In news articles over the weekend, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell publicly clarified that the “these Muslims” that he referred to in Friday’s Convocation were the Muslim terrorists who attacked innocents in San Bernardino, California, and Paris, France. He also clarified that he was in no way referring to the many good and honorable Muslims who do not come into public spaces armed to kill innocents. When hearing the remarks in their full context, the public can see that there was no attempt to incite hate against anyone, much less all Muslims. President Falwell’s subsequent clarifications emphasized what was clear to those who were present. His remarks were a call to arms for self-defense and a criticism of political leaders who see the answer to such tragedies as more gun control. More gun control leads to more places and circumstances where innocents are unarmed and unable to defend themselves.
Liberty University’s policy of allowing students, faculty, and staff to carry weapons on campus was as a result of a school shooting at Virginia Tech, a campus about an hour from campus. Other Convocation remarks by President Falwell after similar tragedies further underscores our belief that we should exercise our Second Amendment rights to protect ourselves in the event something similar should occur on our campus. Far from promoting an atmosphere of hate against Muslims, we are promoting an atmosphere of safety and self-defense. A fair and complete understanding of the full context of these remarks makes that clear.