Jerry Falwell Jr. takes leave of absence

[jimbogumbo]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/07/us/jerry-falwell-jr-liberty-university-leave/index.html

[writingprof]

This is an interesting story.  The photo itself (easily viewable online) is "racy" in only the mildest sense of the word.  Yet it's reasonable to argue that Falwell should be held to the same standard to which Liberty holds its students.  Could one of them post such a picture without consequence?  I honestly don't know, but it seems to me unlikely.

That said, I'm reminded of moments when conservatives cheer a progressive's descent into #MeToo hell, or a progressive's "cancellation."  No, no, no.  If an ideology is illegitimate, it's illegitimate whether it's attacking one's friends or one's enemies.  Leftists should take note.  If you don't like Liberty-style anti-intellectual Christianist legalism, you shouldn't like it when it eats Jerry Falwell, Jr.

[jimbogumbo]

I'd agree, but the picture is just the latest issue. There have been several stories detailing prior "indiscretions", some to the point of misuse of funds. Don't have them at my fingertips, and am in the midst of grading so I shouldn't procrastinate more.

[spork]

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

Unfortunately he will probably never be prosecuted for financial crimes.

[pgher]

The point is to punish hypocrites. You can't build a career on purity and yourself be impure. He has never advocated for grace and forgiveness for others.

[kaysixteen]

He's a sleazeball, and a corrupt one at that.   And an excellent example of a sadly all-too common problem in American evangelicalism, namely the vastly too common use of/ reliance on nepotism.

[nebo113]

Liberty students would be expelled for the same conduct, so writingprof is wrong.

[mamselle]

A very long, long time ago, his dad, while not being my first choice for a ministerial presence in my life, at least had some good things to say and do.

It's a lot like Franky Schaeffer, or Billy Graham's son...they see the glitter but have lost the substance, somehow.

Choices, willfulness, and a loss of priorities and values are heightened in these settings.

M.

[kaysixteen]

An excellent point about Franky S and Franklin G.  Both are underwhelming dudes who'd have a hard time getting work pumping gas were it not for their pops.  But both of these men are spiritual and ethical giants, compared to Jerry Jr.

[apl68]

I'd agree, but the picture is just the latest issue. There have been several stories detailing prior "indiscretions", some to the point of misuse of funds. Don't have them at my fingertips, and am in the midst of grading so I shouldn't procrastinate more.

It's like he has been going through a second adolescence.  Maybe President Trump rubbed off on him?  Whatever the reason, his behavior is totally inappropriate in a man in a leadership position, and most especially a Christian position of leadership.

[kaysixteen]

You're right of course, but I gotta come back to this nepotism issue.   Jerry Sr., whatever his flaws, was a godly man who did a decent job building both his church and his school.   He had two sons, left one of them the pastorate of the church (Jonathan?), who by all accounts is a good guy and a good pastor.  But what the heck was he doing leaving the head of a college position to a man, Jerry Jr., who has no qualifications of any sort for such a position?  Obviously the old man had blinders on, when he decided to do so.  And this is, as I noted, sadly all too common in evangelical circles, many of whose 'ministries' (not all of which deserve the air quotes, of course) are really personal fiefdoms started and run by Pastor/ Dr. X, who expects to hand over the reigns to a son (or more than one son) much the same way Saddam Hussein groomed his own sons to replace him.   Why evangelical believers tolerate this is perhaps a mystery, though I do of course have my suspicions.

[writingprof]

Liberty students would be expelled for the same conduct, so writingprof is wrong.

Since that is what I said, I suppose I am "right."

Yet it's reasonable to argue that Falwell should be held to the same standard to which Liberty holds its students.  Could one of them post such a picture without consequence?  I honestly don't know, but it seems to me unlikely.

[apl68]

You're right of course, but I gotta come back to this nepotism issue.   Jerry Sr., whatever his flaws, was a godly man who did a decent job building both his church and his school.   He had two sons, left one of them the pastorate of the church (Jonathan?), who by all accounts is a good guy and a good pastor.  But what the heck was he doing leaving the head of a college position to a man, Jerry Jr., who has no qualifications of any sort for such a position?  Obviously the old man had blinders on, when he decided to do so.  And this is, as I noted, sadly all too common in evangelical circles, many of whose 'ministries' (not all of which deserve the air quotes, of course) are really personal fiefdoms started and run by Pastor/ Dr. X, who expects to hand over the reigns to a son (or more than one son) much the same way Saddam Hussein groomed his own sons to replace him.   Why evangelical believers tolerate this is perhaps a mystery, though I do of course have my suspicions.

Some families get a reputation for producing ministers.  I'm from one--my father, grandfather, and one uncle have all pastored churches.  I suppose sometimes in such a family a youth who has no genuine calling for the ministry gets pushed into that role by family and social expectation.  I've never seen that in our family.  Maybe because we've always produced bi-vocational ministers with day jobs as bricklayers and mail carriers, and because our family was never instrumental in founding a new congregation.  There was never a sense that we "owned" a church.

Most religions seem to have a tendency for clerical offices and institutions to turn into "family businesses."  The Roman Catholic expectation of priestly celibacy was in large part an effort to prevent that.

[mamselle]

Check out Jacob, Esau, and Isaac for an earlier mess...

M.

[apl68]

Check out Jacob, Esau, and Isaac for an earlier mess...

M.

Or perhaps more pertinently, the High Priest Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas.