Falwell and the rise of the Christian Right

Falwel was born in the impoverished south, raised primarily by a pious mother. He was always a member of the Baptist church, in his hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia there were 50 churches after the economic revival of the area as a result of military spending. He joined St. Thomas Baptist Church and starting by visiting 600 doors on a weekly basis throughout the area preaching conservative fundamental Christian values. According to Williams the preaching primarily included premillennial dispensationalist theology, and all of the standard fundamentalist taboos against drinking, gambling, and movies. Blending the traditional altar addresses with a popular radio show which was what made him a popular figure amongst the masses. The antigovernment approach of religious fundamentalism gave the new Christian right an unlikely alliance with the conservatives who were also against the increasingly liberal ideas being imposed on them through the democrat government.

Initially Falwell, was a segregationist and religious fundamentalist who was deeply suspicious of the government especially with the banning of school prayer and devotional bible reading at public schools. However, as his popularity and his church grew, by the mid 1970’s he was a popular and televised public figure, so he aligned with the more standard conservative mindset of the sunbelt. Giving up on his belligerent defence of segregation, even becoming embarrassed of his past and regretting his opposition of the civil rights movement. He aligned with the pro-business leaders of his city and his attempt to push himself to a wider audience meant that he adopted a more moderate approach. His continued entrepreneurial objectives meant that he had to appeal to a greater audience as he relied on donations and church tithes for income.  

Falwell felt like the taxes applied to business were hindering these enterprises from growing and destroying the community. He blamed welfare spending as the reason behind the high taxes replacing the previous racism with a dislike of “bums” who lived off welfare checks. He claimed the government was at war with big businesses and believed that government intervention should be limited showing how the Christian right was a proponent of free market theory. The dislike of government intervention is further shown in the statement by Falwell where he states that the churches are better equipped to dole out welfare then the government. Cutting government taxation and welfare programs would allow the church to carry out its moral imperative and serve the people instead of the government.

As military spending had been the catalyst behind the revival of the sunbelt economy, Falwell who was against the atheistic communists was all for increased defence spending, believing that it was Americas divine mandate to defend the Christian world from the atheism of communism. He further supported the united states funding of the CONTRA groups in Nicaragua, resistance to nuclear disarmament as the according to his evangelical theory it was necessary for the US to exercise its divine mandate in protecting the Christian world.