Jerry Falwell dead at 73

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Jerry Falwell dies:

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/ ... 9420070515

yeah well i never heard of him.
wonder if he made to heaven ?

yeah well i never heard of him.
wonder if he made to heaven ?
just hope he is where i am not when i die.

edit: sorry double post.

He was very controversial, yet more sane than Pat Robertson and Fred Phelps.

Tim

I kinda feel bad for smiling as I read the article on the front page of CNN.

It's hard to get excited when you know another "Jerry" type will always be around to brainwash by the millions. Still, I can almost see the planet's ignorance levels are dropping dramatically following Jerry's exit.

One less tosser in the world is always a good thing. Even if there are still plenty of others...

One less crazy racist in the world!

One down ... a few hundred on list A and a few billion on list B to go.

This must be what it feels like to remove a painfully heavy backpack, tightly stuffed with human waste, from your back.

Well, I'm not so thrilled. I find that a person's "Legacy" becomes something quite different when they die. I hate funerals for that reason. You go to a funeral and the person they're describing isn't the same person you remember. It's quite cartoonish.
Jerry's death will be no different. He won't be here to apologize for or reiterate comments that he got criticized for. People will continue his "Work" in his "Name" and exaggerate the meaning of his life. Haters will demonize him and his Followers will canonize him. Will he really die then? No. His Ghost has already broke his name out of obscurity for a day or so, maybe longer.

A good headline would be "Top (American) Taliban Leader Dies"

This man did grave harm to many people and to this country. He advocated bigotry, oppression and fear of those who are different, and manipulated Christian teaching to his end. He used the suffering of AIDS to sell a vicious, callous agenda. He aggressively influenced the national response to the AIDS epidemic in a way that kept many ill and dying people from getting the medical care, compassion and respect they deserved. Americans and Christian sought to be ashamed that he was allowed the range of influence that he had, for the legacy he has left us with is not one of American broadmindedness or Christian compassion but something very opposite of that.

Falwell taught vehemently and unforgivingly that difference and diversity are abominations, and sought to actively influence the politics of the country as well as its religious climate. He was openly determined to see that those who are different are marginalized and kept from having their say in our society. His teaching influenced not just the religious right, but three Republican presidental administrations and countless other elected Republican officials at all levels of government.

If you are angry because as someone with an ASD you feel that you do not get treated with the dignity you deserve, you have people like Falwell to thank for spreading that mentality throughout our "civilized" society. That is only one of the many ways his influence will remain with us. He was undeniably a man of hatred, willful ignorance and arrogance. Keep that in mind as you hear people eulogizing how wonderful a man and a Christian he was over the next few days.