17 December, 2013

From 1985

FALWELL DENOUNCES TUTU AS A 'PHONY' - NYTimes.com: WASHINGTON, Aug. 20— The Rev. Jerry Falwell called Bishop Desmond M. Tutu a phony today and began a campaign to block imposition of economic sanctions against South Africa. The step came amid growing evidence that American conservatives were deeply divided on the issue.

Mr. Falwell, just back from a five-and-a-half-day visit to South Africa, denounced the Anglican Bishop who is South Africa's most prominent clergyman, saying, ''If Bishop Tutu maintains that he speaks for the black people of South Africa, he's a phony.''

Bishop Tutu, a leading critic of the Pretoria Government's racial policies who won the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize, has offered theological as well as social arguments against apartheid.