Jerry Falwell dies at age 73
One of the nation’s most notorious TV preachers, Jerry Falwell, died today in Lynchburg, Va.
The Rev. Jerry Falwell — founder of the Moral Majority and the face of the religious right in the 1980s — died Tuesday after being found unconscious in his office, a Liberty University executive said.
Ron Godwin, Liberty’s executive vice president, said Falwell, 73, had been found unresponsive around 10:45 a.m. and was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital.
Godwin said he was not sure what caused the collapse, but noted that Falwell had “a history of heart challenges.”
More soon.
Update: I have to admit, writing about Falwell’s death poses an awkward challenge for me. When I worked at Americans United for Separation of Church and State for several years, I read Falwell’s materials, I listened to his speeches, I watched his interviews, and got a real sense for who this man was and what he devoted his life to.
In literally every instance, I was repelled and appalled. But is it not callous to bash a man just hours after his death?
I have another idea — I’ll document Jerry Falwell’s professional life and let his record speak for itself. (Much of this came from a document I put together several years ago while working for Americans United for Separation of Church and State.)
March 1980: Falwell tells an Anchorage rally about a conversation with President Carter at the White House. Commenting on a January breakfast meeting, Falwell claimed to have asked Carter why he had “practicing homosexuals” on the senior staff at the White House. According to Falwell, Carter replied, “Well, I am president of all the American people, and I believe I should represent everyone.” When others who attended the White House event insisted that the exchange never happened, Falwell responded that his account “was not intended to be a verbatim report,” but rather an “honest portrayal” of Carter’s position.
August 1980: After Southern Baptist Convention President Bailey Smith tells a Dallas Religious Right gathering that “God Almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew,” Falwell gives a similar view. “I do not believe,” he told reporters, “that God answers the prayer of any unredeemed Gentile or Jew.” After a meeting with an American Jewish Committee rabbi, he changed course, telling an interviewer on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “God hears the prayers of all persons…. God hears everything.”
July 1984: Falwell is forced to pay gay activist Jerry Sloan $5,000 after losing a court battle. During a TV debate in Sacramento, Falwell denied calling the gay-oriented Metropolitan Community Churches “brute beasts” and “a vile and Satanic system” that will “one day be utterly annihilated and there will be a celebration in heaven.” When Sloan insisted he had a tape, Falwell promised $5,000 if he could produce it. Sloan did so, Falwell refused to pay and Sloan successfully sued. Falwell appealed, with his attorney charging that the Jewish judge in the case was prejudiced. He lost again and was forced to pay an additional $2,875 in sanctions and court fees.
October 1987: The Federal Election Commission fines Falwell for transferring $6.7 million in funds intended for his ministry to political committees.
February 1988: The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down a $200,000 jury award to Falwell for “emotional distress” he suffered because of a Hustler magazine parody. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, usually a Falwell favorite, wrote the unanimous opinion in Hustler v. Falwell, ruling that the First Amendment protects free speech.
February 1993: The Internal Revenue Service determines that funds from Falwell’s Old Time Gospel Hour program were illegally funneled to a political action committee. The IRS forced Falwell to pay $50,000 and retroactively revoked the Old Time Gospel Hour’s tax-exempt status for 1986-87.
March 1993: Despite his promise to Jewish groups to stop referring to America as a “Christian nation,” Falwell gives a sermon saying, “We must never allow our children to forget that this is a Christian nation. We must take back what is rightfully ours.”
1994-1995: Falwell is criticized for using his “Old Time Gospel Hour” to hawk a scurrilous video called “The Clinton Chronicles” that makes a number of unsubstantiated charges against President Bill Clinton — among them that he is a drug addict and that he arranged the murders of political enemies in Arkansas. Despite claims he had no ties to the project, evidence surfaced that Falwell helped bankroll the venture with $200,000 paid to a group called Citizens for Honest Government (CHG). CHG’s Pat Matrisciana later admitted that Falwell and he staged an infomercial interview promoting the video in which a silhouetted reporter said his life was in danger for investigating Clinton. (Matrisciana himself posed as the reporter.) “That was Jerry’s idea to do that,” Matrisciana recalled. “He thought that would be dramatic.”
November 1997: Falwell accepts $3.5 million from a front group representing controversial Korean evangelist Sun Myung Moon to ease Liberty University’s financial woes.
April 1998: Confronted on national television with a controversial quote from America Can Be Saved!, a published collection of his sermons, Falwell denies having written the book or had anything to do with it. In the 1979 work, Falwell wrote, “I hope to live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won’t have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be!” Despite Falwell’s denial, Sword of the Lord Publishing, which produced the book, confirms that Falwell wrote it.
January 1999: Falwell tells a pastors’ conference in Kingsport, Tenn., that the Antichrist prophesied in the Bible is alive today and “of course he’ll be Jewish.”
February 1999: Falwell becomes the object of nationwide ridicule after his National Liberty Journal newspaper issues a “parents alert” warning that Tinky Winky, a character on the popular PBS children’s show “Teletubbies,” might be gay.
September 2001: Falwell blames Americans for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. 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.’”
November 2005: Falwell spearheads campaign to resist “war on Christmas.”
February 2007: Falwell describes global warming as a conspiracy orchestrated by Satan, liberals, and The Weather Channel.
Say what you will about the man and his life, but he leaves behind a colorful background.
Happy days
Are here again!
The skies above
Are blue again!
Let’s sing a song
Of cheer again!
HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN!!
I personally hope whatever it was that got him was so excruciatingly painful that he went screaming in pain and terror. And now that he’s roasting on the Ninth Level of Hell where he belongs…
Today is a good die for an asshole to die!!
