Twenty-eight years ago, our nation was in a situation remarkably similar to today. The economy was a mess, the Cold War and the nuclear arms race were at a peak, and our national morality was heading down a slippery slope. (Today, Islamo-fascists have replaced communist Russia as our chief adversaries.)

 

Months earlier, my father, Jerry Falwell, had started an organization with a handful of friends that they called The Moral Majority. They registered millions of voters—legally—known as “the religious right,” who were largely responsible for electing Ronald Reagan and a conservative Congress that slashed government economic regulations in favor of supply-side tax cuts, focused on our national defense and tearing down the walls of communism and established a new respect for our historic national values.

 

In the September 2002 edition of my father’s National Liberty Journal newspaper, Dad wrote about his first meeting with Mr. Reagan. I would like to highlight a portion of that article as we approach Election Day 2008 to remind conservative people of faith of some important themes.

 

“I had traveled to New Orleans to meet him at the airport. His plane landed and we rode together to the place where thousands were waiting to hear his fresh and conservative message. In the back seat of the limo, he shared his vision for America with me. He told me how and when he had become a follower of Jesus Christ. He confirmed all my hopes that this was the man to save America.

 

“On the day after his election in November 1980, he conducted his first press conference as the President-elect. From 3,000 miles away, I listened carefully as a reporter asked him if he would be listening to all these evangelicals and religious conservatives, i.e., ‘moral majoritarians.’ He said to this reporter, to us, and to the world that he would be giving special attention to the people who had helped elect him. And he did.

 

“Early in his first term, I met privately with President Reagan in the Oval Office to communicate to our new leader a list of the major concerns of the so-called ‘religious right.’ I was so impressed with his crisp and convictioned responses, making it very clear to me that he was as pro-life, pro-family, pro-national defense and pro-Israel as we were. I left that meeting with a fire burning in my heart.

 

“In answer to prayer and hard work, God had given us a great leader. The only other person in the room that day was Faith Whittlesey, his very loyal aide. Whenever I have seen Faith since then, we almost always speak of that special day when our beloved President commissioned me to tell the world that a new day had dawned in America. And I spent eight years doing so.

 

“I appeal to all believers across this nation to rededicate ourselves to the Reagan agenda. Let us fearlessly stand up for the unborn, the biblical family, strong national defense and unswerving support for Israel. This is what Ronald Reagan taught us.”

 

Those words are just what Christian voters need to remember when they step into election booths across this nation on Tuesday, November 4.

 

Here’s why: the abortion holocaust continues to be our national disgrace; the biblical family is being assailed more than ever; terrorists would like nothing more than to strike our nation again; and Israel continues to be targeted for destruction.

 

There are no perfect candidates. They, like all of us, are all flawed. But we must prayerfully examine the policies of the candidates, from those seeking the Oval Office to those seeking local offices, and go to the polls to support the men and women who best uphold the political and social values we hold dear.

 

That is what Ronald Reagan and Jerry Falwell taught us.

 

MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT: The “Voting Christian Values” telecast, hosted by Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and the dean of the Liberty University School of Law, will begin airing this Saturday night (Nov. 1) at 7:00 p.m. (ET) on the Inspirational Network (INSP). On Sunday, it will air at different times on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), Daystar Television Network, Cornerstone Television, FamilyNet, Sky Angel, The Liberty Channel, The Church Channel, The Miracle Channel (Canada), and numerous other cable and local channels. For a complete listing of airtimes, see the announcement on Liberty Counsel’s website.