After Falwell's death, Flynt stated that despite their differences, he and Falwell had become friends over the years, adding, " I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling.

Empirical evidence suggests that Falwell ’ s claim about the role of Christian Right organizations in Reagan ’ s victory has some truth, though difficult to determine definitively.

Although Robertson ’ s political platforms were extremely similar to the ones the Moral Majority supported, Falwell gave his organization ’ s endorsement to contender George H. W. Bush instead.

John Lofton of The American View Christian radio show accused Liberty University of not being " a truly Christian college " when Jerry Falwell gave permission for the debate team to debate in favor of abortion when required.

In 1988, Falwell said that the Bakker scandal had " strengthened broadcast evangelism and made Christianity stronger, more mature and more committed ".

Begun in 1956 by a group of thirty-five, including Jerry Falwell, Thomas Road now claims more than 24, 200 members.

On May 28, 2009, members of the club met with LU administration members again, and Falwell stated that he was " optimistic that if the university can work directly with the students that a compromise can be reached.

Falwell repeatedly denounced certain teachings in public schools and secular education in general, calling them breeding grounds for atheism, secularism, and humanism, which he claimed to be in contradiction with Christian morality.

Jerry Falwell wrote in America Can Be Saved that " I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won't have any public schools.

Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell,, was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held, in a unanimous 8 – 0 decision ( Justice Anthony Kennedy took no part in the consideration or decision of the case ), that the First Amendment's free-speech guarantee prohibits awarding damages to public figures to compensate for emotional distress intentionally inflicted upon them.

The Fourth Circuit affirmed, rejecting Flynt's argument that the actual-malice standard of New York Times Company v. Sullivan, applied in cases of intentional infliction of emotional distress where the plaintiff was a public figure, as Falwell concededly was.

Clearly, Falwell was a public figure for purposes of First Amendment law.

* Hustler Magazine v. Falwell ( 1988 ) parody of a public figure is not libel.

The Supreme Court ruled that, since the advertisement was so obviously a parody that no reasonable person could have believed it, Falwell was not libelled and thus is not entitled to damages for emotional distress, and he was not entitled to damages for invasion of privacy because he is a well-known public figure.

Though Schaeffer's interests were primarily cultural and philosophical, his doctrine of engagement with the public sphere influenced a diverse spectrum of theological conservatives, including Jerry Falwell, Tim LaHaye, John W. Whitehead, and others.

His senior thesis analyzed the liberal theologian Reinhold Niebuhr and the conservative televangelist Jerry Falwell, emphasizing their common belief in public action.

In October 1999 Falwell hosted a meeting of 200 evangelicals with 200 homosexuals at Thomas Road Baptist Church for an " Anti-Violence Forum ", during which he acknowledged that some American evangelicals ' comments about homosexuality entered the realm of hate speech that could incite violence.

" Jerry Falwell said about the first book in the series: " In terms of its impact on Christianity, it's probably greater than that of any other book in modern times, outside the Bible.

Because the district court found in favor of Flynt on the libel charge, there was no dispute as to whether the parody could be understood as describing facts about Falwell or events in which he participated.

Falwell was asked about the letter during a 60 Minutes interview in October, and sparked an even greater outrage by declaring that he considered Muhammad a terrorist.

The episode also mocks the hatred and misunderstandings about homosexuality often expressed by zealots and right-wing extremists who regularly attack LGBT people and culture, including Christian ministers Jerry Falwell and Fred Phelps.

In 1979, Falwell founded the Moral Majority, which became one of the largest political lobby groups for evangelical Christians in the United States during the 1980s.

During his time as head of the Moral Majority, Falwell consistently pushed for Republican candidates and for conservative politics.

Among the American Christian leaders who spoke out in Moon's defense were conservative Jerry Falwell, head of Moral Majority, and liberal Joseph Lowery, head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Jerry Falwell, whose founding of the Moral Majority was a key step in the formation of the " New Christian Right "

The birth of the New Christian right, however, is usually traced to a 1979 meeting where televangelist Jerry Falwell was urged to create a " Moral Majority " organization.

Soon, Moral Majority became a general term for the conservative political activism of evangelists and fundamentalists such as Pat Robertson, James Robinson, and Jerry Falwell.

* Jerry Falwell ( 1933 – 2007 ), senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church and founder of the Moral Majority

Jerry Falwell, whose founding of the Moral Majority was a key step in the formation of the New Christian Right

The origins of the Moral Majority can be traced to 1976, when Jerry Falwell embarked on a series of “ I Love America ” rallies across the country to raise awareness of social issues important to Falwell.

Having already been a part of a well-established network of ministers and ministries, within a few years Falwell was favorably positioned to launch the Moral Majority.

During a 1979 meeting, they urged televangelist Jerry Falwell to found Moral Majority ( a phrase coined by Weyrich ).

Falwell and Weyrich founded the Moral Majority in June 1979.

The variety of resources available to the Moral Majority at its founding facilitated this rapid expansion, which included Falwell ’ s “ Old Time Gospel Hour ” mailing list.

The Moral Majority ’ s headquarters were in Lynchburg, Virginia, the same city where Falwell was the presiding minister of the nation ’ s largest independent Baptist church, Thomas Road Baptist Church.

Falwell was at the head of the Moral Majority and maintained an advisory board, constituting the organization ’ s primary leadership.

Falwell insisted the Moral Majority leadership also include Catholics and Jews, although not all members of the leadership approved of this inclusion.

By 1987, Falwell retired as the formal head of the Moral Majority, although he maintained an active and visible role within the organization.

Announcing the disbandment of the Moral Majority in 1989 in Las Vegas, Falwell declared, “ Our goal has been achieved … The religious right is solidly in place and … religious conservatives in America are now in for the duration .”

The Moral Majority was a relatively early supporter of Reagan, with Falwell announcing the organization ’ s endorsement of Reagan before the Republican convention.

After Reagan ’ s victory, Falwell announced Reagan ’ s success was directly due to the Moral Majority and others registering and encouraging church-goers to vote who had never before been politically active.

The tension between Falwell and Pat Robertson also affected the Moral Majority, as noted in the presidential elections section of this article.

In November 2004, Falwell revived the Moral Majority name for a new organization, the Moral Majority Coalition.