Posted by Amanda Marcotte May 15, 2007 in Asides
Guess god liked the ACLU better after all.
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Bill the Cat takes another victim.
Most of the time, I’m content in my sense that there is no afterlife or a vengeful god. Some days, though, I’m hopeful.
I wonder if any of the major news outlets will be showing the Campari ad he sued Flynt over? Or mentioning his reprehensible post 9/11 remarks? Doubt it.
I posted this on my blog. One less bigot in America. The death of Jerry Falwell is the best thing to happen to America in a long, long time.
wow, i feel even more guiltily happy than i did when Strom Thurmond died…
Is this a paradox defined?
That there is no God, yet that Falwell has died proves the existence of a God?
Guess god liked the ACLU better after all.
LOL
Well, that didn’t take long!…
I wonder what the reaction of our friends on the left would be if conservatives published notifications of Jimmy Carter’s death, when it occurs, with some sort of reference welcoming him to Hell?
……
I wonder if they’re going to ask Tinky Winky to do the eulogy?
Of course, had the situation been reversed, Falwell wouldn’t be gloating over Amanda’s death.
Bill the Cat takes another victim.
That’s Fundamentally Oral Bill to you, buster.
I don’t think very highly of our 39th President, and he is rather elderly, so his passing could reasonably occur sometime soon. I wonder what the reaction of our friends on the left would be if conservatives published notifications of Jimmy Carter’s death, when it occurs, with some sort of references welcoming him to Hell?
That, of course, won’t happen; conservatives simply have more class.
I’m content in knowing I never found anything good to say about him when alive that I feel no compunction in pretending to not “speak ill of the dead” now that he’s worm food. He “spoke ill” about so many living people, good people who just want to live their lives as they saw fit (not as he would have them) that I hope he is roundly reviled now that he’s dead. There is no heaven (or alas, hell) for him to go to, All that’s left is memory. May his memory rot like his flesh.
Hmm. I guess that’s what the wingnuts mean by “vitriol.” Yeah. I’m okay with that.
Hahaha… hahahahah… heh heh… HAHAHAHAHA… hahaha
{wipes tears}
Good one!
Pat Robertson must be worried.
Dana, you’ve become really boring.
I was just wondering what sort of conversation Jerry and G-d are having… And how astounded that Jerry must be to be sharing the afterlife with gay folk, non-Christians, liberals, etc.
Go troll somewhere else, Dana. Jimmy Carter doesn’t regularly spew hatred.
[…] Other Bloggers: Pandagon […]
Shows what y’all know.
This is clearly the Rapture, and Falwell always knew that he was the only person on Earth good enough to get taken.
Nice thing about being a non-believer, Tib, is it springs you from having to be idiotically literal.
That, of course, won’t happen; conservatives simply have more class.
Tell that to the over 600,000 Iraqis we’ve managed to kill. But with class.
ROFL conservatives have more class. Yeah, I’ll believe that when Bill Clinton dies. Of course, that won’t happen, because Clinton is the conservative exception to everything.
This is the fifth and best title on this subject to grace my friends page thus far. It makes me laugh a little more everytime a new one comes up.
Wow, Amanda. That is hard core.
P.S. Why is it that we’re not allowed to speak ill of the dead, exactly? I mean, the effective result is a whitewash of everyone who dies. Look at Ronald Reagan! His approval numbers were in the toilet until he passed away, and ever since we’ve had nothing but hagiography. This isn’t just a question of justice - a public figure’s posthumous reputation can have tremendous political impact.
Dante scholars are flipping through their copies of “Inferno” today.
I’d say Circle 8, Bolgia 3 (Simonaics), but there are many other appropriate places.
Dana: I wonder what the reaction of our friends on the left would be if conservatives published notifications of Jimmy Carter’s death, when it occurs, with some sort of references welcoming him to Hell?
Very similiar to the reactions of your friends on the left to the vitriol spewed by conservatives when it became evident to them that President Carter had become an elder statesman of the world, globally respected and admired, while the past three Republican Presidents since Carter’s Presidency have been either senile or criminal.
No, folks, Dana’s right — conservatives have more class. They don’t speak ill of dead liberals; they just fantasize about digging up their corpses and hanging them.
You stay classy, conservatives!
Classy conservative Dean Esmay on the death of Edward Said:
Edward Said finally died yesterday. So, yet another lying anti-semite and apologist for terrorism leaves the world.
Makes the heart bleed, don’t it?
See the classy comments as well.
Yeah, conservatives have a lot of class and never speak ill of the dead. Just ask Rachel Corrie. Or Pat Tillman?
I’m just thinking something along the lines of Marge Simpson after she painted Monty Burns in the nude - he’s an evil man, but he too will die.
I won’t consign him to hell - like any good American, I consider that to be between him and his God.
Did his followers stop sending him money, and God had to take him away for not pulling his weight? (Or was that a different televangelist?)
I found myself trying to stifle my schadenfreude when I saw the news…. this is perhaps the first time that I’ve thought the Pandagonian reaction was inappropriate. Death is sad, period.
This post just made my day.
(NB: this is the commenter formerly known as just “laura.” I decided to use my more distinct handle.)
Yeah, Dana, like with everything else, the conservative veneer of respect for the dead (and the not: viz. Elizabeth Edwards) crumbles very quickly, making the mealy-mouthed “Well, I’m sorry for his family” that places like Freep maintain - for HOURS, even! - sound that much more hypocritical and glaring.
Jerry Falwell was not a good person. I am anti-death, but in a world filled with it, Jerry Falwell’s is my lowest priority.
I think it is our duty to remember him as the bigot he was. Of course, CNN will run a hagiography, but we must keep plugging this, which everyone knows he meant and believed:
If Mr. Falwell had not used his life to spew hatred at anyone who did not fit his narrow-minded, bigoted idea of who was a True God-fearing American ™, one might feel more willing to refrain from stating what an absolutely putrid little excrescence of vomit he was.
But I’m being polite, so I won’t say that.
R.I.P., and after watching Falwell I know know why the Romans threw the Christians to the lions.
I’m actually surprised by this — usually people this bad live for freakin’ ever, while the good people (like Cardinal Bernardin) are the ones who die (relatively) young.
My husband reminded me the other day that Falwell’s reaction to the Jim Bakker scandal was to convince Bakker to sign everything over to him at a bargain rate, and then refuse to give it back because, after all, a verbal agreement isn’t worth the paper it’s on. Ah, Republican ethics …
Of course, had the situation been reversed, Falwell wouldn’t be gloating over Amanda’s death.
Bill Donohue, on the other hand…
Why is it that we’re not allowed to speak ill of the dead, exactly?
Now if that doesn’t fill me with a profound and mighty despair…
Thank GOD
Death is sad, period.
I don’t see it that way, myself. Consequences of an unfinished life are sad, perhaps; the loss of someone dear is also sad, but death itself? The way I see it, if there’s nothing post, then what’s to worry about. If there is an afterlife of some sort or another, than I think the only thing that matters there, and the only thing you take with you is the friends you’ve made, and maybe something you’ve learned. Okay, in that case, maybe Falwell’s death is sad, but I can’t bring myself to mourn him, and I won’t miss him.
*** *** ***
conservatives simply have more class.
…and the LOLCow of the year award goes to…
I just wish that there had been some compromising situation or act involved in his demise.
Perhaps they immediately deleted the Rod Majors directory on his hard drive, who knows?
I think Heather Duke said it best:
I prayed for the death of
Heather ChandlerJerry Fallwell many times and I felt bad everytime I did it but I kept doing it anyway. Now I know you understood everything. Praise Jesus, Hallelujah.I want to point out, to those who wonder: when people die in their seventies it is not a “tragedy” it is part of life. Falwell was an old man, who died naturally. He was also a horrible person, a totalitarian, a proto-fascist who really believed that one day Jesus would come back and literally scrub the earth of you and me. He thought we deserved to be tortured for the rest of time.
The first thing I thought when I heard the news is “I hope he doesn’t suffer.” Why, because I’m not about to lower myself to the Rush Limbaughs of the world who will even attack a good man on the day of his funeral (Tip O’Neil) …
I then asked myself if there was anything good I could say about him… no I thought, he was the first of many reasons I left Christianity … and then I thought… Wow! I just had a good thought about Jerry Falwell.
Yeah, threads like this’ll really win ‘em over.
as per the post in moderation … I’m dyslexic today
Odanu has better self-control than I do.
But this is an excellent time to remember that death happens because of organ failure, disease, accidents, and foul play. Death does not happen because God is pissed off with someone; be they feminists, atheists, “abortionists,” or slimy televangelists who claim to speak to God’s motivations.
Whatever afterlife Jerry goes into: whether it’s the heaven he dreams about or the hell many of us may dream for him, or a vast nothingness, or coming back as a cockroach, he is not in a realm where our words will make any difference.
In re the Dana comment I don’t think there’s much hay to be made over the (putative and hypothetical) silence of “some on the right” in the event of the actual death of someone on the left. First of all, as Berube and others have pointed out, the treatment of (inter alia) Rachel Corrie, that other sweet girl who worked on Iraqi civilian issues whose name I can’t bring to mind, Pat Tilman, etc… etc… gives the direct lie to this fantasy. But in addition what difference does the imagined post mortem silence make when when they unleash the most fantastic and shameless attacks on living individuals? What they say about Hilary Clinton, Elizabeth Edwards, Cindy Sheehan, Barack Obama, the Episcopalian Bishop, anyone gay, any feminist, etc…etc… is so horrendous that there is literally *nothing* they could say after those people die that would be worse.
aimai
“I don’t think very highly of our 39th President, and he is rather elderly, so his passing could reasonably occur sometime soon. I wonder what the reaction of our friends on the left would be if conservatives published notifications of Jimmy Carter’s death, when it occurs, with some sort of references welcoming him to Hell?
That, of course, won’t happen; conservatives simply have more class.”
O RLY?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnAaDEFk7Uk
I’m soooo tempted to make a joke. Maybe something like this:
Question: What do you call Jerry Falwell buried under 6-feet of dirt?
Answer: A good start!
