Jerry Falwell dead today (05/15/2007)

"I won't go so far as to say that this man's death makes me happy, but it certainly doesn't make me sad."

I can't help but to agree with that. While I do not wish him dead, I will not miss him.

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Aristotle

"No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong." Francois De La Rochefoucauld

Is it wrong that I can't wipe the smile off my face?
Denken. Nicht lesen.

Its awesome that you actually have quotes up. I'd heard about his opinions, but never heard his exact words. It almost makes it even more comical. It seems like this guy was quite a character, though not really in a good way.

and nice shakespeare reference.

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.”

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In the 1980s Jerry Falwell was critical of sanctions against the Apartheid regime of South Africa. He stated that while he was opposed to Apartheid, he feared that sanctions would result in a worse situation, with either a more oppressive white minority government or a Soviet-backed revolution. He drew the ire of many when he called Nobel Peace Prize winner and Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu a phony "as far as representing the black people of South Africa."

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In 1994, Falwell released the straight-to-video documentary The Clinton Chronicles: An Investigation into the Alleged Criminal Activities of Bill Clinton...Despite the theory's having been discredited by all major investigations, the video's sophisticated production techniques served as effective exposure, and sold over 150,000 copies.

Falwell's infomercial for the 80-minute tape included footage of Falwell interviewing a silhouetted journalist who claimed to be afraid for his life. The journalist accused Clinton of orchestrating the deaths of several reporters and personal confidants who had gotten too close to his illegalities. However, it was subsequently revealed that the silhouetted journalist was, in fact, Patrick Matrisciana, the producer of the video and president of Citizens for Honest Government. "Obviously, I'm not an investigative reporter," Matrisciana admitted [to investigative journalist Murray Waas], "and I doubt our lives were actually ever in any real danger. That was Jerry's idea to do that ... He thought that would be dramatic."

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Falwell filed a $10 million lawsuit against Penthouse Magazine for publishing an article based upon interviews he gave to freelance reporters, after failing to convince a federal court to place an injunction upon the publication of that article. The suit was dismissed in Federal district court on the grounds that the article was not defamatory or an invasion of Falwell's privacy; Falwell ultimately dropped the suit.

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In November 1983, Larry Flynt's pornographic magazine Hustler carried a parody of a Campari ad, featuring a fake interview with Falwell in which he admits that his "first time" was incest with his mother in an outhouse while drunk. Falwell sued for $45 million in compensation alleging invasion of privacy, libel, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. A jury rejected the invasion of privacy and libel claims, holding that the parody could not have reasonably been taken to describe true events, but ruled in favor of Falwell on the emotional distress claim. This was upheld on appeal. Flynt then appealed to the Supreme Court, winning a unanimous decision on February 24, 1988. The ruling held that public figures cannot circumvent First Amendment protections by attempting to recover damages based on emotional distress suffered from parodies. The decision in favor of Flynt strengthened free speech rights in the United States in relation to parodies of public figures.

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Falwell was on both sides of libel cases. In 1984, he was ordered to pay gay activist Jerry Sloan $5,000 after losing a court battle. During a TV debate in Sacramento, California, Falwell denied calling the gay-oriented Metropolitan Community Churches "brute beasts" and "a vile and Satanic system" that will "one day be utterly annihilated and there will be a celebration in heaven."

When Sloan insisted he had a tape, Falwell promised $5,000 if he could produce it. Sloan did, Falwell refused to pay, and Sloan successfully sued. Falwell appealed, with his attorney charging that the judge in the case was prejudiced. He lost again and was made to pay an additional $2,875 in sanctions and court fees.

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

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

"Let's stop the killing and choose peace," Jackson responded. "Let's choose negotiation over confrontation."

"Well, I'm for that too," Falwell added. "But you've got to kill the terrorists before the killing stops. And I'm for the president to chase them all over the world. If it takes 10 years, blow them all away in the name of the Lord."

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

I could go on, and on, and on...

percivale

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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'M GLAD! It's just a shame he had the chance to spread so much hate and intollerance in the first place.

And he sould have died more painfully. Stupid should hurt.

~I should have ducked~