I wonder whether the Prez will attend the funeral and what are the political ramifications if attends.
This is only indirectly on-topic, but I’m amazed/amused at how quickly this stuff develops. I had just heard the guy at the next desk talk about this, so I went and searched his name on Google News. The first item’s link said “BREAKING NEWS” Falwell hospitalized, unresponsive.” Its timestamp was 53 minutes ago. Six or seven hits, down, the headline said that Falwell was dead. Its timestamp was nine minutes ago. There’s no point in including links, of course, because by now I’m sure that’s all changed. News travels fast, but who knew it traveled that fast? Kewl.
Now let’s hope that Robertson blows his guts out his ass like that guy on Rotten.com did!
One false prophet down, how many more to go?
… That is while doing one of his 21 million pound leg presses!
Jerry Falwell is STILL DEAD
This was the headline on Pandagon:
“The gates of hell swing open and Satan welcomes his beloved son.
Jerry Falwell’s dead.”
Just sayin….
Tornados in Kansas, Falwell dead . . .
I wonder how Robertson will be interpreting God’s Will this week?
Tom that is in incredibly poor taste. The man is dead.
Come on Tom. Celebrating another human being’s death is so….
…so Jerry Falwell….
Instead let us progressives channel King Jr.:
“It’s not only necessary to know how to go about loving your enemies, but also to go down into the question of why we should love our enemies. I think the first reason that we should love our enemies, and I think this was at the very center of Jesus’ thinking, is this: that hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. If I hit you and you hit me and I hit you back and you hit me back and go on, you see, that goes on ad infinitum. It just never ends. Somewhere somebody must have a little sense, and that’s the strong person. The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil. “
Don’t be mean.
A man has died.
For sure he is in heaven.
Seated right between Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny…
[Falwell] dreamed that Liberty would grow to 50,000 students and be to fundamentalist Christians what Notre Dame is to Roman Catholics and Brigham Young University is to Mormons. -from the AP
Hmm, all this time I was operating under the assumption that Catholics and Mormons were Christians and that any nutjob could be a fundamentalist.
“I wonder whether the Prez will attend the funeral and what are the political ramifications if attends.”
I suspect he will attend. It certainly wouldn’t hurt Bush’s standing, what’s left of it.
“Tom that is in incredibly poor taste. The man is dead.”
The man is a worthless piece of shit and one of the greatest Southern traitors of the 20th Century and I would like to piss on his grave if I could.
How nice to get a little good news now and then! Tammy Faye’s next!
Condolences to Jerry Falwell’s family and friends.
Also, tonight is the GOP debate on Fox News. Do not play the Fallwell mention drinking game. You would be joining him soon if you do.
Hey, don’t knock Tammy Faye. She’s a clown, but a sad clown.
I won’t celebrate Falwell’s death, but I will say that the political scene is better for his leaving it.
Calm down everyone!!!!
Comments like many of the ones posted above will just be used as fodder for the rightwing to show why the left is a bunch of hateful crazy idiots.
The point isn’t to gloat over a dead man.
The point is to defeat the dead man’s policies.
Gloating won’t help and will actually push some fence sitters to defend people file Falwell.
I want to win, I don’t want to gloat.
Don’t waste any sympathy on Tammy Faye. She got off easy–her ass should have gone to jail right along with Jim’s.
Falwell had “a history of heart challenges.”
Indeed. His heart was challenged to open for anyone not rich, white, Republican, evangelical Christian, and straight.
It was a challenge for his heart to feel empathy for those less fortunate whose life circumstances led them to choose abortion, or to take drugs, or to immigrate, or - horrors! - vote Democrat.
His heart was challenged to welcome others to engage in free speech. Challenged to remain non-judgemental and un-blaming (despite his Bible’s admonition that God alone will judge).
Surprising a heart so hardened lasted 73 years.
May you be judged as you have judged others. And may this bring the sad, sordid chapter of the Moral Majority’s role in American life to a close.
What pleases me is I won’t have to see his (live) talking head on TV spouting some poppycock and telling me in no uncertain terms exactly what America thinks, wants and needs.
To paraphrase the old bumper sticker, ‘the moral majority was neither.’
I can’t say that I agreed with Jerry Falwell on anything that he stood for, but I can say that his passing is a sad event. Whether you agreed with him or not, you can’t deny the fact that he has been a central figure in our political discourse for the past several decades. The passing of anyone who has been with us for so long in such a prominent way is always a time of sadness because, at the end of the day, Jerry Falwell was a human being and one who worked tirelessly for the things that he believe in. Although I disagreed with almost every one of things, I can’t help but respect his endeavor.
“Comments like many of the ones posted above will just be used as fodder for the rightwing to show why the left is a bunch of hateful crazy idiots.”
I’m sorry, I was already under the impression that Tommy Cleaver was a hateful, crazy idiot!
As for Jerry’s death, all I have to say is AMEN!
… bet you that no one can count as high as the number of other religious assholes already ‘applying’ for his job … there is no limit in filth, religious filth that is boy, -that is also when we talk biologically of course, existentially there is no such thing as filth
Fitting that the founder of the so-called Moral Majority dies at the same time that far-right theocratic authoritarianism is being thoroughly discredited.
Given the amount of ignorance and hatred this man spewed during his life, I won’t begrudge those dancing metaphorically on his grave.
In her documentary “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” Tammy Faye Bakker Messner commented on how when James Bakker “fell” it was Falwell and Robertson who moved quickly to take over Bakker’s television empire. They didn’t care about his spiritual well being, they simply wanted his assets. Tammy Faye also later hosted a television program with an openly gay man, and when asked about it said that she loved him that that besides “God doesn’t make any junk.”