But I’m not that bad. I know he was a human being, who had family that loved him, who touched the lives of thousands of people. Maybe there really is a God, and Jerry Falwell was truly his emissary on earth. It’s sad whenever somebody that great passes on. We are all diminished by the death of a person of such faith…
…FUCK THAT SHIT! I’m GLAD that rotten old asshole is dead. If there really WAS a god, and REALLY cared about all the hell humans go through, he/she would call a whole bunch more of Falwell’s buddies back “home” too…
I hope Falwell burns in hell…
Yeah, threads like this’ll really win ‘em over.
The people who will get pissy over this thread weren’t going to be won over anyway.
Oh, thank non-god.
One down. 28% to go.
Chico, we are not going to “win them over”. We don’t want to “win them over”. This blog is not, as far as I know, a “convince Christian Nationalists/Fascists/Dominionists to be secular liberals” blog. Those people are not ever going to join the team. They are the mullahs of Iran, but here. They are a small, but active group of people who really want to destroy the country we know and love. I am not prone to hysterics, but one must understand that the Christian Right doesn’t want to make nice and be friends. They want us all gone or converted. We aren’t here (as Michelle Goldberg points out in her book) to convince some “mythical rube” that our way is the right way. We are Americans and we are here to defend what we want America to be.
My shorter shorter viewpoint?
God has called Reverend Falwell home.
And is she ever pissed!
By the way, I don’t endorse eliminationist rhetoric of any sort. These people have a right to be here and a right to believe what they want. But I will fight there ideas and I don’t have to be sad when one of their leaders dies. I am not going to cry when Kim Jung Il dies.
“I don’t think very highly of our 39th President, and he is rather elderly, so his passing could reasonably occur sometime soon. I wonder what the reaction of our friends on the left would be if conservatives published notifications of Jimmy Carter’s death, when it occurs, with some sort of references welcoming him to Hell?
That, of course, won’t happen; conservatives simply have more class.”
So, basically, Falwell is ‘on the right’ for the purpose of making this equivalence (and, somehow, a fitting equivalent for Jimmy Carter), but his own ‘lack of class’ visibly doesn’t count to the so-called conservatives credit.
Also, Amanda (I think) doesn’t really believe that Satan and Hell exit at all and has phrased the post this way in a mocking reference to Falwell’s own belief and pronouncements about who goes to Hell and why. This makes the comment perhaps a little different from a Falwell-type gasbag (or Dana) sincerely (and literally) making that kind of reference about someone who never themselves made that sort of reference.
I’m probably wasting too much time on what was obviously blind, wild, beyond ironic hyperbole.
Stephen:
Wild applause.
One down. 28% to go.
Bullshit.
You just know Fred Phelps is going to protest his funeral, and the world will collapse in on itself.
Hee.
(Aimai)
There’s a difference between apathy and Fred Phelps-like glee towards someone’s death.
He was the perfect example of one who prays loudly in a public square, so if his professed boss is correct he’s had his reward here on earth.
And these days the only time conservaties have class is when they are at driving instruction as part of their DWI settlement.
Yeah, threads like this’ll really win ‘em over.
Who are we trying to win over? Bigots? They won’t come over, so who gives a shit?
The better angels of my nature say: How sad for his family.
The fallen angels of my nature outnumber them, however, and I now have “Ding-dong, the witch is dead”stuck in my head. Which is probably penance enough.
Oh, and the vindictive, troll-feeding angel with the memory of longer than two minutes directs Dana to Molly Ivins’ demise for conservatives with class
When I read this post I immediately, without any thought or bit of irony, said “Thank GOD”. I laugh a little at the irony, but mostly I’m relieved that this guy is gone. I’m sorry his family will miss him. I sorry that people will feel a sense of loss. But there is one less person out there spewing hatred and condemnation, and for that I can feel just a little bit relieved.
My brain just exploded.
Chico, if it comforts you any, I don’t think that Falwell will go to hell. I don’t think anyone will. I think he’ll be worm food and so will you. And so will I.
I suspected conservatives would clutch their pearls at dark humor. That’s their second favorite hobby, after trying to get decent people killed or fired.
Yeah, well, I’m still going to seize the spurious high ground and hope that Jerry Falwell isn’t in Hell right now. Not even he deserves eternal torment, in my humble opinion. In fact, I hope Elizabeth is right:
even though that would initially seem like Hell to Falwell. He’d eventually get over it, though.<snooty>
Note that this point of view makes me significantly nicer than Falwell or his god.
</snooty>
(Yes, I know, snooty tags are always on for my comments. It’s for comic effect, people.)
No false tears here. He was an evil man and the world is far better off without him.
>There’s a difference between apathy and Fred Phelps-like glee towards someone’s death.
Spare me. Fred Phelps (speaking of someone who can’t die soon enough) pickets the funerals of total strangers and harasses their families in a situation where they can’t escape. We’re on the stinkin’ internet, celebrating the death of an evil man whose hatred and political power have caused enormous harm to us as a country and as individuals for decades. There’s a slight difference. If you think really hard, you might just figure it out.
Ding Dong the witch is dead, the wicked witch…(continue as needed)
I try to not speak ill of the dead.
My thoughts are with his widow/children/grandchildren.
And I hope that G*d/Goddess/Gaia/Dog/The Supreme Entity of Your Choice judges him as he has judged others and gives him his just rewards.
I Blame Hip Hop & Homosexuals, Or Why Jerry Falwell Died…
Yay, Jerry Falwell is dead! He probably got too close to Mitt Romney’s special underwear so God got angry.
……
I’ll never forgive him for what he did to Jim and Tammy Faye.
Three scriptural passages that Falwell (and many other fundies) really, really hope *aren’t* literally true (taken from the King James Version, ‘cause that’s the only *real*, *true* translation):
Matthew 25:34-46
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.�
Matthew 7:1-2
“1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. ”
Matthew 7:21-23
“21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
I feel like less of a bad person now. At least I’m not the only person remembering Fundamentally Oral Bill.
I said what I’m saying on this topic at my LiveJournal. http://valarltd.livejournal.com/671975.html
Schadenfreude aplenty. I’m sorry, but any eliminationist bigot who is no longer spewing his spew is a good thing. End of story.
He was a self-righteous biggot and I am not going to pretend his death is a tragedy to me- his family, yes- but not me. Good riddance to bad rubbish and all that.
Dana: Yeah. The conservatives are so classy, like when Betty Friedan died and the anti-feminists cheered.
But what about all those supposedly “leftist” comrades…how about the sheer glee when Saddam Hussein was executed and the botched execution of his brother (was it his brother that was accidentally beheaded?).And you know they will say really kind things when Castro dies. Or Hugo Chavez.
Fuckin’ hell
biggot=bigot
I hope it was quick and painless. I don’t wish any suffering on him, though I’m releived that he’s gone. It would have been nice if he’d had a chance to repent his many cruel words and deeds before he died, though.
They are a small, but active group of people who really want to destroy the country we know and love. I am not prone to hysterics, but one must understand that the Christian Right doesn’t want to make nice and be friends. They want us all gone or converted.
Hell yeah. And for further evidence American Fascists by Chris Hedges is a great read for just how much the Christian right hates the rest of the country and the world.
Though I too would have loved it if he’d died doing something illegal or controversial I say good riddance. If anything this will lead the other leaders to realize they also might die a natural, human death before they can see the so-called Rapture and with that knowledge they might realize it’s not going to ever happen for any of them because they honestly believe they’re in the right “time” for it to come about and are doing their damndest to make it happen (i.e. war in Iraq, which they believe needs to happen for Jesus to return).
Little Love For the Departed: A Roundup of Liberal Reaction to Jerry Falwell’s Passing…
I’m not a fan of Jerry Falwell, who died today shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University at the age of 73. That said, I am quite disgusted with the pathological hatred displayed by liberal bloggers……
Schadenfreude aplenty. Im’ sorry, but there’s no reason not to celebrate it when an eliminationist bigot no longer is spewing his hatred, enforcing bigotry and evil on our society via his religious zealotry. Fuck that, and fuck you trolls for acting like Falwell deserves anything other than disdain.
I think Falwell’s life and legacy will bear out Marc Antony’s observation in JULIUS CAESER, about how the evil that men do lives after them.
In this instance, I don’t really think there is too much good that will be interred with his bones, but his death is not a victory or cause for celebration.
In life, he set up institutions larger than himself and sustainable beyond his direct cult of personality which will continue to harm the essential fabric of the principles upon which my country was founded, and which will continue to do harm to women and their rights over their own bodies, and will continue to imprison minds and lives in a pathological cycle of the worst kind of hate– the hate that calls itself divine love.
That he is gone personally affects me not a whit either way– I’m sure the people he personally knew, his family, see this as a tragedy, and that’s their right. Far be it from me or us to belittle that. But for me, that the awful machinery of mental suffering that he set up and set into motion to chug along long after his death is well oiled with all pistons firing, that’s the tragedy.
His post 9/11 comments were some of the most hateful, disgusting words ever spoken–and he said them mere days afterward. Whenever anyone jokingly points out the gay Tinky Winky stuff, I always remind them that he’s the guy who pushed his political agenda during the time in which this entire country was united by grief.
For those worried about what the “middle” will think. While I’m not a dance on the graves type person, we say:
“While we disagree with Falwell, he was a decent person who fought for what he thought was right”
Those in the middle hear that as:
“Falwell was a decent person who even his opponents believed was fighting for what was right”
Not good.
…conservatives simply have more class…
Falwell himself was pretty classy when he said that AIDS was God’s judgement against homosexuals, or that 9/11 was God’s judgement against America.
What goes around comes around….
Ding Dong, the Wicked Witch is Dead.
Blitzgal: One bottle of Coca-Cola, coming right up….
He was an old man and died of natural causes. So, even if I liked him, I would not find his death shocking or tragic. I would be having a very different reaction had he been murdered.
But he wasn’t murdered and I didn’t like him. He doesn’t deserve my respect just because he’s deceased. I’m not going to wish hell on him, cuz one, I don’t believe in it, and two, that’s just the sort of thing his hate-spewing kind would say about ME.
I wish his family well, but I’m glad he’s gone.
No schadenfreude, no gloating, no glee. Just a record of the man’s life. It speaks for itself, folks.
He’s god where the goblins go, below below below…
Dammit, now you’ve got the song stuck in my head.
Of course, had the situation been reversed, Falwell wouldn’t be gloating over Amanda’s death.
Nope, he saved that for thousands upon thousands of gay men in the 1980s
The world is a better place now that Falwell is no longer in it.
Always love linking to those compassionate liberal sites.
