The Walmartification of Churches

Pastor Jerry Falwell played a pivotal role in the formation of the Christian Right. As one of the most prominent evangelical leaders of his time—thanks in large part to the rise of television and radio networks—his decision to shift support from southern Democratic economic populists to pro-business Republicans influenced a significant portion of evangelicals to follow suit, a political realignment that continues to shape American politics today.

Pastor Falwell changed his political commitments over time as it became less acceptable to be blatantly racist and as his church grew to resemble other large corporate structures that benefited from pro-business policy. At first, Falwell was a vocal opponent of desegregation and interracial relationships, proclaiming integration to be the product of the “Devil himself” (132). However, as Falwell’s church grew into a megachurch and began to parallel the structures and organization of larger corporations, he began to align himself with business giants. These business leaders—who were primarily from the North—were embarrassed by the overtly racist rhetoric of Falwell. Thus, to protect his relationship with such leaders, Falwell shifted his rhetoric  to instead heavily criticize federal welfare programs. Prior to this shift, evangelicals were highly concerned with certain social issues, however, Falwell would argue that the church should address such issues and that the federal government should not. Perhaps most significantly, Falwell also recognized that the growth of his megachurch was dependent on pro-business policy, which aligned him economically with conservative Republicans at the time, such as Ronald Regan, who believed in tax cuts and higher defense spending. 

Tax cuts fit within Pastor Falwell’s evangelical theology because he believed that increased welfare spending lead to increased governmental authority, of which he was adamantly opposed. Welfare, Falwell argued, was at fault for the nation’s high taxes and were directly opposed to big business. He also believed that welfare promoted laziness and inefficiencies within the American public. Falwell instead believed that “a large church could provide a private alternative to the welfare system” that would be more effective, and less costly, than governmental programs (137). Not only did tax cuts embed themselves in Falwell’s ideology, but so did defense spending. Falwell believed that defense spending was crucial to keeping what he perceived as an atheistic, communist ideology out of the United states. He furthered that God directly called for Americans to protect themselves and their country against the atheist Soviet Union, which then justified defense spending. Falwell argued that “America had a divine mission to bring freedom and salvation to the rest of the world” and in order to carry out that mission, America needed a “strong defense system” (138). Defense spending was also concentrated in the South, economically benefiting the areas where Falwell grew up, as well as the location in which his church empire was growing. Both tax cuts and defense spending benefited Falwell economically, and thus was integrated into his theology.