Telling The Story Of Jerry Falwell
(AP)
Falwell was an important figure – though perhaps not as important as members of the media thought. He was both passionately admired and passionately reviled. Late in life he made a number of ludicrous comments, chief among them his claim that "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way—all of them who have tried to secularize America" were in part responsible for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. (He later apologized.)
Falwell also said, as Timothy Noah notes, that "AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals." He claimed that feminists "just need a man in the house." He argued that evangelical environmental activism is the work of Satan. And let's not even get into the whole Tinky Winky thing.
The "Evening News" coverage of Falwell's passing included two packages, one on his life and the other tied to last night's Republican presidential debate. The packages were evenhanded and addressed both Falwell's successes and the comments that made him so controvertial. Katie Couric also interviewed Reverend Robert Schuller and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, both of whom heaped praise on Falwell. At the end of the show, she spoke to CBS News' Jeff Greenfield and Douglas Brinkley. The latter, especially, did not cast Falwell in a positive light.
