So Long, Fallwell, Auf Wiedersehen, Good Night!

Jerry Fallwell was a prominent figure in the Christian right, or what I would now call Big Eva, in the latter half of the 20th century. A proponent of the “moral majority”, Fallwell was in part instrumental to Republican success in the Sunbelt throughout this time with this message. A successful southern mega pastor, he was able to help market a suspicion of the federal government that already existed among his circles and translate that to the national stage. His brand of the “moral majority” was a combination of “moral regulation [and a] pro-business, antiregulatory approach to economics” (126). This worked perfectly with the Conservative movement during the Reagan era, where Evangelicals started to vote overwhelmingly Republican. Fallwell changed how he viewed politics over time. The main switch is on race and integration. Earlier in his career, he was a massive advocate against the integration of blacks into schools and other facets of life. He went as far as to say that “‘The true negro does not want integration,’” because “it was the product of the ‘Devil himself'” (132). This totally changed as he became more in the public spotlight. He went out of his way to erase this past by showing support for those in South Africa fighting apartheid, among other things. In terms of his politics, Fallwell fit in perfectly with the Reagan right with his message shaping the grassroots movement that helped fuel Reagan to victory. But why did this fit like a glove? Because the Soviets were the great atheist nation that must be defeated at all costs. Therefore, according to Fallwell, “God wanted the United States to protect itself against the officially atheistic Soviet Union” (138). This meant that national defense spending was a necessity to fight off the hordes of evil from the immoral Soviet Union. Fallwell was able to change the complexion of the Republican party and maybe even American Christianity itself.