Jerry Falwell was an important person in the creation of the Christian Right, a group of people who mixed their Christian beliefs with politics. At first, Falwell didn’t think preachers should be involved in politics. He believed they should focus on Christianity and churches, not running the country. But in the 1970s, things started to change. The government began getting involved with Christian schools, especially ones that didn’t follow new laws about integration. Falwell saw this as the government attacking Christian freedom. This made him think that Christians needed to speak up and protect their values. So, he helped start a group called the Moral Majority. This group brought together a lot of Christians who felt the same way. They wanted to stand up for their Christian beliefs that were not being respected by the government. Falwell used these beliefs to connect with many people, especially in the south where there were already many people who didn’t trust big government.
Over time, Falwell changed his thinking about being involved in politics. At first, he stayed away from it, but when he saw the government doing things he didn’t agree with, he felt like he had to speak out. He believed that if Christians didn’t get involved, then people with different values would take control. So, he went from just preaching at his church to being on TV and traveling to speak about politics and religion. He supported politicians who agreed with his beliefs, like Ronald Reagan. Over time, Falwell began to care and speak about more than just moral issues. He also talked about taxes, defense, and the economy. He believed that Christians needed to be active in every part of life, not just inside the church. This helped more Christians feel comfortable being part of politics too. His ideas helped turn the Christian Right into a powerful force in American politics.
Falwell also believed that things like tax cuts and defense spending were part of Christian values. He thought tax cuts were good because they let families keep more of their money. He said that this helped people take care of their kids and support their churches. He also believed that America needed a strong military. He said that keeping the country safe was important because it protected the freedom to be Christian. He was worried about communism, which he believed was against God. This helped him to grow support for spending money on defense as a way to protect Christianity. These ideas fit with the beliefs of many people in the south who liked small government and strong national defense. By mixing religion with these ideas, Falwell got more people to join his cause. By showing that faith and Christianity should play a role in government, Falwell was able to help create a strong political group.
Will Wright 
You write that Falwell “believed that if Christians didn’t get involved, then people with different values would take control” and I think this is an important point because the Christian Right was concerned with seizing and maintaining control over political decisions. They did not want to live in a “liberal” world or a secular one either. Many of the positions of the Christian Right were argued through a Christian lens without concern for the people in the country who did not practice Christianity. I think we still see the Right’s attempt to fuse “Christian” values and politics today. I would like to argue that the Moral Majority also started a trend that continues today of having contradictory beliefs. During the lecture today I noticed that there was a huge picture of Jesus held up at one of the rallies, which is ironic coming from a group of people who took issue with forced busing and supported segregation considering Jesus wasn’t white. I wonder if they would have wanted him to have to ride a different bus than their white kids? Probably.
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