Rev. Jerry Falwell's comments - Political implications

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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Falwell never ceases to amaze me in what he’s says. Falwell along with his close followers are a danger not only for Muslims but also to Israel as well as America. Falwell stated that the Christian right is a major influence on how the Administrations treats Israel, in fact it was said to be stronger than Jewish special interest groups. How much influence the Christian right has on the U.S. policy towards Israel is anyone’s guess, but if any Administration is influenced by the likes of Falwell on how to handle it’s foreign policy then not only are the 3 groups mentioned above in danger but so is the administration. Keep religion out of U.S. politics or those who allow it in will be and should be taken out of U.S. politics.

I see this thread is in the relgion forum, but I think this issue also constituents as a world affair as it alleged affects U.S. foreign policy.

…
(CBS) The Rev. Jerry Falwell has called Islam’s founder and most sacred figure, Mohammed, “a terrorist.”

In a 60 Minutes interview with CBS News Correspondent Bob Simon, Falwell also affirms the Christian Right’s steadfast support for the state of Israel against its Islamic enemies and hints that right-wing religious groups are influencing U.S. government policy toward Israel. Right-wing Christians believe the turmoil in the Middle East is a harbinger of the second coming of Christ.

The interview with Falwell will be broadcast on 60 Minutes Sunday at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

“I think Mohammed was a terrorist. I read enough…by both Muslims and non-Muslims, [to decide] that he was a violent man, a man of war,” Falwell tells Simon. “In my opinion…Jesus set the example for love, as did Moses, and I think Mohammed set an opposite example.”

When President Bush urged Israel to remove its forces from Palestinian towns earlier this year, Falwell sent him a personal protest and the White House received 100,000 e-mail protests from Christians.

Falwell say he believes Bush is well aware of the Christian constituency. “There are 70 million of us…[and] there’s nothing that would bring the wrath of the Christian public in this country down on this government like abandoning or opposing Israel on a critical matter,” he says.

Falwell and conservative Christians support the Israelis and condemn their enemies because they believe the triumph of Israel is God’s will. The Jews’ return to their ancient homeland – and sole ownership of the territories Arabs and Israelis both lay claim to - is a precondition for the second coming of Christ, according to the Fundamentalist Evangelical Christians’ interpretation of the Bible.

The Biblical scenario is not a savory one for many Jews, however. “God save us from these people,” says Israeli political analyst Yossi Alpher. “When you see what these people are encouraging Israel and the U.S. to do…ignore the Palestinians, kick them out…they are leading us into a scenario of out-and-out disaster,” he tells Simon.

But disaster is part of the scenario. Many Fundamentalist Evangelicals believe there will be catastrophic events on earth, some occurring already, including the turmoil in the Middle East, culminating in the Battle of Armageddon in which Christ will triumph and begin ruling the earth. At this point, they believe, non-believers will be destroyed, good Christians saved and any remaining Jews converted to Christianity.

Says Ed McAteer, a founder of the Moral Majority and known as the godfather of the Christian Right, “I believe that we are seeing prophecy unfold so rapidly and dramatically and wonderfully, and, without exaggeration, [it] makes me breathless.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/03/60minutes/main524268.shtml

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utd,

I would be interested to know how many millions of followers these fundemenatlist Christians have in the USA? Jerry Falwell, Pat Buchanan, Pat Robertson and all the others? They all seem to have their own tv and radio stations, chat shows and such, not to mention how wealthy they seem to be? They must have a great deal of followers?

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Here is OldLahori's law: Atleast 10 % of any civilization is nuts. Falwell and Group's support when Pat Robertson ran for the presidency was aobut 3% of the republicans. That would translate to less than 1% of the general population.

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Falwell said "There are 70 million of us…"

25% of the country?

I'll find the real number and get back to you.

I like OldLahori's law though.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by OldLahori: *
Here is OldLahori's law: Atleast 10 % of any civilization is nuts. Falwell and Group's support when Pat Robertson ran for the presidency was aobut 3% of the republicans. That would translate to less than 1% of the general population.
[/QUOTE]

that percentage was of people who were actually rabid enought o vote for them, there are probably more who support them in some respects but know that these guys cant run a country.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by OldLahori: *
Here is OldLahori's law: Atleast 10 % of any civilization is nuts. Falwell and Group's support when Pat Robertson ran for the presidency was aobut 3% of the republicans. That would translate to less than 1% of the general population.
[/QUOTE]

You know religious parties only get 3% of the votes in Pakistan as well, but they make much more noise, and have tended to exercise influence well outside their voting power. This is very much the case in the USA, and it is well known that Christian groups have always had a very strong voice/stranglehold on the Republican party. After all didn't Bush go to the viruntely anti-Catholic Bob Jones University to please this powerful lobby?

