[NYTr] Jonathan Falwell: Here Comes the Son

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

sent by Bill Berkowitz - Aug 6, 2007
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/8/6/153046/9720

Jonathan Falwell: Here Comes The Son

By Bill Berkowitz

Kicking it into high gear after his father's death, Falwell defends Ann
Coulter, and appears at a historic evangelical Christian/Muslim meet-up
in Washington

The Rev. Jonathan Falwell appears to be picking up from where his
father, the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, left off.

In his first contribution as a regular weekend columnist for the
conservative online publication, WorldNetDaily, Falwell issued a
dad-like attack on the liberal media while making a spirited defense of
best selling author/provocateur Ann Coulter.

Falwell accused the traditional media of consistently distorting her
remarks. Volunteering his support for the embattled Coulter, Falwell
wrote: "As long as you continue to contradict the policies of the
mainstream ... you will carry a target on your back. This is a truth my
dad, Jerry Falwell, experienced almost daily throughout his 51 years in
ministry." Is it possible that Jonathan Falwell's viewpoint is even
more radical than his father's?

"It is apparent that when you [Coulter] stand up for conservative
values, you will be ridiculed. But as my dad often said, we are not
called to be popular, we are called to be faithful.

"Ann, rest assured, there are millions of people in this nation who
appreciate your willingness to step into hostile fire to point out the
inconsistencies of the mainstream media. May you be bolstered by our
prayers and well wishes."

Defending daddy's infamous post-9/11 remarks

Attacking the media is nothing new for Jonathan Falwell. He learned to
spin defending his father's now infamous post-9/11 remarks - comments
that were resuscitated in most Falwell obituaries.

In an appearance on Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network's
700 Club shortly after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center
and the Pentagon, Jerry Falwell told Robertson's audience:

"The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this 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.'"

Criticized by nearly all quarters of society, Falwell issued a series
of half-hearted apologies. Soon after, however, Jonathan Falwell penned
a letter to his father's supporters, which claimed that it was the
liberal media that:

"seized on this opportunity to trash Dad's deeply held Christian and to
literally attack him day and night ... It seems that Satan launched a
hail of fiery darts at Dad recently." 

Jonathan asked that "Vote of Confidence" donations be sent in support
of his father's work.

Meeting Muslims in D.C.

In early July of this year, Jonathan Falwell, along with several other
conservative Christian evangelical leaders, held a historic meeting
with ambassadors from several Middle Eastern countries at the Egyptian
embassy in Washington, D.C. The meet-up centered on two issues: The
Americans focused on the issue of religious freedom in Muslim
countries, and the ambassadors wanted to know whether Christians could
become more "balanced" in their support of Israel.

Among the conservative evangelicals in attendance at the meeting --
organized by the flamboyant Pentecostal evangelist Benny Hinn, founder
of Benny Hinn Ministries -- was Gordon Robertson, son of televangelist
Pat Robertson and Vice President of Internet Media for the Christian
Broadcasting Network and co-host of the 700 Club; Paul Crouch Jr., son
of Trinity Broadcasting Network founder Paul Crouch Sr. and Vice
President of Administration for the network; Richard Cizik, vice
president for governmental affairs of the National Association of
Evangelicals (NAE).

Also in attendance was Ron Godwin, executive vice president of Liberty
University; German evangelist Reinhard Bonnke, Founder of Christ for
All Nations; former NAE President Don Argue; Vernon Brewer, president
of the Forest, Va., relief organization World Help; Joshua Youssef, son
of Egyptian-born evangelist Michael Youssef, pastor of Church of the
Apostles in Atlanta; and Ralph Reed, former executive director of the
Christian Coalition who is currently Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Century Strategies.

Reed, a longtime political consultant to the Republican Party, is
perhaps the most prominent figure on the Christian right who has been
closely associated with the now imprisoned GOP uberlobbyist Jack
Abramoff.

