LYNCHBURG, Va. (ABP) — Jerry Falwell will “resurrect” his Morality Majority with a new name in order to turn conservative momentum from the recent national elections into an “evangelical revolution.”
The Southern Baptist pastor and political activist announced the formation of the Faith and Values Coalition Nov. 9, one week after “moral values” voters helped re-elect President George W. Bush and denounce gay marriage in 11 states.
Falwell said the new group will build on “the national momentum” of the Nov. 2 elections and encourage evangelicals to continue to “vote Christian.”
In a news release, Falwell described the new coalition as “a 21st century resurrection of the Moral Majority.”
That earlier group, founded by Falwell in 1979, helped launch the Religious Right to national prominence by supporting Ronald Reagan and other conservative Republican candidates and campaigning against abortion and other perceived social ills.
“At that time, God burdened my heart to mobilize religious conservatives around a pro-life, pro-family, strong national defense and pro-Israel platform, designed to return America to her Judeo-Christian heritage,” Falwell said. “And I distinctively feel that burden again. Our nation simply cannot continue as we know it if we allow out-of-control lawmakers and radical judges, working at the whims of society, to alter the moral foundations of America.”
Falwell made news in the early 1980s by publicly wishing for the death of liberal Supreme Court justices so they could be replaced by conservatives. More recently he called on President Bush to kill terrorists “in the name of the Lord.”
He and other evangelical political leaders have claimed credit for President Bush's re-election and called on the president to enact conservative moral reforms, such as bans on gay marriage and abortion.
“One of our primary commitments is to help make President Bush's second term the most successful in American history,” said Falwell, pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, who joined the Southern Baptist Convention in 1997.
Helping Falwell in the new coalition are “Left Behind” co-author Tim LaHaye, who will serve as the coalition's board chair; Falwell's son, Jonathan, who will be executive director; and Mathew Staver, president of the Orlando-based Liberty Counsel, vice chair.
The Faith and Values Coalition, Falwell said, will organize in 50 states and pursue three goals: passage of the Federal Marriage Amendment banning gay marriage; confirmation of “pro-life, strict constructionist” judges to the U.S. Supreme Court and the federal bench; and “the election of another socially, fiscally and politically conservative president in 2008, along with other state and national candidates.”
“The thought of a Hillary Clinton or John Edwards presidency is simply unacceptable — and quite frightening,” he said.
Falwell, 71, said he disbanded the Moral Majority in 1989 to devote more time to his Liberty University. He committed to lead the new coalition for the first four years.
“On election night, I actually shed tears of joy as I saw the fruit of a quarter century of hard work,” Falwell said.
“Over the past few days, I have been inundated with requests from across America to 'finish what you started 25 years ago,'” he added.
Falwell said more than 30 million evangelicals “voted Christian” Nov. 2, when 116 million Americans cast ballots. He predicted the number of evangelical voters will jump to “at least 40 million” in 2008.