Jerry Falwell Dies at age 73

[neonflux]

"LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Rev. Jerry Falwell collapsed at his campus office and died Tuesday after a career in which the evangelist used the power of television to transform the religious right into a mighty force in American politics. He was 73.

"The founder of the Moral Majority was discovered without a pulse at Liberty University and pronounced dead at a hospital an hour later. Dr. Carl Moore, Falwell's physician, said he had a heart condition and presumably died of a heart rhythm abnormality."

Click here to read rest of article.

I know that I shouldn't take delight in anyone's death, but I am really, really, really not at all sorry....

~ Neon

 

[@}-}rebecca----]

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c224/rebecca000/Falwellhustler.jpg​

Larger print version here .

 

[neonflux]

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c224/rebecca000/Falwellhustler.jpg​

This is just toooooo perverse, ROFL!

 

[@}-}rebecca----]

This is just toooooo perverse, ROFL!

I do what I can

Credit to Mr L . Flynt and Hustler

 

[WriterDom]

Upon hearing of his death, Flynt released the following statement to Access Hollywood:

"The Reverend Jerry Falwell and I were arch enemies for fifteen years. We became involved in a lawsuit concerning First Amendment rights and Hustler magazine. Without question, this was my most important battle – the l988 Hustler Magazine, Inc., v. Jerry Falwell case, where after millions of dollars and much deliberation, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in my favor.

My mother always told me that no matter how much you dislike a person, when you meet them face to face you will find characteristics about them that you like. Jerry Falwell was a perfect example of that. I hated everything he stood for, but after meeting him in person, years after the trial, Jerry Falwell and I became good friends. He would visit me in

California and we would debate together on college campuses. I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling.

The most important result of our relationship was the landmark decision from the Supreme Court that made parody protected speech, and the fact that much of what we see on television and hear on the radio today is a direct result of my having won that now famous case which Falwell played such an important role in."

Falwell is survived by his wife, Macel, his two sons and a daughter, Jeannie Falwell Savas. Funeral arrangements were not immediately known.

 

[neonflux]

Upon hearing of his death, Flynt released the following statement to Access Hollywood:

"The Reverend Jerry Falwell and I were arch enemies for fifteen years. We became involved in a lawsuit concerning First Amendment rights and Hustler magazine. Without question, this was my most important battle – the l988 Hustler Magazine, Inc., v. Jerry Falwell case, where after millions of dollars and much deliberation, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in my favor.

My mother always told me that no matter how much you dislike a person, when you meet them face to face you will find characteristics about them that you like. Jerry Falwell was a perfect example of that. I hated everything he stood for, but after meeting him in person, years after the trial, Jerry Falwell and I became good friends. He would visit me in

California and we would debate together on college campuses. I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling.

The most important result of our relationship was the landmark decision from the Supreme Court that made parody protected speech, and the fact that much of what we see on television and hear on the radio today is a direct result of my having won that now famous case which Falwell played such an important role in."

Falwell is survived by his wife, Macel, his two sons and a daughter, Jeannie Falwell Savas. Funeral arrangements were not immediately known.

This was lovely. Thank you, WD.

(And kudos to Larry Flint!)

 

[intothewoods]

"The Reverend Jerry Falwell and I were arch enemies for fifteen years. We became involved in a lawsuit concerning First Amendment rights and Hustler magazine. Without question, this was my most important battle – the l988 Hustler Magazine, Inc., v. Jerry Falwell case, where after millions of dollars and much deliberation, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in my favor.

My mother always told me that no matter how much you dislike a person, when you meet them face to face you will find characteristics about them that you like. Jerry Falwell was a perfect example of that. I hated everything he stood for, but after meeting him in person, years after the trial, Jerry Falwell and I became good friends. He would visit me in

California and we would debate together on college campuses. I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling.

Fascinating!

 

[graceanne]

Upon hearing of his death, Flynt released the following statement to Access Hollywood:

"The Reverend Jerry Falwell and I were arch enemies for fifteen years. We became involved in a lawsuit concerning First Amendment rights and Hustler magazine. Without question, this was my most important battle – the l988 Hustler Magazine, Inc., v. Jerry Falwell case, where after millions of dollars and much deliberation, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in my favor.

