Dobbin, more on fallwell - and a note

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: DATE: September 17, 2001 : FROM: Jerry Falwell : WHY I SAID WHAT I SAID : by Jerry Falwell : Despite the impression some may have from news reports over the past several days, I hold no one other than the terrorists, and the people and nations who have enabled and harbored them, responsible for the September 11 attacks on this nation. : I sincerely regret that comments I made during a theological discussion on a Christian television program were taken out of their context and reported, and that my thoughts - reduced to sound bites - have detracted from the spirit of this time of mourning. : Like most Americans, I watched the September 11 tragedy unfold on television. I immediately called our Liberty University family of thousands together for prayer at 2 p.m. on the day of the attacks. : On Wednesday, one day later, I led the Thomas Road Church in another call to prayer for America. On Friday, September 14th, President Bush invited me to join him, his family and administration and 3,000 others to the National Cathedral for a special Day of Prayer and Remembrance, where we asked God for His comfort, protection and wisdom. Since then, by television and radio, I have attempted to call together millions of people throughout this nation and around the world in remembering all those who died, and praying for our nation, the victims of this barbarism, and their loved ones. : On Sunday, September 16, the Thomas Road Baptist Church, where I have served as pastor for 45 years, gathered thousands of dollars for the families of New York firefighters. Our members also gathered a huge collection of tools, clothing and other materials for the New York rescue and recovery efforts. : My statements on the "700 Club" on Thursday, September 14th, were called divisive by some whom I mentioned by name. I had no intention of being divisive. I was sharing my burden for revival in America on a Christian TV program, intending to speak to a Christian audience from a theological perspective about the need for national repentance. In retrospect, I should have mentioned the national sins without mentioning the organizations and persons by name. : I stated the deep concerns of millions of American evangelicals over America's sharp spiritual decline during the past generation. : Over 40 million unborn babies have been aborted since Roe v. Wade. : We have expelled God from the public square and the public schools. : We have normalized an immoral lifestyle God has condemned. American families are falling apart. Because of our national moral and spiritual decline during the past 35 years, I expressed my personal belief that we have displeased the Lord and incurred his : displeasure. : I was asking a Christian audience on a Christian TV program to claim II Chronicles 7:14 and repent. I was calling upon the church to heed Proverbs 14:34, which says in paraphrase, "Living by God's principles promotes a nation to greatness; violating those principles brings a nation to shame." : I was blaming no one but the terrorists for the terror, but I was chastising us, the Church, for a generation of departure from God. : I was doing what I have done for nearly 50 years in the pulpit -confronting the culture and calling for national revival. : ILL-TIMED COMMENTS : My mistake on the "700 Club" was doing this at the time I did it, on television, where a secular media and audience were also listening. : And as I enumerated the sins of an unbelieving culture, because of very limited time on the "700 Club," I failed to point the finger at a sleeping, prayerless and carnal church. We believers must also acknowledge our sins, repent, and fast and pray for national : revival. : We are all involved in a very sensitive period of national mourning. We are closing ranks and coming together in a time of great loss, as we are also facing the likelihood of imminent war. : And if, in that crucial context, my statements seemed harsh and ill-timed, I truly regret this and apologize. : But, I repeat, I blame no one but the hijackers and terrorists for the horrific happenings of September 11. But I do believe God's protection of us as individuals and as a nation is dependent upon our obedience to His laws. : ---- : BTW, Dobbin, My Southern Baptist minister read your post, he said something to the affect of "He may not be spot on with his theology, but there is more 'right thinking' here in his letter than anything that has ever come out of Fallwell." : There you go. Take it easy.

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