Jerry Falwell, founder of Moral Majority, died Tuesday in his office at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. When someone like Falwell dies, someone who is always is in the public eye, making news, etc typically you have other speak in support of him, and that happened but not like you would expected for other religious/political figures like Billy Graham. In his prime, Falwell was a strong political force for the Republicans, and helped mobilize thousands of people for both of Reagan’s presidential campaigns. However from the mid-1990s-t his death, he started moving farther and farther right, alienating his supporters and becoming more out there. Even Conservatives were slow to offer words of praise to Falwell. Some were very critical, like Christopher Hitchens.
These are just some of things, for better or worse that I will remember Falwell for:
“AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals”
“Any sex outside of the marriage bond between a man and a woman is violating God's law.”
“I am such a strong admirer and supporter of George W. Bush that if he suggested eliminating the income tax or doubling it, I would vote yes on first blush.”
“If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being.”
“Textbooks are Soviet propaganda.”
“Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions.”
“And, these Islamic fundamentalists, these radical terrorists, these Middle Eastern monsters are committed to destroying the Jewish nation, driving her into the Mediterranean, conquering the world.”
"The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country."
"gay folks would just as soon kill you as look at you." –out of support for Anita Bryant's "Save Our Children" campaign
"You've got to kill the terrorists before the killing stops. And I'm for the president to chase them all over the world. If it takes 10 years, blow them all away in the name of the Lord."
"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.'"
Some of this is funny, and some of it is just downright offensive. It’s difficult to really say anything nice about this guy, he puts feminists, pro choicers, and gays/lesbians, atheists, and Muslims at the root of all problems in the US and sometimes in the world. Who knows if he even believed in this nonsense he was preaching.
These are just some of things, for better or worse that I will remember Falwell for:
“AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals”
“Any sex outside of the marriage bond between a man and a woman is violating God's law.”
“I am such a strong admirer and supporter of George W. Bush that if he suggested eliminating the income tax or doubling it, I would vote yes on first blush.”
“If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being.”
“Textbooks are Soviet propaganda.”
“Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions.”
“And, these Islamic fundamentalists, these radical terrorists, these Middle Eastern monsters are committed to destroying the Jewish nation, driving her into the Mediterranean, conquering the world.”
"The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country."
"gay folks would just as soon kill you as look at you." –out of support for Anita Bryant's "Save Our Children" campaign
"You've got to kill the terrorists before the killing stops. And I'm for the president to chase them all over the world. If it takes 10 years, blow them all away in the name of the Lord."
"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.'"
Some of this is funny, and some of it is just downright offensive. It’s difficult to really say anything nice about this guy, he puts feminists, pro choicers, and gays/lesbians, atheists, and Muslims at the root of all problems in the US and sometimes in the world. Who knows if he even believed in this nonsense he was preaching.
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