Jerry Falwell only said bad things about gays and women and etc

[dsc]

I admit it, part of me revelled in Falwell's death. By no means am I proud of that fact. I know better. I have told people better. But part of me rejoiced. I didn't write my thoughts down. I didn't publicly revel in it. I didn't picket his funeral. But part of me did indeed have a song on my heart.

Falwell not only spoke words he performed actions which give him blood on his hands. I was 12 when he founded the Moral Majority. I was also in the middle of middle school and lets just say it wasn't a picnic. People like Falwell made it just a little bit easier for people to say I deserved what I got. It made it just a little easier for a teacher to tell me he was trying to save my soul by letting the kids humiliate me.

He made it all too easy for Reagan to ignore AIDS in the 1980's. For not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, but six long years not tens, not hundreds, not thousands, but tens of thousands of people died of a disease that the President of the United States refused to mention. Falwell wouldn't let him. I turned 18 during that time. By age 20 I made a living will because like many gays that age I was afraid I might be next.

The fact is Falwell did more than speak. He helped elect Reagan, he made sure Conservatives toed the line on his issues. In a very real sense he made it impossible to be gay and Christian. His actions helped make this country a place where people like Matthew Shepard was dead before his 21st birthday. His actions helped bury people from AIDS. His actions helped cause gays to kill themselves rather than face the truth that they are gay.

Falwell didn't kill anyone, he just made it easier for others to kill them instead. I fully understand how wrong it is to make fun of the dead, but lets not pretend Falwell just talked about gays. He did way, way, more. Give him credit where credit is due.

[janx]

1. K&R

:hi:

[treestar]

2. He didn't kill anyone himself, but possibly neither did Hitler

I think it is true that Charles Manson never killed anyone with his own hands.

Probably neither has Chimpy.

Falwell did have help, though. He had the right to speak, but others had the option of considering him a lunatic. Too many didn't. That's what the Falwells of the world pander to, and they have certain charisma and leadership abilities, and they misuse them. THere's no reason his death lets him out of having that pointed out, that he did not live an honorable life.

[joneschick]

3. glad to k&r

Falwell did immeasureable harm around the world. Credit where credit is due, indeed. :hi:

[tavalon]

4. Even if the only thing that disgusting creature did was talk down gays

it would be enough for me to spit on his grave. That man was a waste of protoplasm, nay he was worse than a waste.

[Christa]

5. K & R

What a pity he ever lived.

[Hidden Stillness]

6. Agree--Falwell was Meanness Masking as Morality

This is pretty much my attitude, too. I couldn't stand this horrible bastard, exactly because I am a Christian. As with Bush, etc., I could never detect even the slightest "spiitual/religious/Christian/humble compassionate" thing about any of these rich corporate Republican operatives. I don't know how many anti-feminist quotes I re-found or remembered on the day the hypocrite died, but there were many, many--sbeering, laughing, mocking, "militant feminists" "causing our moral downfall and the destruction of the family," vowing to permanently kill the ERA, sticking a finger in the face of every feminist who tried to debate, lying, lying, slander... Falwell was the typical hypocrite, who dresses up ordinary bigotry and partial/biased thinking as "religious doctrine," using ordinary attacks as if they came from God: "For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?" Not with the (trying to be) universal acceptance of God and Providence, but with the most ordinary, debased narrow-mindedness, that shut people out, cold and refusing, and pretended not to have sinned!

There were some threads here just after the phony's death, about whether or not the wonderful Jimmy Carter had once said of Falwell, (something like), "Well, in a very Christian way--he can go to Hell" or "burn in Hell," something like that. Well, if so--that goes for me too.

"Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." James 1:22. This bastard never even lived the Christian mind-heart life, for even one authentic day; hypocrite, imposter. "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits." (Matthew 7:15-16.)

[Mabus]

7. Radical clerics of all religious can be dangerous

Falwell was a radical American cleric who used his religious missive as an excuse to spread his fear, bigotry, hatred and lies. I do not mourn him. I mourn those he left behind whose hearts and minds are full of the hatred he spread. Their hearts are as dead as Jerry's was.

I can't cite an authority to back me up but I believe that the vast majority of spiritual teachings want to spread a message of salvation, love and harmony to their followers. Radical clerics don't do that. It's harder to control people and subvert their minds when they believe in the interconnectedness of mankind. Fallwell was a radical American cleric. Not surprisingly Falwell's supporters don't see him like that. But that's exactly what he was. Let's never forget that.

[rurallib]

8. Ya gotta hope someone is sitting on his grave

with a gun just in case.

[cymbalta]

9. Falwell is the ugly face of America.

Utter, utter scum. The ironic thing is, just a week earlier, he had asked God for another 20 years of life (CNN interview). If that is not proof that even God, if such a thing exists, was sick of this man's crimes and teachings of hatred.

[BoneDaddy]

10. Thank you for your honesty

It is refreshing and a classy way to address the joy you had at Falwell's death. You were smart and aware enough not to descend into the blood orgy of ugliness that many who reveled in Falwell's death acted out. We cannot help what we feel but we can stop what we do. I, too, experienced some elation when I heard his monologue was over, but to fall into a rabid ecstasy of "ding dong the witch is dead" celebration and to justify that celebration was a low point on DU. I do not mind these types of posts because they are honest, courageous and spot on. Thanks