Jerry Falwell deserves the negative comments coming his way, but Tammy Faye — in my opinion — doesn’t.
BAC
I always feel sad for the families that are left behind when a loved one dies - not matter how disliked that person was.
That being said, I hope that now that he has passed on he is enlightened to the shortcomings of his beliefs while here on Earth. I’m sure it was an eye-opening experience for him.
“How nice to get a little good news now and then! Tammy Faye’s next!”
She has disowned that type of Christianity. Her son seems to be doing some good work. Good enough that the right hates him.
As for Falwell, since we should not speak ill of the dead:
……………………………………………………………….
so many right-wing christians.
not nearly enough lions to go around.
Any Inferno scholars out there?
Question:
Exactly what circle of Hell would Dante put a Television Evangelists?
I’m thinking that prey on the old and the infirm… so Circle 4.
But they also guilty of fraudulent rhetoric and divisiveness… so maybe Circle 8?
But what about Circle 5 for wrath and sulleness?
Golly…
So many choices.
Let us dedicate a hymn to the late brother Jerry.
I’d recommend “Moral Majority” by the Dead Kennedys. He gets a shout out!
BIGOT
Etymology: French, hypocrite, bigot
: a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance.
At a time when Jerry has “gone to meet his maker,” I’m betting that the Maker will not be telling him what he wants to hear.
Mr. Falwell opened the door for the overt politicization of religion that got us so deeply into our current mess as a nation. I won’t mourn for Jerry since he created he world he wanted to live in. I mourn for the rest of us who will have to live on with his morally twisted legacy.
“But is it not callous to bash a man just hours after his death?”
Something tells me that this scary man would not hesitate to bash a man just hours after his death.
That said, I wonder if the Freedom Loving Blood Clot has had any success in its effort to free itself and the American People?
When asked for a comment on Falwell’s passing, Tinky Winky said the following:
*giggling* “Again, again, again!” *still giggling*
“Comments like many of the ones posted above will just be used as fodder for the rightwing to show why the left is a bunch of hateful crazy idiots.” - neil wilson
Fodder for the right wing is not why I post here, it’s just a bonus. I would seriously sleep better knowing some Bushie has read a quote from me and it has fucked up their mojo, even for a minute.
I do not believe it is out of line to celebrate a man’s death that has preached so much hate. They cheered when Saddam died, and I will celebrate when Farwell dies.
Wait until Patty Boy dies, I might even have a party.
The thing that makes me sad is time after time we get happy when an ‘evil doer’ gets fired, resigns, or dies, and then in a year, we end up wanting them back because v.2.0 is 10 times worse. Gonzo comes to mind.
Yes, Falwell was a loathsome creature, but Ohioan (at #11) has it right.
We mustn’t let our guard down. When a Falwell falls, there are ten more hiding under the nearby rocks to take his place.
At a time when Jerry has “gone to meet his maker,” I’m betting that the Maker will not be telling him what he wants to hear.
Comment by petorado
“Hello? Oh, Hello, St. Peter . . . how are things going at the Gates today?
Really? Jerry Falwell? He REALLY thinks we should let him in?
Tell him I said he could . . . no, even better, hand him the phone. I want to tell him myself.”
“The man is a worthless piece of shit and one of the greatest Southern traitors of the 20th Century and I would like to piss on his grave if I could.”
I am sorry you feel that way. The desire to piss on someones grave shows an incredible lack of maturity and decorum. Maybe you should take a lesson from our host on how to express your dislike of the recently deceased in a respectful manner.
Once again because I like it so much - for those not sure of Jerry’s path….:
http://aburriss.tripod.com/jfalwell.html
***Exactly what circle of Hell would Dante put a Television Evangelists?***
———————ROTFLMLiberalAO
I’ll let you know as soon as I’m done consulting with the mining engineers. They’re still trying to figure out how to build three more circles (consider this the only hint you’re getting from me today on the subject) without it looking like an Iranian centrifuge facility….
One of Satan’s minions has been called home
Who would have thought that Larry Flynt would outlive him?
However much I may disagree with your tone Tom, you won’t see me shedding a tear at his funeral. The world will be better of with out him spouting his hateful and, to me at least, unchristlike views. However I would have rather seen him have a Tammy Faye style conversion then pass away.
The sister wrote: “That being said, I hope that now that he has passed on he is enlightened to the shortcomings of his beliefs while here on Earth. I’m sure it was an eye-opening experience for him.”
You’ve reminded me of a short story that’s highly appropriate for the occasion, called “Vanni Fucci is Alive and Well and Living in Hell,” by Dan Simmons. Long story short, Vanni Fucci appears on Earth to beg a televangelist to stop his broadcasts - because they’re the newest addition to an already painful Hell.
John McCain must be kicking himself right now.
With his literal embrace of Falwell at Liberty University last year, he traded in his “maverick” image for the support of Falwell. Now he has neither.
I have the same difficulty CB had writing the post: I find commenting appropriately a challenge.
I won’t pretend I’m sad that Jerry Falwell’s gone, but I think this can be framed as a win / win situation. For those of us who recognize what bad things he’s been up to, we’re glad he won’t be doing those things anymore. Good for us; we win! For Jerry Falwell, if he has been confirmed in his beliefs, this is the best day of his life. His followers, if they truly believe what they profess to believe, should be happy for him that he’s gone to God. Good for them; they win!
Colorful is a good choice of adjectives. The man was a flim-flam artist, and he suckered millions of people. He’s the poster child for evangelicalism, and the fact that even many evangelicals can’t stand televangelists like him is a testament to the depravity of his chicanery.
