Josh Benner

Tag: liberty

  • Falwell sues Liberty after receiving $10.5 million

    Falwell sues Liberty after receiving $10.5 million

    Jerry Falwell, Jr, the disgraced former president of Liberty University, the largest Christian university in America, is suing the school for defamation.

    In his court filings, Falwell also cites a non-disparagement clause in his contract. Falwell’s lawsuit talks of Liberty’s “abdication of its legal, contractual, and moral obligations not to defame him.” The lawsuit also claims that “Liberty set out to destroy Mr. Falwell’s reputation through numerous defamatory statements.” The lawsuit talks about the wonders of Falwell’s leadership.

    Background
    The major scandal with the Falwell’s was the salacious accusation that Jerry Falwell, Jr was aware of a years long affair between his wife and a business associate. Part of that story is not in dispute. Falwell had previously acknowledged his wife’s affair (but denied the ongoing nature of the affair as well as the allegation that he had watched the two engage in the affair). But at the time, Falwell was already on leave from the university in response to a photo he had posted of himself and a woman at a house boat party with their pants unzipped.

    And before being placed on leave from the university, Falwell had done several other objectionable actions. He had posted a custom face mask which depicted Virginia governor Ralph Northam in a klansman halloween costume. He had lied about attending clubs in Miami. He had called people “stupid” and “idiot” on his social media.

    The biggest bombshell Falwell faced was undoubtedly allegations of his awareness of his wife’s affair but he had already established a pattern of conduct which was inappropriate for the president of a Christian University (or for that matter, the president of any university). Long before these allegations, there were people who had called for Falwell to step down. There had been people who simply wanted an apology.

    Resignation
    In the wake of the reports about his wife’s affair, Falwell resigned from Liberty (and then he didn’t). And then he did. That was another debacle. But Falwell was given the very nice parting gift of $10.5 million to live the school.

    And now he’s suing.

    Response
    I’m not a lawyer. So I can’t speak to whether or not Falwell has a legal case. But a few thoughts come to mind. First, Falwell had previously claimed that when Liberty put him on leave, that this went against the terms of his contract. I consider that clause and his suggestion that he also had a non-disparagement clause, and I can’t help but question why he wanted all of these guardrails in his contract to protect his own poor conduct?

    Again, maybe he has a legal case. Maybe the school will have to pay him millions of dollars. That I don’t know. But it’s shameful that the head of a Christian University would put so many provisions in his contract which so greatly reduced the university’s ability to hold him accountable.

    Second, I can’t help but question the school and why they agreed to all of these provisions and gave themselves so little ability to hold him accountable and provide oversight. Shame on Liberty’s board.

    Third, did Liberty pay Falwell $10.5 million and not have him sign any sort of release or agreement that he wouldn’t sue them?!

    This whole thing is a debacle.

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  • Liberty to have independent investigation in wake of Falwell resignation

    Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

    This week, Liberty University announced an “independent inquiry” into the university’s former president.

    I remember will Bill Hybels resigned from Willow Creek, a megachurch in suburban Chicago in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations. I remember earlier this summer when Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California announced an independent investigation into there former pastor in the wake of massive failures of leadership when he allowed one of his children (who had admitted sexual attraction to minors) to continue working with the youth program.

    Liberty will do an independent investigation. But they had let Falwell run roughshod and embarrass the university time and again. Even before last month’s explosive reports about multiple affairs from Falwell’s wife and allegations that Jerry Falwell was very much aware of the affairs, he had done several things which should have led to the university removing him from leadership.

    For Falwell, the independent investigation will be “a thorough investigation into all facets of Liberty University operations during Jerry Falwell, Jr.’s tenure as President, including but not limited to financial, real estate, and legal matters.”

    Obviously there’s nothing wrong from learning from mistakes. But in the wake of scandals in the evangelical world, the “independent investigation” seems to be the flavor of the month.

    The basics of what goes wrong in these situations aren’t great mysteries. You have highly influential leaders who help to raise or maintain the high profile status of a church (or institution). And because of the charisma and skills (and ability to generate revenue) of the leader, they largely go unchecked.

    Instead of organizations needing to do independent investigations as damage control, what churches and Christian colleges need to do is to do the right things in the beginning. In other words: have systems to keep leaders accountable

    People are sinful. That should never be a surprise. But that’s why Christians need other Christians. Knives sharpening knives. You need leaders who are accountable and where there are honorable people who know them and who know their struggles. You need people who love the leader. But who don’t excuse or look away from, or justify sin. That isn’t love. What you need is people who love the leader enough to where they can speak into difficult situations and point out patterns of sin in the hopes of bringing restoration. And you need it an an environment where those friends can lovingly confront the leader without being punished or harassed for it.

    Without that, many more independent investigations will be needed, because the sinfulness of the human heart isn’t going away.

    I think about many of the popular evangelical leaders who have fallen from grace in recent years. For at least some of them, I do wonder how different things could have been had they been surrounded by people who cared enough to sometimes say the difficult things.

