Not Guy Incognito

"I really believe 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 -- I point the finger in their face and say, 'You helped this happen.'"
Rev. Jerry Falwell on 9/11

A force in American politics is gone. Some may say for the better. Few wished for him to be silenced by death. Many would rather him be marginalized by his misplaced comments.

By no means am I any sort of Jerry Falwell fan. In fact I've found him quite repugnant for as long as I can remember.

I feel no grief whatsoever for his passing. I do not think he was a great man. I think he was a great salesman of his brand of religion. A shyster, a huckster, a modern day P.T. Barnum (and that may not be all that far from the truth).

He inserted himself into the modern dilemma, injecting himself into political, social, and religious America with a strange measure of self-authority. The word blustery comes to mind.

Mistakes were made, and I think he was most himself when he erred. Tinky Winky, the mess after 9/11, calling the prophet Muhammad a 'terrorist', encouraging apartheid, using "The Old Time Gospel Hour" for political purposes against Bill Clinton. He opposed desegregation and Martin Luther King, Jr (both positions he retracted later).



So what is his legacy? The gaffes? The 22,000 member Thomas Road Baptist Church? The Religious Right? Liberty University?

Although in the past few years Falwell passed on his business to his sons, he was TRBC. It is hard to see the Gospel Hour continue without its leader. An untaxed $200 million a year ministry will not continue at that level without its charismatic leader.

The Religious Right? A once-powerful poltical action committee that seems to have fallen on hard times in the last few years. They couldn't save the Republicans in 2006. Iraq, and not social issues, is the elephant in the room in the 2008 debate.

How about Liberty University? Is that the legacy?

This is what Falwell focused much of his energy on in the last few years of his life. He wanted it to be the BYU or Notre Dame for Baptists. A close study reveals some disturbing facts.

Liberty currently holds a poor fourth-tier rating from most college ranking publications. It holds only a $6 million endowment, a paltry sum for any institution of higher learning. It is especially bad for a campus that claims more than 10,000 students. By contrast, the University of Richmond (still not a highly acclaimed University) holds a $1 billion+ endowment with 3600 students.

Liberty has seen numerous financial crises over the years, and I have the feeling we'll see more as its charismatic leader has passed.

Liberty's campus is sprawling, but cheap from what I've seen. Quick and inexpensive construction will not hold up to the elements, and will see major capital needs arise within the next few years.

In an ever freedom-loving society, how many teens will see strict reprimands for viewing 'R' rated movies as part of the college experience?

Just wait, it doesn't stop there.

This is a list of the most egregious offenses a Liberty student can commit, taken from its own code of conduct:

Abortion
Academic dishonesty
Assault/sexual assault (minimum two semesters out)
Commission/conviction of any felony
Failure of three Christian/Community Services without reconciliation
Illegal drugs-association/possession, use/distribution (minimum two semesters out)
Immorality
Involvement with witchcraft, séances or other occult activities
Life-threatening behavior or language to others or oneself (immediate removal/exclusion from campus and a minimum of two semesters out)
Non-participation/disruption/non-compliance (possible removal/exclusion from campus)
Possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages
Refusal to submit to an Alco-Sensor test and/or drug test as specified by the administration
Spending the night with a person of the opposite sex
Stealing or possession of stolen property (plus financial restitution; minimum two semesters out)
Two or more individuals of the opposite sex together in hotel/motel room without proper permission
Unauthorized possession/use of weapons

A few are valid. But cheating is seen as the equal as spending a night with a member of the opposite sex, involvement in the occult, or the legal act of abortion. Is the theft of someone else's intellectual property really as bad as drinking a beer? This is a place supposedly dedicated to crafting young minds for critical and independent thought.

Of course not all of these offenses merit dismissal. Just 30 demerits and a $500 fine. The cynic in me says, "Of course there would be a monetary penalty, Falwell's involved."

There will be a market for that type of education for some, but it appears to be diminishing returns.

By the way, what is a Liberty degree worth these days? Can a Liberty degree be held seriously? What student of the sciences should go out into the workplace learning that the earth is a few thousand years old, and that dinosaurs were present on Noah's Ark? These 'ideas' are actually tought in Lynchburg. Geologic and empirical data confirm otherwise.

Teachings of sciences should be based on testable truths, not beliefs. There is most definitely a place for the independent study of religion, but it should not be in the laboratory. That is a place of scientific tests, not beliefs.

There are clearly problems within that university (lowercase emphasized for a reason). Is this really a beacon of enlightenment and independent thought?

Is Liberty University Jerry Falwell's greatest legacy? It appears so, and that would be quite appropriate. And any critically-thinking person should realize it. The university is the mirror of the man: highly flawed, yet strangely popular.

Labels: Jerry Falwell, Liberty University