In addition to the meeting's host, Nabil Fahmy, Ambassador of the Arab
Republic of Egypt to the United States, others representing Middle
eastern countries were Farid Abboud (Ambassador of Lebanon), Hussein
Hassouna (Ambassador of the League of Arab States), Nasser Al Belooshi
(Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain), Amine Kherbi (Ambassador of
Algeria), Ali Aujali (Ambassador of Libya), Samir Sumaid'ie (Ambassador
of Iraq), Nabil El- Dakheel (Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the
State of Kuwait), Abdel Hakim Al-Eryani (Deputy Chief of Mission,
Embassy of Yemen), Mahmoour Al- Hinaei (Deputy Chief of Mission,
Embassy of the Sultan of Oman), Ms. Laila Alaoui (PR Counselor, Embassy
of the King of Morocco), and Ashraf Salama (Deputy Chief of Mission,
Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt).

In a column posted at The Moral Majority Coalition's website, Falwell
pointed out that this was the first small step in what he saw as a long
process:

    "We all agreed that this would not be the last meeting. We promised
that this dialogue would continue, that we were willing to visit their
countries, meet their people, and attempt to continue the conversation
to build a more peaceful future for our children and theirs. ... This
truly was a historic meeting."

Jonathan Falwell is the executive vice president of spiritual affairs
at Liberty University -- the school his father founded -- and was
recently named senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in
Lynchburg, Va., where his father held forth for more than 50 years. In
addition to his new column at WorldNetDaily, Falwell has been
contributing to NewsMax.com, another right wing online news service.

Falwell speaks at Christian Reconstructionst's Jamestown celebration

In mid-June Falwell participated in "The Jamestown Quadricentennial" --
an alternative commemoration of the founding of the Jamestown colony
400 years ago -- an event described by the Americans United for
Separation of Church and State (Americans United) blog as "a Christian
Reconstructionist gathering."

The six-day celebration "provided platforms for a slew of Christian
Reconstructionists," including American Vision founder Gary DeMar and
Doug Philips, the son of Conservative Caucus and Constitution Party
founder Howard Philips and who is the head of Vision Forum.

Americans United pointed out that when Jonathan Falwell quoted a speech
written by his father Jerry, he "regurgitated the Religious Right's
seriously flawed talking pints on American history." Falwell maintained
that it was necessary to fight efforts by "those who want to ignore, or
rewrite, our nation's Christian heritage."

Falwell's political future

In an interview with Newsweek's Alexandra Gekas published in May,
Jonathan commented on his father's legacy, his own future involvement
in politics, and President Bush's record. His father was "an
irreplaceable man," Falwell said. "God used him in incredible ways and
I don't think that I can fill his shoes. God gave me certain skills, so
I am going to stand up and do what God has equipped me to do, but
filling his shoes is not something that I, or I believe anyone else,
could do."

Gekas asked him whether he "plan[ed] to be a political leader [like his
father] as well as a religious one. Falwell said that his father 'was
the forefather of the religious right,' and that 'there are many people
speaking for the church,'" these days. He intended "to speak out on
issues like he [his father] did from the pulpit, but with regard to
politics I think his level of involvement is not as much needed today
as 20 to 30 years ago when he started."

He then proceeded to reject the idea of the separation of church and
state saying that "the word separation is not in the constitution," and
that it is "important for the church, but the separation clause that
everyone claims is there doesn't exist."

The interview closed with Falwell praising the job that President Bush
has done in keeping his "promises" to the American people. According to
Falwell, Bush has kept his promises to "defend our freedoms, to protect
us and to lead us ..." Falwell added that Bush has done an "amazing"
job "protecting our country against terrorism," and he said that "he is
against abortion and partial-birth abortion and he did that and it [the
partial-birth abortion ban] went through the courts and the Supreme
Court."

Americans United's blog post on Jonathan Falwell was headlined
"Reconstructing History: Is Jonathan Falwell More Rad Than Dad?" The
post concluded by asking whether Falwell's appearance at the Christian
Reconstructionist-organized Jamestown event was revelatory "of his
religious political agenda."

"Christian Reconstructionists occupy the farthest fringes of the
already radical Religious Right," Americans United's blog pointed out.
"They call for fundamentalist Christianity to govern all facets of life
in America. They see a society where women are subservient to men and
where gays and others considered heretics are suppressed. In a
nutshell, Reconstructionists want to replace democracy with a harsh
theocracy. Is it possible that Jonathan's viewpoint is even more
radical than his father's?"