My mother always told me that no matter how much you dislike a person, when you meet them face to face you will find characteristics about them that you like. Jerry Falwell was a perfect example of that. I hated everything he stood for, but after meeting him in person, years after the trial, Jerry Falwell and I became good friends. He would visit me in

California and we would debate together on college campuses. I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling.

The most important result of our relationship was the landmark decision from the Supreme Court that made parody protected speech, and the fact that much of what we see on television and hear on the radio today is a direct result of my having won that now famous case which Falwell played such an important role in."

Falwell is survived by his wife, Macel, his two sons and a daughter, Jeannie Falwell Savas. Funeral arrangements were not immediately known.

LOL That is really cool.

 

[neonflux]

This was lovely. Thank you, WD.

(And kudos to Larry Flint!)

I was glad to be reminded of how all of us are connected and of value, thus the post.

That said, I was over-tired when I responded. Jerry Falwell had a long-standing influence on the political landscape - an influence which, working in the family planning / reproductive & sexual health field, I see everyday:

1. Attacks on women's basic health rights (to the loss of reproductive care and public health policies that dosn't reduce us to walking wombs, or to the lack of access to emergency contraception, to the increasing attacks on hormonal contraception in the name of "women's health)

2. The reduction of morality in political discourse to sexual practices (as Jim Wallace points out in "God's Politics," between the Old and New Testaments combined, the Bible mentions charity and the importance of taking care of the poor 2000+ times, while it mentions the "sin" of homosexuality only 7, so which does God care about more???)

3. Such an extreme dismantling of the welfare system (yes, it needed fixing, and yes, much of it happened under Clinton - he doesn't get off the hook in my book )w/out adequate supports for job training, education, etc., that it is not uncommon among some of the youth we see in our clinics to prostitute themselves in order to bring in money for their family or to have no other option than to trade sex for food, shelter, etc. : bracing myself for the negative comments I know that I will get on this point, LOL :

....

OK, rant over. However one feels about the man, one cannot dispute the profound impact he had on the political and religious landscape of this country...

2¢ Neon

 

[Netzach]

What would Jerry have said if Larry had gone first?

Morality / ethics.

So very different.

 

[Netzach]

I know that I shouldn't take delight in anyone's death, but I am really, really, really not at all sorry....

This was a man who had toxic lies to spew to the press not 24 hours after 3000+ innocent New Yorkers bought it in the towers - he couldn't wait to blame fags, the ACLU and feminists.

These people have NO reservation about speaking ill of the dead, they can't even respect military funerals.

 

[neonflux]

What would Jerry have said if Larry had gone first?

Morality / ethics.

So very different.

excellent point!

which, along those lines makes me realize i have at least one itsy bitsy rant left...

the movement he founded has all but eliminated truthful sex education for adolescents in many parts of the country, to be replaced with the sometimes sheer lies of the "abstinence only education movement"

~ Neon

p.s., kudos to the organization that distributes title x (federal family planning) funds in california for standing up to the radical right and making california the only state for several years that wouldn't take "abstinence only" education money

 

[nh23]

"LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Rev. Jerry Falwell collapsed at his campus office and died Tuesday after a career in which the evangelist used the power of television to transform the religious right into a mighty force in American politics. He was 73.

"The founder of the Moral Majority was discovered without a pulse at Liberty University and pronounced dead at a hospital an hour later. Dr. Carl Moore, Falwell's physician, said he had a heart condition and presumably died of a heart rhythm abnormality."

Click here to read rest of article.

I know that I shouldn't take delight in anyone's death, but I am really, really, really not at all sorry....

~ Neon

LOL can't say i'm sorry either...

 

[catalina_francisco]

Unfortunately, as has been said on many news reports, his passing will just mean another of his ilk will pop up to take his place. I have to say, after coming across Oprah's interview with Bill O'Reilly and listening to the BS he was sprouting unchallenged by her, one has to wonder how these people suck so many in. He couldn't stop bashing The Netherlands as setting it up as example of what America would become if they didn't adopt right wing, traditionalist views and laws....unfortunately his facts about the laws of The Netherlands were way off and nothing remotely like the reality, but they work to get people up in arms and had gasps coming from the gullible audience, and disappointingly Oprah didn't challenge one 'fact' he sprouted which was untrue and I suspect someone with her knowledge would have been well aware was untrue.

