
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, August 22, 1994                   TAG: 9408220060
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BEARING UNVERIFIED WITNESS

IT'S A FREE country, and Jerry Falwell can say whatever he wants on his "Old-Time Gospel Hour," of a political or a religious nature. But we are shocked - shocked! - that he would expose young children to explicit descriptions of sexual acts. And we're not even talking missionary position, here.

Are there no standards at all anymore?

Now that Falwell has set off on a personal crusade to spread every word spoken against the president of the United States - the more lascivious, the better - parents who actually take charge of the remote controls in their homes might want to click their televisions over to something more uplifting. "Beavis and Butt-head," maybe.

It can be a struggle, trying to keep the kids away from religious programming, but parents must be strong and exercise control.

Seriously, though ...

Falwell's bizarre crusade has gone well beyond the bounds of vigorous political argument. His detailed, televised description of sexual allegations against President Clinton is peculiar, to say the least. Lack of substantiation, or even plausibility, is no bar.

But his hawking of videotapes "reporting" unsubstantiated charges, innuendo and wild speculation about supposed evil-doing by Clinton - including vague accusations of complicity in murders - is cynically manipulative and just plain wrong.

Falwell defended the sale of the first tape (yes, the first; fans of that one should hurry and send him $40 more for a second offering more of the same) by saying he was not judging the truthfulness of the allegations it contains. He was merely disseminating them because the national media was remaining "hypocritically quiet."

Try journalistically responsible. Not everything goes - not, for example, outlandish allegations utterly without credible evidence - even in this freewheeling era.

For hypocrisy, it's hard to beat a TV evangelist who professes to be so consumed with moral outrage against a political enemy that he is justified in spreading the wildest of accusations against his foe. It puts us in mind of the unfunny "satire" a few years ago about Falwell's mother, for which Falwell sued Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt ... though Flynt didn't pretend to be much except a smutmonger.

Falwell is a political opponent of the president. Fine. But if his nasty tactics weaken Clinton, does the end then justify the means? If so, it's not part of any Christianity we know about.

Critics of the politics of Falwell and likeminded souls are often accused of engaging in religious bigotry. But a desire to see the principles of Christianity put into practice is not a sign of bigotry, but of respect for the religion.

by CNB