Falwell reversed his earlier teaching that Christians should stay out of politics.

Evidence

Falwell’s overt political activism in the 1970s and 1980s marked a dramatic personal reversal. In the 1960s, he had preached against Christian political engagement. Christians had only one task: to preach God’s word of salvation through Christ. “We are not told to wage war against bootleggers, liquor stores, gamblers, murderers, prostitutes, racketeers, prejudiced persons or institutions, or any other existing evil as such,” he had argued. Christian ministry was one of transformation, not reformation: “The gospel does not clean up the outside but rather regenerates the inside.” A Christian’s civic duty was to pay taxes, vote, and obey the laws of the land. Any political activity beyond this would distract Christians from their sole purpose, “to know Christ and to make Him known.” — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 225

Categorization

• CANDY: A striking reversal in one man’s lifetime — the ayatollah of the Moral Majority had preached that the gospel ‘regenerates the inside’ not ‘cleans up the outside.’
• SEED: Could be an essay angle on how movements require founders to publicly reverse their own earlier doctrines — the mechanics of a ‘conversion’ that is really a reinvention.
• XREF: connects to: Falwell preached Christian non-involvement in politics only while defending segregation before it became costly — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 246