And of course he also chose to mention an essay by Italy's Foreign Minister to scare people into believing the US was alone in it's fight against terrorism or any invading force, and Europe in particular would never be involved in any fight where it was thought or seen the US was under attack...once again Oprah kept her mouth shut and didn't use the opportunity to mention the many European countries (not to mention Oz) who have sent and still have troops in Iraq fighting the war Bush felt was so necessary but based on propaganda and lies as it appears now. There are British troops being killed weekly even now, as well as troops from other countries throughout the conflict, and yet to hear O'Reilly yelling his lies you would think it was a US only effort. Of course he also mentioned how the US needed 'satellite states' in Europe and other locations around the world....why?...doesn't this sound so like the beginning of Nazi Germany and the hype the people were sold on then to justify killing innocent people? It never ceases to amaze me how these self righteous zealots who wave their Bibles and yell down anyone who opposes their views in the slightest, have to build their argumanets for 'what is fair and right' on baseless lies and fabrications.

Catalina

 

[graceanne]

Anyone who gets all their information about world facts from one source, including Oprah and Bill O'Reilley, deserves to be fooled. If people checked the facts that they hear on talk shows a bit more often, then they wouldn't be fooled so much.

 

[litpervgrrl]

(I too hate to take lightly any passing, but sheesh...)

Reminds me of a very old joke, the punchline of which is

"Well... She's black."

 

[lancedulak]

Wishes elucidated

To crystalise the deep feelings i have at his passing:

Finally.

And

Enjoy hell.

Beware the false prophets .... you will know them by their works.

 

[WriterDom]

It's a religious war. If we don't fight them in Iraq, they'll come to Afghanistan. It will only mean they'll have to walk farther. If we leave Afghanistan, we'll be fighting them here. By the time the democrats get done killing the Patriot Act and appeasing the Iranians and Syrians, it's just a matter of time before we get hit again.

 

[callinectes]

Poor Tinky Winky can finally come back out of hiding.

 

[Karen Kraft]

This was a man who had toxic lies to spew to the press not 24 hours after 3000+ innocent New Yorkers bought it in the towers - he couldn't wait to blame fags, the ACLU and feminists.

These people have NO reservation about speaking ill of the dead, they can't even respect military funerals.

It seems to me that no matter how much we may have disliked someone's contribution to society, we ought to keep in perspective the fact that, like the rest of us, they are only human. I presume The Reverend Jerry Falwell sincerely believed that his ministry was a good thing. Whether I agree or not is irrelevant. The point is to remember is that people who work in the public arena do so at great personal peril. It is unbecoming for us to express glee at their passing, no matter how much we may have disliked their contribution. Years ago, as a teenager, I posted to a thread immediately after Strom Thurman passed away. The vitrol was much worse back then, but I still think we should show respect for those who serve in the public eye: politicians, vocal clergy, etc. Here's what I said about Strom Thurman:

Strom Thurman entered this life as all of us do, and now he has become what all of us eventually shall become. In between our birth and our death some of us are afforded an opportunity to make a difference in our world.

Between 1900 and 2000, our country experienced dramatic changes both in technology and in social development. What may appear horrific and cruel today may not have seemed so fifty years ago. You cannot morally judge people of a bygone era by standards set after long battle and debate. Strom believed in States’ Rights. Many people still believe in that. Some people believe that racism is an inherent evil and the idea must be outlawed. Some people believe that voicing words of hatred should be a crime. Some people believe that the races are happier when they are separated, while others believe it should be left up to the local community to decide how local society should operate.

Other people believe that people should not be allowed to vote unless they own property and pay their property tax. Others believe that anyone who is legally in the country ought to be able to vote on election day. Some people believe that animals have the same right to live, unharmed by man, as mankind itself does. Others believe that all the animals on the planet are put here to serve mankind, and we ought to afford them no emotional or spiritual consideration whatsoever.

Some people believe that Christ is coming (for the first time) any day now. Some say that Christ is coming (for the second time) any day now. Many people believe that there is no God. Some think God is a woman. A lot of people are pretty sure there is and never has been any such thing as “god.” A few believe that Christ came, was bored and left, never to return.

