Does anyone actually listen to Jerry Falwell any more? Anyone, that is, besides the folks he manages to offend every time he opens his mouth?
A Jewish organization is calling on the Rev. Jerry Falwell to retract a “vote Christian in 2008” statement made months ago in a letter raising money for his ministries. The criticism of Falwell appeared Monday on the Web site of the Anti-Defamation League, a group organized in 1913 to fight anti-Semitism.
Falwell, founder of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., and Moral Majority, included with his mass fundraising letter for Falwell Ministries a sticker that reads, “I Vote Christian.”
Hmmm. Obviously that whole “no religious test” bit in the Constitution just passed by him under the radar.
That said, I’d respect the man a lot more (even if I disagreed with him) if he just stuck by his guns. But, no …
Falwell told The News & Advance of Lynchburg Tuesday that his statement was misunderstood. “What I was saying was for conservative Christian voters to vote their values, which are pro-life and pro-family,” Falwell said. “I had no intention of being anti-Jewish at all.”
Unless, of course, a Jewish candidate were running for office, which would make “I Vote Christian” indicate pretty clearly how the “conservative Christian” should vote.
If you want to say, “I Vote My Christian Values,” hey, more power to you. I hope everyone votes their values, to some degree, and that’s certainly a valid political and social statement.
Otherwise … you’re just being a religious bigot.
I can’t believe I’m actually defending Jerry Fallwell, but….
As an atheist, if a fellow atheist were running for office in an election that I was eligible to vote in, and if I didn’t find him clearly inappropriate (for instance, if he happened to be an atheist nazi) then I would feel compelled to vote for him just because he was an atheist and would encourage others to do so as well. This is because I feel that the role of religion in government is one of the most important issues facing us and I want my side represented.
I can only assume that Fallwell feels the same and that doesn’t make him a bigot, merely self-interested.
An interesting perspective, and certainly not an indefensible one, now that you’ve brought it up. I remain insulted that I presume Rev. Falwell has quite a bit different view of what a “Christian” is (or who a “Christian” should vote for) than I do.
Indeed, maybe that’s the heart of it, getting back to my last couple of paragraphs. Voting for someone just because of the label they slap on their forehead seems shallow at best, bigoted at worst. The presumption that those values one seeks in a candidate can only come from a Christian (or a Jew, or a Muslim, or a Buddhist, or an Atheist) seems equally shallow.