His View: More hypocrisy from our moral high ground

Let us bow our heads and pray for the soul of Jerry Falwell Jr. who, in his struggle with Satan, fell from God’s grace last week. The erstwhile president of Liberty University resigned after his wife’s long, adulterous affair with a lusty swimming pool attendant became public knowledge.

Turns out the most prominent member of America’s evangelical community liked to sit and watch as the young Adonis had “relations” with his wife. (Is this where the phrase “Can I get a witness?” comes from?)

Sadly, the Falwell affair is not an isolated incident. Rather, it is the latest chapter in the Book of Revelations about the sanctimonious Religious Right.

Falwell Jr.’s faux pas was a sequel to the sordid saga of Ted Haggard, the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals. Haggard hastily resigned that position in 2006, when it came to light that he repeatedly paid a male prostitute for sex and methamphetamine — while publicly trumpeting his opposition to gay marriage.

Before Haggard, there was television evangelist Jimmy Swaggart, who was led astray by demon prostitutes and ultimately defrocked by the Assemblies of God.

Before Swaggart, another wildly popular TV preacher named Jim Bakker spent five years in federal prison for fraud and misappropriation of church finances; in addition to funding his lavish lifestyle, he skimmed $279,000 from the collection plates to hush up a former church secretary whom he sexually assaulted.

These are just a few of American evangelism’s Greatest Hits of Hypocrisy. Plenty of other preachers, perverts and pedophiles also have been exposed.

Once upon a time, they were all pious men of God, looking down disapprovingly on the sinful rabble below. Their shameless hypocrisy eventually caught up with them and — poof! — they were gone.

Haggard, Swaggart and Bakker all built their religious empires, but Falwell Jr. had Liberty University handed to him by his daddy. To his credit, Junior worked hard to elevate the stature of his little school — and he succeeded. Somewhere on his ascent to fame and power, Falwell Jr. became a kingmaker.

His early endorsement of then-candidate Donald Trump was a theological Midas touch for the crass New Yorker, allowing genteel members of the Religious Right to hold their noses and vote Republican.

When he made his endorsement, Falwell Jr. appeared to be a thoughtful shepherd, wisely choosing a political partner to lead his flock to the conservative promised land. In fact, Falwell Jr.’s endorsement was a professional courtesy as one hustler to another.

In a classy farewell, Falwell Jr. threw his wife under the bus to defend the honor of Liberty University.

“That’s the only reason I resigned,” he told reporters from the Associated Press, “because I don’t want something my wife did to harm the school I spent my whole life building.”

“Something my wife did.” With his knowledge and consent. What a gentleman, eh?

I’d say good riddance to Jerry Falwell Jr., but he’ll probably come slithering back in a few years, begging for redemption.

Speaking of sanctimonious scoundrels, let’s take a moment to consider everyone’s favorite anti-government activist, Ammon Bundy.

Bundy built his tough-guy brand by fomenting armed insurrection against Uncle Sam and any other form of government that he dislikes. I’m not sure what his stance is toward public libraries, but he’s probably a-gin them, too.

Last week, Bundy managed to get arrested twice in two days for disrupting proceedings inside the Idaho statehouse. In the photos I saw, he looked like a petulant toddler.

Bundy is something of an impresario for belligerent standoffs with public officials, starting in 2014 with his father, who got busted for grazing cattle on public land without a permit.

That dribble of public attention primed the pump for his armed standoff against federal land managers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Bundy rode to the rescue of two ranchers — who, by the way, did not want his help — after they were sentenced to prison for committing arson on federal rangeland.

That’s Bundy’s schtick — driving around the American West, spouting off about “tyranny” and “patriotism,” then egging on his gun-toting groupies.

Good ol’ Ammon Bundy, always willing to pour gas on the fire.

After years of collecting passport stamps, William Brock ran aground on the Palouse in 2001.