    In 1948, as he was coming to national prominence, Billy Graham and his close ministry associates signed the “Modesto Manifesto” where they had the forethought to hold themselves to a set of standards regarding sexual morality, finances, interactions with local churches, and publicity. Part of what developed from this meeting was the famous “Billy Graham Rule” where Graham would not travel with, eat lone with, or spend time alone with a woman who was not his wife.

    Their agreement worked as non of those men was ever legitimately accused of a moral failing.

    And certainly the greatest set of standards for Christian leaders is found in the Bible.

    Titus 1:6-9 says:
    if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. 

    1 Timothy 3:1-7 says:
    The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. 

    While Falwell wasn’t a pastor, nevertheless, those would have been good standards to still demand from the president of America’s largest Christian university.

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  • Pastors seek apology from Jerry Falwell for racially insensitive Tweet

    Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

    Alumni are speaking up about a recent Tweet shared by Liberty University president Jerry Falwell, Jr. In the photo, Falwell shows a picture of a custom printed medical face mask which features the controversial photo of current Virginia governor Ralph Northam who appeared in a racially insensitive photo in his medical school yearbook which featured two men; one in blackface and one dressed as a klansman.

    In another Tweet defending himself, Falwell said he had done this in response to cutbacks in higher education from governor Northam.

    Alumni have called for Falwell’s resignation. I think Liberty is a fine school. I respect the university. It’s one of the best known Christian institutions in America, but these antics are unacceptable. Seriously. What is that? He’s the president of the university! And given the conservative Christian values of the school, such a display should absolutely be beneath Falwell. Where’s the grace? Where’s the virtue? If you want to criticize Northam for reducing higher education funding, go right ahead, but that was the most untactful way in which Falwell could have possibly made his point.

    Falwell’s relationship with President Trump has bee talked about at length. But one of the ways where a Christian should not be imitating the president is in terms of verbiage and social media escapades.

    A letter from a group of 35 Liberty alumni who are all African American pastors and ministry leaders was sent to Falwell. It’s very thoughtful and brings up legitimate grievances with the school’s president. A change.org petition has over 30,000 signatures asking Falwell to apologize.

    The letter states:

       For several years, you have said and defended inappropriate statements that represent Liberty and our faith very poorly. You have belittled staff, students and parents, you have defended inappropriate behaviors of politicians, encouraged violence, and disrespected people of other faiths. We were all taught at Liberty about the sanctity of life (Jeremiah 1:5) and the dignity of every human – made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), and yet, you have repeatedly violated and misrepresented core Christian principles (Romans 12:9-21) through brash tweets and statements that harm our Christian witness. 

    One of the striking indictments in the letter was:

    A review of your social media and statements during your presidency would lead many to believe that you care much more about politics than Jesus Christ, Evangelism, and the discipleship of students.

    I’ve had the exact same thought before. The Northam Tweet is bad enough, but it’s also part of a pattern of inappropriate behavior. Falwell should apologize and repent.

    Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear what you think!

  • Freedom under threat in Hong Kong – protests continue

    1024px-190616_HK_Protest_Incendo_03
    Protesters in Hong Kong in June. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

    As a kid, I vividly remember watching a ceremony on TV where Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to China. I couldn’t begin to understand the significance of that event at the time. That was 22 years ago. When Hong Kong was handed over to China, there was an agreement in place where Hong Kong would retain its economic and political systems for 50 years. (more…)

  • Legal victory for Christian organization at the University of Iowa

    800px-University_of_Iowa_seal.svg.png
    A Christian organization at the University of Iowa had a legal win this week.

    The University of Iowa has a human rights policy to which it holds registered student organizations. In this policy, it disallows students organizations from treating people different based on: “race, creed, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy, disability, genetic information, status as a U.S. veteran, service in the U.S. military, sexual orientation, gender identity, associational preferences, or any other classification that deprives the person of consideration as an individual.”

    But several student organizations require that leaders and members adhere to traditional Christian values, which includes abstaining from sex outside of marriage as well as not engaging in same-sex relationships.

    This week, a U.S. District Court ruled that the university cannot revoke the recognized status of registered student organizations who uphold Christian principles. This specific suit was brought by Business Leaders in Christ. In 2017, an openly gay student was denied a leadership position in BLinC.

    Recognition of the university matters for several reasons: it allows an organization to participate in various university functions, it allows the organization to use campus space for meetings, it makes an organization eligible to apply for various types of university funding, among other benefits.

    This is a win for all of the Christian organizations on campus. The university was selectively discriminating against faith-based organizations. All sorts of registered student organizations violate the Iowa policy, and are still allowed to exist. You have fraternities which only allow men, sororities which only allow women. Iowa has a registered Chinese student organization, which is only open to Chinese students. There’s a women’s a cappella group that only allows women.

    But many people in our society hate the moral beliefs of Christianity, and so Christian groups are an easy target.

    Gong forward, I fear that this is something we will continue to see: trying to overrule Christian values and Christians trying to live out those values by attempting to supersede Christian organizations and institutions with discrimination laws.

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner  has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has served churches in Minnesota and Illinois. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in St. Louis.

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