I’d pee right on his corpse if I could.
Jerry Falwell, and everything _about_ Jerry Falwell, is deeply evil. This doesn’t change because he’s dead.
I realize that people’s fear of their own mortality drives them to want us to saint good white Christian Americans every time one of them, no matter how dastardly, kicks off, but surely rational beings should have more control over such fears, no?
As Amanda said, when I see an appropriate conservative eulogy/apology/sepuku for the 600k+ dead non-white non-Christian sometimes-males in Iraq, I’ll think about saying something other than ‘fuck Jerry Falwell now and forever.’
shorter sharon:
compassion is about being nice to guys like Jerry Falwell. it has nothing to do with not committing genocide or spreading prejudice and fear.
Seconded whole-heartedly.
From a friend of mine:
“Well, today would certainly make a fine day to make a donation to Planned Parenthood, PFLAG, The National Organization for Women, and/or the gay rights, women’s rights, AIDS or other important charity of your preference.
What better way to remember the man who blamed all of the above for 9/11, and so much more?”
Just thought it ought to be repeated.
Oh and just remember. It’s only just recently that Falwell basically said that killing more Iraqis was his biggest political concern.
Falwell in Grave Condition (UPDATED)…
UPDATE: He’s passed away.
Just breaking.
LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Rev. Jerry Falwell was hospitalized in “gravely serious” condition after being found unconscious Tuesday in his office at Liberty University, a school executive said….
OK, this post title is officially the winningest.
My public service announcement for the event: dance first, then piss. Also, it is the polite grave-visitor who allows other people to dance before cutting loose, so that they can dance without soiling their shoes.
I’m saving the real party for Jesse Helms’s exit. I’ll be dancing that day.
He was 73. Isn’t the average life expectancy of American men around that? Why should I be mourning someone who lived a longer, better life than most of the world?
I don’t understand why this guy was relevant at all with some of the comments he’d made over the years. He should have been treated like the old man with retrograde ideas that he was; tolerated, but effectively ignored by everyone but a few members of his family.
Looks like somebody missed the ‘let us hate her mightily’ memo that circulated among the right-o-sphere after Molly Ivins’ death.
And if you don’t believe there will be celebratory comments aplenty when Carter kicks the bucket, you’ve obviously been sleeping through class, young lady.
“Oh and just remember. It’s only just recently that Falwell basically said that killing more Iraqis was his biggest political concern.”
“More rubble, less trouble” - par for the course for the “culture of life”, eh?…
I only have this to say, if there is an afterlife may it treat him with the tolerance, compassion, and generosity he has shown to others.
Sharon, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Falwell deserves exactly the reputation for evil bigotry he’s going to get. As there is no hell for him to go to, you “compassionate conservatives” who gave his evil elbow room in your own movement is just going to have to deal with the fact that you’re a bunch of bigots, and you supported a bigot. Quit getting mad at us for bringing you up to speed on what you may have missed the past 30 years.
I’m saving the real party for Jesse Helms’s exit. I’ll be dancing that day.
You may as well get the party started — Jesse’s got dementia and is probably absently drooling into his creamed corn even as we speak.
While I will not miss Falwell, as Christian myself I will not hope that he goes to hell, but as a Catholic, I could say that a good long time in purgatory is appropriate
BTW, our aforementioned 39th president actually did say once that Falwell could literally go to hell, in the true Christian sense.
And that barrel-chested, flowing-haired godbag Al Sharpton issues his condolences.
http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/blogs/politicalticker/2007/05/sharpton-on-falwell.html
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Reverend Jerry Falwell. Though he and I debated much and disagreed often, we shared a very cordial and warm friendship. I visited him in Lynchburg, dined with him, and even talked with him during personal crises. Though we were as politically opposite as two people could be, I truly respected his commitment to his beliefs and our mutual belief in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As I stated to my nationally syndicated radio show, I pray for the Falwell family and join the nation in mourning the passing of this religious leader.”
Do you think he really believes that or is this just BS? What will John Edwards (remember him?) say about Falwell’s passing? Too bad Amanda isn’t working for him anymore, posts like this would be great for his campaign.
compassion is about being nice to guys like Jerry Falwell. it has nothing to do with not committing genocide or spreading prejudice and fear.
No, maturity is not making an ass of yourself when a guy you disagree with dies.
A guy we disagree with. You sanctimonious bitch. This asshole was out there working to make life worse for people. He reveled in the death of thousands of members of my community, and blamed me for 9-11. This wasn’t just someone we “disagreed” with. This was an evil man….then again, you were probably celebrating with him in the 1980s, right sharon?
No, maturity is not making an ass of yourself when a guy you disagree with dies.
If pointing out the things Jerry Falwell said and did during his lifetime constitutes making an ass of oneself, what does that say for the things Jerry Falwell said and did?
Always love linking to those compassionate liberal sites.
Always love hearing from those pearl clutching convservative sites.
That’s a lie. You’re boring. Go away.
I’m in mourning over this man’s passing.
Boo hoo.
Ok, mourning done. What’s next?
>No, maturity is not making an ass of yourself when a guy you disagree with dies.
It’s not about disagreement. I disagree with Billy Graham. I won’t feel any particular joy when he dies. I disagree with Jack Chick, but all he does is give away stupid little hate-comics. When he’s Called Home, I won’t care much one way or another.
Jerry Falwell was a man of enormous political power who used that power to hurt people. He was evil. Now that the Earth has been freed of the infection that was his presence, some celebration is in order.
No, maturity is not making an ass of yourself when a guy you disagree with dies.
I suppose you denounced Falwell and others for immaturity over how they handled the death of Matthew Shepard, or any number of victims of anti-LGBT hate crimes, right?
Even worse than the 600,000 Iraqis we got killed by opposing tyrants and terrorists in Iraq? The 100 million innocent people we got killed opposing Communism in the Cold War! Oh, America, how could you be so evil?
If only we’d been able to avoid the 70 years of Soviet military conquest and brutal repression… with diplomacy!
John Edwards 2008: He Can Talk Our Way Out Of Anything
Jerry Falwell is gone, and the world is a slightly better place.
You kiddin’?? Jerry’s in the Angelic Chorus now - he done The Work of The Lord.
What a surprise that Sharon shows up to make an ass of herself by being an apologist for an absolute bigot. You do know that you would not have been exempt from his hate right? No, of course not. You think you’re different…you think patriarchal shits like Falwell respect women like you.
You want to mourn him go right ahead. But don’t tell us we should allow his death to pass with respectful silence because it’s supposedly “mature.” Letting his death pass without a comment on the life he actually lived (not the hagiography that followed Nixon’s and Reagan’s passings) is what’s disrespectful. People should be remembered for how they were and whom they fucked over. If they actually lived a good life and generally treated people with respect, that’s how they will be remembered.
Yes its sad that he is dead, sad that we all die. Sad for family members and all that. However, the fact remains that he has called on for other people to die, and that is truly a hateful thing. He was not a decent person, he was a horrible person, and now he is worm food, and for those of us who believe in an afterlife, the Gods will judge him as we see fit. However I think our job is to burst all bubbles of happy and warm feelings that the news will generate now that he is dead. Because if we just stand aside while that happens in the name of being nice and polite, all of the damage that he has done will continue on unabated.
Every time a group of liberals starts to actually show some rage, some wingnut wanders in and sneers something about how liberals are supposed to be “compassionate”. That raises some questions for me:
1) Did liberals choose the “compassionate” label for ourselves, or did conservatives deliberately slap it on us? Or did it just kind of stick because we give a damn for people other than our corporate sponsors?
2) When did “compassion” get redefined to be incompatible with anger? Is it because compassion is identified with femininity (i.e. weakness) and is thus to be scorned by right-wing Real Men?
Ok. Anyways Falwell’s just one cancer out of the way. Donohue, James Bopp, Saxby Chambliss, Boy Scouts are just examples of the other cancers that are still in the US.
As far as I know, Falwell was a pious man and truly believed that he is going to heaven (well eventually). So you don’t have to feel sorry for him for that reason. Likewise, his family will grieve I imagine, but I pretty sure they too believe he is going to heaven. I am sure they also believe he was great man and accomplished wonderous things here on earth. So don’t feel sorry for them either. Likewise it will be with most of his followers. There maybe some tears but they will take solace in their faith.
The people to concern ourselves with are the people that Falwell and his ilk have oppressed during his tenure on earth and that his cronies in the Fundie leadership will continue to abuse. The people to concern ourselves with are his fellow hypocrites and dominionist loonies.
As for the Right’s disingenuous outrage, laugh and tell them to go fuck themselves.
Reason #212 why Amanda is an office temp (or barista or whatever) instead of a blogger for a presidential candidate.
[…] Good Riddance. By Paladiea | May 15, 2007 at 4:50 pm | In United States | […]
Kevin, and I mean this in the nicest possible way, do us all a favor and fuck off and die…
Farewell, sweet prince!
Ooh, kevin’s back! And me fresh out of peanuts…
No, maturity is not making an ass of yourself when a guy you disagree with dies.
Ah, yes, I had forgotten this play in the Rightard Strategy Book: hold the other side to higher standards than you hold your own.
Reason #212 why Amanda is an office temp (or barista or whatever) instead of a blogger for a presidential candidate.
And a fine example of the utter gutlessness of the current crop of candidates when it comes to decietful, mendacious, venal, greedy, Bible-thumping bigots like Jerry Falwell. As other’s have noted, what do you think we’ll see, a haigography or the truth? Jerry Falwell was a horrible human being who preyed on the very real fears of mostly decent people and used it for his personal wealth and political advantage. He’s been this disgusting for at least 30 years. If Christians get upset at the complete and deserved lack of sympathy for Falwell’s death, maybe they should ask themselves if they really want to be represented by the likes of him.
Defend him or piss off. And if you think Jerry Falwell never did a little dance every time he heard that liberal feminist died, you haven’t been paying attention.
LOL I don’t hold liberals to a higher standard. I hold them to the same one. I don’t support conservatives who talk about liberals roasting in hell, either.
I suppose I take the Bérubéan view: I feel no joy over his death, but no sorrow, either. That said, his death doesn’t excuse him from an honest assessment of his life. Which goes for all of us.
>LOL I don’t hold liberals to a higher standard. I hold them to the same one. I don’t support conservatives who talk about liberals roasting in hell, either.
If you supported Jerry Falwell himself, this is a lie.