Strom Thurman has no history of cruelty to his fellow man. He supported States Rights and Segregation because he thought it was the right thing to do at the time and because nearly his entire voting constituency believed that the separation of the races was a god-given right of both races. Black people didn’t vote then. When Black people fought and won the right to vote, they became Strom Thurman’s constituents – he was the first Southern Senator to have a Black aid. He voted in favor of MLK day. He fought to stop George Wallace’s bid for the Presidency.

In his all-too-human heart and in his all-too-Southern political mind, Strom Thurman supported issues of his time in the manner he chose, without actual malice toward anyone.

We need to judge people in terms of the context of their times. Few of us can comprehend the America in which Strom Thurman was born. Here are some things that are YOUNGER than Strom Thurman, just to provide some perspective here:

1. AM/FM radio
2. Human flight
3. The Panama Canal
4. Wristwatches
5. Tea bags
6. Ice cream cones
7. The World Series
8. The states of Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, and
Hawaii


There are very few issues about which I would ever find myself in agreement with Strom Thurman. I would have fought him with all of my power, were I in the Senate or active in South Carolina politics. A life dedicated to public service is a very challenging life. Sometimes politics, like the law, is a substitute for physical conflict. It’s inaccurate to call it “thankless,” because there are lots of rewards associated with power and position. On the other hand, there are tremendous sacrifices to be made when one chooses a public life.

I submit that it is a very sad state of affairs when a man can give nearly half a century in high office and have [people] remember him by hoping he burns in hell, that he would have a claw hammer embedded in him, etc. Sure, we may disagree with a man’s politics. But let’s not be so disrespectful and so unappreciative of a lifetime of service in that way. It doesn’t hurt him; he’s dead. It hurts us. It tells us that we have lost our grip on decency.

The life of no man, let alone one in public service, should be remembered in that manner.

The elementary school children in Dallas, I am told, cheered and squealed with delight when they learned that John F. Kennedy had been shot, because they had heard a lot of very harsh things being said at home about their President. Many of their parents vowed to vote against Kennedy in 1964. The kids, being kids, did not understand the meaning of life and death – the seriousness of an act of assassination – even of a political foe. But they were kids. People on this discussion board are not kids. They should know better.

I’m only 19, and my family has been dragged from country to county in public service, year after year. Part of that time was spent in countries where human life is pretty much without any value or import at all, in the view of the local government. Yet we would recoil in horror were we to see the head of one of our soldiers carried aloft at the end of a long stick, with a crown rejoicing at the death of the young American. We would consider such conduct barbaric and we would condemn it. That’s because we at least TRY to claim some moral high ground when it comes to decency and respect for our fellow men.

Unless you have absolutely no respect for human life itself, you should be ashamed to post such hatred for another man’s life, once it has ended. You owe yourself a personal and private apology, in my humble opinion.

God Bless Strom Thurman. May he rest in peace.

 

[catalina_francisco]

Sorry to disagree Karen, but while I never rejoice in anyone's death, I also do not feel compelled to respect someone, especially one who makes a mission out of discriminating against others, and telling lies to further their own causes. Respect for me is earned, and not a given. We are all human, we all make mistakes, and none of us are perfect, but people who take it upon themselves to take their values and beliefs to the public arena and push those values onto others, often not caring how hurtful and destructive they are in doing so, ultimately have to answer to others for those actions. No-one forces anyone to become a public figure, it is a choice, and they do get paid for doing it just as we plebs get paid for doing our lowly jobs. Sheesh, thoughout the years I have been urged countless times to take up politics...I chose not to....I could have done so and then cried victim at the first negative comment, but I am more into honesty and responsibility and knowing I was not cut out for that lifestyle, I chose to continue to reject suggestions it was the path I was born for. It is the almost worship like status a lot of people fall into bestowing on public figures which prevents them speaking out sooner when they see those same figures (eg. Hitler) persecuting and destroying lives. A politician, minister, judge, police officer etc., is as you have pointed out, still a human just like the rest of us...we have to answer for our words and actions, why should they be exempt and placed on a pedestal regardless of theirs?

Catalina

 

[Netzach]

Unless you have absolutely no respect for human life itself, you should be ashamed to post such hatred for another man’s life, once it has ended. You owe yourself a personal and private apology, in my humble opinion.

God Bless Strom Thurman. May he rest in peace.

