to quote the man himself..."Thank God"

To me...Our nation lost probably Public Enemy # 1

Or #2, depending on what Pat Robertson has said that day...

Today we bid farewell to the man who said;

"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.' "

You can download the man himself say this and more, here...That is if you can sit through 1:52 of the Christian Broadcasting Network.

https://home.comcast.net/~joe.grabko/falwell.mp3

Now if you're reading this (which you aren't) keep in mind that i am sincere when i say that the world is a better place without Jerry Falwell. It really is.

He was a bigot and a misogynist that wrapped himself in the shroud of Turin to make his horribleness untouchable...Like a blind kid giving you the finger...What are you gonna do? He's blind...You're the asshole, right?

Falwell said ignorant things to rattle the cages of the ignorant who took his 'reverence' for Jesus at face value. He was a bully and a blowhard who abused people's sincere relationship with their god for money and political influence, that's all.

I'm also sincere about this notion;

Think of what an arm for social change a guy like Falwell could have been...

Seriously...

I mean try and swallow that last few decades worth of bad taste in your mouth and think about it....What would the 80's have looked like had he been a thinking, progressive, religious leader a la Dr. Martin Luther King, who used Jesus' teachings, not misquotations and redirections?

What if Jerry Falwell was MLK?

Ugh...Putting that bloated racist in the same sentence as MLK makes me feel dirty.

Go here and cleanse my conscience; CLICK ME

Just something to think about...The power of religious manipulation.

I will not be an apologist for being negative about Jerry Falwell. The only 'positive' thing I'll say is this; My heart goes out to the family that loved him.

and Pat Robertson is next.


courtesy of;

Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - 12:00 AM

DAVE MARTIN / AP

The Rev. Jerry Falwell speaks at a rally on the steps of the Alabama Capitol in Montgomery. Ala. in August 2003. Falwell was found unconscious in his office today and taken to the hospital.

Televangelist Jerry Fallwell dies at 73

By Sue Lindsey
The Associated Press

LYNCHBURG, Va. — The Rev. Jerry Falwell, who founded the Moral Majority and built the religious right into a political force, died today shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University, a school executive said. He was 73.

Ron Godwin, the university's executive vice president, said Falwell, 73, was found unresponsive around 10:45 a.m. and taken to Lynchburg General Hospital. "CPR efforts were unsuccessful," he said.

Godwin said he was not sure what caused the collapse, but he said Falwell "has a history of heart challenges."

"I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast," Godwin said. "He went to his office, I went to mine, and they found him unresponsive."

Falwell had survived two serious health scares in early 2005. He was hospitalized for two weeks with what was described as a viral infection, then was hospitalized again a few weeks later after going into respiratory arrest. Later that year, doctors found a 70 percent blockage in an artery, which they opened with stents.

Falwell credited his Moral Majority with getting millions of conservative voters registered, electing Ronald Reagan and giving Republicans Senate control in 1980.

"I shudder to think where the country would be right now if the religious right had not evolved," Falwell said when he stepped down as Moral Majority president in 1987.

The fundamentalist church that Falwell started in an abandoned bottling plant in 1956 grew into a religious empire that includes the 22,000-member Thomas Road Baptist Church, the "Old Time Gospel Hour" carried on television stations around the country and 7,700-student Liberty University. He built Christian elementary schools, homes for unwed mothers and a home for alcoholics.

He also founded Liberty University in Lynchburg, which began as Lynchburg Baptist College in 1971.

Liberty University's commencement is scheduled for Saturday, with former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich as the featured speaker.

In 2006, Falwell marked the 50th anniversary of his church and spoke out on stem cell research, saying he sympathized with people with medical problems, but that any medical research must pass a three-part test: "Is it ethically correct? Is it biblically correct? Is it morally correct?"

Falwell had once opposed mixing preaching with politics, but he changed his view and in 1979, founded the Moral Majority. The political lobbying organization grew to 6.5 million members and raised $69 million as it supported conservative politicians and campaigned against abortion, homosexuality, pornography and bans on school prayer.

Falwell became the face of the religious right, appearing on national magazine covers and on television talk shows. In 1983, U.S. News & World Report named him one of 25 most influential people in America.

In 1984, he sued Hustler magazine for $45 million, charging that he was libeled by an ad parody depicting him as an incestuous drunkard. A federal jury found the fake ad did not libel him, but awarded him $200,000 for emotional distress. That verdict was overturned, however, in a landmark 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision that held that even pornographic spoofs about a public figure enjoy First Amendment protection.

The case was depicted in the 1996 movie "The People v. Larry Flynt."

With Falwell's high profile came frequent criticism, even from fellow ministers. The Rev. Billy Graham once rebuked him for political sermonizing on "non-moral issues."

Falwell quit the Moral Majority in 1987, saying he was tired of being "a lightning rod" and wanted to devote his time to his ministry and Liberty University. But he remained outspoken and continued to draw criticism for his remarks.

Days after Sept. 11, 2001, Falwell essentially blamed feminists, gays, lesbians and liberal groups for bringing on the terrorist attacks. He later apologized.

In 1999, he told a evangelical conference that the Antichrist was a male Jew who was probably already alive. Falwell later apologized for the remark but not for holding the belief. A month later, his National Liberty Journal warned parents that Tinky Winky, a purple, purse-toting character on television's "Teletubbies" show, was a gay role model and morally damaging to children.

Falwell was re-energized after moral values issues proved important in the 2004 presidential election. He formed the Faith and Values Coalition as the "21st Century resurrection of the Moral Majority," to seek anti-abortion judges, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and more conservative elected officials.

The big, blue-eyed preacher with a booming voice started his independent Baptist church with 35 members. From his living room, he began broadcasting his message of salvation and raising the donations that helped his ministry grow.

"He was one of the first to come up with ways to use television to expand his ministry," said Robert Alley, a retired University of Richmond religion professor who studied and criticized Falwell's career.

Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company