I read that wrong and thought you were launching a rip session on the good Rev. and was all like, “Now, Chad…”. Hee hee.

Rest in peace, old man. All our quibbling eventually comes to naught, and you loved your flock as well as you knew how.

Cerise

There is a very interesting thread on my current blog (titled: Dry Cleaners) about Falwell vs. Bono

You should check it out.

http://www.xanga.com/dsemsen

I’m not shamelessly promoting either–just thought it would tickle your brain a little.

Wait. This is the guy who preached that the attacks on 9/11 were “God’s Punishment”? To quote the dead fat guy:

“I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say ‘you helped this happen.’”

They “helped it happen”? Really? How? Did the “gays” fuel up the jet that crashed into the building 6 blocks from my apartment? Did the feminists and lesbians slash at the pilots with boxcutters to gain control of the planes?

No. No they didn’t. Shit, Jerry. Maybe they were all busy ruining society as a whole. I imagine some of them were busy avoiding being dragged behind moving vehicles for their beliefs.

Jerry Falwell stood on a pile of (still warm) bodies and tried to brainwash people.

Godspeed, Jerry. I sincerely hope you don’t fuck up Heaven as much as you fucked up Earth.

(If I remember and/or have time - insert apology for profanity here.)

Don’t hold back, Zacque…just let it all out, honey.

Yes, the post-9/11 discourse was some sort of El Gaffo Grande, landmark shoe-in-mouth event in evangelical public relations. However, there were several post-mortem comments from people who disagreed violently with JF’s public statements but found him to be a gentle and amiable person in private.

Jerry said a lot of things that drove me bananas. I mean, really banans.

I guess, when I posted this, I was reflecting on how we allow people to become the boogeyman in our minds, but then the boogeyman turns out to have fatal cardiac issues.

Jerry made boogeymen, and then he became a boogeyman. Upon hearing about his life and actions, it made me wish again and again for leaders who can articulate ideas without resorting to boogeyman tactics. I wish I were more like that.

I’m sure he may have been a gentle and amiable man. Since I never knew him personally, I can’t judge his character accurately; so I won’t even try. I don’t view him as some sort of mythic boogeyman, either. You’re right, Chad - he was just another older man with heart trouble. I feel sorry for the people that were close to him.

That “landmark shoe-in-mouth event” was not a one-time gaffe. The dude spent a lifetime championing hatred, separatism, and ignorance, to the tune of a faith so easily persuaded to believe. (John McCain said it right when he referred to Falwell as an “agent of intolerance”) He tried his best to undermine the First Amendment - something I feel very strong about.

But no matter what, at the end of the day, he was nothing more than someone I disagree with. Thank god he (or no one else) has succeeded in challenging the First Amendment - so I can be free to disagree with his idea of “Christian Morality”.