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- Infamously blamed gays for the terrorist attacks of 9/11
- Gleefully called AIDS “God’s punishment for gays and lesbians”
- Idiotically called Tinky Winky a fag
- Famously founded The Moral Majority, which among other things, has relentlessly tried to erase the line between church and state
- … and (if Tammy Faye is to be believed) boldly orchestrated the wholesale theft of the PTL ministries.
Jerry Falwell and his non-stop fire-and-brimstone hyperbole was a scourge to gays, a continuous irritant to intelligent people, and an embarrassment to Christians everywhere.
Sphere: Related ContentLYNCHBURG, Va. — The Rev. Jerry Falwell, who founded the Moral Majority and built the religious right into a political force, died Tuesday 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.
[…]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. (Read original article)
i’m sure he found the fast train to HELL
Jerry Falwell, while disliked by many, is still a human being, and not the “Hitler” that many are making him out to be. He didnt kill anyone, he just had terribly lame opinions. He was outspoken, yes- idiotic, many times, prejudiced, close-minded and an all-around biggot, but come on, people— perpetuating the same hatred and narrow-mindedness that he so fervently preached is simply another example of the retarded behavior that he exhibited in his daily life. Let’s all breathe a collective sigh of relief– NOT that he is dead, but that the world doesnt have to listen to him anymore.
K. Soto
Las Vegas
Did he not admit to adultry in front of his congregation? I wonder why no body has mentioned this……he was guilty of exactly what he so vehemently condemned others of…….
Kristi: Falwell’s “spiritual leadership” provided the unwashed masses justification to bully children in playgrounds, beat transsexuals in alleyways, and deny the rights of gay spouses to see their partners on their death beds. The power wielded from his literal bully-pulpit with his so-called moral majority was used recklessly and could very well have indirectly caused many deaths.
I don’t celebrate his death, and do indeed breathe a sigh of relief that his deliberately crafted legacy of hate will pass into the dark history of neocon america.
Mary: It’s hard to separate the scandals in that crowd. I very clearly remember that adultery was a large part of Jim Bakker’s scandal during the fall and takeover of PTL.
It seems as though (hopefully) an end to an era has ocurred today. It is not right to be glad of a death and yet I feel this great relief. I am a Christian and I believe in God. But my God is not about hatred and judgement by man. He is a kind God who does not make mistakes. All of us are his children and he DOES NOT MAKE MISTAKES. Falwell’s ministry was all about exclusion and intolerance. That is a sad sad state of affairs. And also, faith and religion should not be about personal gain. May we all return to an era of acceptance and love. And may no preacher take his place.
Colleen: 100% agreed. Falwell did incalculable damage to folks of kinder gentler faiths.