Alexander Anderson: A political messiah

Regarding the Aug. 23 opinion piece “Falwell:Trump the Churchillian leader we need”: The Rev Jerry Falwell, like many on the American right, invokes the name Churchill in a manner that shows scant knowledge of British history. Prior to entering Westminster Abbey in his coffin, Sir Winston rarely encountered church except when signing his name.

It is difficult to imagine the great man giving the commencement address at Liberty University through a fog of cigar smoke while lubricated by his favorite brandy. Sir Winston had prodigious power of analytical and critical thought, and he would not have been slow to note that the very name of Falwell’s institution is simultaneously a euphemism and an oxymoron. Sir Winston might also have reflected that such a bogus education is a subtle and insidious form of intellectual slavery, using religion as a key to bolt the doors of inquiring young minds.

Falwell claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ while endorsing as a political messiah a man more akin to Herod or Belshazzar. He would do well to remember these words from his favorite textbook: “He hath exalted the humble and meek, and the rich he hath sent empty away.”

This story was originally published August 29, 2016 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Alexander Anderson: A political messiah."