Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 2, 1991 TAG: 9103020447
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
"I do not remember any time in my 57 years when so much prayer was going up," Falwell told an audience of about 800 people at an "I Love America" rally. "I believe the stage is set if we can build on what has happened."
The rally by Falwell, founder of Liberty University and the now-defunct Moral Majority, originally was intended to be the on-the-road kickoff for a series of similar events across the country to support American forces in the Persian Gulf and President Bush's decision to go to war against Iraq.
However, the sudden end of the war this week changed the evangelist's plans, making the Norfolk event "our first and only `I Love America' on the road. But I'm still glad we planned it," he said. An initial rally was held Feb. 10 at Falwell's home church, Thomas Road Baptist in Lynchburg.
About a dozen peace demonstrators marched outside the downtown rally while groups of youngsters and students from Falwell's Liberty University sang patriotic songs inside.
The demonstrators carried signs such as "Celebrate Death?" and "Arab Land for Arab People." Al Long of the Coalition to Stop U.S. Intervention in the Middle East said it would be a mistake to think the war is over. "It's more in an occupation phase now," he said.
Falwell, standing in front of a huge American flag and on a stage draped with red, white and blue banners connected by yellow ribbons, said he was grateful for the swift victory, the low number of casualties and the decisive leadership of Bush. But America's success came from a higher power, he said.
"As much as I appreciate the president, it is my opinion that what happened in the Middle East. . . was nothing short of a miracle," he said.
America turned from being a country that almost forgot its spiritual base in the 1960s and 1970s to a rediscovery of the concept of "one nation under God," he said.
"How wonderful, indeed, that God has seen fit to give us another chance," he said.
by CNB