A Memorable Encounter

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Remember? Except in the present case, the tale concerns two preachers on a sultry Southern night in Lynchburg, Virginia. Jesse’s come to town. In national terms, this is Jerry’s town. But because Jerry went to Pretoria and concluded that Bishop Tutu was a phony, Jesse’s come to Lynchburg. Jesse is of course, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Jerry is the Rev. Jerry Falwell.

     

To this clergyman, there is something wonderfully right about this promised confrontation. For those suckled on secularism, religion is an extraneous commodity. But in the history of thought, theology has been understood to be foundational. It was once known as the “Queen of the Sciences.” Drawing an errant conclusion from the data of that science was thought to spell doom for all the others.

And so Jesse had come to town. He’d come to pick up the challenge Dr. Falwell had thrown down just a few days earlier. Even while some commentators saw these two as buffoons, Jesse and Jerry realized that the hearts and minds of America were the stakes of such combat. Indeed, one would not be overstating the case to say that the ramifications of their contest would also affect the world!

America, despite her secular confusion is still “a city upon a hill.” Opinion recognizes that as goes this city, with its Puritan forebears, so goes the world. That’s why the Marxists spend so much time playing out their sad little passion play here. That’s why the UN’s charade is not staged so much for the world, but for America. And that’s why conservatives have been so incensed at the uneven bent of our national media.

But now it’s Saturday evening* and Jesse’s hour has arrived. Young socialists, abundantly supplied with their propaganda sheets, try to shake down the multi–racial crowd that gathers to hear Jesse speak. Aids hawk “Rainbow Coalition” pins and color portraits of Jesse. The marches that were scheduled have taken place, and the NAACP has readied their big gun.

Anticipation fills the air. Lynchburg is a small city and is unaccustomed, despite Dr. Falwell’s fame, to the movements of the famous. But tonight Jesse’s to speak at the historic Court Street Baptist Church, so the quiet is broken by the bustle of the arriving audience.

As the church begins to heat up, foreboding almost unbearable temperatures later on, Pastor Donald Johnson drops the bomb. He tells the audience that he has just received a request to let Falwell speak, and that he has acceded to the request. A “hush” rises from the congregation, and he reminds them who it is that makes the decisions in Court Street. The Rev. Donald Johnson. Then he makes the first of several admonitions that the audience behave cordially. He tells them that while Court Street Baptist is not the oldest church in Lynchburg, it is the oldest where everyone has always been welcome. The locals know what that means.

After some jazz instrumentals and Black Gospel, the Jackson entourage arrives a bit more than an hour late. But Jesse’s disciples cared not. They arose as one to enjoy both their hero and a certain sense that history was being made.

Of course, Jerry was there too. But this was a night for those whose hearts pulsed to the beat of the third world. As Pat Buchanan, the syndicated columnist once characterized him, Jesse Jackson represents that mentality better than any other American speaker. Yet ironically, much of Black America is not of this mind.

I had passed by part of this America on my way to the church . We live in one of Lynchburg’s inter-racial areas, and I had walked the eight blocks to the church. As I walked, I was surprised that the vast majority of the area’s Blacks seemed so untouched by Jesse’s anticipated arrival. Even half an hour before starting, it was still easy to get a seat. I wondered, “Didn’t these people know that their national leader was soon to appear? If they did, how could they not care? Didn’t they feel just a little oppressed and in need of a Moses?”

But there were also plenty who sympathized with Jackson. His part of Black America stretched the church to its seams. These were the people who knew that racism and oppression continued. Many made their living pointing such things out.

As such, their appetite was only whetted by the Falwell announcement. While remaining somewhat subdued, according to their earlier injunction, one got the distinct feeling that for these folks, Falwell was “The Great Racist.” As such, he was the perfect foil for the Evening.

Pastor Johnson, displaying the powers of “home rule,” began the preparatory speeches. We received an immediate foretaste of things to come when he declared that the South African government was “Out of Order!” And, he continued, “Unless Dr. Falwell says its out of order, he’s out of order!”

Then Garnell Stamps, a local teacher and Black politico, really warmed the audience. “Steve Beko,” he said, was arrested by the Africaner government , “Just because he disagreed.” Botha’s reign was “brutal.” Nelson Mandela was imprisoned “for the same things Jefferson said.” Then, with Falwell sitting just behind him, he shouted that “Bishop Tutu Is Not A Phony!” And, “Half an apology from Mr. Falwell will Not suffice!” By now the crowd was ripping and roaring. This is what they had come to hear!

Dr. Emmett Burns, the Regional NAACP Director from Baltimore, then turned up the heat. Speaking obliquely to Falwell he told him, “I’m glad you are here tonight . . .We’ve been praying for you.” After an appropriate pause for his audience’s joyous endorsement he added, “We prayed for Nixon Too!” “Dr. Falwell,” he continued, “You are on the wrong side of a mighty moral revolution.” Later he condescendingly remarked, “I forgive you . . . but I will continue to keep my eye on you!’” He thanked Falwell for inviting Jesse to the Thomas Road Baptist Church the next morning, but then added, “If you’re really sincere, you’ll invite Bishop Tutu (to speak in your church).”