The fallen angels of my nature outnumber them, however, and I now have “Ding-dong, the witch is dead�stuck in my head. Which is probably penance enough.
Same thing happened to me.
When a local Baptist church with mega ambitions opened a church school, he was the featured speaker. The text in the newspaper of his ’sermon’ was yet another attack at liberals and praise of the godly (i.e. the Republicans.)
I keep waiting for some real Christian theologian to say that his ideas were a bigoted crock of shit, and blaspehmous in their pretension and presumption. It would seem too easy. I guess they don’t attack one of their own.
Auguste — by 28% I was referring to Bush’s approval rating, which I suspect is isomorphic to the US population of hard-right fundies who sincerely believe “the rapture” will occur this year. So wha’for the BS?
Slightly OT:
When did baptists become evangelicals? They keep repeating that Falwell was the head of “the evangelical movement” blah blah blah.
Apparently I have more to say, or rather I’m going to quote Jerry Falwell.
So, I ask this of Dana, Kevin, and Sharon: “How many tears should I shed for a man who wanted many of the posters here dead?”
From my Christian perspective, I don’t believe in Hell. I don’t believe in a God that’s so cruel and heartless that She would simply toss souls into eternal torment for responding in a flawed and pained way to a flawed and painful world. I believe that God’s love is infinite, large enough even to forgive the most evil of us.
It bears mentioning that in this, I am quite theologically at odds with Jerry Falwell’s perspective on the matter. He was quite ready; eager, even, to toss people into eternal suffering for deeds and lives that he disapproved of.
Jerry Falwell was a bad man. A flawed, angry man that caused great suffering in his life and probably suffered a great deal in turn. The world is better without him, without his hate and his anger.
But I don’t hope that he suffers. I hope that he learns better.
Actually, if no one else has noted this, Phelps will be picketing Falwell’s funeral.
Unless godhatesamerica.com is a spoof site. It’s kind of hard to tell, with Phelps.
I’m w/ MAJeff on this one. Guy *blames* *me* for 9/11 . . . and I’m supposed to be all compassionate when he dies?!?!!?!???!!!!!???
I don’t effin’ think so.
And I gotcher *character flaw* right here.
Fascinating, all these huge hypocrites who actively tried to ruin my life, pretending to be shocked because I don’t pretend to care about a hateful bigot who also got off on ruining lives.
Shorter wingnuts: It’s worse to protest ruining lives than to do it.
Thank god!
This pleases me oh so much. The MetaFilter thread is priceless.
Exactly, Amanda. These same people gleefully worked to fire you but CAN’T STAND THE ATROCITIES OF THIS THREAD.
Of course, nothing bad is actually happening here — not like what’s happening in, ohhhh, I dunno, Iraq — BUT THIS IS STILL TERRRIBLE. Apparently, it’s far worse to hate one man in death than slaughter hundreds of thousands for profit.
Beeyootiful to watch their hypocrisy unfold.
I hope it was quick and painless. I don’t wish any suffering on him, though I’m releived that he’s gone. It would have been nice if he’d had a chance to repent his many cruel words and deeds before he died, though.
I could say I wish him no more pain and suffering than he inflicted on others, but that would be really, really fucking cruel.
Jerry “Flames of Hell Licking My Ass” Falwell:
Don’t you DARE say anything bad about that saintly, godly, moral old, white, American man…
Amanda “Scourge of the Patriarchy” Marcotte:
Fair game for all wingnuts until she is tarred/feathered/ridden out of town on rail. That all a femin*zi like her deserves…
You know, Sharon, Kevin, Dana, you’re right! There is absolutely NO double standard with that…
“LOL I don’t hold liberals to a higher standard. I hold them to the same one. I don’t support conservatives who talk about liberals roasting in hell, either.”
I really like how general the phrase “talking about liberals roasting in hell” is. It’s fairly revealing of the double-standard itself.
You zero in on the occasion where these particular ‘liberals’ are most prone to using that kind of imagery, without reflecting to the reasons why that is and thus avoiding the conclusion that an areligious person marking Falwell’s passing with a small fraction of what Falwell did in life, as a form of irony, is fundamentally different from a ‘conservative’ literally and sincerely mentionning an eternity of torment implied to be endured by a ‘liberal’.
But, whatever. It’s not like the trolls aren’t being transparently insincere in their gloat-outrage.
MikeEss, since we know that the “rights” of the unborn are much more important than the rights of the born to your average wingnut, maybe the rights of the dead are too? Amanda is still alive, and hence fair game, whereas Falwell (like that beautiful symbol of the culture of life, the fetus) must be glorified beyond all reasoning.
This could open up a whole area for wingnut activism…
One down! Let’s start a Fred Phelps countdown now.
Well, I’m not getting too excited yet. Reagan had a few years of drooling before the celebration could start.
sweet machine, so what you’re saying is the people least deserving of respect are those who are actually alive and breathing right now, as opposed to those who haven’t been born yet, and those who are already dead. You are so right!
So basically, if we just add ancestor worship to the load of crap the fundies already believe, we can create the perfect religion. Works for me…
[snark][/snark]
MikeEss: bingo! Now if we can just buy some sort of cable news network to spread our message, our Theocracy of the Not-Living will be sure to follow!
“One down! Let’s start a Fred Phelps countdown now.”
Fred Phelps like “The
PictureStatue of Dorian Gray”, except what WE see is the evil, decrepit Fred, while there’s an angelic young Fred Phelps at home somewhere, chained to the bed, and looking like an innocent cherub, right?…I wonder if Fred was best buds with Jerry…?
“Now if we can just buy some sort of cable news network to spread our message, our Theocracy of the Not-Living will be sure to follow!”
1. Invent new religion.
2. Publicize on TV and get famous people involved.
3. …
4. Profit!!!…
Thank Amanda,
Now I do not feel so bad about my lack of remorse when Susan Sontag and Betty Friedan bit it.
minor thread change, no actual hijacking…
what with all the reagan idolization at the last republican 2008 presidential primary debate, just how bad will it be at the next one? how much will they fall over each other trying to say positive things about Falwell?
ick.
Paul L., feel the way you want to feel.
But if you think Susan Sontag and Betty Friedan caused anything like as much evil in the world as people like Imam Falwell and his hateful followers, then you need to back away from the KoolAid and get to rehab…
What is up with comparing an evil bigot like Falwell to people who are/were neither?
TallDave seems to have accidentally posted in the wrong thread. Between the conceptual non-sequitur and the tortured grammar, it’s hard to say what he was getting at, but I bet he wishes he could killfile it.
Anyway, let’s remember Falwell in his own words.
That’ll really win ‘em over, Jerry!
What kind of sick and twisted version of belief states that after a mere 73 or so years of life, you will get thrown into an evil place for trillions of eons thereafter? No wonder so many of the followers of this belief are themselves sick and twisted.
As a friend of mine says, “If some god shows up, I’m going to tell him, you’ve got a lot to answer for, buddy.”
For your reading pleasure, a freeper thread on the subject.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1833947/posts
So, I talked to a friend of mine in VA today, who said his roomate walked in this afternoon, completely ebullient, and said “Great news, guess what happened! Falwell is dead!” Said roomate managed to get even happier when he realized that as a news guy living in the nearest city with a good satalite uplink, he’d proably get called in to do freelance work covering Falwells death-
Not only was Falwell dead, but he would literally proffit from it. His cup runneth over.
Which is kinda sick, but we all have our moments.
Look at the trackbacks, Confederate Yankee is clutching his pearls. He can’t believe that we having nothing good to say about Falwell.
MikeEss
Can you list some of the evil in the world caused by Imam Falwell and his hateful followers?
Or is he evil because he disagrees with you and managed to convince other people.
I guess supporting the Clinton impeachment is evil.
I judge all three as kooks who preached by a small group of nuts and got more media attention than they deserved.
BTW, is rehab a new euphemism on the left for reeducation camp?
This man’s death fails to diminish me.
I have copies of the freeper site after the Clinton dog was hit and killed on a local road after getting out of their ‘compound’…
Class?
Are you serious?
Stop being silly…
I did feel much better after Strom left us for a life being some black man’s bitch but I really wondered who would ooze into his seat and continue the racist cheerleading…
I can see, or better hear the interaction that I’d like to have happened at the ‘pearly gates’: JF:”Hi Peter”
SP: “And who are you?”
JF: “I’m, uh, I’m Jerry Falwell… God’s servant”
SP: “Who?” “I know all His servants and I don’t recognize you”
JF: But I followed His instructions, like I thought He wanted me to” “Don’t you have me on the list?”
SP: “Let me see… Jerry Falwell… With a ‘J’?”
JF: “Yes”
SP: “‘F’ ‘A’… uh…”
JF: “‘F’ ‘A’ ‘L’ ‘W’ ‘E’ ‘L’ ‘L’”
SP: “Nope. I’m afraid that I can’t find your name on the list”
JF: “How can that be… I whole heartedly served Him. I told the people that 9/11 was punishment for…
SP: “Ahh, I need to look at the ‘other list’. Perhaps you are on that one.”
JF: “Is it a special list?”
SP: “You could call it that I guess… This is embarrassing… Wait here”
SP: “Ahh (blows dust off) here it is… ‘F’ ‘A’”
JF: “Yes. I should be there, if it’s a special list. I deserve to be treated specal for all the harassment and negative treatment I endured. At times I wondered why I was so vilified”
SP: “Ahh… Yes. Jerry Falwell… J,E,R,R,Y F,A,L,W,E,L,L?”
JF: “Yes… That’s me”
SP: “Wait here. I’ll get the welcoming committee”
JF: (thinking) Ahh. I get paid back for all the hard work that I did while alive…
SP: “Go through that gold door over there. The third one on the right”
JF: “OK”
Walks to the door and opens it and gets yanked in to a dark corridor…
“Welcome Jerry” says a slightly horse voice. “I’ve been waiting for you… What took you so long…” The lights come up and…
While not a great follower of Dr. Falwell’s, I always applauded his moral compass - God
Only little men like you, Jerry…
I’m just hoping that the Right doesn’t go on one of their deify-ing campaigns like they did with Regan.
I meant “Reagan,” because today, I’m bad at spelling.
“Can you list some of the evil in the world caused by Imam Falwell and his hateful followers?”