You seem to completely misunderstand my point. 3000+ people in my city were smoked and this man USED that for his agenda of hate and intolerance. I hope he has a litany of apology to go through to them, not me. How pointing out his words at one of the lowest moments of US history is disrespectful I don't understand. What he did at that moment is a spit in the face of every single person who died that day. You may have traveled the ends of the universe but I worked in those buildings.

He said it. Maybe we should erase the memory of things Hitler and Churchill and Einstein and Plato said, just because they're dead. Progress is a process of judging the past. I find it astounding that this man's life is deemed worthy of a respect he had for no one else's at that time. You owe yourself an apology for ignoring the stench so long as the proper decorum is followed.

 

[Ebonyfire]

We all have to go sooner or later....

 

[DVS]

As taken from this link

Active Troops Withdrawn Troops
Multi-National Corps-Iraq Units​

* United States: 250,000 invasion--145,000 current (4/07)
* United Kingdom: 45,000 invasion--7,100 current (2/07)
* Poland: 194 invasion--2,500 peak--900 current (2/07)
* Australia: 2,000 invasion--638 current (2/07)
* Denmark: 300 invasion--460 current (2/07)​

TOTAL INVASION DEPLOYMENT, REGULAR TROOPS 297,494​

* South Korea: 3,600 peak--2,300 current(2/07)(deployed 5/03)
* Romania: 730 current (2/07)(deployed 7/03)
* Georgia (country): 500 troops--300 current (2/07)
* El Salvador: 380 troops (2/07) (deployed 08/03)
* Czech Republic: 300 peak--100 current (2/07)
* Azerbaijan: 250 troops (2/07)
* Latvia: 136 peak--125 current (2/07)(deployed 4/04)
* Mongolia: 180 peak--100 current (2/07)(deployed 8/03)
* Albania: 120 troops (2/07)
* Lithuania: 120 peak--53 current (2/07)
* Armenia: 46 current (2/07)(deployed 1/05)
* Bosnia and Herzegovina: 36 troops (2/07)(deployed 6/05)
* Estonia: 35 current (2/07)(deployed 6/05)
* Macedonia: 33 troops (2/07)(deployed 7/03)
* Kazakhstan: 29 troops (2/07)(deployed 9/03)
* Moldova: 24 peak--12 current (2/07)(deployed 9/03)
* Bulgaria : 485 peak--155 current (2/07)(deployed 5/03)​

TOTAL CURRENT DEPLOYMENT AS OF FEBRUARY 2007
158,902 Regular Troops
~120,000 Private military contractors(~21,000 UK)

NATO Training Mission - Iraq​

* Netherlands: 15 current (2/07) (1,345 Coalition troops deployed 7/03 - withdrawn 3/05)
* Slovenia: 4 current (2/07)(deployed 3/06)
* Slovakia: 11 current(1/07) (110 Coalition troops deployed 8/03 - 99 of whom withdrawn 2/07)



* Italy: 3,200 peak (deployed 7/03 - withdrawn 11/06)
* Ukraine: 1,650 troops (deployed 8/03 - withdrawn 12/05)
* Spain : 1,300 troops (deployed 4/03 - withdrawn 4/04)
* Japan: 600 troops (deployed 1/04 - withdrawn 7/06)
* Thailand: 423 troops (deployed 8/03 - withdrawn 8/04)
* Honduras: 368 troops (deployed 08/03 - withdrawn 5/04)
* Dominican Republic: 302 troops (withdrawn 5/04)
* Hungary: 300 troops (deployed 08/03 - withdrawn 3/05)
* Nicaragua: 230 troops (deployed 09/03 - withdrawn 2/04)
* Singapore: 192 troops (deployed 12/03 - withdrawn 3/05)
* Norway: 150 troops (withdrawn 8/06)
* Portugal: 128 troops (deployed 11/03 - withdrawn 2/05)
* New Zealand: 61 troops (deployed 9/03 - withdrawn 9/04)
* Philippines: 51 troops (deployed 7/03 - withdrawn 7/04)
* Tonga: 45 troops (deployed 7/04 - withdrawn 12/04)
* Iceland: 2 troops (deployed 5/03 - withdrawn date unknown)​

 

[callinectes]

The point is to remember is that people who work in the public arena do so at great personal peril.

The other point to remember is those in public service chose to put themselves in the public arena, and in the case of these two men they reaped much personal benefit. Let's not paint them to have made the sacrifices of Mother Theresa or Ghandi.