I have the same problem CB had writing this post: I find commenting appropriately a challenge.
I won’t pretend I’m sad that Jerry Falwell’s gone, but I think this can be framed as a win / win situation. For those of us who recognize what bad things he’s been up to, we’re glad that he won’t be doing those things anymore. Good for us; we win! For Jerry Falwell, if he’s been confirmed in his beliefs, this is the best day of his life. For his followers, if they truly believe what they profess to believe, they have to be happy for him that he’s gone to God. Good for them; they win!
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Mt. 3.10 · Lk. 3.9
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Mt. 12.33
Lk. 13.25-27
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.
Latest FaBlog: Falwell Buys the Farm
At first, the person who found Falwell in his office thought he was sleeping.
The person then noticed that Falwell had shat and pissed himself.
These soiled items will soon be available on e-bay for the Flock to bid on.
So sayeth the Shepard.
From the musical, “Scrooge,” just to let Tom know that he’s not alone in celebrating the day (with just a wee bit of paraphrasing)….
Ladies and gentlemen of the blogosphere!
On behalf of all the people who have assembled here,
I would merely like to mention if I may
That our unanimous attitude
Is one of lasting gratitude
For what old Jerry’s done for us today,
And therefore I would simply like to say—-
Thank you very much!
Thank you very much!
That’s the nicest thing that anyone’s ever done for me
I may sound somewhat mean,
But my delight’s so keen
I feel as if a losing war’s been won for me
And if I had a flag I’d hang my flag out
To add a sort of final victory touch
But since I left my flag at home
I’ll simply have to say
Thank you very, very, very much!
Thank you very, very, very much!
Thank you very much!
Thank you very much!
That’s the nicest thing that anyone’s ever done for me
It sounds a bit bizarre
But things the way they are
I feel as if another life’s begun for me
And if I had some gasoline I’d light it
To give ol’ Jerr a “here’s-your-new-home” touch
But since I left the gas at home
I’ll simply have to say
Thank you very, very, very much!
Thank you very, very, very much!
Thank you very much!
Thank you very much!
That’s the nicest thing that anyone’s ever done for me
It isn’t everyday
Good fortune comes my way
I never thought the future would be fun for me
And if I had a rake that I could brandish
To add a sort of “here’s-your-pitchfork” touch
But since I left my rake at home
I’ll simply have to say
Thank you very, very, very much
For he’s a jolly good fellow
For he’s a jolly good fellow
For he’s a jolly good fellow
And so say all of us!!!
Thank you very much!
Thank you very much!
That’s the nicest thing that anyone’s ever done for me
The future looks all right
In fact it looks so bright
I feel as if they’re polishing the sun for me
And if I had a drum I’d have to bang it!
To add a “dancing-on-his-coffin” touch
But since I left my drum at home
I’ll simply have to say
Thank you very, very, very much!
Thank you very, very, very much!
I won’t celebrate Falwell’s death, but I will say that the political scene is better for his leaving it. - dajafi @19
Agreed. My refraining from celebration is not out of respect for Falwell. It is out of respect for myself. Also, I thought the resignation of John Ashcroft as AG was a day for celebration. It just goes to show that one can never know if the “devil you know” is less repugnant than the one who is waiting in the wings.
Bravo, comment #48.
And on the “win/win” thought: Falwell got to spend his last years in an America that, with any fortune at all, will more closely approximate the corrupt theoligarchy he favored than at any time before or AFTER. He was favored in that, just as we all hopefully will be favored to live in an America more true to its best values and first principles.
God bless Jimmy Carter, who - when informed of Falwell’s death - said:
“Speaking as a Christian, Jerry Falwell can go straight to hell.”
“AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.”
–Jerry Falwell
And some ask that we should show respect for HIS passing.
I would never celebrate his death, I am sure he had family that loved him.
I will never ever forget how he blamed me, a Gay feminist for causing 911. He had so much hatred for others and certainly did not wait any respectful length of time before he seized the horrific tragedy of September 11 to try to blame one more thing on gays.
By any chance was he scheduled to get a massage today?
When will CNN show us what is in his fridge?
#48–really nice catch. McCanine sold his soul for nothing. The Devil works in strange but effective ways.
“I am sorry you feel that way. The desire to piss on someones grave shows an incredible lack of maturity and decorum. Maybe you should take a lesson from our host on how to express your dislike of the recently deceased in a respectful manner.”
I had the privilege of literally doing that to Nixon 2 years ago - nobody in the vicinity, did the deed.
It felt real gooooooooooood.
Tom Cleaver,
did Carter really say that? do you have a link? (I think you are being sarcastic FWIW)
Some of the people on this site are so vile, hateful and childish - i wouldn’t be proud to be a part of any group that expresses itself this way. If he were a murderous tyrant like Hussein or Hitler i could possibly accept the extreme reaction.
‘Some of the people on this site are so vile, hateful and childish’
And so I reiterate…
“AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.”
–Jerry Falwell
I think my mother taught me what vile, hateful and childish are.
So long, Falwell. You’re in a better place now.
Of course, if St Peter is gay, doesn’t care for the morbidly obese, or considers your demise suicide by little debbie you might be screwed.
Oh well, any place other than Earth is a better place, IMHO.
“Some of the people on this site are so vile, hateful and childish”
Mike,
Feel free to point to the comments above in your futile attempt to distract the nation away from the incompetence of the Bush administration.
one less superstitious bigotted hypocrit.
In other news, Coulter’s too bereft to write this week’s column. Of course next week’s will be a fawning tribute the likes of which haven’t been seen since Reagan’s demise.
Who says only the good die young? And yes, relatively speaking, he was. Young, that is. Not good.