How about we start with at least a half-million deaths of civilians in Iraq - Falwell didn’t pull the trigger, but “caused” it by a helping to create a culture of hate pointed at every non-American culture and most of America’s own culture.
And of course that’s far from all all.
Now, you’re asking yourself “Self, that doesn’t sound very bad to me. After all, he really didn’t kill anyone himself, and he didn’t go on TV and tell people to kill either.”
Well, if you think Charles Manson should be in prison for murders he didn’t “commit”, then Falwell and his fellow travelers are just as bad…
Paul, quit being dense.
Falwell insulted feminists. Falwell said that 9/11 was caused by liberal people. Falwell favored imprisoning gay people. Falwell favored restrictions on the First Amendment.
“Someone disagreeing with me” is a red herring. 99% of the people on the world I probably disagree with on something, but they don’t deserve death for it. I’m not that high and mighty.
Are the people who cheerlead an actual war that kill actual people in the hundreds of thousands, innocent people (unlike that rat bastard Falwell) still carrying on and pretending to be shocked that those of us who he tried so hard to oppress are glad the bastard’s dead? Enjoy your political posturing, you disingenous assholes.
Just remember you’re defending a fuckwit who would have turned us into a Christian version of Iran, if he had a chance.
Now I do not feel so bad about my lack of remorse when Susan Sontag and Betty Friedan bit it.
Again, with the equating of the deaths of decent human beings with fascist pricks who want to undermine everything good about this country. What’s with that?
Jesse Helms has dementia? How can anybody tell?
Fuck off, you silly ass. Marcotte got swiftboated for daring to offend the mighty Donohue with an off-color remark, whereas Coulter and about a few thousand other purveyors of filthy eliminationist rhetoric are financially set for life. Not only are people like Falwell and Robertson rewarded for their cruelty, but they’re set above criticism by buttcracks like you who think sauce for the goose should be composed of something different than source for the gander.
In closing, suck it, you hypocrite-enabler.
1. He called for the annhilation of all homosexuals in the US.
2. He said that we deserved for 9/11 to happen.
3. He was a thief who bilked millions of dollars out of a televangelism career.
4. Through his Moral Majority movement he attempted to impose censorship.
5. He attacked Jim Bakker’s fraudulent little kingdom of Heritage USA, took it over, and then declared bankruptcy to protect the 70+ million dollars in assets it had.
Sharon: No, maturity is not making an ass of yourself when a guy you disagree with dies.
And what do we call it when a classy conservative like yourself mocks a dying woman for being “snobbish” - shortly after posting a lying piece of hypocrisy claiming you felt sympathy for her and her family?
Marcotte got swiftboated for daring to offend the mighty Donohue with an off-color remark, whereas Coulter and about a few thousand other purveyors of filthy eliminationist rhetoric are financially set for life.
Not only are people like Falwell and Robertson rewarded for their cruelty, but they’re set above criticism by buttcracks like you who think sauce for the goose should be composed of something different than source for the gander.
In closing, suck it, you disingenuous hypocrite-enabler.
I doubt Satan had the opportunity to do more than smile at the news of Falwell’s death. One less disciple of his nemesis to arouse curious souls. Yet, slumber not ye Children o’ the Grave, for I’ve no doubt two, or more, shall rise to take Falwell’s place. The war continues on to the last battle at Meggido. Remain vigilant.
Now I do not feel so bad about my lack of remorse when Susan Sontag and Betty Friedan bit it.
Oh, enjoy this.
He’s a liar. He funneled church money to political committees. He tried to get gay staff members under Carter fired. He promoted the libels against Bill Clinton that helped build up to the impeachment. He told his followers that heaven would rejoice the destruction of gay people and gay-oriented churches. (Unlike me, he actually believed in his fairy tale nightmares he wished on others.) He’s spent his whole career drumming up hatred against decent people, hatred that feeds abortion clinic bombings, gay bashing and other real life crimes.
I imagined him suffering a fate that I actually don’t believe he’s suffering. But that’s worse…..because conservatives have pearls that need clutching.
Mike - I might have admired Dr. Falwell’s compass if the God he believed in had shown any signs of actually being loving, compassionate, or even just. Instead Falwell’s God was just a bigger, worse version of Falwell - visiting suffering and death on millions because they didn’t jump through all the appropriate Godly hoops. As opposed to Falwell, who merely wished such things upon them.
Or to spell it out more blantently: If Falwell was 100% completely right about who and what God is and what He wants for humankind, then I repudiate him and refuse to worship him, and will gladly spend eternity in Hell rather than spend so much as an iota of awe or regard for such a deeply evil being. Got it?
Fortunately, I don’t happen to believe Falwell was even on the right barn wall, let alone near the target with his theology.
On a sidenote, I wonder where the phrase about clutching pears comes from, or what it means. Pardon my ignorance.
Also my misspelling. Pearls, not pears
I think it refers to the way that someone’s hand flutters up to her neck when she’s shocked. But in this case, you’re actually grabbing your pearls, overdoing the gesture because it’s disingenous.
“I might have admired Dr. Falwell’s compass if the God he believed in had shown any signs of actually being loving, compassionate, or even just.”
I agree. There are a lot of people out there who I admire, but who don’t follow my personal belief system. That’s not a bad thing by itself.
It’s when they use their position to make other people’s lives worse - THAT’s when they are bad people themselves. And Falwell was merely one of many who made the world a worse place by his efforts…
He he, that sounds really funny once I think about it like that! And it so epitomizes what so many of these pro-Falwell bloggers are doing.
Can you list some of the evil in the world caused by Imam Falwell and his hateful followers?
I will add to the list all of the gays and lesbians who committed suicide because Falwell and people like him told them they were going to Hell anyway, so they may as well head there immediately.
With any luck, Falwell will be met in the afterlife by all of the souls he drove to their deaths. It’ll be a long line for him to greet.
Except as an example of a certain kind of bigotry which can be useful, I will not miss him My judgement now is that it will take a decade for the words decent and Christian to recover their former synonmyity with “goodness” if no other like Fallwell picks up his cross-shaped sword. It will be a decade in which moderate and progressive Christians speak more openly of the harm Fallwell did. And it may be that long before individual freedoms like being in control of your own reproductive fate regain the state GLF found them in.
Falwell said that America deserved 9/11. Can you imagine what would happen if any left-winger … oh wait, that was Ward Churchill. Never mind.
I wouldn’t say I’m glad he’s dead. But I sure as hell won’t pretend to be sorry. He was a truly vile, rotten human being, and his demise, though sad for his family, is a net gain for humanity.
He’s worm food. And, seconds later, worm vomit.
Oh no! McCain lost his buddy. Damn. I guess he’ll just have to start humping the legs of Pat Robertson, Dobson, Donohue, Fred Phelps, and The Army of God ™ bombers, in order to get the Republican nomination.
Also my misspelling. Pearls, not pears
Although the picture of wingnuts clutching their pears in shock and dismay is a good one.
Absolute. Word.
Well, all I can say is that Teletubbies across the world are breathing a little easier today.
St. Augustine clutched at pears, and look where it got him.
*oops* When the first post never showed up, I merely re-edited the thing and submitted it again. Bad, DA. Bad!
I’m with the critics. I think you’re all being far too crass too soon. Better we should commemorate his passing with an appropriate religious and patriotic figure.
Falwell said that America deserved 9/11. Can you imagine what would happen if any left-winger … oh wait, that was Ward Churchill. Never mind.
My favorite Republican non sequitur! “Well, sure, one of the biggest influences on the direction of the Republican Party said that 9/11 was America’s fault, but what about this completely obscure professor at the University of Colorado that no one’s ever heard of, hmmm?”
Which always makes me think of “But what about Cliff Richard? Hm? Hm?”
Mnemosyne, “Gator90″ seems to also forget that Falwell and Robertson ALSO said we deserved 9/11.
The difference was that in their minds our transgression against god was not rounding up all LGBT people and anyone who engages in sex in any other way than the missionary position.
In that respect, I guess the Ayatollah Khomeini, Osama bin Laden, Imam Falwell, and Imam Robertson have a lot in common…
Falwell is worm food. Your reputation lives on though.
His is the festering rotting mess of hate that is the religious reich.
I propose that Falwell be buried on public land, and that a suitable monument be erected above his grave.
This, for example:
Ah, Chris C., as ever wonderful timing. And now I feel better about my Contracts II exam tomorrow morning.
Now that’s one Madonna ear-worm that I don’t mind having.
Totally off-topic, Why is Lynchburg called Lynchburg? I’m too lazy to look it up. I hope it was someone’s name, and not because a lotta lynchin’s took place there.
I think Shark-Fu could tell you who’s been hurt by Falwell and his power and influence. Her 14-year-old friend was raped, and when she went to the ER, the doctors there, because of the work of Falwell and his pals, wouldn’t give her emergency contraception.
[…] Special Category: Winner of the Christopher Hitchens Award for this week’s least charitable obituary […]
This is an evil hateful man that preached hate, funded hate, and tried to get hate enshrined in law, all the while living off the fat of the insecurities and fears of others, and gloating while others died horribly. I am a lesbian and a feminist on top of being atheist. I am who this fuck targeted.
Thanks to being atheist I harbour no illusions of any mythical retribution waiting for him after death … so honestly, maybe this makes me a bad person, and if so, fuck it I don’t give a shit … but the world is now a better place without him it.
Good riddance.
I would not ever wish Falwell dead, but the fact that he IS dead, so don’t expect me to shed a tear over it, don’t expect me to be respectful, and don’t expect me not to be happy about it when the world is ultimately a better place without him in it.
To give him respect just because he died would merely end up denigrating all those that actually are worthy of respect.
Respect is earned, not given.
CJS asked:
Oh, none, of course; that would be fake on your part.
I didn’t really expect anyone here to mourn Dr Falwell’s passing; I really figured that most of the liberal blogs would let his death pass mostly unremarked. What surprised me was that there are so many people actively hoping that he’ll wind up in Hell.
If your complaint is that Dr Falwell said that a lot of people would wind up in Hell, and you wish Hell upon him, could you tell me how you are any better than him?
President Bush is 61 years old. He’s in pretty good health, so the normal assumption would be that he’ll be many years out of office before he goes to his reward.
When that finally happens, what will y’all say?
Dana - perhaps you missed it somewhere, but a large number, probably a majority of the posters here, don’t believe in hell. Their wishing him in hell, or envisioning him there has about as much meaning for them as wishing him eternally trapped in Teletubby Land. As opposed to Falwell wishing people in a hell he believed implicitly in.
