Jerry Falwell

==Legacy==
Views on Falwell's legacy are mixed. Supporters praise his advancement of his [[social conservative|socially conservative]] message. They also tout his evangelist ministries, and his stress on church planting and growth. Conversely, many of his detractors have accused him of [[hate speech]] and identified him as an "agent of intolerance".<ref name="Blumenthal 2007"/>

The [[antitheism|antitheistic]] social commentator [[Christopher Hitchens]] described his work as "Chaucerian fraud" and a "faith-based fraud." Hitchens took special umbrage with Falwell's alignment with "the most thuggish and demented Israeli settlers",<ref name=slate2/> and his declaration that [[September 11 attacks|9/11]] represented God's judgment on America's sinful behaviour; deeming it "extraordinary that not even such a scandalous career is enough to shake our dumb addiction to the 'faith-based.'"<ref name=slate2/> Hitchens also mentioned that, despite his support for Israel, Falwell "kept saying to his own crowd, yes, you have got to like the Jews, because they can make more money in 10 minutes than you can make in a lifetime".<ref name=slate2>[[Christopher Hitchens|Hitchens, Christopher]]. "[http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2007/05/faithbased_fraud.html Jerry Falwell, faith-based fraud] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816031106/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2007/05/faithbased_fraud.html |date=2013-08-16 }}." ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]''. May 16, [[2007 in literature|2007]]. Retrieved September 3, 2013.</ref> Appearing on [[CNN]] a day after Falwell's death, Hitchens said, "The empty life of this ugly little charlatan proves only one thing: that you can get away with the most extraordinary offenses to morality and to truth in this country if you will just get yourself called 'reverend'."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/15/acd.01.html|title=Jerry Falwell's Legacy|publisher=CNN|access-date=2014-04-17|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819170349/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/15/acd.01.html|archive-date=2014-08-19}}</ref>

At one point, prank callers, especially home activists, were an estimated 25 percent of Falwell's total calls until the ministry disconnected the toll-free number in 1986.<ref>Hayduke, George. "Prey TV", ''Screw Unto Others: Revenge Tactics for all Occasions''. pg. 166</ref> In the mid-1980s Edward Johnson, programmed his [[Atari]] home computer to make thousands of repeat phone calls to Falwell's 1-800 phone number, since Johnson claimed Falwell had swindled large amounts of money from his followers, including Johnson's mother. [[Southern Bell]] forced Johnson to stop after he had run up Falwell's telephone bill by an estimated $500,000.<ref name=belltoll>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961073,00.html|title=Evangelism: The Bell Tolls for Falwell|date=April 14, 1986|access-date=Nov 23, 2010|magazine=Time|location=New York|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124053353/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961073,00.html|archive-date=2010-11-24}}</ref>

Falwell's son, [[Jerry Falwell Jr.]], is a lawyer; he became the president of Liberty University after his father's death, until being put on indefinite leave on August 7, 2020, after posting an inappropriate photo with a young woman on social media. He resigned on August 24 amid further questions about his and his wife's sexual and financial involvement with an associate.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/liberty-universitys-falwell-taking-leave-absence-72244277|title=Liberty University's Falwell taking leave of absence|date=August 7, 2020|access-date=August 7, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-08-24|title=Jerry Falwell Jr. resigns from Liberty University. Again.|url=https://religionnews.com/2020/08/24/jerry-falwell-resigns-liberty-university-alleged-affair-trump-pool-attendant/|access-date=2020-08-25|website=Religion News Service|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-falwell-relationship-exclusive/exclusive-business-partner-of-falwells-says-he-had-long-aff Reuters]{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/08/24/jerry-falwell-resigns-head-liberty-university/5626468002/|title=Is Jerry Falwell Jr. out as president of Liberty University? Report: A daylong back-and-forth ends with him again saying he has resigned |first1=Joey |last1=Garrison |first2=Deirdre |last2=Shesgreen |newspaper=USA Today |access-date=August 26, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-falwell-relationship/|title=Business partner of Falwells says he had affair with the power couple|first=Aram|last=Roston|website=Reuters|access-date=August 26, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/us/trump-falwell-endorsement-michael-cohen.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/us/trump-falwell-endorsement-michael-cohen.html |archive-date=2022-01-03 |url-access=limited |title=The Evangelical, the 'Pool Boy,' the Comedian and Michael Cohen|first1=Frances|last1=Robles|first2=Jim|last2=Rutenberg|newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 18, 2019|access-date=August 26, 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Falwell Jr. said later that the real reason his father began attending church as a teenager was because he had fallen in love with Macel (who played piano there and was engaged at the time). Later Jerry Falwell Sr. used deception to convince her to break off the engagement.<ref name="vanf">{{cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/01/inside-jerry-falwell-jr-unlikely-rise-and-precipitous-fall|title=INSIDE JERRY FALWELL JR.'S UNLIKELY RISE AND PRECIPITOUS FALL AT LIBERTY UNIVERSITY|website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=January 24, 2022 }}</ref>

Filmmaker [[Terrence Malick]] had intended since the 1980s to write and direct a film about the lives of Jerry Falwell and pianist-singer [[Jerry Lee Lewis]] but the movie was not made.<ref>{{cite news|last=Barfield|first=Charles|title='A Hidden Life' Composer Talks Unproduced Malick Film Described As A "Parallel Story Between Jerry Lee Lewis & Jerry Falwell"|url=https://theplaylist.net/jerry-lee-lewis-jerry-falwell-terrence-malick-20200123/|access-date=July 19, 2022|work=The Playlist|date=January 23, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=The Playlist Staff|title=The Lost Projects And Unproduced Screenplays Of Terrence Malick|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2011/07/the-lost-projects-and-unproduced-screenplays-of-terrence-malick-117563/|access-date=July 19, 2022|work=[[IndieWire]]|publisher=[[Penske Business Media|Penske Media Corporation]]|date=July 12, 2011|quote=Once again, during those supposed 'lost years' of the '80s, Terrence Malick was commissioned to write a script about Jerry Lee Lewis.}}</ref>