Call it the second coming of the Moral Majority. Jerry Falwell says he is launching a political organization that will be “a 21st-century resurrection” of the Moral Majority, the Christian lobby he founded and led from 1979 to 1987.
The new group, named the Faith and Values Coalition, will “utilize the momentum of the Nov. 2 elections to maintain an evangelical revolution of voters who will continue to go to the polls to ‘vote Christian,’” Falwell said Wednesday.
At 71, Falwell said he is committing to a four-year stint as national chairman. Mat Staver, founder of the conservative legal group Liberty Counsel, will be vice chairman. Tim LaHaye, co-author of the Left Behind series of novels, will head the board of directors. Falwell’s son, Jonathan, will serve as executive director, the evangelist based in Lynchburg, Va., said.
Falwell’s old antagonist, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, called his announcement “just another fund-raising gimmick.”
“After Bill Clinton was elected in 1992, Falwell sent letters to religious conservatives nationwide asking them if he should reopen the Moral Majority and seeking donations. Falwell never reactivated the group, but he did keep the money,” Americans United said in a statement.
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