Myself, my wish for him, should he have an afterlife, is to be visited with a true and full understanding of the kind of person he had become and the kind of suffering he helped to inflict on his fellow human beings. That would be plenty hell enough, I would think.
WRT Bush, my desire for his afterlife would be the same as for Falwell’s. Actually, it’s pretty much the same for everyone. One size fits all, yet the result is custom-fitted to the life you led.
When that finally happens, what will y’all say?
Same thing I said when St. Ronnie died:
I don’t know why conservatives aren’t praying that there isn’t an afterlife, for his black and rotten soul’s sake.
Dana: Actually, many of us have expressed no concern for whether he goes to hell or anywhere else. A lot of us are just happy he is no longer in the land of the living.
Why exactly would the “liberal blogs” leave his death unremarked? That is about the stupidest thing I’ve heard all day. Falwell was one of the most important political figures of the last three decades (hell, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t periodically hear about some batshit crazy thing he’d said)- whether one agreed or not, he had an enormous influence on a lot of lives. Of course the liberal blogosphere is going to have something to say about the way he lived his life.
Why is it conservatives always want to forget how people actually spent their lives and pretend that everyone deserves respect in death? I couldn’t figure it out when Nixon died, didn’t get it when Reagan died. Now Falwell is being mourned like he was just sincerely concerned about the greater good. Utter fucking bullshit.
Why is Lynchburg called Lynchburg?
It’s named after the guy who founded it, John Lynch, according to Wikipedia.
And when Shrub finally kicks over, I will remember that he placed his childish desire to play cowboy before the lives of real Iraqis and real Americans; that he basically pissed all over the Constitution and then used it to wipe his ass; that he continued to sell out the American public to corporations… the list goes on.
And I bet you’ll show up then to whinge that “liberals” are big ‘ol classless meanies for telling the truth. But then, currently the Right takes pride in denying reality.
Why is it conservatives always want to forget how people actually spent their lives and pretend that
everyoneonly Republicans deservesrespect in death?There. Fixed that for ya, history_mom.
“And when Shrub finally kicks over, I will remember that he placed his childish desire to play cowboy before the lives of real Iraqis and real Americans”
John Wayne Gacy: 33 murders
Ted Bundy: Over 30 murders
Charles Manson: ?
George Bush: Almost 3,400 American soldiers, and 500,000+ Iraqi citizens
Who is worse?…
I think Falwell’s politics were abhorrent and disgusting, and I think the hatred he preached has nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus. I was at a church service today where the preacher said a special prayer for Falwell - a prayer of thanksgiving for the gift of God’s love for each one of us that endures no matter what mistakes we may make in our lives. To me, that’s the true message of the Christian faith, and it’s a beautiful one. It’s too bad that Rev. Falwell didn’t preach it.
Today the world has lost a little slice of evil, and I join my American friends in doing the cha-cha over the bloated, grey corpse of this truly evil man. There was nothing of the teachings of Christ in the hatred spewed by this devil. I do hope that if there is a heaven, he is pleading with Jesus right now to not get kicked downstairs. And I hope Jesus laughs, turns his back on ol’ Jerry, farts in his face for good measure, and then pulls the lever that opens the hatch to dump Jerry’s bigoted, dimpled ass straight into a lake of fire.
Gosh, I hope he didn’t let the door smack his fat ass on the way out.
Guess god liked the ACLU better after all.
Yeah, you stay classy there, Amanda. /snark
Also, the irony of talking about the “gates of hell” and “Satan” from someone who, to put it mildly, doesn’t believe in all that bible-thumping nonsence is rich and creamy thick…like the Hot Sticky Spirit.
Oh Cheshirecat. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
No, McCain is till fellating Jerry’s penis:
Reason #212 why Amanda is an office temp (or barista or whatever) instead of a blogger for a presidential candidate.
I have to admit I laughed.
“Jerry Falwell spent a career demonizing others. Upon his death, what else could he expect in return?” by Alan Wolfe
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/05/15/jerryfalwell/?source=whitelist
No one’s surprised, BizzaroSuperman.
I cannot remember the last time there was news from the US on the morning radio over here in NZ that made me smile.
Chris Clarke to the rescue once again! Wherever there is a BizzaroSuperman posting there will apparently always be an immediate pithy reply by Chris Clarke and his brand of extremely low-grade super-heroism. (Think PlasticMan)
I laughed at a zinger in a thread mocking a dead guy. Oh noes! God I’m such a *meanie.*
Amanda wrote:
“Fascinating, all these huge hypocrites who actively tried to ruin my life…”
Well, Crimea River. Ruin your life? They were just trying to correct an astonishing blunder by the Edwards campaign. I couldn’t help but giggle at the barista comment.
Roxanne wrote:
“When did baptists become evangelicals?”
There are all kinds of Baptists - liberals, moderates, Evangelicals covering a rather large theoligical spectrum, and genuine Fundamentalists.
“They keep repeating that Falwell was the head of “the evangelical movementâ€? blah blah blah.”
I don’t know who’s saying that. I sure is a bunch of blah blah blah. There is no head of the evangelical movement. Falwell was, however, the architect of the Religious Right, which includes some, but not all, evangelicals.
“Also, the irony of talking about the “gates of hellâ€? and “Satanâ€? from someone who, to put it mildly, doesn’t believe in all that bible-thumping nonsence is rich and creamy thick…like the Hot Sticky Spirit.”
The post went right through the “bad faith” center of your brain to your fingers, didn’t it?
In case that’s not clear:
The original post was written by Amanda, who doesn’t believe Hell, Satan or God exist, altough I might be mistaken about that last one.
The original post is about Jerry Falwell, who seemed to be fond of declaring that other people’s death were related in some way to what God likes or dislikes. He also had something of an habit of characterizing people or things as being related to Satan.
Two of the original post’s three lines link Falwell’s death to God’s preferences and his relation to Satan.
The third line is nothing more than a statement of the topic. Jerry Falwell is dead.
It’s not a logical conclusion, to say the least, to think that the whole actual content of the post has no purpose besides providing something to call Amanda out on, something which is totally evident to Amanda and anyone who reads the post: Amanda refers to supernatural concepts she doesn’t believe in. From there, it’s two distinct feats to take these references as meant as being literal and to avoid the possibility that they might not be gratuitous but are linked to the topic of the original post: Falwell.
For someone to say something that implies those things, that person has to have expanded absolutely zero effort on trying to understand why the words of the original post were written and posted, or that some care was taken to conceal the results of such a reflection.
Hence, only bad faith, if anything, intervened between the commenter’s eyes and fingers.
Unless I’m myself misready Cheshirecat’s posts and that they didn’t meant to sound like they were pointing out ‘unintended irony’, in which case I’m very glad to hear that and to apologize. Still, I think this here post addresses the ‘classy’ comment which does seem to ignore what I feel is the whole point of the ACLU line.
And he couldn’t take it with him, eh? Not a single cent of it.
C’est la vie, I suppose. ;^)
I propose that Falwell be buried on public land, and that a suitable monument be erected above his grave. This, for example:
Yet another example of the radical feminazi agenda at this blog - images of urinals are deliberately blocked. I bet a bidet would have shown up…
Well, Paris has gone to jail, and Jerry has gone to meet his Maker (and, one hopes, will find out that Jesus is a flaming Nancy with no sense of humour). All we need for the trifecta is for Georgie to lose a fight with a rogue pretzel…
Oh, and Dana, I don’t really want Bush to die. I want him to win an all expenses paid trip to Geneva.
Gee…..my orginal post was deleted.
As I thought….my theory has been proven to correct once again.
Liberals are only tolerant if you agree with them.
Shame….shame….you don’t really support free speech do you.
[ilyka says: Newt Gingrich for the free speech lover in you! You’re welcome.]
Dana: What surprised me was that there are so many people actively hoping that he’ll wind up in Hell.
What surprises me is that after conservative regulars at your blog recently and vitrolically mocked the dead, the dying, and the recently bereaved, you have the face to argue that conservatives have more “class”.
Dana,
You disingenuous fuck.
Oh, and Dana, I don’t really want Bush to die. I want him to win an all expenses paid trip to Geneva.
Geneva? How about the Hague? One way, of course.
There may be conservatives who ’show class’ and don’t yuck it up at the death of an ideological foe. There are certainly liberals who are the same, as evidenced by some of the comments above, though I notice Dana isn’t generous enough to credit them for their ‘class’.
Wow,
who knew that the conservatives were so desperate to distract the world from the utter failures of their administration (the war, katrina, the rule of law, the death of the constitution, the rise of torture as the litmus test for the republican nominee etc…etc…etc…) that team players like Dana would be dispatched to troll other people’s comments to create a false controversy about a dead theocrat. Y’all may not realize it but Dana is literally the definition of a troll since she/he comes over here to provoke a response, copy the response to his/her own site, and then get drive by traffic from her own commenters commenting on comments here. Its really too bad Dana doesn’t have time in his/her own life to either 1) pray for Reverend Falwell who believed, if I recall correctly, in salvation by faith and not works and whose “works” will, therefore, not necessarily prevent him from spending time in his particular hell or 2) doing some of those good conservative works that she thinks merit doing–blocking abortion clinics, throwing gay teens out of their homes, killing Iraqi civilians, etc…etc..etc…
In this world there are only two sides: you are either with the falwells, or you oppose them. If Dana is with falwell, she has plenty of work to be doing. If she opposes him–well, today’s as good a day to celebrate as any. And as for bizarroman and those who have taken time out to post that amanda’s take on falwell explains why she “couldn’t work for a major political candidate” since Amanda’s take on religion isn’t any different from Falwell’s take on *everyone else’s religion* and yet he was actually a very prominent political figure. In fact if you carefully studied Falwell’s ouevre you’d find he had said things more offensive to catholics and of catholics than anything amanda ever said. Why do you think falwell was entitled to remain a political player and amanda not? could it be IOKIYAR?
aimai
Dana says,
I don’t believe in any sort of afterlife much less one filled with fire and brimstone. So I can’t honestly wish something on him that can’t happen. I might as well wish a dragon would eat someone for all the good it would do me.