Imagine Jerry’s shock, now that he is finding out that God is actually not a straight, white, male Republican evangelist.
Gloating over the death of an enemy - Jerry would approve of that.
Bravo, comment #48.
Thanks. I threw up a quick post along those lines at my place, if anyone’s interested. (It’s there even if no one’s interested.)
As long as we’re quoting reactions, I wonder if anyone will remember Barry Goldwater’s line about Falwell when he was opposing the Sandra Day O’Connor nomination: “I think every good Christian ought to go out and kick Jerry Falwell in the ass.”
Imagine Jerry’s shock, now that he is finding out that God is actually not a straight, white, male Republican evangelist.
And imagine his horror upon learning that the central message of Christianity isn’t “get rich or die tryin’”
Well, big Jerry was finally right about something.
Last year during an interview, he agreed with our other great religious sage; Pat Robertson, when he made it plain that the “end was near”…and damn, it sure was.
I heard the Carter clip, but I’m pretty sure it was from something in the past.
Fuck him, fuck his ilk, a prolonged fuck to pretending to give a fuck because the planet is suddenly short one evil mother-fucker.
If you think that’s bad, wait until Fred Phelch drops dead.
As for Jerry, I hope he is having a little chat with a Jewish carpenter of brownish hue right now. Jer will probably mistake his saviour for Mohammed and scream the place down.
The Weather Channel?!? Once again, wingnut ‘truth’ trumps parody.
Celebrate Falwell’s death? Maybe or maybe not. But there is no justice in lying and denying about how evil he was just because he died. He was evil. And the world is better off without his actions.
Re. #64…
Tom Cleaver, did Carter really say that? do you have a link? (I think you are being sarcastic FWIW)
Link is www.naacd.com/quotes_a-e.htm. It’s just over half-way down the page… search on “straight” (no pun intended).
Re #24, Comment by Nobody:
You are kidding, right? Try repeating your comment but replace “Jerry Falwell” with “Joe McCarthy” or “Hitler” or “Stalin.” These guys worked just as tirelessly for the things they believed in, perhaps even more so than Falwell. Do you respect their endeavors? Hard work does not entitle one to respect. It’s what you work for that matters. For that reason alone, Falwell deserves no one’s respect, not even “Nobody’s.”
I think Falwell elicits such venom from normally mild-mannered (hah!) liberals is because he was a mortal enemy of our constitution and civil liberties. That does put him in a league with “Hussein and Hitler.” (Between them, I’d say.) He didn’t have dictatoral power like those two, but he was working to give that power to some theocrat or other.
Falwell is dead. There is a god!
Always remember: The Moral Majority Is Neither!!
I’m really tired of hearing that we need to be classy and stop cheering because Falwell is dead. I’ve been cheering all day, and it isn’t because I’m immature. It’s because this was an evil man that had absolutely no respect for anyone unless they were just as evil as he was. Forgive me if I’m ecstatic that this piece of trash is dead!!
I hope he’s in hell because if he’s in heaven, I’ll volunteer to spend my eternity in hell when I die.
It’s a very good thing to realise, that hateful facist, Jerry Fallwell,will never again piss on another human being !!!!!! His entire agenda was to use his version of what he called “god” to gain wealth, power, and political control.
There are many of his fellow facists still using the same tactics and the same rhetoric to achieve the same selfish and destructive goals…..When will it ever end?????? When??????
Wonkette’s take on Falwell is wicked! Link below.
FUCKA da FALWELL !!!
So anyone want to put some cash on how the ‘Jerry meets god’ meeting is going. My money’s on god pushing that back for a millennia or two.
I just can’t get the picture of the Southpark’s satan, sadam, and jerry all in bed together.
Tonight, the devil himself will open the gates of hell for Jerry Falwell
Nobody, couldn’t you say the exact same thing about Saddam Hussein?
Personally, I wouldn’t. I say good riddance to both of them, for very similar reasons. If Falwell is buried within driving distance from my house, I’ll make sure and visit his grave…with a full bladder.
Re: Comment #24.
I can’t wrap my head around the things you’ve said here. Why the HELL should we respect a man solely for holding strong beliefs?
WHAT a person stands for is absolutely relevant to whether or not they are owed respect, not merely that they stood for something at all. Elsewise we might as well mourn all manner of evil persons in their passing.
I don’t give a flying rat’s butt that Falwell worked tirelessly for the things he believed in–frankly, so did Hitler*, and while that is an extreme comparison, it makes the point. Falwell fostered contempt; he was a professional hatemonger and that is his only legacy. He did absolutely NOTHING worthy of respect, and I fail to comprehend how he somehow merits respect merely because he was a prominent figure in political discourse for a lengthy period of time.
I’m glad that I differ from many who commented here today in that I feel no joy in the suffering or death of another. Death is the great equalizer whether we’re liberal or conservative, Christian or Jew, Muslim or Atheist. We are all human and we are all hopelessly lost in a soul-sucking universe.
I will only say that I hope he finds the peace he so desperately tried to find and force on others. Ultimately, there can be no Jerry without Tom, no Porky without Daffy, and no Flynt without Fallwell.
If Falwell’s brand of cosmic justice / retribution actually exists, he’s taking it up the ass in Hell right now.
Would you rather have me lie? I’m glad he’s gone — the air in Virginia just got a bit fresher. It’s too bad though that he didn’t take Robertson with him.
Sorry, as hard as I tried, I couldn’t muster up any tears over the passing of Jerry Falwell. Not even the crocodile kind.