Falwell was being caricatured as “Mr. Racist,” and it was obvious that the artists who were doing the drawing loved their work. But through all the pomp and innuendo, it was difficult to justify the moral superiority necessary for such remarks. As an old Klan rally might have been characterized, these folks had their “boy,” and they were making sport of him.

Falwell

For his part, the Rev. Falwell was courteous and certainly courageous. The naive don’t willingly climb into the arena, and undoubtedly Falwell knew the evening would be difficult. Jerry is a Lynchburg native, having lived here for fifty-two years. And he has a sincere love for the city, and all of its people. His appearance at Court Street Baptist was not so much for the media as for those people. He was speaking with his feet, declaring that the time for racism was long since past. If getting that message across meant that he would have to take his lumps, then he was ready for them.

Given a chance to speak, Dr. Falwell spoke of growing up in a Virginia that believed, “Not so much by word as deed, in white superiority.” He mentioned becoming aware of this after his conversion, and repenting of it before his church. He told how he had baptized the first Black family into the Thomas Road Church. Later he spoke more aggressively, noting that 900 of his 21,000 members were Black. Hissing and slurs of “tokenism” were heard. But Falwell forged ahead, questioning whether any Black church in Virginia, with the exception of one in Roanoke, had a better proportion of integration than that.

He was not received warmly. But again , this audience was more national and liberal than local and conservative. Much as he had been received by liberal Harvard University, he was received on this night. At a number of points it appeared that Emmett Burns needed to be restrained from charging Falwell, both when he had originally entered, and as he spoke. But Falwell kept his poise and completed his course. A number of the Black pastors present helped in this by actively working to restrain the grosser outbursts.

Jackson

Then the church thundered with applause as Jesse took the pulpit. We were no longer on the level of the local. The church was catapulted back into the national debate over apartheid and the possible American sanctions.

On the positive side, Jackson noted that perhaps “the cross is the only thing that can bring us together.” He characterized Falwell’s visit as a positive “challenge” to the Black community. Both he and Falwell seemed willing to accept each other’s faith, if not their respective politics.

But inasmuch as Jesse had come to Lynchburg to do battle on the national level, he quickly entered that arena. He characterized his message as the “Christian alternative to Disaster.” He said that knowingly or not, when Falwell went to South Africa, he gave the Botha government and the Black majority, “The wrong message.” His presence, said Jackson, supported apartheid and spoke louder than any public words of explanation might.

Jackson self-consciously made a number of references to his own anti-communism. I suppose this was because of past charges. He said that, “Communism is a godless–materialistic ideology” to which he “had no affinity.” The only problem with this denial was the oversimplification and misrepresentation which followed in Jackson’s speech. If Jackson’s efforts substantially aided and abetted the Marxist world view, his few words of demurral gave little consolation to the conservative.

Significance

But Jackson was not alone. The Black message that was communicated on that Saturday night oversimplified so much of present world politics. If one followed them in such simplification, if only out of past sympathy for the Black man’s difficulty, one played into the hands of those who would surrender the birthright of the West.

For instance, just as Marx reduced all of life to economic injustice, so Jackson and Co. reduced all to racial injustice. To them it was clear that the basic motive behind apartheid lay at the door of racism and Aryan superiority. To them apartheid smacked of their individually experienced incidents of racial prejudice, raised to their “nth” degree. They suspected white society of harboring such ill will toward them, and in apartheid they found that suspicion institutionalized!

But was this really the issue? Or was it an oversimplification? Put another way, let us hypothesize that the White South Africans had total confidence in South Africa’s Blacks to govern fairly. Let us suppose that rampant tribalism were not a problem, and that Black Africa had not showed a naive vulnerability to Marxist intrigue and domination. It would further be presumed that not only would Blacks resist coveting the White’s property, but rather would actively defend white property rights. They would not accept the Marxist lie that prosperity only comes at the expense of others.

Given such a scenario, would apartheid not be much more costly than full citizenship? If such were the case, there would be no reason to continue the burden of apartheid—unless pure racial hatred was its generating cause.

As such, I find it difficult to accept Jackson’s premise. Tribalism is rampant. Marxism has caught the naive imaginations of many. Covetousness and envy reign, justified by the Marxist myth of exploitation.

In South Africa, racial hatred has been more incidental than central to apartheid. A comparison could be made with present-day America. I have not been in favor of any of the Blacks who have been nominated for political office in Virginia because they are of a liberal-democratic stripe. But if a conservative Black like Thomas Sowell or Walter Williams were nominated, I would be euphoric. They would be more consistent than even the Republicans who have been nominated. My possible racial bias against present-day Black politicians is certainly more incidental than substantial. And the substance involves the other issues!

