Jerry Falwell dies

[Religious Dick]

US evangelist Jerry Falwell dies
Leading US conservative evangelist Rev Jerry Falwell has died in hospital in Virginia after being found unconscious in his office, his assistants said.
Doctors gave Rev Falwell emergency treatment at Lynchburg General Hospital but could not revive him.

Rev Falwell, 73, survived two serious health scares in 2005 but had a history of heart problems.

He became a figurehead of the religious right in the 1980s, founded the Moral Majority and later Liberty University.


Dr Falwell is a huge, huge leader here in this area and in the nation at large
Ron Godwin
Liberty University vice president
Rev Falwell was regarded as the father of the political evangelical movement.

As one of the first television preachers, he reached millions on his programme The Old Time Gospel Hour.

Ron Godwin, executive vice president for Liberty University, said Rev Falwell was found unresponsive in his office at about 1045 local time (1535 GMT) after missing an appointment.

Mr Godwin said: "Dr Falwell is a huge, huge leader here in this area and in the nation at large."

Controversial

Rev Al Sharpton said he was deeply saddened and was praying for the Falwell family. He said although he often disagreed with the reverend, they had a cordial relationship.

The BBC's Vanessa Heaney in Washington says Rev Falwell was a controversial figure who offended many.

But his alliance with Republicans in the 1980s was a key help in the elections of Ronald Reagan as president and many political leaders have since continued to seek his support.

Among them is Senator John McCain - a Republican contender for US president - who described him as "a man of distinguished accomplishment who devoted his life to serving his faith and country".

Rev Falwell was a strong opponent of abortion, homosexuality and many other issues that conflicted with his fundamentalist Christian beliefs.

His statements on feminism and race issues often outraged liberals.

In 2002, he sparked anger across the Muslim world by calling the Prophet Muhammad a "terrorist". He later apologised.

Shortly after the 11 September 2001 attacks, he said that gays, atheists, civil-rights activists and legal abortions in the US had angered God and "helped this happen".

In 1999, he denounced the BBC TV children's show The Teletubbies, because he believed one character, Tinky Winky, was homosexual.




Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6659457.stm

Published: 2007/05/15 18:45:39 GMT

© BBC MMVII

[kimba1]

you know ,I can honestly say I will miss him.
no matter what he will admit fault .
I remember in a talk about act of god he stated he cannot talk about such things since his church got hit by lightning and several of his people died.
on hindsight he never needed to say that and this bit of info would never be known.
but he did on tv ,and i gotta admire him for that.
I don`t agree with him much,but I know he means well.

[Michael Tee]

<<Dr Falwell is a huge, huge leader here in this area and in the nation at large >>

Maybe if he wasn't so huge he could still be pontificating his ludicrous nonsense.  This man always impressed me as self-indulgent and basically unhealthy.  Unhealthy physically, mentally and morally.

His "blame the victim" attitude was both hilarious and sickening at the same time, never as much so as at the time of the Katrina disaster.  Until kimba's post, I had no idea that some of his parishioners died in a lightning strike on his church, but if there's a God, I can easily see why.  Sometimes there is chutzpah that even a divine being could not put up with.  Lessons must be taught, examples must be made.

[The_Professor]

Back in the "old" days, a deceased person was not spoken evil of, at least for a respectful while. Tacky, real tacky. I guess they excel in hammering the recently-deceased in Canada.

[Michael Tee]

He was a pompous ass in life as well as being an ignoramus and a fraud.  Said whatever came out of his mouth and backtracked whenever it raised a real shitstorm.  Katrina as God's revenge on a sinful nation was just one such example.  The guy was worthless chickenshit and death does't make him suddenly worthy.

His victims aren't as obvious or as numerous as Bush's 600,000 dead Iraqis or tortured prisoners, but they're victims nevertheless - - the gay man beaten to death by a gang of hoodlums on the streets of some midwestern city, would probably be one good example, the millions of Africans needlessly infected with AIDS virus because of the cutbacks in condom distribution by U.S. foreign aid.  He didn't condone the beating, but he stirred the pot, he voiced the intolerance, he voiced the ridicule which in the mouths of others then escalated to hate and then to violence.

There was a dark side to Jerry Falwell, it just didn't show the way Bush's does.

[domer]

Your dark side shows, Mikey, like a case of elephantiasis on the face.

[Michael Tee]

Sorry, domer, I calls 'em the way I sees 'em.

[Xavier_Onassis]

Back in the "old" days, a deceased person was not spoken evil of, at least for a respectful while. Tacky, real tacky. I guess they excel in hammering the recently-deceased in Canada.

