Dr. Falwell's Funeral

The line of people waiting to get into Thomas Road Baptist Church easily exceeded 1/2 mile. This picture was taken 2 1/2 hours before the funeral service.

I was privileged to attend the funeral service for Dr. Jerry Falwell. Many thousands of people joined me from all over the country. A great many “who’s who” of the Christian Right were in attendance as well, including Alan Keyes, Roy Moore, Howard Phillips, Jay Sekulow, Tony Perkins, Gary Bauer, Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed, Franklin Graham, and many more.

The service was very moving and very evangelical—including a sermon and “alter call.” Franklin Graham gave a wonderful eulogy and warmly embraced the Falwell family. Although Jerry Falwell and Billy Graham had their disagreements, look for the next generation to work closer together.

The most impressive part of the funeral service was the way all the Falwell children honored their dad. It’s so hard to find a charismatic leader of Falwell’s standing today who has good relationships with their kids. The press is already eating Rudy Giuliani alive for his dysfunctional family. And, of course, even Ronald Reagan had to deal with black sheep in his immediate family. Seeing Jerry’s children honor their dad made me respect Jerry all the more.

While I was waiting in line, I thought about Hustler’s founder Larry Flynt. Jerry and Larry were mortal enemies but later developed a cordial relationship after Jerry lost his Supreme Court case against Larry (Jerry had a remarkable talent of being a friend to anybody). I mentioned to a friend of mine at the funeral that “Larry should take note. Anybody can win a Supreme Court case. But Larry Flynt will not have a funeral like Jerry Falwell’s!”

Cavaliers + Roundheads... a Falwell Legacy

King Charles I

Oliver Cromwell

by Matt Chancey

My friend Rick Shaftan, who in addition to being an excellent political strategist also enjoys an encyclopedic political memory, reminded me of an important Falwell legacy-- which brought to my mind some historical lessons from our British forefathers.

During the English Civil War, King Charles I’s supporters (Cavaliers) were composed of many Catholics. Charles’s wife was Catholic and the king had been integrating many “Popish” features into the Anglican liturgy—much to the dismay of the Puritan majority (Roundheads) led by Oliver Cromwell.

This Catholic vs. Protestant conflict in English politics crossed the Atlantic and has manifested itself at various times in various ways in our own political history.

What Rick pointed out to me was that during the 1960s and 70s when school prayer was outlawed and abortion legalized, there was pathetically little organized resistance from "Christian Fundamentalists." The greatest organized opposition came from Conservative Catholics.

This is where Jerry Falwell comes in.

In 1977, my friend Howard Phillips, Chairman of the Conservative Caucus, drove to Lynchburg to meet with Dr. Falwell. He proposed that Jerry become the leader of a new movement to enlist Evangelicals as a block vote into the political arena. His suggested name for the organization? The Moral Majority. The rest is history.

Falwell’s greatest political legacy was orchestrating a shotgun wedding between Conservative Catholics and Christian Fundamentalists. This unprecedented alliance of conservative "Cavaliers and Roundheads" gave Reagan the Presidency and forever changed American politics.

Matt Chancey is President of the Alabama Republican Assembly

Thank you, Dr. Falwell. 1933-2007

In the coming days, many eulogies will doubtless be written about Dr. Jerry Falwell by more capable writers. Many will extol his gifted preaching, his vision for a Christian University, his organizational genius, his profound personal faith…etc. But I have just one observation to make. I will remember Dr. Falwell for his personal charm.

Jerry was a charming man. He always looked for the best in people – even to a fault.

His goodwill went both ways. There are not many Christian Fundamentalists who would reach out to porn magnet Larry Flynt. And Falwell was gracious to conservative friends who were often critical (often justifiably so) of his defense of policy betrayals by the Bush family and other GOP nobility.

On the political level, I believe this virtue was taken advantage of by some Neocons and establishment Republicans, who used Jerry’s incredible charm to “baptize” their poor political decisions and policies. But whatever you believe of Jerry’s motivating factors, the fact is that he always believed the best of people—even when it came to some real stinkers in Washington.

When a man achieves great things in a short time, it’s easy to find something to attack or criticize. President Bush is routinely criticized for his verbal blunders, which, compared to the thousands of successful speeches he has given, would seem small and insignificant. But it’s human nature to focus on the negative. But this was not Jerry’s nature. He chose to always look on the bright side, and there are few men I know who I can never picture wearing a frown or sullen countenance. When I think of Jerry Falwell, I picture that big, round smiling face.

Jerry Falwell was a political father to so much of what constitutes conservative politics in America today. We owe him a lot. He wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t always right. He fought some battles he shouldn’t have fought, and he neglected some that could have really used his help. But this can be said of any man—including great men. Our job, as the heirs, is to honor our fathers and be grateful for what God did through them and the things we learned from their successes and failures; their strengths and weaknesses; and, in the case of Jerry Falwell, his incredible charm.

Thanks, Jerry. We’ll miss you.

Matt Chancey is President of the Alabama Republican Assembly

A Message from our President

Welcome to the Alabama Republican Assembly Blog!

In this day of lightning fast communication and information overload, it's important that conservatives be able to wade through this swamp and cut through the varnish to find out what's really going on in the world-- especially our political world.

This requires us all working together to build a network of like-minded citizens across Alabama determined to defend our uniquely Conservative and Christian heritage from the seemingly unending attack from the Left.

This forum is designed for Alabama Conservatives to address and read about currently political events in the state and nation from a conservative viewpoint. Comments are welcome, but moderated. Unsolicited articles are also welcome. Send them to alabamaconservative@gmail.com for consideration.

Our hope is that this blog will become "Grand Central Station" for the exchange of information and ideas that will educate, inform, and equip Alabama Conservatives for the battlefield of ideas in our government.