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Well the fundementalist christains have been gaining ground in both the republican and democractic parties. It is more obviou and talked about in the republican halls, as they are known to be religious conservatives. But it is a general precedent that the christain fundos are a strong lobby in the US and now are linked extremely closely with the Jewish lobby. I remember some christain leader saying that Christain and Israels are brothers have a common enemy in Islam. So much for tolerance and democractic values

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by CM: *
Well the fundementalist christains have been gaining ground in both the republican and democractic parties. It is more obviou and talked about in the republican halls, as they are known to be religious conservatives. But it is a general precedent that the christain fundos are a strong lobby in the US and now are linked extremely closely with the Jewish lobby. I remember some christain leader saying that Christain and Israels are brothers have a common enemy in Islam. So much for tolerance and democractic values
[/QUOTE]

Ok so USA is riven with intolerant bigoted people controlled by the powerful jewish and the crazy fundamentalist christians.. Eruope is racist with reports that atleast Britan is becoming ultra racist. Australians are vocally demanding deporting and excluding of the muslims now. So which country would you say is welcoming muslims these days?

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by OldLahori: *

Ok so USA is riven with intolerant bigoted people controlled by the powerful jewish and the crazy fundamentalist christians.. Eruope is racist with reports that atleast Britan is becoming ultra racist. Australians are vocally demanding deporting and excluding of the muslims now. So which country would you say is welcoming muslims these days?
[/QUOTE]

Before going on a tangent, and try to get away from answering the difficult questions posed in this thread, why don't you tell us why the Christian fundementalists have such a stranglehold on the Republican party? By extensin why do they have such influence with the Bush administration, in important policies of state and international affairs?

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Malik73: *

Before going on a tangent, and try to get away from answering the difficult questions posed in this thread, why don't you tell us why the Christian fundementalists have such a stranglehold on the Republican party? By extensin why do they have such influence with the Bush administration, in important policies of state and international affairs?
[/QUOTE]

Who said they did? You are being paranoid. Apparently Bush had an alcahol problem and religion helped him get over it a few years ago. So he wears his religion closer to public view than most Americans.

And it is not a tangent. That is the main question for you. If you don't have an alternative then which Utopian dream are we discussing. Kick A** Khalifa? There is no MMA in this country. The nuts have a right to belong to the political system also. Republicans have their nuts and the democrats have theirs. I don't see this super control that you talk about.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by OldLahori: *

Who said they did? You are being paranoid. Apparently Bush had an alcahol problem and religion helped him get over it a few years ago. So he wears his religion closer to public view than most Americans.

[/QUOTE]

And because of the church helped him with his alcholol problem, Bush went to the virulently anti-Catholic Bob Jones University, and end up offending millions of Catholic Americans. Are you really saying that the Christian Colaition and such like have little influence within the Republican party?

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Malik73 ji, Bush needs to win elections. He needs to put togather coalitions. Is the conservative christian far-right part of the Republican coalitions? Yes. Does that mean they have veto power or undue influence of decision making of the Government? NO. Democracy requires building coalitions and making compromises. If the American public felt that republicans are being "controlled" by Falwell and crowd, believe me they would be out of power in the very next election. Does anyone in USA wants to disenfranchise Falwell and crowd? NO, far from it. Everyone is encouraged to vote and participate. Consider some of the pet issues that the far right has been pushing: abortion control, teaching of religion in schools, school vouchers for christian schools, etc. No one has handed them victory on these issues yet!

Again please tell me the Utopian country that I should look at.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by OldLahori: *
Malik73 ji, Bush needs to win elections. He needs to put togather coalitions. Is the conservative christian far-right part of the Republican coalitions? Yes. Does that mean they have veto power or undue influence of decision making of the Government? NO.
[/QUOTE]

So finally you are admitting that an American President to be elected needs the vote of Christian fundementalists. Including those who preach outright hatred of other faiths as Falwell? If they don't have any influence on what a candidate/President does then you still have not explained why Bush had to go a Cathloic-hating University? To please this fundementalist Christian lobby of course. Why do these high profile preachers of hate (who form part of the Republican party coalition) have so much influnence on US policy towards Israel, as claimed in the opening post.

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The supposed influence of nuts on the left and nuts on the right is greatly overestimated by some in this thread. In fact, the American 2 party system virtually assures that the influence of the fringe groups is far less in American politics than it is in many parliamentary forms of government. In systems with multiple parties, the less likely it is that one party will attain a sufficient majority to form a government on its own. Thus, the fringe groups exercise great power in throwing their support one way or another to form a coalition government. In the US, you pretty much know that the fundamentalists on the left will vote Democrat and the fundamentalists on the right will vote Republican. The swing vote is the independent voter who is generally moderate and will vote for the centrist candidate more often than not. That’s why Democrats try to paint Republicans as too Conservative and Republicans try to paint Democrats as too liberal. Closest to the center wins.

The potential emergence of a viable third party in US politics would, IMO, be dangerous because it would enhance the power of the nuts on the left and the nuts on the right.

In elections that are viewed as extremely close, the first rule of thumb is to galvanize your sure thing support to promote their turnout. Thus, you get Bush going to Bob Jones University. You get Gore going to the NAACP Convention. This makes them feel warm and fuzzy about “Their Candidate” and gets them to go to the polls rather than stay at home. You don’t really have to DO anything for them. Just let them know that you won’t forget about them. The rest of the election is about appealing to the center.