{"id":49537,"date":"2020-08-17T13:16:41","date_gmt":"2020-08-17T17:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?p=49537"},"modified":"2020-08-17T13:16:41","modified_gmt":"2020-08-17T17:16:41","slug":"jerry-falwell-jr-and-the-evangelical-playbook-for-wealthy-well-connected-white-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2020\/08\/jerry-falwell-jr-and-the-evangelical-playbook-for-wealthy-well-connected-white-men.html","title":{"rendered":"Jerry Falwell Jr. and the Evangelical Playbook for Wealthy Well-Connected White Men"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I haven\u2019t written about Jerry Falwell Jr.\u2019s recent fall from grace after posting \u2026 strange<\/a> \u2026 pictures while at a party on a yacht. Maybe that\u2019s why I haven\u2019t written about it\u2014he was at a party on a yacht.\u00a0<\/em>It\u2019s not that there\u2019s anything wrong with yachts necessarily, but doesn\u2019t the Bible instruct the wealthy to sell all of their possessions and give the money to the poor?<\/p>\n

Increasingly, white American evangelicalism feels like little more than a scheme that protects well-connected wealthy white men. Again, and again, and again. Wealthy well-connected white Christian men get away with murder. It\u2019s absurd, and it\u2019s such a mockery of phrases like \u201cblessed are the meek\u201d that it starts to feel like nothing more than a well-orchestrated farce.<\/p>\n

Jerry Falwell Jr. was in a position of power because of nepotism, and nepotism alone<\/a>. He showed no particular talent for organizing, for leading, or for religion. But it did not matter. He was given riches and power, and his foibles were overlooked again, and again, and again. It\u2019s an absurdity. An utter absurdity.<\/p>\n

The truth is this: Falwell\u2019s recent photograph scandal and temporary removal from power comes in the midst of so much of the same that it almost feels uneventful. It\u2019s not surprising or out of the ordinary; it\u2019s typical. My compulsion is to yawn. And you watch, he\u2019ll be back\u2014this temporary suspension won\u2019t last. It\u2019ll be a temporary measure, followed by Falwell\u2019s repentance and return to power. Wealth well-connected white male Christian leaders have more hail mary passes than cats have lives.<\/p>\n

Perhaps that\u2019s why this feels so uneventful. Jerry Falwell Jr. has been doing problematic things for a long time\u2014I don\u2019t mean problematic from a secular outsider standpoint (although some have been), I mean problematic from a Christian standpoint<\/a>, which is what is supposed to matter given Falwell Jr.\u2019s role as president of Liberty University<\/em>. This incident just happened to be a bridge too far\u2014unlike the nightclub photos<\/a>, the weird relationship with the pool boy<\/a>, or the self-dealing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Perhaps what we should be asking is: What happened to make white American evangelicalism like this? Why does it foster and then cover up for this kind of behavior, over and over and over again? I can imagine a setup where the accruing of personal wealth alone would raise questions\u2014and even lead to a decline in a leader\u2019s image and respect. But that does not happen. Even a whiff of indiscretion could lead to a leader\u2019s permanent removal from power\u2014but that, too, does not happen. Why?<\/p>\n

We\u2019re talking about a world where a girl who wears tank tops can be branded a slut\u2014a world where a woman who starts building a following runs the risk of being condemned as a Jezebel if she makes the slightest wrong move (or even any move at all). How can a world that is so cruel to women and girls\u2014and to queer teens and so many others\u2014be so forgiving of well-connected wealthy white men? We\u2019re talking about a world where a child who accuses an evangelical leader of sexual abuse is more likely to be condemned as a lying attention whore than they are to be listened to and believed.<\/p>\n

The consequences are profoundly tragic. The victims are real people.<\/p>\n

White American evangelicalism is about empowering the powerful, not the meek. It is about enriching the wealthy, not serving the poor. It is about uplifting the well-connected, not the down trodden.<\/p>\n

For many years, I suspected the above but was still capable of being surprised or shocked by the latest scandal. Perhaps that is what has changed: I have finally moved from suspicion to conviction, and I have lost the ability to be surprised.<\/p>\n

Of course<\/em> Jerry Falwell Jr. posed for inappropriate pictures and posted them on Instagram. Did anyone really expect otherwise of him? Of course<\/em> Liberty University responded only by temporarily suspending him, and nothing more permanent. Did anyone actually expect permanent consequences? I know this playbook. I\u2019ve seen it play out too many times to be surprised.<\/p>\n

