Jerry Falwell is Dead

Falwell was one of the divisive and contrversial men in recent history. His legacy is one of ignorance, hatred and persecution. His record includes partisan opposition to virtually every pro-civil-rights issue that occurred during his lifetime, including a number of personal attacks against the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mr. Falwell was at the center of (and lost) one of the most infamous freedom of speech challenges in the history of the U.S. (Hustler v. Falwell).

Falwell on the events of September 11, 2001:

"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.'"

Fallwell on Gay people and AIDS:

"AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals."

"God hates homosexuality."

"[Vice President Gore] recently praised the lesbian actress who plays 'Ellen' on ABC Television...I believe he may even put children, young people, and adults in danger by his public endorsement of deviant homosexual behavior...Our elected leaders are attempting to glorify and legitimize perversion."

"Someone must not be afriad to say, 'moral perversion is wrong.' If we do not act now, homosexuals will 'own' America!...If you and I do not speak up now, this homosexual steamroller will leterally crush all decent men, women, and children who get in its way...and our nation will pay a terrible price!"

"Thank God for these gay demonstrators. If I didn't have them, I'd have to invent them. They give me all the publicity I need."

Falwell supporting racial segregation:

"I do question the sincerity and non-violent intentions of some civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mr. James Farmer, and others, who are known to have left wing associations."

Falwell on the War on Terror:

"Blow them all away in the name of the lord."

And lets not forget Falwell's participation in the most infamous First Amendment case ever:

HUSTLER MAGAZINE v. FALWELL, 485 U.S. 46 (1988)

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=485&invol=46

I will no rejoice at his death, as all death is tragic. But to suggest that this was a "good" man is to turn a blind eye to the reality of the brutal hatemongering that Mr. Falwell promoted throughout his life and work.

percivale

-------------------------

Arthur: Which is the greatest quality of knighthood?
Merlin: Truth. That's it. Yes. It must be truth, above all. When a man lies, he murders some part of the world.
(From John Boorman's Excalibur)

Nice copy and paste job from some anti-Falwell site probably. You don't know the man from Adam. You judge the man on a few things that he's said over his past 73 years. I'm looking at the larger picture. I'm look at all the good he's done. Just like, for you, you are probably able to look past all the evil that Clinton did and said, and focus on all the 'good'.

You didn't know him. I did. He was a great man.

----------------
If I write anything here that offends you, please use the comment feature to let me know. I may want to offend you again, so your help in that regard will most certainly be appreciated.

Considering that Mr. Falwell was a regular pundit on the stage of anti-gay rhetoric, I assure that I know his positions quite well.

Do you dispute the accuracy of any of the quotes above? I assure you they are quite accurate.

The fact is that this man had a long and consistent history of taking stances that were intended to divide rather than unify the American people. He was a constant scapegoater, and his one can look to virtually any time point within the many decades of his stint in public life and find numerous hateful gaffs.

The "good" that some may see in this man's life is in my opinion overshadowed by the ignorance and hatred that pervaded every word that dripped from Falwell's venomous mouth.

And, just to belay your predictable (and as usual incorrect) claim that the sources for these comments are biased and partisan, here is an article from the Associated Baptist Press about Mr. Falwell that notes some of what I cited above...

In a televised debate on CNN, Falwell said President Bush should "blow them (the terrorists) all away in the name of the Lord."

David Currie, executive director of Texas Baptists Committed, said he was "dumbfounded" by Falwell's comments.

http://www.baptiststandard.com/postnuke/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=2518

Why am I not surprised that you consider this hatemonger to be one of your heroes?

percivale

-------------------------

Arthur: Which is the greatest quality of knighthood?
Merlin: Truth. That's it. Yes. It must be truth, above all. When a man lies, he murders some part of the world.
(From John Boorman's Excalibur)

Falwell grew up in a strongly segregationist setting and supported racial segregation for the first few years of his career. In 1965, he gave a sermon at his Thomas Road Baptist Church criticizing Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, which he sometimes referred to as the "Civil Wrongs Movement". On his Evangelist program The Old-Time Gospel Hour in the mid 1960s, he regularly featured segregationist politicians like Lester Maddox and George Wallace. He often spoke out in favor of the racist position in those days. For example, in 1958, he said:

“If Chief Justice Warren and his associates had known God’s word and had desired to do the Lord’s will, I am quite confident that the 1954 decision [Brown v. Board of Education] would never have been made…. The facilities should be separate. When God has drawn a line of distinction, we should not attempt to cross that line.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell#Thomas_Road_Baptist_Church

Hooray for bigots, right JohnMaxfield?

percivale

-------------------------

Arthur: Which is the greatest quality of knighthood?
Merlin: Truth. That's it. Yes. It must be truth, above all. When a man lies, he murders some part of the world.
(From John Boorman's Excalibur)

I can't say that i'm sorry for the loss of this man. He may have done good things in your community but he was not necessarily a good person. He said he was a Christian, then how about following like the most basic rule from the Bible, you know that little on about loving your neighbor? Well I'm just guessing here, but I doubt that he loved his black neighbors (metaphorically speaking of course, he didn't have real black people in his neighborhood).

If you step back and look objectively at what he had said in the past not as someone who will miss him or as someone who had the same beliefs, but as a human being, you could see that he was far from a loving Christian and did little good in the bigger picture of society.

Again though, I'm sorry that you feel a personal loss. I just can't empathize on this one....

All I have to say is Hallelujah! This man was a black mark on this world.

A righteous man you say? What is so righteous about blaming the ACLU, pro-choice people, lesbians, and gays for the 9/11 attacks. He said they caused for that to happen but yet you say he is a righteous man.

While I do not revel in his death I cannot sit here and say that I will miss him or his unchristian-like, unrighteous hypocrisy.

Jerry Falwell will be remembered as the man who brought Hatred to Christianity. Nothing more.