Ok, I admit it, I was an asshole, but now I’m a dead asshole, so up yours. By the way I’m Hitler’s new roomate and he’s already requested to be moved. Whiney little bitch. Heaven sure is not what I expected…Can someone turn down the heat? It’s awfully warm in here…
Every day I pray”Lord, may my words and deeds be worthy of you” Rev. Falwell never ever thought about this!
I need to know —-
Did the paramedics or the persons who found see his passport to Heaven? If so, did they mention what it looked like and did he take anything with him?
So all abused women should respect their abusers?
BAH! He’s dead and I hope his henious and parasitic political agenda dies with him. But I know better…
I always feel sad for the families that are left behind when a loved one dies - not matter how disliked that person was.
you go ahead and feel sorry for fallwell’s family, i’ll feel sorry for the hundreds of thousands of people who lost loved gay loved one’s in this country during the 80’s from AIDS while Fallwell and Reagan sat back and did nothing, while they belitted them as human beings with no morality who not only deserved death, but deserved eternal damnation.
I don’t think it’s horrible to be relieved that there will be a little less hate in the world.
Sure, he was a human being. With faults. But let’s face it…he wasn’t exactly a loving, positive influence. We’re not sad when others we deem ‘evil’ die….what makes Falwell any different?
The air is clearer not only in Virginia but in the entire country - and we wont have to look at his smarmy smirk again.
“Comments like many of the ones posted above will just be used as fodder for the rightwing to show why the left is a bunch of hateful crazy idiots.
The point isn’t to gloat over a dead man.”
The right wing hate us no matter what we do or say. Falwell wouldn’t accord many people the same courtesy as we are expected to give him because…he’s white? rich? a “Christian”? famous? if he’s human like all the rest of us, then all that sets him apart is what he accomplished during his lifetime, and the record is pretty shameful.
The world is a (slightly) better place without him and…
…party’s ON at my place!
HOLD IT…STOP EVERYTHING !
Did ANYONE Actually POKE Him 3 times with a SHARP POINTY STICK ?
“The man is a worthless piece of shit and one of the greatest Southern traitors of the 20th Century and I would like to piss on his grave if I could.”
– Tom Cleaver
“I had the privilege of literally doing that to Nixon 2 years ago - nobody in the vicinity, did the deed.”
– Tom Cleaver
Yo, Tom. I invite you to try indoor plumbing. We’ve had it here in the traitorous South for several decades.
Look, folks. I’m going to post my opinion, not so much on Falwell or his death, but on what I’ve read among the comments and my own principles regarding someone’s death. You may not like it, so I’m sorry if you’re offended.
I didn’t like Falwell. I agreed with nothing he said or stood for. He was indeed a throwback and negative force in America. My problem with some of the posts I’ve read is that several are no less hypocritical and disgusting than Falwell’s words. To call him evil and dance on his grave mocks REAL evil and takes the commentator right down to Falwell’s level.
Falwell wasn’t Hitler or Stalin or Saddam. He was not a murderer — unless one belabors metaphor beyond reason. He didn’t magically take reasonable people and turn them into religious androids. Those who responded to Falwell chose to respond. They relished ignorance and found it, allowing Falwell to be their voices.
So, frankly, I’m glad that whatever force he was that supported ignorance and bigotry is gone. But, to publicly revel in the fact of his death puts me on the same level as the most bigoted, hate-filled, mouth-foaming, intolerant right-wing fascist bastard living.
Maybe it’s my traitorous, backward, stereotypical, redneck, inbred, moronic southern upbringing, but I don’t celebrate death. Period. Sorry.
On my mother’s mirror over her dresser was a small piece of paper typed neatly that said
“Those that speak harshly – speak out of their own pain”.
There must have been a great deal of pain for Jerry Farwell to say the things he did. I also recognize that many of us are also speaking out our own pain. I hope we can learn from Jerry Farwell that harshness and intolerance does nothing to make life better, it only causes more continued pain, hurt and anger.
Instead of reacting against Jerry Farwell’s words, beliefs and pain, the best we can do to counterbalance such hatred is to ‘exclude only exclusion’ in our own thoughts, words and actions. For me, that is the greatest legacy we can give.
Just thought I would let everyone know, Jerry is doing great, he came home earlier and I have rightfully put him back on his throne.
You clowns are so easy. I just send someone up to preach hate, but say he’s speaking for the big guy, and all you suckers by it.
Fear not, Patty Boy is still on the scene perverting religion like the trooper we knew he would be.
On my mother’s mirror over her dresser was a small piece of paper typed neatly that said
“Those that speak harshly – speak out of their own pain”.
yeah, in all honesty if you listen to both what falwell has said, and how he has said it, i believe it’s pretty obvious that he had some form of underlying mental illness. whether that was just extreme narcissism, sociopathic tendencies, depression (bipolar or otherwise) that manifested itself in his projecting hate at the world, or just flat out inhumanity, something was wrong with him.
of course, i’m not a psychiatrist. but, something was wrong with this guy past just being someone who hated everybody in this world who did not look, think, speak and act EXACTLY like he did. that would be the easy explanation for him, but whatever.
i feel sorry for him. i truly do. i can’t even comprehend the amount of self-hatred he possessed, and i’m sure below the surface it was a terrible existence.
You should always speak good of the dead.
He’s dead.
GOOD!
God finally strikes Jerry Falwell down.
About time.
Must have been for letting John McCan’t speak at Liberty University
CRAWL DOWN OFF of YOUR CROSS Stonewall Jackson.
It’s Winter somewhere and I’m Certain that THEY…could USE the Frigging Firewood.
America JUST got RID of ONE of the most Vile sorry excuses of a “Minister” since the downhome Klu Kux Klan revivals.
I Hope that YOU NOT INTENT on Replacing Him with your Sermon #104 as Posted Above.