============================================
How long did it take for people to speak ill of Hitler and still be polite? Mussolini? Stalin? Mao?

Jerry Falwell, as someone's son, father or grandfather may deserve respect for the mere fact of being dead, but he was a public figure, who spewed idiotic crap like Liberals were responsible for AIDS, which God had sent to punish them, and that the Antichrist was alive and a-waiting in the wings.

Doesn't Juniorbush sorta fit the usual description of the Antichrist? Or would that be Cheney?

[_JS]

Back in the "old" days, a deceased person was not spoken evil of, at least for a respectful while.

When my dad was young John F. Kennedy was murdered in Dallas on a Friday in late November of 1963. At the time he was attending a school in a very small Tennessee town. The children were not dismissed from school. More than that, people cheered - teachers cheered and some people said things like, "it's about damn time!"

So no, I don't think things were so different in the olden days, once the rose-tinted glasses come off.

My mom, on the other hand, was a young girl in a school in a tiny village in Germany. They missed school for much of the next week after Kennedy's death. He was very beloved in that country, especially in a very small village right on the border with East Germany.

Back to the topic at hand, I'll pray for the soul of Jerry Falwell. I often disagreed with his beliefs and I sometimes wondered if he and Robertson have done more long-term harm to Christianity than good, but I am not their judge.

[Lanya]

JS,
I was about to say that from some people  in the old Washington Watch chat room, there was gloating and glee when JFK Jr. and his wife died in an airplane crash. 
The first thing that came to me when I heard about Falwell: "The quality of mercy is not strain'd...."

[Brassmask]

To be totally honest, I won't miss him. 

I'm not glad he's dead but I am glad he won't be out there spreading his bullshit anymore.  But the reality is that some other bozo is going to take his place and continue to spread his bullshit.  Not to mention, Falwell's already won in a way because he got all those attorneys from his "Liberty University" installed in order to make religion more a part of the law.

I was heartened to see that the one quote that they punched in the evening news last night was when he blamed 9.11 on all the groups that he hated.  Of course, he "apologized" but he meant it.

Full Disclosure:  When I heard about it, I was a little shocked that I didn't get happy about it.  I kept picturing him laying on his office floor for a while till someone found him.  Kind of a sad way to go.  My dad told me about it and I jokingly said, "Where was god?" but I was just goofing for my dad really.

[BT]

You ever notice that death is not about the deceased passing, it is always about the living left behind.

[The_Professor]

Back in the "old" days, a deceased person was not spoken evil of, at least for a respectful while.

Back to the topic at hand, I'll pray for the soul of Jerry Falwell. I often disagreed with his beliefs and I sometimes wondered if he and Robertson have done more long-term harm to Christianity than good, but I am not their judge.

Good point here, JS. However, the decision on his soul has already been determined by both him by his decision and following actions  and then by God. I might suggest you pray for peace and comfort for those to whom his passing is a sad event.

Your comment about his supposed "harm" is interesting. Is it appropriate for Christians to be involved, for example, in the political process or let those pursuing opposite goals rule instead? Falwell, and others, obviously felt the former and not the latter. Billy Graham, and others, support the latter.

[_JS]

Good point here, JS. However, the decision on his soul has already been determined by both him by his decision and following actions  and then by God. I might suggest you pray for peace and comfort for those to whom his passing is a sad event.

That is a bit of difference in our theological beliefs. If you shortened the second sentence to "The decision on his soul has been determined by God" then I'd agree. Of course I will take your advice and pray for comfort to those who miss anyone who has passed on recently.

Your comment about his supposed "harm" is interesting. Is it appropriate for Christians to be involved, for example, in the political process or let those pursuing opposite goals rule instead? Falwell, and others, obviously felt the former and not the latter. Billy Graham, and others, support the latter.

The problem with Robertson and Falwell is that they tend to make outlandish comments that many times alienate potential converts and also cast Christianity in a negative, unforgiving light. I would say that Robertson was more guilty of this than Falwell (for example, in espousing the murder of a foreign leader) yet they often seemed to forget that their words came with consequences when they spoke as self-appointed representatives for the Lord.



 

[R.R.]

The problem with Robertson and Falwell is that they tend to make outlandish comments that many times alienate potential converts and also cast Christianity in a negative, unforgiving light.

Rev. Sharpton referred to Jews as "diamond merchants." Rev. Jessie Jackson referred to New York City as "Hymie town." Sharpton suggested Mitt Romney doesn't believe in God. Do their bigoted comments cast Christianity in a negative light?