the other hand, however, I am not comfortable with those who equate Christian faith with only one political perspective, seem blind to racial and economic injustices and allow little room for dissent and disagreement. I also am grieved by the growing polarization in our society, divisive rhetoric and a general "mean spiritedness" in civil conversation.
Perhaps many of us are seeking a "third way," "a different way," "a new way," maybe even "a radical way." We desire to hold our Christian faith close to our hearts, but we also desire to have genuine friendship and dialogue with people of other faiths to build human community. We desire to be involved in political decision making from our faith perspective, but we don’t believe that any one party has a "corner on the truth." We do believe that the story and truth of Scripture comes from God, but we want to preserve the freedom of conscience that allows for different interpretations.
We want to be the presence of Christ with conviction but also with compassion. We desire to be a part of the world’s transformation, but we are painfully aware that we ourselves need to be transformed. We feel the need to be humble and gentle with those who may view life different from us, but we also desire to be unashamed of what we have experienced as good news in Jesus Christ.
In contrast to seeking a "moral majority" which seems to have the connotation of partisan power, it seems that as followers of Christ we should seek to be bold witnesses, humble servants, compassionate ministers in our society. We should not seek to control or impose but to be faithful to our Lord who promises "to make all things new." Of course this will mean engagement in the political process and public advocacy as well as prayer and worship, but not in a way that so clearly identifies the eternal Gospel of Jesus Christ with partisan politics.
Daniel Vestal has served as CBF's coordinator since December 1996.