I’m not sure, but I think I just saw Falwell’s face in the syrup on my pancakes.
***Comments like many of the ones posted above will just be used as fodder for the rightwing….***
If I base my comments on the fear of retribution by those who would foment division, hate, and a xenophobic form of theocracy, then I surrender to those who would force such things upon the nation and its people, and become but a coward among my fellow citizens. As a citizen and a patriot, I will never surrender to the rightwing.
Indeed—I will never surrender….
A merciful God would have put this poor bigoted bastard out of his misery years ago…
I have to admit, Jerry Fallwell roasting in Hell would be a just reward if ever there was one. But even if I believed in such fairy tales as gods, demons heavens and hells, I think I would have to conclude that it’s far more likely Fallwell was Satan.
SCREW the entire right wing and the Horse named George they RODE in on …Next !
I wrote about this at my place and couldn’t resist linking to to your rundown, Steve. Looks like we both got linked on Buzzflash.
Don’t feel guilty. Falwell didn’t leave much of a legacy in terms of admirable achievement. He really didn’t give you much to work with.
Hmmm. I wouldn’t eat that if I were you.
Falwell served a purpose. He was so incapable of keeping his mouth shut or restraining his worst impulses that he always provided a willing window into a dark and paranoid world of superstition and fear mongering in the name of greed. No matter how ridiculous he was, he was almost never surprising any more. He was a nice little trap for politicians and a reliable pinata to bash for heathens.
And as Alibubba writes at 104, “He didn’t magically take reasonable people and turn them into religious androids. Those who responded to Falwell chose to respond.” Falwell gave the loons a place to land. They were already out there. He was a media savvy charlatan solidly in the tradition of all the charlatans preceding him. Sow fear, harvest cash. He’s not the end of the line.
He isn’t worth hating. Jerry who?
“I Hope that YOU NOT INTENT on Replacing Him with your Sermon #104 as Posted Above.”
I not intent, mikey. (And you call yourself an idiot.)
Dear nobody…….”Jerry Falwell was a human being and one who worked tirelessly for the things that he believe in. Although I disagreed with almost every one of things, I can’t help but respect his endeavor.”
Respect his endeavor? and then another of you complainging about being so hateful…”if he were a Hitler…”etc.
This bigot fostered a generation of Hitler’s, of hate mongers filled with self righteousness whose fear and hate and racism and bigotry we will have to live with for decades. He was a liar and milked the poor and ignorant of their money and was using it to build and buy a way into the government that would lead to the destruction of our democracy in favor of a theocracy. It’s because we were aware of Hitler types that he didn’t get any further than he did. He used God and religion like heroin trying to hook as many helpless, hopeless, lost, emotionally down-troden victims through his” faith through fear of punishment” preaching as he could. He is a true fascist and hypocrite grabbing for as much power he could get. In earlier centuries he would have been burned at the stake which is what he would have done to most Americans if he could have gotten away with it. Just consider to many he was a Hitler chained by the rest of us and then you would understand the wrath most of the rational community feels toward him. He is as condemned as he was condemning…almost. And he has left behind his minions to carry on the hate and condemnation, the fear and bigotry, the dishonesty, greed and corruption. It is people like you who blind yourself to this man’s reality and legacy like saying …..”well after all, Hitler was a human being”. We made sure Falwell couldn’t be a Hitler but still the far right sounds like the third reich, their legacy of hatred and power is just a Hitler away.
I’m not so sure about all this emotional pain that Falwell supposedly had. He seemed to me to be smug self-satisfied evil man. He lived a life of riches and ease surrounded by people who respected him. Times like this make me wish there was a god so that Falwell and his ilk couldn’t escape scott free.
They say death comes in threes. I wonder which 2 right wingers will be next.
burro:
Good post, and you’re quite right.
Perhaps I wasn’t clear in my post. If I seemed sympathetic with Falwell, I wasn’t. I couldn’t stand the man, and hated his “preaching” much more. I’m very glad his “philosophy” and influence is gone, which is what a lot of comments expressed without relishing his death. Understanding that his death affects people who were close to him, but innocent of his transgressions — his family, for example — I just personally have an aversion to celebrating death. I’ve had too many friends and relatives die in the last two years to be flippant.
As far as the nastiness about “regions,” when you live in the south, you can never completely ignore the holier-than-thou circle jerk of bigots outside the region.
This is the first “feeding frenzy” I’ve observed in my year or so at CBR. Honestly, I find all the grave dancing very disturbing. It just isn’t helpful or enlightening in any way.
That’s my $.04 (other $.02 at #91).
Yeah Alibubba,
We tend to NOTICE things like that way up here in Wayne County, NC too haha
Some text was lifted shamelessly from the wikipedia entry for Falwell, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell, without attribution. Not nice.
Editor\’s note: please note my response to this false accusation: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/10806.html#comment-230501
That some Christians have fallen short in their attempts to imitate Christ shouldn’t surprise us or the Christians. Mr. Falwell’s remarks on 9/13/01 are of a piece with the rest of his public life.
My condolences to Mr. Falwell’s family.
This is the first “feeding frenzy” I’ve observed in my year or so at CBR. — JTK @ 123
Yeah, it happens once in a while. Hang in there. Regular programming will return in 5…4…3…
Oh, and nice obit, CB.
He can no longer inflict his ignorance and cruelty on our world! We no longer have to hear his uneducated mouth spew nonsense and hurt imbued words. He, and many like him within his generation, are one by one being expunged from the planet, welcoming a more progressive tone to our ecumenical understanding. I for one, couldn’t be happier.
Let reason and science, not faith, reign!
