Jonathan Falwell is Senior Pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church and the son of the late Reverend Jerry Falwell. Falwell spoke this afternoon to the values voters at the Family Research Council's Washington Briefing in Washington D.C.
Falwell said that some in the media say the "Religious Right" is done for. Falwell admitted the Religious Right had lost a number of greats, including his father, but in the words of the famous writer, "Reports of our death are greatly exaggerated."
He said times were tough for the people of God in the time of Gideon, when the faithful had to hide in caves from the bad guys. Falwell said that about 30 years ago, the faithful in America had been in the caves of our society before the "moral majority" began to speak up for what was right--and that the faithful should never go back in those caves again.
Falwell said it is our responsibility as the followers of God to help the poor, to reach out to the homeless, to help those with AIDS, and others who are hurting, but that we can never surrender standing for life.
Falwell said marriage, family and the unborn have been under unrelenting attack. He said we can run back to the caves, or we can stand in the breaks in the wall, unashamed, and making sure that what we believe in is safe.
Yesterday we marked the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attack of 911. Falwell said there is a resurgence of people committed to fixing what is wrong in our society.
"It is not above our pay grade to figure out that life is important to God," said Falwell.
The tide is beginning to turn, he said, thanks to those who have been willing to stand in the gap. Falwell said that Democrat vice presidential nominee Joe Biden even said recently that he believes life begins at conception.
Falwell said it is the responsibility of the churches and faith-based organizations to reach out and address the ills of society, and that they will do a far better job than the government agencies ever could.
Falwell spoke of the assassination attempt against President Ronald Reagan that occurred immediate after Reagan spoke in this very room and was leaving the back door of the Washington Hilton, and of the faith in God that Reagan showed during that personal crisis. He said that faith was an inspiration to us and helped fuel the fire of a return to values that started to burn brightly during Reagan's time in the White House.
He called on those present to stand firm and remain committed to values, morality, family and life. Falwell repeated what his father had said, that God's people are not called to be popular, but are called to be faithful.
0 comments:
Post a Comment