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When the Rev. Jerry Falwell descended from the heavens in his private jet to spread the word to Colorado earlier this week, the only picketing and protesting came from a dozen or so atheists.
It's surprising that atheists would object to Falwell. He's probably done more for unbelief than Madeline Murray O'Hair ever did. All she did was file lawsuits. Falwell relentlessly tours the country and preaches on television, all the while giving Christianity a bad reputation.
The Rev. Falwell professes to be a Christian -- that is, someone who follows the teachings of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Bible -- but there are considerable differences between what Christ taught and what is done and advocated by the Rev. Falwell.
Rev. Falwell, as well as his fellow political preachers
like Pat Robertson and Jimmy Swaggert, claims that a good
Christian way to pray is in a classroom every morning, in
public. Jesus said: But thou, when thou prayest, enter
into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to
thy Father which is in secret.
The Rev. Falwell takes in $100 million a year to expand
his church, advance his television ministry, and fund a
college. A Christian would probably follow the words of
Jesus: Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon
earth.
When Jesus visited the temple in Jerusalem, he cast
out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and
overthrew the tables of the money-changers.
Falwell's
church, after an investigation by the Securities and
Exchange Commission, agreed to stop selling unsecured
bonds. A year ago, if you gave the Rev. Falwell $1,000,
he'd give you a golden ring. Perhaps thirty pieces of
silver will get you a golden calf this year.
The Rev. Falwell is almost as talented at knowing American history as he is at practicing Christianity. On many occasions, he has claimed that the United States was established by Christians on Christian principles two centuries ago. Since then, America has been led astray, presumably by its own constitution.
The Bible makes no mention of the United States, but
John Adams ought to know our nation's founding principles.
He signed the Declaration of Independence and served as our
first vice-president and second president. Adams wrote that
the government of the United States is not in any sense
founded on the Christian Religion.
Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of
Independence. Our third president was a God-fearing man,
but nowise a Christian. The day will come,
he wrote
in a letter to Adams, when the mystical generation of
Jesus, by the Supreme Being as His Father, in the womb of a
virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of
Minerva, in the brain of Jupiter.
James Madison, Jefferson's successor, is called the
father of the constitution
by historians. While arguing
against a law which would have used tax money for religious
education, Madison held that a Christian government led to
superstition, bigotry and persecution.
Yet when the Rev. Falwell arrives to tell us how the United States was established as a Christian nation, when he claims to be a Christian but preaches a doctrine that differs greatly from the sayings of Jesus, only the atheists protest.
A few weekends ago, one television drama showed Moslem terrorists, and another presented Moslem kidnappers. Moslems picketed Denver television stations, saying that such programs gave people a totally erroneous idea of their beliefs.
Terrorists and kidnappers who perform this way in our
name are in error,
said Diane Steinke, speaking for the
Moslem picketers.
If the followers of Mohammed can find the energy to go before the public and testify that terrorists and kidnappers are not true Moslems, why can't the followers of Jesus make it clear that the rantings of Falwell should not be confused with the teachings of Christ? Aren't there any Americans who are disgusted by Falwell's ignorance of his country's history and founding principles?
Or could it be that Moslems do care about what is said and done in their name, and citizens and Christians don't?
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