Whoa there skippy, that’s not the complaint at all. See I can accept the fact that people think when I die my soul will go to some sort of otherdimensional fiery prison. I happen to think that when they, or myself, die nothing happens. The complaint is that Falwell was a thief, a liar, a scam artist, a man who hated everything I believe in, and a bigot who called for the destruction of all homosexuals. He was the father of the religious right in America and did a lot to bolster their power… which directly caused the mess of a government we currently have.
Some here, I’m sure, believe in hell. They can probably quote you chapter and verse to support their belief that Falwell’s many failings will wind him up in the Bad Place. Matthew 6:5 comes to mind.
Many of us don’t believe in heaven or hell, which makes all the hellfire and brimstone stuff essentially meaningless. It’s all one big ironic joke to us. Surely I don’t need to explain irony to you. It’s like goldy and silvery but not as shiny.
I don’t think that’s the complaint. It’s the other stuff that Falwell got up to: how he stirred up hate. The overt and covert bigotry. How he built a powerful coalition to wield political clout against liberals, gays, minorites. Those add up to some pretty substantive complaints. Damning progressives to Hell is the least of it.
We have led lives considerably less evil than him. That much we can say with certainty.
Probably no one is reading this thread anymore, but for the record, my comment from 7:29 last night was misunderstood by a couple folks. My fault, no doubt. I was trying, in my clumsy way, to mock the rightwingers’ demonization of the obscure Churchill and tolerance of the powerful Falwell when both said America had it coming.
I need to stop commenting. If I’m so inarticulate that people think I’m a Republican, I’m clearly not cut out for this.
Yeah, you stay classy there, Amanda. /snark
Please don’t try to snark. You need a sense of humor in order to do it properly, and yours was surgically removed by Rush Limbaugh
You do realize I was referencing Falwell’s gloating over the 3,000 who died on 9/11, right? Innocent people, mostly, not asswipes like him. Or do we only defend the wicked in death?
Wingnut neocons have even lower class than their mirror, the Taliban. I was banned from the Weather Channel Messageboards on the first day of summer in 2006 for the same reason that Amanda (and Melissa) was terminated from the Edwards campaign — telling the truth about the wingnuts. Wish that Amanda and Melissa would run as president and vice president of this nation — we would be so much better off. The wingnuts are directly responsible for the slaughter of 2,000,000 American women because of anti-choice laws and misogynist men in black robes.
And that number — 2 million — is how many women die annually from anti-choice laws, decisions and judges, BTW.
Judging by Dana and Sharon, our resident dispensers of “common sense”, the only people worth defending are the truly wicked, because to do otherwise is to be immature.
And to judge Falwell by their own “standards of civility” is to be spreading true hate, because that makes the most sense if you’re completely blinded by your own ingrained bigotry.
Lee Brimmicombe-Wood: There may be conservatives who ’show class’ and don’t yuck it up at the death of an ideological foe.
There may be, but on Dana’s blog, there are regular posters who, by the standards Dana claims, have “no class”. Has Dana ever criticised them? Of course not: they’re conservatives, and the dying, dead, and recently-bereaved whom they attack are people who (unlike Jerry Falwell) Dana evidently feels it appropriate and classy to mock.
Probably no one is reading this thread anymore, but for the record, my comment from 7:29 last night was misunderstood by a couple folks. My fault, no doubt. I was trying, in my clumsy way, to mock the rightwingers’ demonization of the obscure Churchill and tolerance of the powerful Falwell when both said America had it coming.
I knew you were snarking, Gator — I just used your comment as a jumping-off point to take it a couple of steps further. No harm, no foul.
What the man said makes sense, in a warped way…
“I had a student ask me, “Could the savior you believe in save Osama bin Laden?” Of course, we know the blood of Jesus Christ can save him, and then he must be executedâ€?
“Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions�
“AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexualsâ€?
“Billy Graham is the chief servant of Satan in America� (Ok, I believe that)
“The idea that religion and politics don’t mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own countryâ€?
“If you’re not a born-again Christian, you’re a failure as a human beingâ€?
“Textbooks are Soviet propaganda�
“The ACLU is to Christians what the American Nazi party is to Jews�
“It appears that America’s anti-Biblical feminist movement is at last dying, thank God, and is possibly being replaced by a Christ-centered men’s movement which may become the foundation for a desperately needed national spiritual awakeningâ€?
“The whole (global warming) thing is created to destroy America’s free enterprise system and our economic stabilityâ€?
“We visit prisoners on death row, and some of them are saved, but we believe their sentences should be carried out because they have a debt to society�
“Homosexuality is Satan’s diabolical attack upon the family that will not only have a corrupting influence upon our next generation, but it will also bring down the wrath of God upon America.â€?
“God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve�
“I sincerely believe that the collective efforts of many secularists during the past generation, resulting in the expulsion from our schools and from the public square, has left us vulnerable�
“[homosexuals are] brute beasts…part of a vile and satanic system [that] will be utterly annihilated, and there will be a celebration in heaven.â€?
“There’s been a concerted effort to steal Christmas.â€?
“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.’â€?
“Can you imagine the insolence of these protesters? … They have the audacity to disparage and demean these courageous soldiers who are enduring great physical and emotional trauma because they believed in the effort to bring freedom to Iraq.â€?
“The media have a widely-held agenda (that doesn’t include support of President Bush) and they are not about to tarnish the image of anti-war protesters by showing them for what they actually are, … With this tyrannical approach to the news, it’s really no wonder so many Americans don’t take the networks seriously anymore. And it’s no wonder that conservative Internet news sites have grown by leaps and bounds.â€?
“Pat ran for president once and he’s a very political person, and that is the way politicians talk. They all use intimidation and political strong-arming to hopefully pick up a vote or two.â€?
“Joseph Farah raises a clarion call to action in his new book, ‘Taking America Back.’ He hits the nail on the head on every issue. What’s more, he lays the blame for America’s problems right where it belongs ? in the lap of liberalism. His insightful analysis of what he calls ‘this evil ideology’ is worth the price of the book. Don’t miss it!â€?
“It just came down to pure old politics in South Carolina and other states.�
Falwell, et all, are the result of scared and ignorant men that have risen to powerful positions by encouraging others to be scared and ignorant.
I once had a conversation with someone who said that I was crazy for going to the gym and working out for over an hour everyday. I said that life requires you to actually work on some things so that you can be the person that you want to be. If I sat around and didn’t work out and force myself some days to do that I’d probably be fat and gross and unhealthy. Taking the easy road isn’t always the best road…
That lit a light on in my head… It’s easy to be fearful and stupid. It takes courage to confront your fears and to learn about the world outside your Fox News influenced life… It’s always easier to let someone else tell you what to think or when and how to react… THAK is what’s wrong.
Falwell is one of the poster boys for scared and stupid rulers of the scared and stupid inhabitants of America… Land of the enchained and home of the cowards… Free yourself from the bonds of ignorance… One of your leaders is dead…
Gator90, I didn’t have a clue you were snarking and walked right into the trap…
Because I frequently snark but get misconstrued, I often pay mds (who has cornered the market on certain HTML tags) the money to add snark tags to make it clearer. Sometimes even the snark tags don’t prevent misunderstanding…
:)
Oooops, let me fix that…
What the man said makes sense, in a warped way…
Falwell, et all, are the result of scared and ignorant men that have risen to powerful positions by encouraging others to be scared and ignorant.
I once had a conversation with someone who said that I was crazy for going to the gym and working out for over an hour everyday. I said that life requires you to actually work on some things so that you can be the person that you want to be. If I sat around and didn’t work out and force myself some days to do that I’d probably be fat and gross and unhealthy. Taking the easy road isn’t always the best road…
That lit a light on in my head… It’s easy to be fearful and stupid. It takes courage to confront your fears and to learn about the world outside your Fox News influenced life… It’s always easier to let someone else tell you what to think or when and how to react… THAK is what’s wrong.
Falwell is one of the poster boys for scared and stupid rulers of the scared and stupid inhabitants of America… Land of the enchained and home of the cowards… Free yourself from the bonds of ignorance… One of your leaders is dead…
No one ever accused Dana of consistency. But you’re right, her lack of criticism of ‘unclassy’ conservatives is of a piece with her failure to praise ‘classy’ liberals. She is highly selective in her choices.
“Dana” is male, IIRC.
This is how it works:
1) commenter: “You people are the lowest of the low! you should all rot in hell! This country should be rid of you! You’re despicable, disgusting, inhuman, vermin-like, pathetic, invertebrate, vegetarian, festering, different-from-me-sexual, loathesome, vile, lazy, putrescent, treasonous, stupid, worthless, and worst of all you’re so full of hate!”
2) pandagon moderator: “*delete*
3) commenter: “Oh, so you’re afraid of a little discussion, huh?”
So many idiots, and so few bunny videos to split among them.
Someone is angling for another bunny video!
No bunnies at hand. Sorry. Next time.
Or possibly The Beatles.
Hmm, doesn’t appear to be working. Roy Zimmerman’s “Jerry Falwell’s God.” Good times.
http://www.youtube.com/v/MyE5wjc4XOw
As I was reading various posts on this on various blogs and new sites, I thought… ‘and there was much rejoicing’
You know, a lot of people seem to believe it’s wrong to speak ill of the dead.
Verily, unto ye I say, fuck a bunch of that noise.
I say, it’s wrong to speak falsely of the dead. We owe the truth to the dead and the living alike.
And the truth is, to say anything good about Falwell would be to speak falsely.
An alternative reading might be:
and it was good
The death of Falwell will cause what he spewed to rebroadcast and be more covered than ever. His followers will become more resolved. His congregation will grow and his sons will carry on his message. As history has taught us, humans become more revered or dispised once they are dust. The United States is changing and Falwells death will speed up that change. Abortion is becoming less and less available and more restrictive. Half the nation and counting has enacted anti-gay legislation. Falwell’s influence sadly, will go on and on and on. He won.
I understand if you didn’t agree with the man. But did all this hate have to come out on the day of his death? I absolutely disagree with the majority of the stuff that is written here. And many a time I get extrememly angry. But I will not celebrate your death on the blogosphere. This whole exchange and celebration gives a bad name to you, your cause, and your followers. So sad.
“AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals�
Most African societies don’t tolerate homosexuality and yet they’ve been the hardest hit by the virus. So what did they do wrong?