After the sum of all of Jesse’s Saturday homiletics, I was left with a hunger for things unsaid. Why did Jackson so easily accept the racist thesis, and at the same time fail to answer the nagging questions relating to tribalism and Marxism? Why, when he excoriated the conservatism of Ronald Reagan, and its effects on poverty, did he fail to deal with the fact that illegitimacy and divorce are the main causes of Black poverty today?

But Jackson never rose above the simplistic. While the national media are content with this posture, conservative Americans no longer are. And it just so happens that the Rev. Jerry Falwell has given voice to this American skepticism.

Why should the Blacks of South Africa receive the status of majority rule? Is it merely because they exist? Are there no correlative responsibilities to citizenship like objectivity, wisdom, and moral maturity? Have the African Blacks in general, or South African Blacks in particular, demonstrated such abilities in the past? To make a short study of modern African history is to answer the question in the negative.

According to Jesse’s political theology, citizenship is all or nothing. And all possible rights must be given yesterday. Whether or not the child knows how to drive the car, he must immediately be given the keys. To even consider the case or hesitate becomes a manifest sign of racial malevolence. To suggest that rights are somehow relative to responsibility and maturity automatically reveals an incipient racism.

The Real Heresy

To men like Jackson, civilization is easy. Myopically, without historical insight, he pretends that the world’s people have been born with democracy and fairness in their breasts . He rejects the theological notion of original sin, and blindly denies any of its effects-except in those places he detects racism. It is there and only there that the thunder of the prophet is heard. Otherwise, all is “love” and one-worldism. “God is the Father of us all,” he says. “We are all brothers.” And this is why Jackson is radical in the worst sense of the word. He is heretical and plans to build a society upon his heresy. As such he joins a long list of utopian social thinkers who have smudged the pages of history.

Falwell, on the other hand, approaches life much more Biblically. He has noted that peace and prosperity are the frail commodities of those who have come to grips with the rage of the human heart. He is mature enough to have even removed himself from errant regional assumptions of his youth. And he understands that if America’s rulers govern with the simplicity of “Mr. Rogers and His Neighborhood,” that they will be sinfully negligent in their high duty.

Jerry understands that despite the inequities of Mr. Botha’s government, that the hundreds who have fallen there, pale into insignificance besides the tens of thousands that have fallen in lands where Black Africans already hold power. And he wonders why it is that capitalism and apparent white supremacy are the only “sins” in this ethical system? “Selectivism” sounds strangely like collectivism!

According to this farce, one can practice practically any cruelty or corruption and be acceptable. Only do not let one’s transactions be associated with the Black race. For then charges of exploitation and racism will be forthcoming. Of course, if one adds the magical ingredient of hypocrisy to one’s racism, as the Soviets do, then that’s acceptable too! Only do not promote such ideas without clothing them in the vocabulary of the “people’s revolution,” or you will face frantic condemnation.

At one point in Jesse’s speech, he quoted the Declaration of Independence in order to deny that government was ”just for the common defense. “Rather,” Jackson said, “Government was for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

I doubt that very many in the audience understood the disjunction that Jackson made. Or that he had plainly staked out the land of socialism as his own with this statement. In one breath he rejected the idea of limited government, and endorsed a statism that dominates life according to some master plan.

The Issue Is Not Racism but Socialism

Instead offree men having the opportunity for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, Jackson’s scheme calls for the government to provide these benefits! They become government guaranteed, just like our bi-yearly bankrupt Social Security System! The government must define what happiness is, and then deliver it! Historically this usually leads to tyranny, because people’s definitions tend to vary, and the government’s can only be imposed by force. It is an aphorism that humanistically conceived Utopias become hard-wrought hells.

As Jesse continued, jumping from one liberal program to another, one could tell that his cause was not really racism at all. Jesse is a promoter of a growing socialism, and the charge of racism is but his main tool in the promotion. America’s present socialism fails to satisfy him. Even as he moans about Reagan’s deficit, he propounds social schemes which make current deficit spending seem penny–ante. Jesse represents that part of the Democratic party which “hates America,” and is ready to blame her before all others for the wrongs of the world. Like the leaders of NOW and the NEA, Jesse cloaks his social agenda within a limited stated purpose. But racism is not really Jesse’s game. He’s much more concerned about the larger project.

So, as the debate between Jesse and Jerry continues, all men should sit up and take notice. Jesse may have come to town to attract the cameras, but his goal concerns the hearts and minds of America. Jerry too has broad concerns. In this thought-crucible, South Africa provides only the latest context for an ongoing debate.

If Americans buy Jackson’s trinkets because of his racial jingo, they will be much the poorer. If, on the other hand, they understand and follow Falwell, “it is a far, far better place they go to than they have been before.” In this tale of two preachers, the stakes are as high as the sky.

*8–31-85 Rev. Richard E. Knodel, Jr. is the pastor of the Grace Onhodox Presbyterian Church at Lynchburg, Virginia (1723 Wards Ferry Rd.). Our readers may recall his article in Our October, 1984, issue, “A Calvinist in Falwell–land.”