Falwell preached Christian non-involvement in politics only while defending segregation before it became costly

Evidence

In the first decades of his career, Falwell practiced segregation even in religion. In the early 1960s, when Black high school students attempted to pray at the Thomas Road Church, they were ejected by the police. When Falwell went on to set up a Christian academy, he made sure it stayed just as white as his church. He attracted national attention with a 1965 sermon impugning “the sincerity and nonviolent intentions of some civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King” and—with immense irony, in retrospect—arguing that ministers had no business getting involved in politics. He suggested that the faithful should concentrate their reform ambitions on alcoholism rather than civil rights, since “there are almost as many alcoholics as there are Negroes.” — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 246

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the material on Gandhi opposing Untouchable satyagraha and how moral authority figures selectively invoke quietism; also to Ambedkar’s critique of reactionaries wrapping self-interest in sacred rhetoric. — connects to: Falwell’s political awakening was a defensive move to preserve segregation — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White…, 226; Falwell reversed his earlier teaching that Christians should stay out of politics. — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White…, 225; Days after Bloody Sunday Falwell denounced King as communist and refused civil rights involvement — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the…, 154 (+1 more)
• CANDY: Quotable punchline: Falwell claimed more alcoholics than Negroes as his reason to skip civil rights.

Broader Connections

• Falwell’s political awakening was a defensive move to preserve segregation #corroborates (0.95) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 226
• Falwell reversed his earlier teaching that Christians should stay out of politics. #expands (0.90) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 225
• Days after Bloody Sunday Falwell denounced King as communist and refused civil rights involvement #exemplifies (0.75) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 154
• Falwell opposed Brown and founded a segregated academy in 1967 #exemplifies (0.75) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 153