A booming, intolerant voice falls silent
Updated...
Jerry Falwell is dead. This morning, he was found in his office of Liberty University, unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Forgive me if I don't cry out in pain. This is a man who made great, gleeful sport out of slandering those who didn't subscribe to his strict, literal religious ideology. As Richard Nixon once most famously said: "Our job is to protect this country from its enemies, and sometimes those enemies are within these walls [he was referring to our borders, not the White House *snicker*]."
Falwell was once of those enemies. Quick now - who did more damage to our country - Saddam Hussein or Jerry Falwell? Those words may anger some, but frankly, I don't care. His words and actions have caused much pain, too, and sometimes the truth stings.
I feel badly about a 73-year old man leaving a family behind while dying at a pretty young age. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, including Falwell. However, most reasonable 73-year olds wouldn't say that 9-11 happened because of gays and abortion, so I'm not sorry that one of the most intolerant voices in my lifetime can no longer slander and debase gays, abortion or anyone who dared disagreed with him.
Other than that, I'll write nothing more, because whatever I say about him will add nothing but someone's ability to call me a hate monger who kicks dirt on the dead, and I am neither.
However, I will let Falwell's record and legacy speak for itself. The Carpetbagger Report has a very good chronology of his lies, defamations and hateful remarks.
After reading his "rap sheet," it's hard to feel anything but contempt for him. I write these words because in death, there's a great tendency to gloss over a person's misdeeds, and that's appropriate, 99 percent of the time. This is not one of those times. I'll never forget what he did to Bill and Hillary Clinton in the 1990s. I wonder how those two feel today? I'm sure they aren't dancing an Irish Jig, but I sincerely doubt that they are doubled over with waves of grief, either.
Unfortunately, there will be some people who will insist that Falwell "never said that about 9-11, that's not true" or "he was taken out of context." You be the judge...
I don't know if there's a heaven and a hell, but if there is, let's just say that Falwell has got some explaining to do today.
AP File Photo
Jerry Falwell is dead. This morning, he was found in his office of Liberty University, unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.Forgive me if I don't cry out in pain. This is a man who made great, gleeful sport out of slandering those who didn't subscribe to his strict, literal religious ideology. As Richard Nixon once most famously said: "Our job is to protect this country from its enemies, and sometimes those enemies are within these walls [he was referring to our borders, not the White House *snicker*]."
Falwell was once of those enemies. Quick now - who did more damage to our country - Saddam Hussein or Jerry Falwell? Those words may anger some, but frankly, I don't care. His words and actions have caused much pain, too, and sometimes the truth stings.
I feel badly about a 73-year old man leaving a family behind while dying at a pretty young age. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, including Falwell. However, most reasonable 73-year olds wouldn't say that 9-11 happened because of gays and abortion, so I'm not sorry that one of the most intolerant voices in my lifetime can no longer slander and debase gays, abortion or anyone who dared disagreed with him.
Other than that, I'll write nothing more, because whatever I say about him will add nothing but someone's ability to call me a hate monger who kicks dirt on the dead, and I am neither.
However, I will let Falwell's record and legacy speak for itself. The Carpetbagger Report has a very good chronology of his lies, defamations and hateful remarks.
After reading his "rap sheet," it's hard to feel anything but contempt for him. I write these words because in death, there's a great tendency to gloss over a person's misdeeds, and that's appropriate, 99 percent of the time. This is not one of those times. I'll never forget what he did to Bill and Hillary Clinton in the 1990s. I wonder how those two feel today? I'm sure they aren't dancing an Irish Jig, but I sincerely doubt that they are doubled over with waves of grief, either.
Unfortunately, there will be some people who will insist that Falwell "never said that about 9-11, that's not true" or "he was taken out of context." You be the judge...
I don't know if there's a heaven and a hell, but if there is, let's just say that Falwell has got some explaining to do today.
AP File Photo
Labels: 9-11, Jerry Falwell, The Carpetbagger Report
posted by RJ at 12:10 PM
3 Comments:
It's a shame you're being so intolerant of Falwell's personal religious beliefs. Who are you to tell anyone what they should believe/think/do? Your post borders on hate speech. Didn't Jesus say, "Judge not, lest ye be judged???"
(OK... just so you don't get too mad, I'll clearly declare the previous paragraph as satire intended to make a point. I don't really think you're guilty of hate speech.)
If Falwell truly believed that the 9/11 attacks were a judgment on our country for its immorality, who are you to judge him for his beliefs? Don't you see that you are guilty of the exact same "intolerance" as he was? You are both forcing your beliefs on others, with the only difference being that you think your beliefs are right and his were wrong.
If you really believed in free speech and tolerance, you would praise Falwell for speaking his mind and standing up for what he believed. In reality, your words betray the fact that you are just an intollerant elitist who would prefer to silence the opinions of those who disagree with you.
I'm an elitist, huh? I'll ignore the Rush Limbaugh-like name calling, which people typically resort to when they don't have anything coherent to day. If that qualifies me as elitist, I'll wear the coat with pride - I take an XL.
Who am I to judge Falwell for his beliefs? Well, I'm nobody, but my point is that Falwell was somebody - a religious zealot who had the ear of the mainstream media and millions of people.
By your rationale, maybe we should praise David Duke for his political beliefs? Or maybe even bin Laden himself for wanting "Death to America"? (9-11 attacks aside) I find that amusing to the point of absurdity. American society should stand for something, should it not? For Falwell to say that 3,000 deaths happened because of political beliefs he religiously or politically disagreed with is beyond amateurish and downright sickening. I wonder where you are going with this?
I don't subscribe to that brand of nihilism. People like Falwell think our society should stand for something, as long as it's their brand of Christianity.
Let me guess - Jesus loves everyone with the exception of... the groups of people he told Jerry Falwell to exclude. I guess now Pat Robertson is the keeper of the hate.
Even a hate-monger like Falwell realized the error of his ways, apologizing shortly after he made his 9-11 remarks. I'm guessing that's only because his precious religious empire was threatened because all of the liberals were angry, right?
OK... you obviously missed my point. I was calling you out for being intolerant and judgmental of Falwell, the same charges you were dragging him through the mud on. You might disagree with his beliefs, and that's fine. So do I. But you have to see the irony here... you're JUDGING him for being too judgmental.
Get it? Maybe not.
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