Jerry Falwell Dies

The Rev. Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority and mastermind of the religious right as a political force, died Tuesday . He was found unconscious in his office at Liberty University, a school executive said. He was 73.

Ron Godwin, the university's executive vice president, said Falwell was found unresponsive around 10:45 a.m. and taken to Lynchburg General Hospital. "CPR efforts were unsuccessful,"

Godwin was not sure what caused the collapse, but affirmed Falwell "has a history of heart challenges."

"I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast," Godwin added. "He went to his office, I went to mine, and they found him unresponsive."

Falwell had two serious health scares in early 2005. He had a two week hospitalization for what was described as a viral infection. He was hospitalized again a few weeks later to recover from a respiratory arrest. Doctors found a 70 percent blockage in an artery, which they opened with stents later that year.

Falwell has credited his Moral Majority the election of Ronald Reagan and giving Republicans Senate control in 1980.

"I shudder to think where the country would be right now if the religious right had not evolved," Falwell said .

Falwell's high profile gave him frequent criticism, even from fellow ministers. Falwell quit the Moral Majority in 1987, saying he was tired of being "a lightning rod".

He had since devoted his time to his ministry and Liberty University.

Frequently in the firestorm because of controversial talsk he would give. In the days after Sept. 11, 2001, Falwell blamed feminists, gays, lesbians and liberal groups inciting the terrorist attacks. He later apologized.

He told an evangelical conference that the Antichrist was a male Jew who was probably already alive, in 1999. Falwell also apologized for this remark . A month later, he warned parents that Tinky Winky, the purple, purse-toting character on television's "Teletubbies" show, was a gay role model and was morally damaging to children.

After moral values issues proved important in the 2004 presidential election Falwell was re-energized again . He formed the Faith and Values Coalition as the "21st Century resurrection of the Moral Majority," in order to seek anti-abortion judges, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and more conservative elected officials.

Robert Alley, a retired University of Richmond religion professor who studied and criticized Falwell's career, said "He was one of the first to come up with ways to use television to expand his ministry,"

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