(Oh, wait, I know — they’re black, so therefore they deserve it. Silly me.)
yepiz,
This is a many who did more than “say things.” He actively organized, and one of the things he actively organized for was the elimination of queers from society. That means me. He revelled in the death of people like me.
But it went beyond that. It went toward supporting apartheid, in America and South Africa. The man was evil. Your blinders don’t allow you to see that.
fuck off.
Speaking of which, your last check bounced. No more snark for you!
Nah, I wouldn’t go that far. I take heart from how hard to replace he is. James Kennedy is in poor health. Pat Robertson still gets the word out, but his crazy statements have gotten a little too much general exposure of late. James Dobson is no spring chicken himself. Unlike his father, Franklin Graham is a total political tool in the Falwell mold, but also has nowhere near his father’s authority, moral or otherwise. Who are the up-and-coming young blasphemers of the Word of God in the name of temporal power for themselves? Ralph Reed has pretty much crashed and burned. Ted Haggard was a big evangelical force, but he’s had a setback or two. Rick Warren is just not batshit insane enough. When I’ve reached precisely the correct bloodstream concentration of caffeine, I have hope that we’re outgrowing some of this nonsense. But since those empowered by these vicious, Enlightenment-hating thugs remain in charge in the short term, it’ll still be a grueling slog. But at most, Falwell won this round.
Yepiz, so just exactly when would it be appropriate to point out (as a warning to others) just what a moral midget, bigot, misogynist, and narrow-minded man of evil Falwell really was?…
If you can’t criticize him while he’s alive, and you can’t criticize him when he’s dead, that really eliminates all criticism, doesn’t it?…
“Speaking of which, your last check bounced. No more snark for you!”
I SWEAR I had sufficient funds. Honest!
Would you accept a trade of goods or services in payment for tags?…
:)
I just wished he’d been found with life-sized antomically-correct Tinky Winky doll.
Perhaps even Falwell might see the irony in the hate spewed forth in many of the posts below. Several posters, as clueless as they are hypocritical, betray their own narrowmindedness and bigotry ( “after watching Falwell I know know why the Romans threw the Christians to the lions”) as they purport to condemn Falwell’s. Another instance of the difficult choice as to whether such rampant stupidity is tragically funny or just pathetic.
“Reason #212 why Amanda is an office temp (or barista or whatever) instead of a blogger for a presidential candidate.
I have to admit I laughed.”
Me too. Nobody ever accused Amanda of having class. But then if she had some, there wouldn’t be as many readers or posters. Nevertheless I will award one humor point for an atheist saying Satan takes him in. When Vonnegut died somebody said he joked at another humanist’ funeral, “We rejoice in knowing _______ is in heaven.”
Falwell was a dangerous, raisin-hearted bigot, but gloating in his sudden death is classless. Sort of puts you in the same class of class as he was and Robertson is (wishing for deaths of S. Ct. justices).
“Falwell was a dangerous, raisin-hearted bigot.
but gloating in his sudden death is classless.”There, I fixed that for you…
Sorry, but there’s nothing classless about rejoicing in the death of an evil bigot.
May he be reincarnated as a tapeworm. There.
For a former boil on the ass of humanity, a tapeworm would be a promotion…
Jerry Falwell’s god
Weird, but kinda funny…
I remember when a very evil person that I worked with many years ago died… At the funeral and at the orifice, some people felt vindicated that they died… It upset some people who thought it crass that people actually liked the fact that the person had died… They took to snitting about the reaction to which one of the people said that they were sad that a part of their life had died but were glad that they wouldn’t have to put up with their shit any more. Most people agreed at that and the issue died there…
I greave when children die because there is a potential there for that entity to do good things. I sometimes am very happy when older people die because their personal brand of hell that they submit everyone to on a daily basis is gone with them… Yes, sometimes I am very conflicted but I guess that’s what it’s like when you can see more than 2 sides of an issue.
Did he do good in the world? I’m sure that if you looked hard enough, he probably did. What I see is the wreckage of others lives and the heinous way he attacked and judged whole entire classes of people in such a cold and casual way… That is cruel… That is heartless… That is not the mark of a religious person, it’s the mark of a self important bigot. People that go out of their way to harm other people either physically or mentally are garbage…
I love Living Colour’s song Cult Of Personality…
“You gave me power in your god’s name”… I chose not to… I feel sorry for those that did…
farewell Falwell no more of your brainwashing ideology trying to tell people the world is only 10,000 years old. He is gone now and he will now know there is no heaven or hell but there is only dirt, worms, and ants. We will rejoice his death by dining on his favorite meal: pig, lives, and teletubbies
Oh, I’m not gloating. I simply believe that if there is justice in the universe, Falwell will receive exactly the amount of compassion and forgiveness in death that he offered to others in life.
I am amused by this bit of irony.
Falwell recently said he was looking forward to another twenty years or so to continue his Crusade, because he’d been praying to God for more time.
They say God listen to all prayers, so the answer to that one was interesting.
What is wrong with all of you? I don’t believe in God but I am a libertarian so I suspect you all probably hate me as much as JF.
Where is your claimed liberalism and tolerance for others’ views? Where is your self proclaimed compassion? He has a family. Let it go.
You would be taken seriously if you practiced what you preach.
[…] I’m having one of those weeks, ok?  I’m not giving up on writing, just trying to distract myself from the insufferable grief of Jerry Falwell’s passing. ROFL. But seriously. I’m going to indulge. Just this once.  It’s not even that clever. […]
It is perfectly appropriate to celebrate the death of a bad man.
Please, everyone reading these comments, reread them and ask yourself the question, “why don’t liberal democrats and conservative republicans play well together”? I’m not superficial enough to believe that if John F. Kerry were hit by a bus tomorrow there wouldn’t be dancing in the streets by the right. But that’s the sad state of things. Everyone and everything is becoming polarized and vilified by those on the opposition. It’s the very thing that prevents unity in the country. While you’re fighting your brothers and sisters with different views remember that you’re also stifling growth.
Personally I wasn’t fond of Fallwell but he at least tried to do well. He’s given much more to the empoverished than you and I will ever do. You may not have liked him or his views but he did accomplish things for the poor and empoverished.
[We now return you to your regularly scheduled self-serving, ineffectual partisanship.]
“You would be taken seriously if you practiced what you preach.”
I’m fairly certain that nobody here preaches taking any amount of bullshit and hatred with a smile.
Go drag your dishonest concern elsewhere.
Yes, we shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.
‘Cause Falwell never did that…except for, oh, when he said that AIDS was a punishment from God. I wonder how many families that was an insult to?
[…] Amidst all the hysteria and shrieking (not to mention the juvenile behavior on display) among the left about Jerry Falwell’s death, there has been little discussion of Falwell’s actual legacy. […]
“Yes, we shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.
‘Cause Falwell never did that…except for, oh, when he said that AIDS was a punishment from God. I wonder how many families that was an insult to?”
That was a mere disagreement!
…or perfectly equal to this thread, regardless of the wildly different context. It depends on what particular troll you ask.
All of you are really sad! and the left wing liberals wonder why no one in America takes them serious…..Jerry Falwell was an amazing man that loved everyone he had contact with. I challenge any of you to find one quote where he says he hates anyone, he always said he hated the sin, not the person. I am a PROUD graduate of LIBERTY U and resident of Lynchburg, VA, Jerry will be missed.
Rooster: You confuse tolerance (a willingness to live and let live) with sanction.
Did I disagree with him? Yep.
Did I think him Evil? Yep.
Did I say he needed to be silenced, imprisoned, or killed for his beliefs? Nope.
I was tolerant.
But that doesn’t mean I have to shed false tears for his passing.
It also doesn’t preclude me from noting the evil he did, and thinking the world is probably better for his passing.
It’s not intolerance, it’s honesty, and intellectual integrity.
Honestly, if we’d said we were sorry he was dead, people would come in and say we were nothing but false-faced liars.
So if I’m going to be abused, I’d rather someone come in and scold me for things I don’t deserve.
This quote was referenced and linked to in this very thread:
“‘[homosexuals are] brute beasts…part of a vile and satanic system [that] will be utterly annihilated, and there will be a celebration in heaven.’”
I suppose that he doesn’t outright say that he hates brute, satanic beasts (that will be righteously annihilated), though.
What a saint!
Jeremy H. Bol: By whose lights did he try to do well? Not by mine. By my lights he was a force for intolerance, bigotry, violence and distruptive of the social fabric.
So why should I, when others will praise him; for “trying to do good” allow them the vicotry my silence grants?
I protested him in life, why in the world should I allow his death to muzzle me? Shall I grant the enemies of justice, freedom and liberty to win, just because they are now dead, and some people think them saintly?
Lots of terrible people thought they were trying to do good.
Those terrible people were wrong.
To refuse to recall that they were wrong is to convert them to “people who did well/good.”
I’m not gonna do it.
Cookie’s brainwashing is complete. Congrats, cookie. Have a cookie. And a gold star. And some Kool-aid.
To Hell with Him…
Bill O’Reilly and Dennis Miller pile on atheist blogger Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon for her post disrespecting the late Rev. Falwell. Oddly, for most of the segment O’Reilly was focused on side issues such as timing of her attack and her failure to c…
If cookie thinks that the above quotes meant Jerry “loved” liberals, homosexuals, feminists, Tinky Winky, etc., I shudder to think what Jerry’s hate looked like.
Another example of Jerry Falwell’s attempts to “do good”:
http://brucegarrett.com/brucelog/753
I am a PROUD graduate of LIBERTY U and resident of Lynchburg, VA, Jerry will be missed.
The saddest comment this thread.
Thank BIOLOGY!!!
Falwell has caused lasting damage by teaching fairy-tale science at his ‘University’, poisoning young, eager minds with ‘new earth creationism’ nonsense. His Hate speach about gay people shows what a vile man he really was. And for what? To make money by claiming that gay people were an imminent “threat�. He had the chance to use the bible for peace and instead used it as a weapon against sections of the community. What an utterly repugnant and shameful thing to do! America has become demented by christianity which is used to preaching the preposterous at the expense of science. He had done more for society by dying than he ever did in life! As a European I am mystified at the level of religeous hogwash preached in America - I even hear that they (the christians) don’t believe in evolution in the US. Perhaps these creepy christian nutters in the US should read Sam Harris’s book ‘The End of Faith� and Richard Dawkins’s book “The God Delusion�. Then, perhaps, they just might grow up!
Kind regards,
Richard
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