The religious right makes a deal with the devil

The late Jerry Falwell, leader of the Moral Majority and founder of Liberty University, built the religious right into a major political force. His son Jerry Jr. is well on his way to destroying it.

Falwell fils, now Liberty’s president, was among the first and most prominent evangelical Christian leaders to embrace thrice-married, foul-mouthed casino mogul Donald Trump, declaring in January that Trump had lived his life in the spirit of Jesus. This endorsement validated Trump’s character for millions of evangelicals, helping to propel Trump to the Republican nomination. Falwell continued to campaign for Trump, spoke at the Republican convention and likened Trump to Winston Churchill in an August op-ed in The Post.

Now the “Access Hollywood” video, in which Trump boasts in vulgar terms about sexually assaulting women, has caused late defections from Trump by Republican officeholders and conservative thought leaders. But Falwell is standing by his man. He speculates that the leak of the video “might have even been a conspiracy among the establishment Republicans,” including House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.).....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-religious-right-makes-a-deal-with-the-devil/2016/10/11/d0783e44-8fd5-11e6-9c85-ac42097b8cc0_story.html?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.135881c889b7