Sorry folks, those who want to say I’m some sort of awful person for feeling as I do. I’m not a Christian, I don’t believe in turning the other cheek, and the only time I believe in “forgive and forget” is when the offender sincerely repents their offense, and then demonstrates in their actions the truth of the repentance. I’m perfectly happy to not only forgive and forget in that instance, but to actively promote.
I’m not gay, but in my business you meet a lot of gays, and you become friends with them because they’re cool human beings. And when my friends die, and people say they are evil for having the disease they died of, and celbrate their pain and suffering as proof there is a god, then I say to hell with that motherfucking sonofabitch, and if I could have taken a baseball bat to him for a good ten minutes at any time in the past 35 years, I’d have done it happily.
That worthless scum is roasting in hell (assuming there is afterlife or a hell, neither of which are round on my radar) where he belongs. I celebrate his death the way I would have celebrated the deaths of Hitler or Stalin and the way I did celebrate the death of Mao Tse Tung, because Jerry Falwell was just as much a mass murderer as they were, he was a celebrant of mass murder.
And for those who don’t like that I don’t like his Southern bullshit, tough. You don’t see that Southern crap coming from elsewhere in the country, do you? If you don’t want people condemning you as a bunch of sub-lemur assholes, stop defending the sub-lemur assholes in your midst.
I guess Jerry dying means he wasn’t doing Gods will.
But is it not callous to bash a man just hours after his death?
Yes it us, unless you are like Lee Atwater or Karl Rove, then it’s “fair game.”
The phrase; “Falwell’s Final Farewell Feeding Frenzy”
has a nice ring to it.
The man evokes strong feelings of anger from those of us he had targeted for political attack while pretending to speak for a loving God. His legacy to us is long years of Republican government which includes global warming, Iraq, loss of freedom, corruption and bankruptcy.
Unless you Falwell bashers repent, you will remember your comments in hell.
I say Good Riddance! Now there’s one less ASSHOLE on EARTH!
While I do agree that most of the comments here are in poor taste and that my personal condolences go out to the Farwell family, I must agree that I have also been continuously repelled and appalled by this man. So it must be in the interest of America that even at his grave side one must continually repudiate Farwell’s opinions, policies and positions as clearly against the beliefs of America and it’s founding fathers.
The Peeping Toms
My Mom is 85, hard of hearing and would probably score close to zero on a political literacy test.
She does however have her opinions.On seeing Reverend Falwell on the TV screen she asked what was his’ news, so to speak.
I told her he was dead.
Her comment was, ” a peeping Tom, like that other guy, Newt Gingrich, the original Peeping Tom.” I guess you could say she calls’ em as she sees’ em.
cognitorex blog
To 122 above, Sorry to say, his “philosophy” and influence is not gone. He has two sons to carry on his evil work.
Jerry Falwell was the first person of national prominence to tell me I was going to hell. And many of his University’s have echoed the claim. My sin? The reason for my damnation? I’ve stood up for my gay friends. And donated time and money to fight AIDS.
For this he told me I was going to hell. Now I’d like to tell him the same thing.
Falwell often claimed the antichrist would profess to be a Christian. Knowing him, it wouldn’t surprise me. I’m sorry he died before he could take back some of the crap he spewed. He was powerful enough to change the world. Unfortunately he sowed deep seeds of hatred in the name of “love.” He was a modern Elmer Gantry. He robbed from the poor and vulnerable. He ignored the reality of disasters and used human suffering as a political and fund-raising tool.
In reality, he furthered no holy cause, but rather used religion to further his own assholery.
How dare he make me hate him so much that my knee jerk reaction on the news of his death makes me cheer out loud! I know he has a wife, children, grandchildren, a circle of friends and family that love him in a way that the public will never understand and they are dealing with a great loss that is breaking their heart. I do not like to see people in pain…. but we ARE talking about this hatemongering as-h-le.
Saddam Hussein was obviously evil. He left a trail behind that made his own people fear him. Falwell is seductively evil because he hides behind the title Reverend and people lap up his hate speech as if it were from the mouth of god. Unfortunately, there are more evil ones of his kind that will carry on that work.
At least Jim Bakker paid his for his wrongs by going to prison, but Falwell stabbed his so-called friend in the back to save his own fat a-s and still has the nerve to call himself a Christian.
I normally do not celebrate or applaud the death of people I disagree with, but this one is one of the rare ones that really pushed me over the edge because he got a free pass in life to be a major menace to society while other criminals were made to pay for their crimes.
He may be dead, but the Jews, African-Americans, homosexuals, feminists, everyone who leans Left, atheists, agnostics, pagans, Muslims, and middle of the road Christians who believe in freedom for all are still in danger from the Religious Right movement Falwell started. Falwell is the one who made our country a more divided country by marginalizing anyone who did not see things his way.
As these types love to protest funerals of people they disagreed with in life, perhaps there should be a massive field of picketers outside of his funeral service with big signs and yelling out insults at his loved ones.
I can understand why people are jumping for joy or saying ill of the dead. Falwell built an empire on the ‘culture’ wars that helped create the situation we have today not just in the US, but all over the world.
History shows that empires built around one man usually fragment soon after the demise of the man unless his children are unusually cooperative and relatively hedonism free. I suspect that Falwell’s empire will be no different than any other. The Falwell legacy is brittle considering that his rivals in the Fundie leadership are so power hungry and those that follow want a charismatic and allegedly ’strong’ man to lead them by the nose and do the thinking for them.
The morning after all these comments, I’m trying find a single comment praising Falwell. I can’t find one. I thought there was a difference between at least traditional temporary “respect for the dead” — any dead — and endorsi