I have a <\/b>Patreon<\/b><\/a>! Please support my writing!\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jerry Falwell Jr. was in a position of power because of nepotism, and nepotism alone. He showed no particular talent for organizing, for leading, or for religion. But it did not matter. He was given riches and power, and his foibles were overlooked again, and again, and again. It’s an absurdity. An utter absurdity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":49583,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[135,753],"class_list":["post-49537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-evangelicalism-fundamentalism","tag-gender","tag-jerry-falwell-jr"],"yoast_head":"\nJerry Falwell Jr. and the Evangelical Playbook for Wealthy Well-Connected White Men<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jerry Falwell Jr. was in a position of power because of nepotism, and nepotism alone. He showed no particular talent for organizing, for leading, or for religion. But it did not matter. He was given riches and power, and his foibles were overlooked again, and again, and again. It's an absurdity. An utter absurdity.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2020\/08\/jerry-falwell-jr-and-the-evangelical-playbook-for-wealthy-well-connected-white-men.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jerry Falwell Jr. and the Evangelical Playbook for Wealthy Well-Connected White Men\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jerry Falwell Jr. was in a position of power because of nepotism, and nepotism alone. He showed no particular talent for organizing, for leading, or for religion. But it did not matter. He was given riches and power, and his foibles were overlooked again, and again, and again. It's an absurdity. An utter absurdity.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2020\/08\/jerry-falwell-jr-and-the-evangelical-playbook-for-wealthy-well-connected-white-men.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Love, Joy, Feminism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-17T17:16:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/166\/2020\/08\/2019-05-11T193130Z_1911100560_RC1BFB3B9C00_RTRMADP_3_USA-PENCE-1024x576.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2020\/08\/jerry-falwell-jr-and-the-evangelical-playbook-for-wealthy-well-connected-white-men.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2020\/08\/jerry-falwell-jr-and-the-evangelical-playbook-for-wealthy-well-connected-white-men.html\",\"name\":\"Jerry Falwell Jr. and the Evangelical Playbook for Wealthy Well-Connected White Men\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-17T17:16:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-17T17:16:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\"},\"description\":\"Jerry Falwell Jr. was in a position of power because of nepotism, and nepotism alone. He showed no particular talent for organizing, for leading, or for religion. But it did not matter. He was given riches and power, and his foibles were overlooked again, and again, and again. It's an absurdity. An utter absurdity.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2020\/08\/jerry-falwell-jr-and-the-evangelical-playbook-for-wealthy-well-connected-white-men.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2020\/08\/jerry-falwell-jr-and-the-evangelical-playbook-for-wealthy-well-connected-white-men.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2020\/08\/jerry-falwell-jr-and-the-evangelical-playbook-for-wealthy-well-connected-white-men.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Jerry Falwell Jr. and the Evangelical Playbook for Wealthy Well-Connected White Men\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/\",\"name\":\"Love, Joy, Feminism\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\",\"name\":\"Libby Anne\",\"description\":\"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. College turned her world upside down, and she is today an atheist, a feminist, and a progressive. She blogs about leaving religion, her experience with the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, the detrimental effects of the \\\"purity culture,\\\" the contradictions of conservative politics, and the importance of feminism.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/author\/libby\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jerry Falwell Jr. and the Evangelical Playbook for Wealthy Well-Connected White Men","description":"Jerry Falwell Jr. was in a position of power because of nepotism, and nepotism alone. He showed no particular talent for organizing, for leading, or for religion. But it did not matter. He was given riches and power, and his foibles were overlooked again, and again, and again. It's an absurdity. An utter absurdity.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2020\/08\/jerry-falwell-jr-and-the-evangelical-playbook-for-wealthy-well-connected-white-men.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jerry Falwell Jr. and the Evangelical Playbook for Wealthy Well-Connected White Men","og_description":"Jerry Falwell Jr. was in a position of power because of nepotism, and nepotism alone. He showed no particular talent for organizing, for leading, or for religion. But it did not matter. He was given riches and power, and his foibles were overlooked again, and again, and again. It's an absurdity. An utter absurdity.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2020\/08\/jerry-falwell-jr-and-the-evangelical-playbook-for-wealthy-well-connected-white-men.html","og_site_name":"Love, Joy, Feminism","article_published_time":"2020-08-17T17:16:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":432,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/166\/2020\/08\/2019-05-11T193130Z_1911100560_RC1BFB3B9C00_RTRMADP_3_USA-PENCE-1024x576.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Libby Anne","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Libby Anne","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2020\/08\/jerry-falwell-jr-and-the-evangelical-playbook-for-wealthy-well-connected-white-men.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2020\/08\/jerry-falwell-jr-and-the-evangelical-playbook-for-wealthy-well-connected-white-men.html","name":"Jerry Falwell Jr. and the Evangelical Playbook for Wealthy Well-Connected White Men","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-08-17T17:16:41+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-17T17:16:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2"},"description":"Jerry Falwell Jr. was in a position of power because of nepotism, and nepotism alone. He showed no particular talent for organizing, for leading, or for religion. But it did not matter. He was given riches and power, and his foibles were overlooked again, and again, and again. It's an absurdity. An utter absurdity.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2020\/08\/jerry-falwell-jr-and-the-evangelical-playbook-for-wealthy-well-connected-white-men.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2020\/08\/jerry-falwell-jr-and-the-evangelical-playbook-for-wealthy-well-connected-white-men.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2020\/08\/jerry-falwell-jr-and-the-evangelical-playbook-for-wealthy-well-connected-white-men.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jerry Falwell Jr. and the Evangelical Playbook for Wealthy Well-Connected White Men"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/","name":"Love, Joy, Feminism","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2","name":"Libby Anne","description":"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. College turned her world upside down, and she is today an atheist, a feminist, and a progressive. She blogs about leaving religion, her experience with the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, the detrimental effects of the \"purity culture,\" the contradictions of conservative politics, and the importance of feminism.","sameAs":["http:\/\/patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/author\/libby"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/845"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}