Jerry Falwell death: Reaction in quotes

[Solly Mack]

Jerry Falwell death: Reaction in quotes

Gary Bauer, former Reagan aide and 2000 Republican presidential candidate

"It is ironic and a bit sad that the man who stayed on the sidelines during the civil rights movement – saying pastors needed to preach Jesus, not politics – became the leading person marketing Jesus for political ends in the '70s, '80s and '90s, and that he will be remembered not as a great spiritual leader but a powerful political one."

David Kuo, former Bush official in the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives

"Spurred by Roe v. Wade and the rise of the gay rights movement, Falwell led the Christian Right back into the political process through his Moral Majority. The problem was that he set such a harsh tone that, later, Christian conservative activists had trouble overcoming the image."


Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who also noted that Falwell was not as publicly prominent a voice for the Christian Right during the past several years

“He galvanized the conservative movement and challenged churchgoing people to be involved in the political process as a civic duty. He got a lot of recognition after Reagan was elected, but he was out in the trenches long before then.”